ANALYSIS OF REPLIES TO QUESTIONS BY FRUIT-GROWERS. 



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INFLUENCE OF SYSTEM OF PRUNING ON DISEASE. 



The system of pruning is generally believed to influence the disease, and severe or hard 

 pruning is considered to favour it. 



In Victoria more than double the number of orchardists are of opinion that pruning has to 

 do with the disease than that it has no influence upon it. " Heavy pruning on Williams' Favorite 

 will make the trees rotten with Pit. Prune lightly, leaving laterals to run sap off, and the disease 

 is lessened 75 per cent." " When the laterals are left long or unpruned altogether (if not too long) 

 a large percentage of clean fruit will result." " To leave most of the long laterals with fruit spurs 

 attached is beneficial ; it exhausts the rapid flow of sap, and the fruit matures gradually." 

 " Have found it bad in both severe and light pruning." 



In New South Wales it is generally considered that the system of pruning affects the disease, 

 and invariablv it is stated that severe pruning encourages it. ££ Heavier the pruning the worse the 

 disease." " It would be a mistake to heavily prune any tree subject to Pit which was growing 

 vigorously." 



In South Australia the great majority are convinced that severe pruning accelerates the 

 disease. " Severe pruning is the cause of the whole trouble in our experience." " The harder 

 trees are pruned the more subject they are to Pit ; but a great deal depends on the method of 

 pruning and the treatment of laterals." " Heavy pruning induces pitting iinless heavy cropping 

 prevents." " I left one tree unpruned in the middle of 2 acres of Cleopatras for ten years, and 

 picked more clean apples from that one (in a bad season) than from ten of the heavily pruned 

 trees." " We allowed the leaders of Cleopatra trees to remain last season, and these particular 

 trees seemed to have rather less Bitter Pit." 



In Western Australia every one is agreed that heavy pruning intensifies the disease, especially 

 in young trees. " The harder the winter pruning the more prevalent the disease." 



In Tasmania the larger number consider that severe pruning aggravates the disease. " I 

 think the pruning has a lot to do with it. Trees that I pruned lightly and left all the laterals had 

 less disease than those which were cut severely." " If a tree is allowed to go unpruned, and carry a 

 heavy crop, there will be enough fruit to absorb the moisture and not show Pit." 



INFLUENCE OF STOCK USED ON DISEASE. 



In connexion with the stock used, a number of the growers are not in a position to offer an 

 opinion, as the stock commonly used is Northern Spy, and few have tried other stocks. 



In Victoria there are only eight of the growers who consider that the stock influences the 

 disease, some from trying different stocks and others from the view that the Northern Spy stock 

 encourages it. " I suspect the disease is affected by the stock used, since no apple is worse affected 

 than the Spy, which is used almost exclusively for stocks." " Less Pit on Majetin stock." 

 "Personally I favour the Five Crown seedling as a stock." "Have had Spy and Seedling stocks 

 in same row and not noticed any difference." " I grafted a Cleopatra on a seedling I raised, and it 

 is the worst tree in the orchard with Bitter Pit." " It appears to me as if the stocks on which 

 varieties are worked and the methods of pruning if not the cause, are at least contributing 

 factors." Mr. James Lang, of Harcourt, replies : — All the old apple trees in my orchard are on 

 seedling stocks, and they are as much subject to the disease as are those on the blight-proof stock. 

 In the old orchards around Harcourt the trees were all worked on seedling stocks, but they are 

 just as liable to the disease as on any other stock." 



In New South Wales very few have tried working on different stocks. 



In South Australia the few who have tried different stocks agree that they exert an influence 

 on the disease. " By using a vigorous grower, such as Northern Spy or Strawberry Pippin for stocks, 

 the liability to Pit is increased." 



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