J. C. F. Fryer 100 



spots, usually near its base, where the proboscis of the bug has pene- 

 trated. The leaf is frequently undersized and badly shaped and when 

 it becomes old the small patches of dead tissue round each puncture may 

 fall away, producing a very ragged condition. Distortion of the young 

 shoots has been noticed by Theobald and this feature of the attack was 

 also observed in 1913. All damage to both fruit and foliage is completed 

 early in the season and though the bugs continue to puncture the foliage 

 little harm seems to ensue. 



The sum of the damage detailed above is very considerable. The 

 injured fruit is almost unsaleable and cases were visited where 30 %- 

 50 % of the crop was stated to have been affected, and in this estimate 

 no account was taken of fruit so damaged that it fell ofE before reaching 

 maturity. A further serious feature of the attack is that it seems to 

 preserve a high intensity for several years consecutively in the same 

 orchard and is not like the many diseases which vary within wide limits 

 year by year. 



In distribution, this Capsid attack is very local and is not known to 

 be widespread in any district ; at present it is known to occur sporadi- 

 cally in Kent, Suffolk, Nottingham, Worcester and Hereford, 



As regards the different varieties of apple it is not possible yet to 

 say that any kind is either immune or specially susceptible, since facts 

 obtained from one affected orchard were negatived by observations in 

 the next. It certainly appeared that the trees in the affected orchards 

 were not in a good state of health. Mr G. P. Berry, of the Board of 

 Agriculture, examined all the affected orchards and he was able to 

 confirm this view. A number of soil analyses were therefore made in 

 the hope of obtaining further light in this direction, but the work was 

 fruitless for the soils in most cases showed no marked deficiencies in 

 composition or other disability adequate to explain the apparent low state 

 of health. It is still felt however that this side of the problem offers 

 material for investigation since a tree not in a flourishing condition would 

 naturally be less able to withstand the Capsid punctures than a healthy 

 tree. 



Turning next to the problem of the species of Capsid responsible 

 for the damage, a few notes may be given on a somewhat cursory survey 

 of four of the affected orchards, all of which are of large size and have 

 suffered greatly from the disease for several seasons consecutively. An 

 ordinary Bignell beating tray was used to obtain specimens and attention 

 was paid to insects which were present in large numbers or belonged to 

 a species to which the damage had previously been attributed. These 



8—2 



