Bitter Fit in Applies. 41 



Mucli greater iiupoitance is to be attached to vaiiations in tlie 

 percentage of ash, although in the case of a strong metallic poison 

 an apple might l)e completely killed without its precentage of asli 

 being appreciably increased. Mr. P. R. Scott's analyses, however, 

 fieem to show that bitter pit apples and pears contain a greater 

 percentage of ash than usual. (Report pp. 46, 47.) 



The pitted fruits oidy contained 1 to 2 jJcr cent, less moisture 

 than the clean ones, so that the bitter pit tissue must have been in 

 an early sappy stage, and the ash which represents materials drawn 

 from the soil does actually appear to be more al)undant in Ijittrr 

 pit tissue or in pitted fruits. No analyses of the ash are given, un- 

 fortunately, 80 that it is uncertain whether the increased ash 

 •contains unusual or poisonous constituents. 



Effect of manuring on Bitter Pit. 



The results of a variety of tests with different manures are given 

 in the Bitter Pit Report in great detail (pp. SO-91). In the Box Hill 

 -orchard the percentage of bitter pit in the two check plots was l.."> 

 and 4.5. The percentages on the manured plots were all less than 

 the difference between these two. In the Bathurst plots the averages 

 for the tAvo unmanured plots were 1.42 and 3.00, and this was a 

 greatei- range of variation than Avas shown by any of the manured 

 plots. In the Blackwood orchards the number of pitted apples 

 varied ficmi 1 to 5, and the number of api^les from the three controls 

 varied from 1 to 56. None of these tests therefore show anythi'nu', 

 the differences observed being of the field variation character. 



Effect of pruning on Bitter Pit. 



In regard to the results given with pruning (Report p. 92, 98), a 

 similar criticism holds. In the Burnley results, with leader prun- 

 ing, the bitter pit apples varied from 2 to 21, a greater range of 

 variation than between the different modes of pi-uning, showing 

 that the numbers given are meaningless as regards the effects of 

 pruning. In the Deepdene orchard the bitter pit apples from 

 unsprayed trees pruned in four different ways totalled only 12. 

 with a variation of 1 to 5. The Bathurst tests are most satisfac- 



