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RE: Estimate Table

per the mailing list archives using the word weight
http://www.mallorn.com/lists/pumpkins/search.cgi
It is easy...try it.

ESTIMATING WEIGHT OF GIANT PUMPKINS

     The best way to estimate (accent on the word estimate) the weight
of giant
     pumpkins is the over-the-top method and using the table presented
by Len
     Stellpflug of Rush, NY.  Competitive growers, including the
Ottawa-St.
     Lawrence Growers, pretty much all use it.  When comparing pumpkins
rather
     than say the estimated weight, we often give the over-the-top
measurements
     ie "Tim's pumpkin measures 306 inches" instead of "weighs an
estimated 576
     lbs."

     Dan Gardner now has a copy of this table and the notes that go with
it and
     he is going to Email it out to all of us in the immediate future.
We do
     not have the computer support equipment to put it out from this
end.

     You should measure at least the circumference of your chosen fruit
every
     day, hopefully at the same time.  It should show increased value
every day.
     Do the 3-way over-the-top measurements irregularly.  If the
measurements
     don't increase, you have a problem - your pumpkin has stopped
growing.

     For Bill and Cecilie in Owen Sound - there really is no average
specific
     gravity for a giant pumpkin.  You can never be sure of the
thickness of the
     walls and the size of the cavity.

     All the best!

     Gus


Scanned text of information submitted via fax by Gus Saunders on
8/13/96....

     OTTAWA-ST.LAWRENCE GROWERS
     c/o FARMER GUS's
     7930 Bleeks Rd., RR 2, Ashton, Ontario KOA 1 BO
     Telephone (613) 838-5435
     FAX (613) 838-2088
     ESTIMATING WEIGHT OF GIANT PUMPKINS AND SQUASH
     by Leonard Stellpflug

     Since the tables for estimating weight of GIANT Pumpkins and Squash
were
     published in 1991, I collected measurements for most of the largest
fruit.

     The best estimates are with the OVER-THE-TOP method. This requires
adding
     Circumference to the ground-to-ground over-the-top measurements in
both
     directions. Enter Table 1 with the total INCHES to obtain the
estimated
     weight in POUNDS. Bob Marcellus used his computer and obtained the
     following formula which fits the data as good as any curve I could
draw
     thni the data:

                                            2.76
     Weight (pounds) = 0.0000795 x (inches)

     Table 2 gives estimates using only the Circumference (C)
measurement. This
     method does not give good estimates for unusually high, low, long
or short
     fruit. I find it useful to determine weight increases from
day-to-day as I
     only do over-top measurements every 2 to 3 weeks.

     My previous theoretical formula begins to over-estimate in the 650
to 700
     pound range. I could not adequately adjust the formula. Table 2 is
from my
     best-fit formula of the historical data and is:

                                      2.85
     Weight (pounds) = 0.000445C + 15

     The Circumference measurement is the largest circumference taken
parallel
     to the ground at approximately the stem-blossom level. The Over-Top
     measurements are from ground4o-ground in both directions over the
highest
     point of the fruit. The measurement must be taken straight down
from the
     edges of the fruit. DO NOT follow the contour of the fruit to the
ground.

     To illustrate the reliability of the estimates I used measurements
for the
     20 largest truft I have data for from 92, 93 and 94 (772 to 990
pounds).
     Both methods had 1 0 over and 1 0 under estimates. The estimates
deviated
     from actual weight as follows:

     Accuracy Range        Table 1              Table 2
        (+-)            (over the top)       (Circumference)
       0 to 5%                55%                  20%
       5 to 10%               40%                  35%
      10 to 15%               5%                   20%

     The largest deviation was 13.9% with Table 1 and 29.3% with Table
2.

     >From fruit-to-fruit the major variable is average wall thickness.
I
     challenge someone to invent a simple device (similar to a Stud
finder,
     hardness tester, etc.) for estimating pumpkin wall thickness. Then
we could
     develop a set of curves for various wall thicknesses.

     I encourage each weighoff site to assign'someone to measure as many
truft
     as time permits. Send me the data and I will issue revised tables
when
     sary. Leonard B. Stellpflug, 1925 Middle Road, Rush, NY, 14543


     This chart was not updated after the 1995 Weighoff but will be in
December '96.

              PUMPKIN WEIGHT ESTIMATES

     Leonard Stellpflug (December, 1994)
     TABLE 1: OVER-THE-TOP SUR LE DESSUS
     INCHES LBS POUNCE LBS
     142 69  | 194 164 | 246 316 | 298 536 | 350 836
     144 72  | 196 169 | 248 323 | 300 546 | 352 849
     146 75  | 198 173 | 250 330 | 302 556 | 354 862
     148 78  | 200 178 | 252 337 | 304 566 | 356 875
     150 81  | 202 183 | 254 345 | 306 576 | 358 889
     152 84  | 204 188 | 256 352 | 308 587 | 360 903
     154 87  | 206 193 | 258 360 | 310 598 | 362 917
     156 90  | 208 198 | 260 368 | 312 608 | 364 931
     158 93  | 210 204 | 262 376 | 314 619 | 366 945
     160 96  | 212 209 | 264 384 | 316 630 | 368 960
     162 99  | 214 215 | 266 392 | 318 641 | 370 974
     164 102 | 216 220 | 268 400 | 320 652 | 372 989
     166 106 | 218 226 | 270 408 | 322 664 | 374 1003
     168 110 | 220 232 | 272 417 | 324 675 | 376 1018
     170 114 | 222 238 | 274 425 | 326 687 | 378 1033
     172 118 | 224 244 | 276 434 | 328 698 | 380 1048
     174 121 | 226 250 | 278 442 | 330 710 | 382 1063
     176 125 | 228 256 | 280 451 | 332 722 | 384 1079
     178 129 | 230 262 | 282 460 | 334 734 | 386 1095
     180 133 | 232 269 | 284 469 | 336 746 | 388 1111
     182 137 | 234 275 | 286 479 | 338 759 | 390 1127
     184 141 | 236 282 | 288 488 | 340 771 | 392 1143
     186 146 | 238 288 | 290 497 | 342 784 | 394 1159
     188 150 | 240 295 | 292 507 | 344 797 | 396 1175
     190 155 | 242 302 | 294 516 | 346 810 | 398 1191
     192 159 | 244 309 | 296 526 | 348 823 | 400 1208


     TABLE 2: CIRCUMFERENCE CIRCONFERENCE
     INCHES LBS POUNCE LBS
     61  70  | 85  155 | 109 300 | 133 518 | 157 821
     62  72  | 86  160 | 110 307 | 134 529 | 158 836
     63  74  | 87  165 | 111 315 | 135 540 | 159 851
     64  77  | 88  170 | 112 323 | 136 551 | 160 866
     65  80  | 89  175 | 113 331 | 137 562 | 161 881
     66  83  | 90  180 | 114 339 | 138 573 | 162 897
     67  86  | 91  185 | 115 347 | 139 585 | 163 913
     68  89  | 92  190 | 116 355 | 140 597 | 164 929
     69  92  | 93  196 | 117 363 | 141 609 | 165 945
     70  95  | 94  202 | 118 372 | 142 621 | 166 961
     71  98  | 95  208 | 119 381 | 143 633 | 167 977
     72  101 | 96  214 | 120 390 | 144 645 | 168 993
     73  105 | 97  220 | 121 399 | 145 658 | 169 1010
     74  109 | 98  226 | 122 408 | 146 671 | 170 1027
     75  113 | 99  232 | 123 417 | 147 684 | 171 1044
     76  117 | 100 238 | 124 426 | 148 697 | 172 1061
     77  121 | 101 244 | 125 436 | 149 710 | 173 1078
     78  125 | 102 251 | 126 446 | 150 723 | 174 1096
     79  129 | 103 258 | 127 456 | 151 737 | 175 1114
     80  133 | 104 265 | 128 466 | 152 751 | 176 1132
     81  137 | 105 272 | 129 476 | 153 765 | 177 1150
     82  141 | 106 279 | 130 486 | 154 779 | 178 1168
     83  145 | 107 286 | 131 496 | 155 793 | 179 1187
     84  150 | 108 293 | 132 507 | 156 807 | 180 1206



Duncan McAlpine
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