DECAY DUE TO DISEASE 



49 



Rotting of Fruit due to Diseases of the 

 Fruit Tree 



In addition to the rotting of fruit due to the growth 

 of common molds, it is important to know that many 

 diseases are caused by certain 

 microorganisms that attack the 

 plants upon which they are 

 growing, or attack the fruits 

 themselves while still growing 

 upon the fruit trees. These 

 sometimes produce various 

 kinds of rots and decay in the 

 fruit even before it is plucked 

 (Fig. 26, 27). In some cases the 

 fruit may appear to be perfectly 

 sound when picked from the 

 tree, but it is really already in- 

 fected with molds which cause 

 it later to show signs of decay 

 (Fig. 21). Nearly all of the 

 diseases in question are caused 

 by molds somewhat similar to 

 those we have already con- 

 sidered, but of different species. 

 Botanists know a large number 

 of species of molds which grow upon different fruit trees, 

 producing diseases of the tree and accompanied by decay 

 of the fruit. So far as concerns affairs of the household 

 these imperfections are quite beyond the reach of efficient 

 remedies. If the fruit which we buy at the market and 



Fig. 26. Peaches turned into 

 a hard mass (mummified) by 

 the action of fungi. 



