ItOTS. 



To the uuinitiatt'd ;ill ■• Ituts " iire pretty much the same, hut ;i momeiifs 

 reflection will show that if a remedy or preventive is to be forthcoming, the 

 disease must be properly diagnosed. The following " Rots " affect fruit : — 



1. Hitter rot or Ripe rot. due to a fungus seientiflcally named Glwospor- 

 iiiin fndiifiriiiiiii. Berk. This produces a soft brown rot, and tlie fungus is 

 readily determined under the microscope. 



2. Brown rot. whicli attacks a great variety of fruits l)esides the apple, 

 is caused li.v a fungus which i)roduces its spores in chains, and lience called 

 Monilia frKctiyciKi. I'ers. 



.3. Jlouldy core, which begins at the core of certain varieties of apples 

 and spreads outwards until the entire apple becomes rotten and worthless, is 

 caused by the same fungus as the disease. It is simply a case of 

 infection starting from the centre instead of from the circumference, and is 

 naturall.v prevalent in those apples which have a ]iassage at the blossom end 

 leading to the core. 



4. " Mouldy Rot '■ gives a mouldy taste to the apple, and is due to a 

 fungus which is very connnou indeed, the "Blue-green Jlould " or Poik-illium 

 glauciiiii. Ijink. I have called it the "Blue-green Mould" becau.se there is a 

 so-called " Blue Mould " on tobacco which is quite distinct from this one. 



The Penicilliiiiii is ever.^^vhere present, and is more generally regarded as 

 attacking decaying or deta.ved fruit, than as being itself the cause of decay. — 

 Vh-torhi, Australia. Bulletin yo. ■'(). 



Bitter Rot (Gloiiiciillu lufo-iiiuruldux. Berk.). 



The di.seased spots are usually a iiuarter to a half-inch in diameter before 

 the fruit-grower ordinarily notices them, but they first appear as ver.f small, 

 .vellowish-brown. sometimes watery, specks, freiiuentl.v bordered with a ring 

 of piu'ple-red. The puriilish margin is especially jn-oniinent on spots that are 

 retarded by cool weather, and many late infectious ai)iiear only as red or 

 jiurplish specks, never developing farther on account of adverse conditions. 

 On the other hand, the purplish colouration is likely to be entirely absent from 

 a spot that is develoi>ing rapidly under favourable conditions. As the spot 

 enlarges and grows older it becomes dark-brown in the centre, shading oEC into 

 a light, watery margin. It is eircidar in outline, with a well-defined margin, 

 and soon becomes sunken. 



When tlie spots are about one-half inch in diameter, fruiting pustules begin 

 to appear in the form of small black dots, slightly rai.sed and usually arranged 

 in concentric rings. The.se pustules soon break tlirough the skin, discharging 

 ]jink, sticky spore masses, which are readil.v washed off by dews and rains. As 

 the disease progresses, other rings of pustules appear and give forth spores in 

 great abundance. When the pink spore masses are washed away the pustules 

 aiipear as black, ragged openings through the skin of the apple. An apple 

 may ha\e only one diseased spot, but in a serious outbreak there are usually 

 several, and it is not uncommon to see a fruit literally peppered with points 

 of infection. During the pa.st season the writer counted 1,200 on a single 

 apple, and estimated ],000 on each of several others. When so numerous. 



