ii6 Report of the Botanist. 



was found to occur in- large, highly colored and fully ripe apples 

 with the same constancy as in small anU poorly colored ones 

 there seems to be no reason for believing, the trouble due to this 

 cause. Overbearing, however, may have some connection witli, 

 or be responsible for it. The crop of Baldwin apples in 1902 was 

 excessively large and many trees o»verbore and this, possibly, is 

 an explanation of the trouble. Then too the season of 1902 was 

 an unusually wet one, and it may be that the excessive moisture, 

 in addition to the overbearing, was responsible for the decay. 



The fact that there is no record o-f a previous trouble of this 

 kind with Baldwin apples tends to strengthen the theory that it 

 was due to the peculiar season. But why it should be so con- 

 stant in Baldwin apples and absent in the other prominent varie- 

 ties is not understood. 



The fruit spqt of the Baldwin apple^ is well known and in 

 some seasons a serious trouble. Like this core decay the cause 

 is not known, but it has been definitely determined that it is not 

 fungi or bacteria. During the season of 1902 there was none 

 of it in western New York, which seems to indicate that the 

 conditions, whatever they may be, that favor its development 

 are not the same that favor the development of the core decay. 



Why this decay should be so constant in Baldwin apples and 

 absent in the other prominent varieties we are unable to say. It 

 was not. however, confined entirely to Baldwin apples. One 

 hundred and twenty-two different varieties of apples, stored under 

 the same conditions in the Station storage house were examined 

 and specimens of Cox Pomona, Jacob, Jones Seedling, Northwest 

 Greening, Esopus Spitzenberg, Wolf River and Peck Pleasant 

 were found that showed the decay in varying degrees. 



While the trouble appears to be one peculiar to the season, it 

 is very clear that the conditions of storage exerted a pronounced 

 influence on checking the decay. On April 1 1 and again on 

 June 4 — within a week of the end of the apple season— quantities 

 of Baldwin apples of different grades that had been in cold 

 storage (30 and 32° F.) since October were examined and not 

 a single affected specimen found, while apples of the same variety 

 under various conditions of or.dinary storage invariably showed 

 marked cases of the trouble. 



2 For a description of this trouble see Bulletin No. 164, p. 215, of this Station. 



