10 



BITTER PIT INVESTIGATION. 



to be much written about, as proving that it first occurred synchronously with the general adoption 

 of spraying for Codlin moth, is weak if judged by parallels. It would scarcely be contended that 

 appendicitis in man or actinomycosis in cattle did not exist until they came to be written about 

 as such. Apart from the evidence of observant fruit-growers still living, the bibliography of the 

 subject affords ample evidence of the existence of the disease before the name Bitter Pit was 

 applied to it," In fact, when the new light which is thrown on the structure of the apple and 

 given in a subsequent portion of this report, is taken into account, there are good grounds for 

 believing that this disease may have existed in the apple from the time when it began to be 

 generally cultivated. 



The cultivated apple is a very ancient fruit, for De Candolle, in his " Origin of Cultivated 

 Plants," after reviewing the evidence, concludes— " From all these facts I consider the apple to 

 have existed in Europe, both wild and cultivated, from prehistoric times " ; and Darwin, in his 

 " Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication," not only points out that this fruit occurs 

 in the Swiss-lake dwellings, but that slight differences of culture and climate may produce important 

 modifications. It is well known that American varieties of the apple produce in their native land 

 magnificent and brightly-coloured fruit, but these in England are of poor quality and a dull colour. 

 I do not therefore attach much importance to the statement, especially when important deductions 

 are drawn from it, that the disease has only been known in comparatively recent times. 



IV.— CHAKACTERISTICS OF BITTER PIT. 



To any orchardist who is familiar with this disease, and has suffered loss through it, its 

 general characters are too well known to require description, but since there are various appearances 

 mistaken for it, and other diseases associated with it, a clear description of its nature and 

 characteristics will show exactly what we are dealing with in this investigation It is often stated 

 that it is not a disease at all, and if it were due to local poisoning, as is sometimes asserted, then in 

 the strict sense of the term, the point might be conceded, but, as will afterwards be shown, this is 

 one of the appearances mistaken for it. But even those orchardists who recognise the true nature 

 of the trouble, sometimes deny that it is a disease. As one puts it, it is neither contagious nor 

 infectious, and, therefore, not a disease. But this is simply applying a meaning to the term disease 

 which is not generally accepted. A disease, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, is an abnormal 

 condition of the organ, interfering with the use for which it is intended, or threatening its life, in 

 whole or in part. It is a derangement of function, associated with corresponding changes in 

 structure, and this will be clearly understood when we come to consider the normal structure and 

 functions of the apple. From this point of view, it is a disease, and will be so considered here. 



NAMES GIVEN TO THE DISEASE. 



The name of Bitter Pit, which is the one now generally recognised in Australia, was first 

 applied to this disease in 1895 by Dr. Cobb (16), then Vegetable Pathologist to the Department 

 of Agriculture in New South Wales. He noted an obscure disease of the apple in 1892, which was 

 characterized by pits or depressions externally, and brown spots in the flesh, with a bitter taste. 



This was by no means the first appearance of the disease even in Australia, for in 1886 it 

 was fully described by Frazer S. Crawford (23) in South Australia, under the name of " Spotting 

 <>[ Apples." It is generally known in the United States as " Baldwin Fruit-spot," because this 

 variety of apple is specially subject to it, but it was described in 1898 by Maynard (56) as the 

 '■ Dry-rot Spots" under the skin, in 1899 by Jones (43) as the "Brown Spot," and in 1908 by 

 Brooks (9) as the " Fruit Pit," 



