Tips For The Exhibitor . . .

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29749, 16 February 1962, Page 7

Tips For The Exhibitor . . .

There are many dodges when it comes to exhibiting fruit and vegetables. Some of them are a bit on the doubtful side, too! But the experienced judge knows most of the tricks of the trade, so it is advisable to be strictly honest when exhibiting. Here are a few points which are quite legitimate, and good plain common sense, too.

First, make sure you have read the schedule correctly. Five carrots are sometimes exhibited instead of four, or stump rooted varieties shown when intermediates were asked for. Clean your vegetables thoroughly—there's nothing more certain to turn you down in close competition than- caterpillars on your cabbage, or hollow-crown parsnips with a ring of dirt around the leaf bases. But don’t be too vigorous about this cleaning process—use a soft cloth and plenty of water, not a hard brush and plenty of elbow-grease! Even a soft brush will produce scores on the skin of carrots, potatoes and other root crops.

Perhaps the commonest fault of all is the odd “big one” which is popped in. The judge always looks for uniformity in the produce exhibited, so forget about the whopper which shows how good a gardener you really are. Size isn’t everything. If you have a choice it is usually better to exhibit specimens which are slightly below average size, rather than those which are well above it.

Of course, every individual vegetable has its own features. Never remove the green calyx in the tomato, or send in marrows which are too hard to take thumb nail impressions. Select lettuce and cabbage which have a nice firm heart, and cauliflower—if you’ve been able to grow any at all this dry season—which have a white curd rather than a yellowish one.

If you are going in for the •‘collection of vegetables” class, then avoid all those crops which have a low number of points, and choose high pointing crops in preference. These include the major crops like potatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, ■ carrots and so on. Radish, herbs and the easily grown “odds and ends” will learn you few points in this respect. Check up on your show schedulesome of them list the vegetables with their pointing, so that’s a good guide to this highly desirable class, which is always worth winning.