CONFLUENT BITTER PIT OR CRINKLE. 



13 



about in various ways, by bruising the skin without breaking it, by hail, and other agencies, as will 

 be 'shown later, but the recognised Bitter Pit is due to internal causes, to be afterwards 

 explained. The bitter taste of the affected fruit has been called in question, but, while it is generally 

 perceptible, it is not always to be detected, just as in the case of bitter rot. I find that it requires 

 to be kept in the mouth for some little time before the bitterness is perceived. Besides, the sense 

 of taste is much keener in some individuals than in others, and the remarks of Dr. Cobb, who gave 

 it the name of Bitter Pit, are pertinent. " I recently had a vote taken among some impartial 

 persons, and the result was decidedly in favour of the bitterness of the pits. It may be that two 

 or more diseases are spoken of under this head, and that this accounts for conflicting opinions. The 

 taste, to me, is decidedly bitter. People differ in what they call bitter. Users of tobacco and 

 spirits sometimes have an altered taste." 



The rotting of the fruit affected with Bitter Pit is also characteristic. The apple, as a whole, 

 becomes brown, the pulp turning soft, and, although shrivelled and shrunken, there is no breaking 

 of the skin. It may finally be noted that trees subject to this disease may be perfectly healthy 

 otherwise. The Prince Bismarck tree shown in Fig. 133 was badly pitted, but it looked perfectly 

 healthy as a tree, and even when the roots were carefully examined, there was no sign of 

 weakness. 



V.-CONFLUENT BITTER PIT OR CRINKLE. 



Tins is a disease which has been particularly prevalent during the past season, and to which 

 I gave the name of Crinkle in 1901, in a Report on Diseased Apples (57), and the short account 

 there given may be reproduced here. 



"Besides the recognised Bitter pit, which causes small brown depressions on the surface, 

 another appearance was noticed, particularly in Rome Beauty and Five Crown Pippin. The skin 

 is apparently quite sound but a little darker towards the eye end, and, if cut across, brown dead 

 tissue is found immediately beneath the skin or beneath the skin and the core. There may be 

 actual cavities in the decaying flesh, and the diseased patches do not taste bitter (?) Although 

 many varieties not specially subject to Bitter pit exhibit the Crinkle disease, it is probably likewise 

 due to disordered nutrition. The upper end of the apple ripens first, and if from any cause a 

 proper supply of nourishment fails to reach it, there would be decay and ultimate death of the 

 cells. I have given the common name of " Crinkle " to this disorder because the upper surface 

 of the fruit is thrown into rough folds, giving it usually an uneven and crinkled appearance. Crinkle 

 appears to be most common in the cooler districts, the worst affected varieties in South Gippsland 

 being Five Crown, Rome Beauty, and Rymer, while Jonathan, Prince Alfred, and Esopus Spitzenberg 

 are not susceptible." 



Since then, numerous specimens of the disease have come under my notice, and I have been 

 able to investigate it more fully, both in the orchard and in the laboratory. It generally occurs 

 towards the crown end of the apple (Figs. 30, 39), and when a transverse section is made there, 

 as shown in Fig. 38, the tissue beneath the skin is seen to be brown and spongy, with large cavities 

 through it, while the skin itself remains intact. This brown tissue is more or less continuous, and 

 not in isolated patches as in ordinary Bitter pit. I now find, however, that on the same tree there 

 may be every gradation from Bitter pit alone to Bitter pit and Crinkle combined, and finally Crinkle 

 alone. On a Blenheim Pippin tree at Burnley Gardens, a solitary apple was affected with Crinkle, 

 while the bulk of the crop had Bitter pit, and on another tree of the Five Crown variety in the 

 suburbs of Melbourne with a fairly good crop, a single apple was affected with Bitter pit, while a 

 majority of the others had Crinkle or Crinkle and Bitter pit combined. When the disease is not 



