] I At (J., lit 1 !i. I .1 pple Culture hi Victoiiu, -to?' 



sufficiently \ow and uiiifoim to thoroughly control Bitter Pit. This is 

 due mainly to the necessaiy daily admission to and discharge of frviit 

 from the cool chambers, especially during the commencement of the 

 storage season. But suitable temperatures are more easily maintained 

 on ships fitted with cool chambers tor the carriage of fruit under modern 

 conditions. 



While it is pleasing to know that cool storage is a factor in the 

 control of Bitter Pit, it should be the aim of orchardists and others 

 interested in apj le culture to seek a solution of this question and find 

 a remedy by which the pitting may be suppressed in the orchard 

 where it originated. 



It is recognised that the success of the gruit-growing industry irf 

 Australia will in future largely depend on the export trade. Apples 

 are our principal exportable fruit, and large quantities'are still destroyed 

 annually by this disease. Consequently, the Bitter Pit investigation 

 might with advantage be continued until the cause of this condition of 

 the fruit is placed beyoud dispute and a reliable remedy discovered. 



The prospects of the resumption and extension of the export trade 

 due to the cessation of hostilities in Europe should be a further inceii- 

 tive to deal comprehensfvely with this matter. 



Jonathan Spot and Freckles. 



Apart from the spotting of the fruit known as Stigmonose caused 

 by insects — mostly by the Harlequin Bug {Ditulyrtnif^ versicolor) — all 

 varieties of apples are liable to become disfigured by " spot diseases " 

 other than those which cause apple scab and Bitter Pit. 



Jonathan Spot and Freckles are two of the diseases referred to, 

 and they usually appear at the end of the ripening period, if the 

 weather be wet at the time, and particularly if cold winds then prevail. • 

 All varieties are liable to become affected with Jonathan Spot, but none 

 is so subject to infection as the one after wViich this " spot " is 

 named. 



Plate 199 depicts the condition of an apple affected with this diseas.e. 

 The variety is Stone Pippin, and this apple was selected for the illus- 

 tration for the reason that, being ripe, its yellow skin shows the 

 spotting more clearly than would the darker rind of the "Jonathan, 

 This was the most extensively and perfectly marked specimen which 

 has come under the notice of the writer. This condition of the fruit ie- 

 often mistaken for Bitter Pit, and it is sometimes termed " surface- 

 pitting." Pits or depressions do occur in the rind, however, as may 

 be observed in Fig. 1, but the spots are much darker than those caused 

 by the true Bitter Pit.. Fig. 2 is the same specimen, showing in the 

 pulp from which the s^ice was cut, that instead of penetrating toward? 

 the core like Bitter Pit, the infection is confined to the skin and a few 

 layers of cells beneath it. If the figures in this illustration be com- 

 pared with those in Plate 198 the difference between Jonathan Spot 

 wnd true Bitter Pit will be quite apparent. 



The losfB^ caused by Jonathan Spot in seasons favorable to it are 

 sometimes serious, but these could be rendered infinitesimal by picking 

 the fruit while dry and carefully storing it when matured. This spot 

 is most in evidence when the fruit is allowed to remain on the trees 

 after it has ripened, or when picked at that time and allowed to remain 

 i'xposed in the orchard during wet, cold weather. Tlie spotting some- 

 times develops in cool storage also, especially if the fruit be wet whe?i 



