PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING. 271 



several other kinds, and we have been trying to learn under a microscope 

 what it is. We can find no trace of any fungous difficulty, and we are 

 working now on the line of bacteria, thinking possibly something of that 

 kind has worked inside and caused these discolorations, these brown 

 blotches all through the flesh of the apple, but we are yet at sea as to what 

 it is and the cause; but my impression is that its presence there is due 

 to the fact of heating, or something of that kind, that heating is the 

 prime cause. Our bacteriologist has not been able to recognize any 

 specific microbe yet, and he has found something there that he can not 

 account for, and when I left him he was still working upon it. 



Mr. Harrison: You find that on the fruit still on the trees, do you 

 not? 



Prof. Taft: Yes, sir. Mr. Harrison: How could it be heated, then? 



Prof, Taft: Well, it might be. For instance, we had warm, moist 

 weather along through August, on several occasions, long continued, and 

 it might be that, of course, on the tree the same as in the barrel. 



Mr. Sherwood: I have noticed particularly that we found it on the 

 fruit on the trees, before it was put into the bins. In reference to Mr. 

 Smith's method, it was found more noticeable on the top of his bins than 

 it was on the bottom last year. I drove nearly a mile to see the effect of 

 it, and nearly exerj apple we found in the Baldwin bin was affected, but 

 there was more trouble on the top of the bin than there was on the bot- 

 tom ; so that this is not what Mr. Harrison refers to, because it has been 

 noticeable on the trees before the fruit was put into the bins; and so far 

 as I could see it did not increase any after putting into the bin. 



Prof Taft: Were those spots on the outside of the fruit? 



Mr. Sherwood : Yes, sir. It is the same as we find on Jonathan. 



Prof. Taft: What I have in mine were in the inside. I never saw any 

 on the outside at all. 



Mr. Morrill: There is an idea which develops in this discussion that I 

 would like to bring out here. Now, I saM' Mr. Sherwood's apples when he 

 was packing them, and remember that they were diligently sprayed 

 previous to the opening of Ihe leaf and on to the close of the spraying 

 season; they were thoroughly taken care of; they were clean apples when 

 put in, and they were put in areas as large as this room, in two and three 

 (and I don't know but four) large piles, and I saw in there a great number 

 of men packing those apples, and they were coming out of the bottoms 

 of those deep piles in perfect condition. Now, I ask Prof. Slingerland 

 if that crop of apples had been affected with scab of these various sorts, 

 knowing it to be a contagious disease and casting off' spores, if under 

 the heating process that takes place there, if it would not be possible for 

 the apples already contaminated to give the disease to the others and for 

 it to grow. It occurred to me it is possible for something of that kind to 

 take place, and it might make a great difference whether you put clean 

 apples in contaminated with these contagious troubles. 



Prof. Slingerland: I think the heating and moistening conditions 

 would tend to make a fungus grow more readily, and whether that 

 fungus would send off spores or not, I would leave that to Prof. Taft. I 

 think he knows more about that than I do. 



