110 



Instead of a rich transparent creaminess, we behold a leprous appear- 

 ance in the early stages, and when at last the reds and purples appear 

 they are not pure and transparent but have a dullness somewhat 

 like that of raw meat. 



The actual outbreak of the spores of the fungus causing the trouble 

 occurs on the darker areas just mentioned, and these outbreaks may 

 occasionally be seen on even quite small and immature fruit ; and I 

 think it quite possible that they may occur on the stems of such 

 young fruit, though I have not observed this. I have seen on the 

 stems areas that had precisely the same appearances as those on 

 the young fruit except that they bore no spores. 



The naked eye characteristics of this disease are very well shown in 

 Fig. 123, which is a life-size illustration of the disease as it appears on 

 growing fruit of the cherry. The fungus shown in the same illustra- 

 tion as producing holes in the leaves is altogether different and has 

 no connection with this disease of the fruit. On the smallest of the 

 cherries shown, the disease has already completely destroyed the fruit, 

 .and it has become brown and shrivelled ; the pedicel of the fruit has 

 been also attacked and it has shrivelled and curved into the form of a 

 letter S. The fruit a must have been attacked at the blossom stage. 

 The fruit b was also attacked early, and the disease is seen on one 

 ;side of the fruit near the top and on the stem. Similarly with the 

 fruit d. At c a fruit is shown on which the fungus has produced spores 

 in the manner described above, and this outbreak of spores is shown on 

 some parts of the diseased area in the form of a whitish incrustation. 

 The uppermost cherry has escaped the disease, and shows the 

 stage to which all the fruits should have advanced if they had not 

 been blighted. Attention is again called to the fact that the holes 

 represented in the leaves are caused by a quite distinct disease. 



Most of the damage is done before the cherries are half ripe, and 

 the entire crop may be destroyed. The fruit that reaches a market- 

 able size has a more or less unfavourable colour, and the flavour is 

 decidedly flat if the fruit actually contains the fungus, as it may do, 

 .and yet reach a marketable size. 



The dead fruit hangs on for some time, but finally drops off. The 

 foilage does not appear to suffer much, but does to a certain extent 

 suffer in the same manner as the stems of the young fruits. 



The comparatively wet season of 1903 brought to light a consider- 

 able amount of this disease in some of the best cherry districts of the 

 State Tenterfield, Armidale, and Goulburn. A number of young 

 orchards were badly attacked, and the losses must have totalled 

 several hundred pounds. 



At the time of the outbreak of the spores, which may be at any 

 time after the fruit has set, though it seems to occur most frequently 

 at the time the fruit is quarter grown, and from that time on, the 

 spore-bearing areas become darker than the surrounding tissues and 

 apparently more watery, as is indicated by an increased transparency 

 in spite of the darker colour. The spores are collected on exceedingly 

 short hyphae, grouped in minute cushion-like clusters, which at first 

 in some cases are snow white, but which kter on become light brown. 



