With regard to the former disease, Brooks has Uttle to say. The 

 ■Aaracteristic appearance of the disease is given, and the spots are noted 

 as being closely connected with the vascular bundles. The cause of the 

 spotting is ascribed to abnormal physiological conditions and a loss of 

 water from t\e tissue. Brooks also studied the disease in apples from 

 Maine, Michigan, and New York, from Ottawa, Canada, and Capetown, 

 South Africa. 



The latter disease, known as the fruit spot of apples. Brooks con- 

 siders is due to a parasitic fungus, Gylindrosporium fomi. Brooks. 



Sorauer (18) in 1909 describes the trouble as one common in Europe, 

 especially in loose soils in dry seasons. He thinks that owing to premature 

 dryness of the soil, the necessary quantity of organic material is prevented 

 from reaching the developing fruit, whereby certain groups of cells are 

 starved, and quickly perish. 



Names of the Disease. 



I shall now pass on to my own observations and conclusions regarding 

 this disease. 



Bitter-pit, stippen, stipp-fleche, Baldwin fruit spot, the brown spot, 

 and dry rot of the apple are names applied to a curious spotting of the 

 fruit which commonly occurs in South Africa and many other parts of the 

 world. It is a defect not confined entirely to the apple, but is occasionally 

 seen in pears and quinces. As it is so commonly found and well known 

 in apples, this report is confined to a study of the disease in these frxiits 

 alone. 



Geographical Distribution. 



From the available literature it is clear that this trouble was known 

 at least twenty years ago in AustraUa, America, and Europe. In Aus- 

 tralia it was first thought that the " brown spotting " of apples was due 

 to a puncture by the Harlequin fruit bug, but closer examination showed 

 that this was not so. In America the sunken spots of the Baldwin apple 

 were primarily associated with a fungus, while in Europe the spots were 

 ascribed to too great a concentration of sap following a loss of water. 



Bitter-pit is now commonly found in apples from Canada, United 

 States, Cahfornia, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, and Europe. 

 It occasionally occurs in apples grown in England and Madeira. From 

 enquiries which I have made it does not appear to be prevalent in India. 

 In South Africa bitter-pit occurs practically wherever apple culture is 

 carried on. 



Apple Culture in South Africa. 



Before describing the disease, it will be well to say a few words regard- 

 ing apple culture in South Africa. Cape Colony is at the present time 

 the chief apple-growing centre, though there are undoubtedly large portions 

 of the high veld throughout South Africa eminently suited to this fruit. 

 It is only within the last twenty years that choice varieties of the best 

 sorts have been grown in anything approaching a commercial scale. Prior 



