114 Report of the Botanist of the 



Tl;e fact that only apples affected with scab were attacked by 

 this fungus, as was the case with " Pink Rot," emphasizes more 

 emphatically than ever the great importance of protecting the 

 apple crop from scab by thorough and persistent spraying with 

 bordeaux mixture. 



The finding of decayed fruit in several cold storage houses 

 indicates that the low temperature cannot be relied upon to hold 

 the trouble entirely in check, thougli it is probable that it does 

 retard its development to some degree. 



II. A CORE DECAY OF BALDWIN APPLES. 



During the past winter our attention was called to a very 

 peculiar decay of Baldwin apples. Outwardly the fruit would 

 appear to be perfectly sound, but upon being cut a part of the 

 tissue surrounding the core was found to be decayed. (Plate VI.) 



The decayed tissue, which was brown, dry-rotten and tasteless, 

 was entirely surrounded by sound, healthy tissue of normal 

 quaHty. This indicated that the trouble was not of fungous 

 origin. However, to determine this point definitely, sections of 

 afifected tissue were examined microscopically for_ fungus hyphae 

 and bacteria, but none could be found. Petri dishes, containing 

 neutral potato agar were inoculated at several different points 

 with small pieces of the diseased tissue removed under sterile 

 conditions. No growth appeared at any of the points of inocu- 

 lation, and it was very evident that the trouble was not caused 

 by fungi or bacteria. 



Sections of afifected tissue were tested with a solution of iodine 

 for starch, but rfone was found, indicating that the tissue had 

 ripened properly and the decay had developed subsequently. 



The trouble was first discovered in apples that were under- 

 sized and poorly colored, and afifected specimens were usually 

 poor in flavor. A little later first class fruit was examined and 

 found to be afifected. 



An efifort was made to determine if there was any correlation 

 of the size, color or fiavor of the fruit with the core decay. 

 Quantities of apples of different sizes and degrees of coloring 

 were examined, but in all cases the decay was found. There 

 was no difference in the size of the decayed area whether the 



