CHAPTER IV 



THE DECAY OF FRUIT; USEFUL MOLDS; MOLD 

 DISEASES 



Of all food materials commonly found in the house- 

 hold none are so much injured by molds as fruits. 



Most pears, plums, 

 and peaches decay 

 rapidly; apples, 

 oranges, and bananas 

 keep somewhat 

 longer, but it is a 

 universal experience 

 that none of our 

 ordinary fruits can 

 be kept for any con- 

 siderable length of 

 time without de- 

 caying (Fig. 2i). 

 Winter apples, with 

 their solid flesh and 

 their tough, smooth skin, can be kept for many months 

 without rotting, and the thick skins of oranges and lemons 

 protect them a long time. But thin-skinned fruits, like cher- 

 ries or berries, can be kept only a comparatively few days. 

 The decay of fruit is by no means always alike, and it is 

 produced by a variety of causes. If one simply examines 



40 



Fig. 21. An apple beginning to decay under 

 the action of certain species of molds. 



