BLUE MOLD DECAY OF DELICIOUS APPLES 



Table 4. — Relation of maturity and ripeness oj Delicious apples 

 to blue mold infection after bruising at intervals during storage season, 

 harvest of 1948 



Kind and time of 

 treatment 



Maturity at 

 harvest 



Fruits 

 tested 1 



Bruised 

 areas in- 

 fected 



Fruits infected 





At 



bruised 



areas 





Bruising 



Inoculation 



At 

 non- 

 bruised 

 areas 



Harvest 



Harvest 



Harvest- ___ 



Dec. 1 



Dec. 1 



Dec. 1 



Feb. 1 



Feb. 1 



Feb. 1 



Mar. 21 



Mar. 21 



Mar. 21 



f Immature 



\Overmature___ 



f Immature 



\Overmature___ 



("Immature 



\ Overmature. __ 



("Immature 



\ Overmature. __ 



f Immature 



\Overmature___ 



f Immature 



\ Overmature— _ 



f Immature 



\ Overmature. __ 



("Immature 



\ Overmature. __ 



( Immature 



1 Overmature.. _ 



/ Immature 



\Overmature___ 



("Immature 



\ Overmature. __ 



("Immature 



\Overmature___ 



Number 

 20 

 20 

 20 

 20 

 20 

 20 

 20 

 19 

 20 

 20 

 20 

 15 

 20 

 17 

 20 

 20 

 20 

 16 

 20 

 20 

 20 

 20 

 20 

 20 



Percent 

 20 



28 



Percent 

 30.0 

 40.0 



Percent 

 

 

 









5. 



Harvest 



Dec. 1 







5 



35 



52 







10.0 

 60.0 

 71.0 







10.0 

 



5.3 

 



Harvest 



Feb. 1 



~~6~ 



7 

 30 

 68 



________ 



11. 1 



60.0 



100.0 



15.0 

 5.0 



33.3 

 5.0 



17.6 

 













Harvest____ 

 Mar. 21____ 







7 

 45 

 70 







12. 2 



75. 



100. 





 18. 8 





 15.0 

















Harvest 





 





 















1 2 bruises were produced on each apple bruised. 



The more mature fruits were much more susceptible to fungus 

 invasion than fruits of early harvest maturity (tables 3 and 4). 

 Bruising greatly increased the incidence of decay, and the over- 

 mature fruits continued to be more susceptible than the immature 

 ones. 



Immature and overmature apples in 1948 (table 4) showed little 

 difference in amount of decay after bruising and inoculation at 

 harvesttime. However, the effect of overmaturity at time of harvest 

 became clearly evident as the apples were bruised and inoculated after 

 intervals in storage. Ripening during storage accentuated the 

 greater susceptibility of the overmature fruits to bruising damage 

 and resultant decay. 



