ANALYSIS OF REPLIES TO QUESTIONS BY FRUIT-GROWERS. 



47 



What constitutes ripeness is not definitely settled in a practical way, for some growers 

 are guided by the brown colouration of the "pips." But the test of complete ripeness lies 

 in the absence of starch, and tincture of iodine will show its presence in the pulp by a blue 

 colouration. 



In ripening, the earliest disappearance of starch is at the core, and this is correlated with the 

 fact that the core is fully developed before the flesh has ceased growing. " As the apple ripens, 

 starch begins to disappear near the centre of the fruit, and later at the periphery. The last traces 

 are to be found in the cells adjacent to the fibro-vascular bundles." (113.) 



XVII.— ANALYSIS OF REPLIES TO QUESTIONS BY FRUIT - GrK( ) WEES. 



A circular containing questions regarding Bitter Pit (Appendix III.) was sent to the 

 principal growers in the different States (with the exception of Queensland), and an analysis of 

 the replies is here given. There were 125 replies to this circular received from Victoria, 

 representing the principal fruit-growing districts, 24 from New South Wales, 21 from South 

 Australia, 43 from Western Australia, and 34 from Tasmania, making a total of 247 replies 

 received. The opinions are rendered the more valuable from being the outcome of the personal 

 experience of growers in widely-separated States. 



The experience of the orchardists varied from a few years up to fifty, and quite a number 

 had twenty to thirty years' experience. In the great majority of cases only apples were affected, 

 as in only ten orchards in Victoria was the disease reported on in pears, in five in South Australia, 

 in one each in Western Australia and Tasmania, while in New South Wales there was no record of 

 it in pears. Dr. Cobb (19), however, in 1903, figured it in pears under the name of Stigmonose, 

 and referred to it as a "disease common in all the Australian States." 



VARIETIES OF APPLES AFFECTED AND IMMUNE. 



As regards liable and immune varieties, there is the greatest diversity of opinion, 

 depending very often on the particular district, and the conditions under which thev are grown. 

 It would be very misleading to regard as immune those varieties which have not shown Pit in 

 certain districts, and no useful purpose would be served by giving the liable varieties recorded in 

 each of the different States. The lists given by the horticultural experts for each State of the 

 liable and comparatively free varieties will, therefore, be taken as giving a fair average. Some 

 orchardists record all their varieties as being absolutely free except Cleopatra, while others reply 

 — " I cannot state with certainty that any variety is or is not absolutely free." In Victoria, for 

 instance, fourteen growers have mentioned Pomrae de Neige as being absolutely free, and a New 

 South Wales orchardist states " Pomme de Neige, or 1 Snowy," as we call it, is the only variety I 

 have with Bitter Pit." In Victoria, too, it has been found pitted, although not very common. 

 (Fig. 48.) 



A South Australian grower replies—" None are absolutely free, but the following varieties 

 are practically resistant : — Dunn's Seedling, or Munroe'fl Favourite, Rome Beaut v, London 

 Pippin, and Kokewood." In Western Australia Yates is given as a certainty, and some add 

 Munroe's Favourite and Kokewood, and in Tasmania Munroe's Favourite is also given as free. 

 Moth Kokewood and Munroe's Favourite have been found with Bitter Pit in Victoria (Fig. and 

 while Cleopatra may be regarded as one of the most susceptible, Yates is the only variety that 

 has stood the test of immunity for a number of years. 



