310 CITRUS FRUITS 



the breathing pores, where they germinate and grow in the 

 fruit. In a short time the fruit begins to decay and it soon 

 develops the characteristic brown color. All of the citrus 

 fruits are affected with this rot, but the lemons suffer the 

 least from its attacks. The loss from this disease is the 

 greatest during wet weather. The disease continues to 

 spread rapidly in the packing house and often destroys whole 

 boxes of fruit before it is detected. 



The brown rot can easily be controlled if the fruit is washed 

 in water which contains copper sulphate at the rate of 1J 

 pounds to 1000 gallons of water. 



Stem-end Rot. — The stem-end rot affects the stem of the 

 fruit and causes it to drop. The dropping begins with the 

 green fruits and continues through the entire season. The 

 stem-end rot often causes the fruit to decay after it has 

 reached the market. This disease is difficult to control, 

 but the most successful method of control is to keep the tree 

 carefully pruned and to remove and destroy all mummied 

 fruit and dead twigs. 



Mould. — The blue and the green mould of the fruit causes 

 great losses in the citrus industry. These moulds are only 

 slightly parasitic on perfect fruits, and the decay is confined 

 principally to those fruits which have been injured in handling. 

 The moulds produce a soft rot and the spores appear as blue 

 or green powder on the surface of the affected fruit. The 

 loss from this disease can be largely prevented by the careful 

 handling of the fruit. 



Several other less important diseases are found on the 

 citrus fruit, and the reader is referred to some more extensive 

 treatise of that subject should he desire more information 

 concerning citrus diseases. 



INSECTS OF THE CITRUS FRUITS. 



The insects which attack the citrus fruits are small in 

 number, but they are very resistant to any control measures. 

 They cause great financial loss annually. The scale insects 

 are the most widely distributed and probably cause the 

 greatest damage. 



