MARKET DISEASES OF FRUITS AXD VEGETABLES 45 



SPLITTING 



Splitting or cracking at the eye end of the fig is sometimes the 

 cause of heavy losses in the orchard and is occasionally found on the 

 market. The cracks may appear as mere crevices at the side of the 

 eve or may extend so deep that the affected fig is practically split in 

 half (pi. 20, C). 



The Caiimyrna variety is particularly susceptible to splitting. The 

 occurrence of this condition in the orchard appears to be associated 

 with damp weather and a turgid condition of the fruit. It is prob- 

 able that package pressure and careless handling may contribute to 

 the development of the trouble in transit and on the market. 



SUNBURN 



During a large part of their life on the tree figs maintain a position 

 that keeps the eye end up. or at least no lower than the stem end. The 

 eye end or at times the side of the fruit is thus the part most exposed 

 to the sun. At maturity the fruit hangs with the eye end down. 

 The result is that sunburn, to which the skin of } 7 oung fruits seems 

 very susceptible, is usually found on what comes to be, late in the 

 season, the lower part of the fruit. 



Sunburn consists of tan to dark-brown bands about one-fourth of 

 an inch wide, encircling the eye, or of similarly colored, irregular 

 blotches or spots one-half to three-quarters of an inch across, on the 

 side of the fruit (pi. 20, D) . Observations on the market indicate that 

 neither of these is of importance except as a blemish. 



Mangoes 

 anthracnose 



(Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Penz.) 



OCCURRENCE, SYMPTOMS, AND EFFECTS 



Anthracnose, or black spot, is the most important disease of mangoes 

 in regions where this fruit is grown commercially. It develops on 

 all tender parts of the plant and is especially severe on the flowers and 

 flower stems. It has been generally known that wet cloudy weather 

 during the blooming period of the mango often was followed by poor 

 setting of fruit. Only lately has it been shown that this is due chiefly 

 to the killing of flower clusters by anthracnose rather than to poor 

 pollination. Young leaves when attacked wither and dry up. Some- 

 times only the edges of the leaves are affected. These margins darken, 

 dry. and may fall out. giving the leaf a ragged appearance. The 

 disease produces a withertip of the tender twigs. Black dotlike fruit- 

 ing bodies of the fungus cover the surfaces of dead leaves and twigs. 



Anthracnose usually appears on the fruit only as it ripens. The 

 spots at first appear near the stem end as very small brown areas that 

 enlarge rapidly and become black. In some cases the areas involved 

 are in the form of streaks running down from the stem end. Often 

 the entire surface of the fruit is covered by the coalescing of the spots. 

 The affected areas usually crack and sink slightly. The decay is con- 

 fined to the skin of the fruit except in late stages when it may penetrate 



