10 May. 1919.] Apple CuUnre in Victoria. 293 



plant the rows of trees, and, as these develop, the strips are annually 

 extended in width until the whole area is brought under cultivation. 



FuNGT's Diseases not amenadle to Spraying Treatment. 



These consist of fungi which attack matured apples when stored 

 cy' during transit to InternState or to the Home markets. Prior to 

 the advent of cool storage, very considerable losses were sustained, 

 numerous cases having been condemned at the ports of shipment, while 

 many others arrived in London in a rotten condition. Even after the 

 general adoiption of refrigeration, and until fairly low and unifonii 

 temperatures were maintained, nnich fruit Avas destroyed by the " rots " 

 affecting ripe apples. 



The principal fungi which cause the rotting of apples under the 

 conditions explained are — - 



(a) Bitter rot (Glooosporium fructigenun, Berk.), the spores of 

 which on germination' penetrate the skin of the apple and 

 through further development cause circular brown spots to 

 become vLsible in the rind. As the fungus grows the spots 

 increase in diameter and appear as depressions. The pulp 

 in the diseased parts becomes brown and soft, the disease 

 spreads until the w^iole apple becomes a mass of rotten pulp, 

 and the pink-coloured .spores appear on the surface. 

 (J)) Mouldy rot {PenicilJium glaucmn, Link.) infects the fruit 

 similarly to bitter rot and destroys it in like manner. The 

 spores of this disease are of a greenish colour. Bitter rot 

 almost invariably infects ripe fruit, but this fungus often 

 attacks apples on the trees before they commence to ripen, 

 (c) Mouldy core of the apple is produced by the same fungus 

 which causes mouldy rot. In this case, the infection com- 

 I mences at the core and spreads outwards until the whole 



apple becomes rotten. This condition of the disease is 

 mostly found in varieties like Rymer, Grand Duke, &c., 

 witih open calyxes, wthich offer the spores a free passage to 

 the core. It is difficult to detect apples affected in this 

 way, but the danger in storing them is that the spores may 

 escape from the core condition of the disease and cause the 

 superficial rotting of other apples as well. 



Possibly many of the spores are destroyed by the black spot sprays, 

 but, as these diseases are confined to the fruit and do not appear in the 

 virulent form until after fruit picking, they cannot be regarded as 

 amenable to spraying treatment. On account of their insidious nature, 

 however, preventive measures should be employed to combat them. No 

 diseased fruit should be allowed to remain in or near the packing shed 

 or storeroom. Fnxit for storing should be carefully handled at the time 

 of picking and packing, as the spores more easily inifect finiits with 

 bruises or abrasions of the skin than those with sound rind. The fruit 

 in. store should be regularly inspected, and any specimens found to be 

 diseased should be removed and destroyed, for one diseased apple may 

 infect an entire case. However, paper wrappers used in the export 

 trade so completely isolate each apple from its neighbour that, when 

 carefully stored and with Avell-regulated temperatures the spread of 

 infection is rendered practically impossible. Careful packing should 



