WINTER SHOW JUDGING,

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 143, 18 June 1926, Page 12

WINTER SHOW JUDGING,

(To tbe Editor.)

{ Sir, —I take it that the growing success of the Auckland Winter Exhibition should be accompanied by a corresponding advance in the standards of judging. ;If an exhibit is alone in its class, I that is no reason for the award of | a first prize if in itself it falls a good deal short of a first prize standard. The Winter Show is an educational asset of great importance. An idea of the recognised standards to be aimed at should be created and cultivated by a study of the awards at these annual shows. I notice in this year's exhibition some cases where the judge has not shown a sense of the educational value of his award. The first prizes in the export fruit are examples. The name ol the judge does not appear in the schedule. I have no idea who he was, so I select this instance as entirely impersonal. The export cases and the packing were both much below what has been required of exporters. Was it not, therefore, misleading to award first prizes? A few yards away, in the Thames district court, I noticed a case of export fruit which seemed to mc a good example of export packing and well up to standard. There was no card on it to show that it bad won any recognition, which 1 thought was a pity, because it does good to call attention to exhibits that show . what has to be aimed at. In closing, I may remark that the whole display of fruit on the Thames stand was the best I have seen at a show for a long time, and well worth studying. There were some good citrus exhibits, and 30 varieties of other fruits, all in proper .show condi- ■ tion and correctly labelled, which is an important point that did not get the (attention it deserved in some other displays. I have called attention to this matter of awards chiefly because of the opportunity the exhibition provides for educating all concerned in the standards to be reached. There is also the influence of a high standard of judging upon exhibitors, who will take more pains to [show their best.—l am, etc.,

ORCHARD.