430 Brooks : The Fruit Spot of apples 



the whole surface system is closely interwoven and connected. In 

 the small veinlets the vascular elements become fewer and fewer, 

 finally giving place to long narrow cells that seem to be transi- 

 tional between the vascular tissue and that of the apple pulp. 

 Chemical composition. — The chemical composition of the apple 



varies greatly with the time of the year. 



Pfeiffer (19) reported that crude fiber, ash, protein, sugar, acid, 

 water, pectin, and dextrin all increased in the apple during growth. 



Bigelow, Gore, and Howard (20) found that the sugar content 

 of winter apples increased from the time of the June drop till No- 

 vember 5, when the apples began to break down and become 

 mealy. During this time the acid, as estimated on a total solids 

 basis, was constantly decreasing. These changes in the sugar and 

 acid content took place very rapidly in the latter half of June and 

 early part of July. The starch content reached its maximum 



J 



Mo 



in the " after-ripening " process was the change of starch to sugar. 

 Cold storage retarded this and other chemical changes but could 

 not prevent them. 



Otto (22) reported that when ripe apples were allowed to sweat 

 in piles the starch was entirely converted into sugar in two or three 

 weeks, the fruit thus becoming more valuable for cider-making. 



Zschokke (6) reported that the tannin content decreased in the 

 ripening process. He found that the tannin was located large y 

 in the surface cells of the apple. He believed that apples owed 

 their resistance to decay fungi much more to the chemical composi 

 tion of the cell sap, especially to the tannic and malic acid content, 

 than to any mechanical protection. 



The Fruit Pit of apples 



The writer finds that there are two distinct fruit spots that oc- 

 cur on New Hampshire apples. Some stages of either of t es 

 might be included under any of the previously mentioned des ^ 

 tions. In the following pages one of these will be called the 

 Pit and the other the Fruit Spot of the apple. 



Characteristics.— In early stages of the Fruit Pit one finds nu 

 erous sunken areas from two to six millimeters in diameter 





