662 Lessons of the Imperial Fruit Show, 1921. [Oct., 



culinary varieties in the Eastern Counties section, but similar 

 varieties in the West Midland section retained their condition 

 throughout the Show. 



Much can be attributed to the influence of soils on " condi- 

 tion " as well as on the colour of apples. The wastage of 

 fruit grown on the moist soils of the Severn Vale was practi- 

 cally nil in comparison with that of the fruit from the thinner 

 soils of the East Coast. 



It will be seen, therefore, that, had the items under " con- 

 dition " been separately recorded on the score-card, the loss or 

 gain of marks awarded for each particular point of quality 

 might be traced to both soil and climate. Such data would 

 be of considerable value in the future development of the 

 industry in regard to varieties and their suitability for any 

 desired short or long distance market. The total marks 

 awarded for uniformity of colour and size tend to indicate the 

 ability and experience of the grower properly to grade and 

 pack his fruit, and it is here that the Kent section probably 

 leads in experience alone, as it was apparent to the observer 

 that a number of exhibitors in the other two sections were 

 making their first attempts at modern grading and packing. 



It is in this direction, it would appear, that future exhibitors 

 can reach a higher standard of excellence by studying carefully 

 the number of marks gained by them under these two headings 

 at the previous Show. 



' ' Quality of pack ' ' might be looked upon as the deter- 

 mining factor in deciding whether a grower is adopting an 

 up-to-date and commercial method. It may be desirable to 

 mention, however, that too much should not be assumed from 

 the award of marks for this at the last Show. Various forms 

 of packing, good and bad, were used in all three sections, for 

 the reason that no rules defining any standardised system were 

 laid down, and it became obvious that varied opinions would 

 exist among the Judges on this extremely important and 

 technical subject. The need for a standardised method of 

 packing boxed apples was clearly borne out midway through 

 the Show when cases of apples with premier awards were 

 showing considerable damage and rotting through being packed 

 attractively in the first place, but not commercially, as was 

 ultimately proved by later observations. Nevertheless, the 

 summarised results of the total percentage of marks for the 

 three sections go a long way to show where the present stan- 

 dard of grading and packing is low and where educational 

 work of this nature is mostlv desired. 



