THE DISEASES OF FRUITS. 



229 



spots upon the fruit, usually the upper side being the most 

 affected, which is often dwarfed, and the flesh may crack and 

 expose the inner substance to the inroads of the gray mould 

 previously mentioned (see Fig. 287.) The growth of the 

 scab fungus seems to depend largely upon the conditions which 

 obtain upon the upper side of the 

 fruit, whether this be the greater 

 heat upon the sun-exposed side, or 

 the fact that the spores are more 

 apt to find lodgment there than 

 elsewhere. This scab is similar in 

 its results to that of the apple and 

 pear, but not the same as either of 

 them, and therefore no spreading 

 of the disease may be expected 

 from the pomaceous fruits to the 

 stone fruits. This fungus, when 

 upon the foliage, produces spots of FIG - 287. A half-grown Peach, 

 dead tissue which, falling out, leave ^^^ T" (r uT 

 round vacant places, sometimes (From Smith.) 

 called " shot holes." The same ap- 

 pearance is often caused by Cercospora persica Sacc. 



Remedies. It has often been observed that overladen trees 

 are more affected than those with only a proper amount of 

 fruit, and this suggests that one of the best methods of hold- 

 ing the scab in check is by judicious thinning, which should 

 be done as soon as the time for the natural dropping ("June 

 drop ") is past. It is likewise true that the best way to thin 

 the fruit is by using the pruning shears early in the season. 

 The young peaches, when attacked by the scab, are so thickly 

 coated with fuzz that it almost prohibits any close contact of 

 a liquid fungicide with the fruit. Sulphur dusted through the 

 trees has been recommended, but the satisfactory method of 

 dealing with the scab is yet to seek. 



THE APRICOT. Rust (Puccinia pruni Pers.) of the apricot is 

 very destructive to the orchards in California. It attacks al- 

 most all the drupaceous fruits from prune to almond, but it is 

 only in the wanner portions of the United States that it is a 

 serious pest. 



Remedies This is one of the few genuine rusts that have 



