NOTE OF THE WEEK. 
Size of Vegretables. 
Few of the many questions that exer¬ 
cise the minds of horticulturists from time 
to time have given rise to so wide a diverg¬ 
ence of opinion as have those relating to 
the sizes most suitable for vegetables in¬ 
tended for table use and for competitive 
purposes at public exhibitionis. 
This difference of opinion may 
be traced back to the time 
when the exhibition of vege¬ 
tables in accordance with 
modern views was in its 
infancy, and it is not un¬ 
reasonable to assume that 
many years will elapse before 
it will be possible to obtain 
a consensus of opinion on all 
points in connection with the 
selection of the several kinds 
for the two purposes referred 
to. Thei'e has been a con¬ 
siderable convergence in the 
views held by the leading 
cultivators within recent 
years, and there is a general 
agreement that both exhibitors 
and judges should place a 
higher value upon the quality 
of vegeta!bles exhibited than 
was for a long time the case, 
and that their size should be 
a secondary consideration in 
determining the relative 
merits of the kinds in com¬ 
petition. As the result thereof 
there has been a considerable 
reduction in the sizes of the 
v^arious kinds, as compared 
^th those which found favour 
^’ith competitors and those en¬ 
trusted with making the 
awards a quarter of a cen- 
ly ""go- While this 
Unction has been in progress 
^ general feeling, amounting 
to a consensus of 
ticall^^ arisen that j>rac- 
statr ^ kinds may be 
a exhibitions of 
W’ould be 
qiialit^ tablets of those who place 
than f^ 1 ^ plane considerably higher 
bulk Ti would assign to mere 
iiistifio.1- ‘^gi*eement, w^hile difficult of 
'iew tb ^ rigid adherence to the 
forth! <^mpetitions are of value only 
cultivation of 
^nvenip!! proved a 
^beir ^^^kling the judges to make 
possible * rnore readily than would be 
^blesize^^V specimens limited to 
«manr:.l^g?tables, when comparatively 
^''ffer’but shapely, and - 
rittle in appearance when showm ence 
by various exhibitors, whereas wdien larger to have been assumed by some that the 
examples are allowed considerable skill is Council of the Uoyal Horticultural Society 
necessary in their production to prevent the are endeavouring to effect a decrease in 
development of coarseness, w'hich is a the size of esculents shown at their meet- 
serious defect in vegetables of all descrip, ings, and that to enforce their views drastic 
tions. Whether, because of this convenience steps w’ere taken at the show' in September 
in determining the relative merits of pro- last without the exhibitors having been 
ducts in competition, a size ranging from given sufficient notice. In so doing they 
twenty-five to fifty per cent, in excess of have Ikhui under some misapprehension, for, 
that most suitable for the table should he as w'e understand the case, a class for 
nine kinds w’as, as in previous 
years, providiMl for the pur¬ 
pose of obtaining a represen¬ 
tation of vegetables that are 
ill general use of a size that 
is most favoured in households 
in wdiich the culinary arrange- 
nients are under the supervi¬ 
sion of a first-claims chef. See¬ 
ing that a similar class had 
been included in the schedule 
of previous exhibitions, and 
had somewhat faileil in its 
object, it would have been well 
Inul the conditions of com¬ 
petition been more explicit, 
and more fully set forth. 
Turning to the schedule, we 
find it simply stated in con¬ 
nection with tile class in ques¬ 
tion that, “ The object of this 
class is to illustrate vege¬ 
tables Avhich are in daily use 
and possess the qualities most 
valued for table use by cooks.’’ 
This statement was hardly 
sufficient to meet the necessi¬ 
ties of the case, and some 
reference should have been 
made to the fact that the real 
object of the class was to en¬ 
sure their representation at a 
stage of development that 
would admit of their being 
served w^hole. It is obvious 
that pods of runner and 
French beans ranging from 
ten to twelve or more inches 
in length, tomatoes weighing 
half a pound or more, and 
other kinds of like pro¬ 
portions, w'ould be unsuitable 
for the purpose. Not in all 
households where skilled cooks 
are employed is this manner of serving 
vegetables adopted, and, this being the 
case, it would have been extremely diffi¬ 
cult for the exhibitors to clearly under¬ 
stand what was really required of them 
had they received no information beyond 
that given in the schedule. It appears, 
however, that further particulars were sup¬ 
plied, for w'e learn on good authority that 
after the exhibitors had sent in their en¬ 
tries they were advised as to the stage of 
development in which the several kinds 
must.be shown, and the consequences that 
would follow the staging of products similar 
MR. A. C. SMITH. 
allow'ed opens up another question of con¬ 
siderable importance. With reference 
thereto, we shall not do more than ex¬ 
press an opinion to the effect that the closer 
the approximation in size of exhibition and 
table vegetables the better for all con¬ 
cerned. The question as to the sizes of 
exhibition vegetables has become somewhat 
acute, as a consequence of the disqualifica¬ 
tion of two exhibitors at the recent vege¬ 
table show held by the Royal Horticultural 
Society. There has been considerable dis¬ 
cussion in horticultural circles with refer- 
to the matter, and it appears 
