CHAPTER II 

 APPLE DISEASES Concluded 



SOFT-ROT OR BLUE-MOLD 

 Caused by Penicillium expansum (Lk.) emend. Thorn 



PROBABLY no one who has had anything whatever to do with 

 apples is absolutely ignorant of the soft-rot. It is the bane of 

 the apple dealer and consumer, and of any one who attempts to 

 hold this fruit in either common or cold storage. Of all the 

 rots of the barreled apple none is so ruinous, none so common, 

 and none so absolutely destructive. It is world-wide in its 

 geographical range, and it is variously called soft-rot, blue-mold, 

 bin-rot and Penicillium-rot. These names are all significant 

 and perhaps are desirable in the order listed. If the very pecul- 

 iar and characteristic odor, which is never absent from a dis- 

 eased fruit, could be accurately described in a single word, 

 doubtless a new and more appropriate common name could 

 be derived. The odor is the first noticeable feature of this 

 fruit decay, but the softness of the affected tissue will never 

 be overlooked by the careful observer, so that the name soft- 

 rot is very desirable. 



Symptoms. 



The odor given off from the barrel or bin by apples affected 

 with soft-rot has been mentioned; this is a very accurate 

 diagnostic symptom so far as determining the presence of the 

 disease in a lot of fruit is concerned. Apples which do not 

 show soft-rot lesions may, however, carry the peculiar charac- 

 teristic odor of the disease, owing to contact or proximity with 



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