DISEASES 



229 



As with most fungi, considerable moisture is necessary to its 

 vigorous growth. This it finds among apples which have been 

 piled in heaps or put into tight barrels, or in various places of 

 ordinary storage where moisture is easily conserved. 



Greenings and Baldwins are both very susceptible to the fungus, 

 especially the former. In searching the markets of Ithaca, New 

 York, for Greenings 

 affected by the scab, 

 for experimental pur- 

 poses, none were 

 found that were not 

 also victims of the 

 pink fungus. 



This disease is 

 supposed to attack 

 only apples already 

 parasitized by apple 

 scab. If this is the 

 case, the first and 

 obvious thing to do 

 is to prevent apple 

 scab. Fruit-growers 

 are familiar with the 

 treatment of this dis- 

 ease, which is pre- 

 ventive. The tree is covered with a protective coating of Bordeaux 

 mixture, which prevents the germination of the spores from which 

 the parasitic plant is developed. When the parasite becomes es- 

 tablished, remedies are relatively ineffective. While a scab spot 

 will cease to enlarge if thoroughly covered with Bordeaux mixture, 

 no amount of doctoring will fully repair the injury. 



Fig. 104. Blue-mold decay [Penicillium) 



A rot of ripe apples — often seen where apples have been 

 bruised by careless handling. (University of Maine) 



