August 13, 1S91. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
125 
WlTT^ 
STAGING FRUITS 
EXHIBITIONS. 
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A LTHOUGH a few of the early fruit shows are over the real 
campaign amongst fruit growers has just begun, and during 
the next two months many a valuable prize will be fought for, and 
perhaps won by growers already known to fame unless some new 
aspirant to honours succeeds in snatching victory from their grasp. 
Many beside those actually engaged in the contests will eagerly 
read the reports of shows to see how their old friends or 
opponents pass through the ordeal. I for one shall watch with a 
keen interest the fortunes of many of my gardening friends, who 
are readers of and writers to the Journal, and whom I have 
been wont to meet each year at shows. I shall watch with the 
hope that they will still retain their position of prominence in the 
prize list, and I also hope that the hints given below will prove 
useful to many who require information on the subject. 
Valuable prizes are often offered for collections, which form 
important features at shows. It is important, therefore, that 
in addition to growing the fruits well they should be placed before 
the judges in such a way as to show off their good qualities to the 
best advantage. Judges in these classes often have great difficulty 
in awarding the prizes on account of one or two exhibits being 
exceedingly close in point of merit ; in such cases superior staging 
is enough to turn the balance. The first thing to be attended to 
is to see that plenty of leaves are in readiness. Nothing answers 
better for this purpose than medium-sized Vine leaves for the 
majority of fruits, there being a few exceptions where coloured 
leaves are an advantage, and Strawberries should always be arranged 
on their own foliage. Where Vine leaves cannot be obtained good 
in colour or of sufficient texture, Sycamore, Plane, or Mulberry leaves 
answer very well. Having placed the leaves ready to hand and 
secured the requisite number of plates on which to arrange all 
kinds of fruits with the exception of Grapes and Pines, the whole 
number of plates should then be prepared. Those intended for 
Peaches, Nectarines, Figs, Apricots, Plums, and similar fruits will 
require some soft material such as paper shavings, moss, or cotton 
wool, but I prefer the first-named, as it is soft without being springy. 
Place a handful of this in the centre of each plate so as to bring it 
up slightly above the outer rim and gradually slope toward it, then 
cover the plate with leaves, letting each overlap the other slightly 
so as to form a fringe round the edge of the plate. Proceed with 
the others in the same way till the whole are ready, and as each 
dish is finished place it on the top of the last ; this will economise 
space and keep the leaves in position. 
For Cherries and Strawberries, unless an unlimited number is 
allowed, only a small quantity of material should be placed in 
centre of the plate, so that when covered with leaves the centre 
will be slightly below the inner rim ; this will prevent the outer 
row of fruits at the base slipping out of position as the work 
proceeds, as it is anything but pleasing when a fine shapely dish of 
Cherries is almost completed to find it suddenly collapse. I have 
seen many ways of building up fine even cones of Cherries (which 
when well done are always effective in collections), but the simplest 
and best of all methods in my opinion is to fill the centre with 
slightly withered Cauliflower or Strawberry leaves as the work 
proceeds. The Cauliflower leaves should, of course, be pulled into 
small pieces. Begin by placing a ring of fruits close round by 
the inner edge of the plate with the stalks pointing inwards, 
a layer of leaves then placed over the stems in the centre keeps 
them in position and brings the centre up to the right height for 
the next ring of Cherries, and so on, making each ring a little 
smaller in circumference than the last, taking care to keep each 
row even and correct in outline as the work proceeds. By follow¬ 
ing these directions handsome cones may be built up. Where large 
dishes of unlimited quantity are admissible the centre of the plate 
should be filled up much higher to begin with, and the first row of 
fruits placed near the outer edge of the plate. When one has the 
pleasant task of dishing up large well-coloured fruits of Peaches 
and Nectarines, after the plates are prepared as directed, it is an 
easy matter to place the finest in the centre, and the others form¬ 
ing a ring around it, taking care to let each fruit stand quite clear 
of its neighbour, as a perfect specimen never looks so well as when 
seen all around. Sometimes good fruits have portions near the 
base which are not well coloured. The damaging effect this might 
have in the eyes of the judges may often be prevented by rolling 
up a small piece of deaf and placing it under the fruit, so as to 
show up the greatest portion of the best side of the fruit, and by 
skilfully arranging a few leaves around it. 
Pine Apples look well when placed in tins specially made 
for the purpose, and painted green ; but an ordinary flower 
pot 6 or 7 inches in depth, with the drainage aperture made 
about double the usual size, answers almost as well. The pot 
should be neatly covered with a double thickness of tissue paper, 
be inverted, and the Pine cut with an inch of stem placed on the 
top of the pot, the stem fitting into the hole, keeps the fruit in 
position. 
Figs, if not highly coloured, are improved in appearance by 
placing a few tinted leaves around them—leaves of Ampelopsis 
Yeitchi or Gros Guillaume Vine answer the purpose admirably. 
When Figs are of good form and colour, with short footstalks, 
they should be placed quite apart from each other on the plates, 
so as to show off each fruit to advantage ; but when, as is often the 
case with large fruits of some varieties, the footstalks are long, 
arrange them in a circle so that they meet each other in the centre, 
a few leaves can then be placed over them, and one or two fruits, 
according to their size, placed on the top of the footstalks the 
stems of these central fruits pointing downwards and being 
covered with leaves gives to the dish a finished appearance. 
Plums, Apples, and Pears staged with collections of fruits 
are generally of superior quality, as large a portion of them 
as is possible should therefore be fully exposed to view. They 
can be arranged in the same way as Peaches, with the ex¬ 
ception that the distance apart must be regulated by the size 
of the fruits. Melons, if round in form, may be placed in an 
upright position with the stem uppermost, but oval shaped fruits 
should be laid lengthwise on the plates, and their appearance is 
often improved by placing cotton wool covered with leaves under¬ 
neath, so as to raise one end enough for the fruit to form an. 
angle of 45°, the best portion of the fruit then “ catches the 
eye.” 
After all the small dishes have been arranged they must be 
carried to their respective classes. I will here explain what I should 
have mentioned previously, that whenever single dishes of fruit 
are exhibited as well as collections they should be dished up at the 
place reserved for the collections. This enables the exhibitor to 
keep them all under his eye, and he can the better select the 
best dishes where he has duplicates for the strongest classes. 
Having placed the single dishes in their respective places the work 
of arranging the separate dishes to form the collections into an 
effective group must be pushed on. The last dishes that old 
showmen generally bring out are their Grapes, and many anxious 
eyes are often fixed upon them when they ai’e staged, as it is well 
known that high class Grapes deservedly have great weight with 
the Judges. When collections of eight or ten dishes are shown, 
black and white Grapes on either side with the Pine in the centre 
No. 581.—Vol. XXIII., Third Series. 
No. 2237.— Yol. LXXXV., Old Series. 
