PRINCIPLES OF JUDGING AT SHOWS. 



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be shown in either category. The only fruit that I know of at 

 present which may be shown both as a fruit and as a vegetable is 

 the Tomato, which truth forbids us to exclude from fruits, and 

 general use claims as a vegetable. 



In this place it may be well to remark upon the folly of 

 judging fruit by appearance only ; it is about equal to the folly 

 of judging flowers by their scent only. Appearance is a great 

 point with fruit, so is scent with flowers, but neither is the chief 

 point. The chief point with fruit is flavour, with flowers beauty. 

 A blind man may have the sense of smell very acutely, but no 

 one would trust him to judge flowers; and yet men judge fruit by 

 sight only ! I do not say that it is always necessary 'to taste & 

 fruit in order to judge of it correctly. The great majority of 

 fruits a good judge has no need to taste ; he has sufficient know- 

 ledge of the quality and flavour of the fruit from the variety ; but 

 an unknown variety, however good-looking it may be, should 

 never go untasted. Some fruits, however, though perfectly well 

 known, will deceive even experienced judges by their appearance. 

 I remember an instance of this. I happened to be judging a 

 class of Black Grapes recently, and it was easy to pick out the 

 best-looking Grapes by their colour, size, and general finish, and 

 they were first thus placed in order of merit, but when tested by 

 taste the best-looking dish of Grapes had to take a third place. 

 Black Grapes should always be tested by taste ; but Muscats 

 need not be so, as golden-coloured, well-finished Muscats may 

 always be quite safely judged by their appearance. Pears and 

 Apples may have a fair outside, but may be rotten at the core ; 

 and the judges should always be allowed to cut the fruit if they 

 wish to do so. In any case of doubt, a fruit should be tested by 

 its taste, just as a new Rose or Carnation should be tested by its 

 scent as well as by its appearance. It may not be too much to 

 say that appearance in fruit holds a corresponding position to 

 scent in flowers. All other' things being equal, you prefer a 

 sweetly scented Rose or Carnation to a scentless one ; just as you 

 prefer a fruit that is beautiful to look at to one that is unattrac- 

 tive. But fruit is not grown merely to be looked at, any more 

 than a flower only for its scent ; and when the skin of a beautiful - 

 looking Pear or Apple is removed, and the inside is poor in flavour 

 or woolly or gritty in texture, who cares for it ? And so with 

 Grapes — the Gros Colmar is a noble-looking Grape, probably the 



