JUDGING FRUIT

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 171, 9 April 1918, Page 8

JUDGING FRUIT

'AT COMPETITIVE SHOWS. ■ It.is a truism that competitive shows ; well organised and efficiently judged, promote improvements of produce and , stock. The importance of the judging factor (in regard to fruit) was discussed by Mr. J. A. Campbell, Assistant Director of Orchards, in the "Journal of Agriculture" of September 20, 1917. The article, which was reprinted as a leaflet, included these comments :— "An expert may, and very often has, very- strong, and set opinions. with rofereiice to his'particular.line, and when officiating as a judge these opinions, no , matter how sound they may be, may, if left unchecked, detrimentally affect his decision. That is to say, any important feature of the display, if not limited by standard rules for judging, may dominate all others, and a decision be given by a judge that is quite contrary to the wishes of the society for which he is acting. - "Instances of this have been only too numerous in the past in connection with fruit shows. In fact, the apparent inconsistency or lack of uniformity among fruit judges has been responsible for many enthusiastic exhibitors cooling off and eventually dropping the , show business altogether; while many others have resorted to the expedient of making more than one entry to a class when competing under a judge of whom they have had no previous experience. "These remarks are not intended to reflect on the competency of past judges, but upon system, or lack of system, on which., they were working. A judge must carry out his work according to his own ideas, and so long as ideas differ and remain unrestricted ■ by standard rules, so must judgments continue to bo inconsistent and otherwise unsatisfactorT. "This matter was taken up by the annual conference of the New Zealand Fruitgrowers' Federation, held at Dunedin .in May last, and a committee of growers representing the various dis- . tricts was appointed to go into the matter with a view to submitting a scheme to the federation's executive for consideration. The report of the committee—on which the writer was invited to act—included proposals which were approved by the executive as a commencement toward a thorough system of standardisation. As such, the federation strongly recommends their adoption by alj agricultural and horticultural societies throughout the Dominion." Copies of tho rules can be obtained from Mr. J. F. Shelton. general manager, of the New Zealand Fruitgrowers' Federation, 'Wellington. •