RE: 2004 Clarence NY Weigh-Off Sept 25th

Well, I hope this doesn't get anybody super mad, but I have a definite
opinion, and I want to voice it.  I see a problem and it has everything
to do with discouraging careful and efficient breeding of our giants...

"Whats colour anyways?"

For some reason, people who get 75+% orange ones get rewards ($$$).
People who get 74% or less orange get nothing but smiles.  

So, color is only what *you* make it, Ray (and anybody else that runs a
weigh-off event).  In this case, color=money.  The existing rules at
most weigh-offs do not maximize AND encourage our corporate efforts to
purify our breeding results world wide.

I'm not sure I understand this.  It does nothing to encourage people to
breed purely orange fruit, or purely green fruit, and the rule
potentially disqualifies winners who grow for weight (could the next
World Record be less than 75% orange?  Yes.  Of course, if it was 74%
orange, would it break the pumpkin record?), thereby discouraging people
from crossing green with orange even if it might produce an enormous,
heavier to the charts, fruit.  This is anti-productive from every
perspective.  

Case in point:  Zunino's Baby Beluga (933 Zunino 03) last year has the
genes to challenge a first place ribbon at almost any weigh-off.  Will
the majority of the top growers out there plant it?  Probably not.  Why?
Other than the satisfaction of having a darn big rainbow-squash, there
is little reward to be had.  Only one grower will achieve the top prize,
but only if their fruit is 75% orange.  Baby Beluga started off white
and slowly turned every color and shade of AG known to man.  It was
mostly orange when it was weighed.  I believe it ended up mostly green,
long after it was harvested.  It had unpredicted color characteristics.
Reason tells us its progeny will also have unpredictable color, too.  So
who wants to show up at the weigh-off with a 1000+ fruit and be told you
can't compete for prize money because your whale is green around the
gills?  Top growers who consider the end result will usually overlook
this seed, even though it has great contest potential.  I wonder how
many other quality seeds in the gene pool have been overlooked because
growers need to grow a "real pumpkin" to be able to compete.  

Maybe us growers/breeders have different goals than the weigh-off
officials who make these rules?  Feedback from weigh-off officials would
be helpful, here.

IMHO, the suggested "three category weigh-off" that has been mentioned
by others here is best as it encourages people to breed fruit based on
color and weight (1. all orange category, 2. all green category, and 3.
an unlimited category).  Set up a reward schedule for each category that
honors the efforts of every type of grower equally, and everybody will
be happy.

Hope I don't get kicked off the list for this post.

Toby

mr-sprout@sbcglobal.net


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pumpkins@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf
Of LGOURD@aol.com
Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2004 6:52 PM
To: pumpkins@hort.net
Subject: Re: 2004 Clarence NY Weigh-Off Sept 25th

In a message dated 9/18/2004 6:31:18 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
apapez@cogeco.ca writes:
waynekennedy@sprint.ca writes:
> Well Ray what about Squash ??????
> Gas money - $25 US - Have you got a world record - maybe more?  Ray
> Thats about what their worth. Who in their right mind would want to
grow
one anyways. lol
I've got a pretty nice one myself!  Whats colour anyways?  Ray

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