528 INSECTS AFFECTING VEGETATION 



splits. Creasing has been found in abundance on trees showing a 

 severe splitting of the fruit. On the other hand, it is found inde- 

 pendent of fruit splitting. The remedy for creasing is essentially 

 the same as that recommended for splitting, but it seldom becomes 

 so serious a trouble as to require treatment. Some of the most suc- 

 cessful growers in the State who have been troubled with this malady 

 on their fruit have noticed that it disappears after a large applica- 

 tion of potash. 



Knots in the Rind. This is a malady that affects both grape- 

 fruit and oranges, but has not been found in other citrus fruits. The 

 knots show on the surface of the fruit as a slight raising of the skin, 

 and are easily identified by their hard feel. They are gum-infiltrated 

 spots in a thickened portion of the rind. Sometimes a gum pocket 

 filled with a clear gum will be found in them. Nothing is known as 

 to their origin. They occur in what are otherwise healthy fruit, and 

 are surrounded by apparently perfectly healthy tissue. 



Where the knots are very prevalent and well developed in the 

 rind, the market value of the fruit is affected. No method of treat- 

 ment or prevention has been developed, owing to lack of knowledge 

 of the factors that cause or influence the disease. 



Mechanical Injuries. Mechanical injuries are those markings 

 on the fruit that are due to wounds. They may be grouped into two 

 classes: Those made when the fruit is young, which show on the ma- 

 ture fruit as prominent markings ; and those in which the mold fungi 

 gain entrance and cause a rotting of the fruit. 



Superficial wounds may heal or dry down leaving a scar. If 

 these wounds are made when the fruit is young, the scar increases in 

 size with the growth of the fruit. A grasshopper was noticed biting a 

 fruit on a tree in the greenhouse. The fruit was one and one-half 

 inches in diameter, and the wound made was one-half inch across. 

 The fruit was allowed to develop. When it was almost mature, the 

 fruit was three inches in diameter, and the spot made by the grass- 

 hopper was one and one-fourth inches across. The new skin that de- 

 veloped over the wound had become scurfy, making the surface 

 resemble silver scurf. 



The fruit is subject to mechanical injury from the time it is 

 picked to the time it reaches the consumer. These wounds are nearly 

 always followed by a rotting of the fruit due to the different molds. 



The minute injuries made on the fruit during its preparation 

 for market causes the growers a loss of many thousands of dollars 

 every year. It has been demonstrated that these injuries can be 

 avoidea. Use gloves on the hands whenever the fruit must be touched. 

 Handle the fruit with the greatest of care. See that all surfaces that 

 touch the fruit are perfectly smooth and that all corners are rounded. 

 The fruit must be handled with as much care as a high explosive. 



Blue Mold Rot. This is the most prevalent kind of rot in citrus 

 fruits of all kinds. It begins as a softening and decay at any point 

 on the rind that has been punctured, scratched, or injured in any 

 way. It almost never appears as long as the rind is perfectly sound 



