302 [ THE LOQUAT OR JAPANESE MEDLAR 



spherical kernels with rounded edges. The pear-shaped 

 loquat also originated in the Boschetto Gardens, and 

 often comes true from seed. 



4. THE LARGE OVAL LOQUAT. The fruit is large 

 oval, juicy, very fleshy and sweet. 



5. THK LARGE ROUND LOQUAT. The fruit is large, 

 round, very fleshy and juicy, but becomes sweet only at 

 full maturity. 



DISEASES. 



The worst enemy of the loquat is root-rot, usually 

 due to Rhizoctonia Mali D. C. which seems to attack the 

 roots of the loquat with greater virulence than those of 

 the apple. The roots become covered with a thick web 

 of white mycelium, which afterwards turns brown or pink- 

 brown, or brownish violet. The disease at first appears 

 on the smaller roots, r to 2 c. m. in thickness, attacking 

 and killing the tissues for about one third of the circum- 

 ference of the root, and spreads rapidly along the root to 

 the main roots, in the mean time the mycelium spreading 

 entirely around the smaller roots and killing them. When 

 the disease has reached the main roots and established 

 itself upon them the tree is doomed, but may live for some 

 years if the diseased tissues are scooped out until the 

 healthy wood is reached, and the wound disinfected 

 thoroughly with a strong solution of sulphate of copper 

 (i in 100), and then painted over with tar. The mycelium 

 of Rhizoctonia is often associated with that of another 

 formidable enemy, the well-known fungus ArmiUaria 

 mellea Vahl., whose mycelium seems to be able to remain 

 dormant on bits of dead roots for a considerable time 

 after the death and removal of the tree which it had 

 killed. 



The foliage is liable to the parasitism of several 

 fungi such as Stigmatea Mespili Sor. but the infection is 

 never so important as to interfere with the fruit-bearing 

 capacity of the tree. 



