8 



BITTER PIT INVESTIGATION. 



Since there was some difference of opinion among the Ministers, as to whether the States 

 should undertake the work without seeking the co-operation of the Commonwealth Government, it 

 was suggested by the Minister of Agriculture for South Australia that the following proposal should 

 be discussed at the proposed Conference of Ministers of Agriculture, in Melbourne : — " The Common- 

 wealth Government to be asked to contribute half the cost, the States of Victoria, Tasmania, New 

 South Wales, Western Australia, and South Australia contributing the other half." 



Meanwhile the National Fruit-growers' Conference of Australasia held in Hobart in December, 

 1910, adopted a resolution as follows : — " That this Conference, representing the fruit-growers of 

 Australia, again affirms the desirability of the Commonwealth Government retaining the services of 

 Mr. D. McAfpine, Victorian Government Pathologist, for the purpose of investigating the causes of 

 and remedy for Bitter Pit." 



Relative to the proposed investigation into Bitter Pit in Apples, the Federal Government 

 affirmed a principle which may have far-reaching effects in dealing with other serious and obscure 

 diseases of plants and animals, and which brings Australia into line with the up-to-date methods of 

 the United States. The Acting Prime Minister writes : — " In view of the very grave importance of 

 this subject, and the injurious influence of the disease in question on the fruit-growing industry— an 

 industry which promises almost unlimited expansion, with profit and advantage to Australia — this 

 Government considers it may properly extend financial aid to the States in meeting the cost^of careful 

 investigation, which may result in the discovery of a remedy for, and perhaps eradication of, this 

 disease." 



" It has therefore been decided to contribute at the rate of a sum not exceeding £1,000 per 

 annum, i.e., half of the actual expenditure, for a period not exceeding four years, upon the under- 

 standing that this arrangement will terminate at any earlier period, upon three months' notice, if 

 the Supervising Committee is of opinion that investigation here or elsewhere has satisfactorily 

 disclosed an efficient remedy for the disease." 



It was ultimately decided that I should undertake the investigation of Bitter Pit, commencing 

 on 1st August, 1911. The Commonwealth and the States combined have thus taken a forward step 

 in enabling the investigator to devote his whole time to the solution of such a puzzling problem, 

 without associating it with other duties, which might probably interfere with the due carrying 

 out of the necessary laboratory and orchard experiments, and the proper study of the question in 

 its scientific and economic aspects. 



III. — HISTORICAL. 



The first distinct notice I can find of this disease in Australian literature occurs in Frazer S. 

 Crawford's (23) "Report on the Fusicladiums, &c," published in 188G. Under the heading of 

 "Miscellaneous Diseases, &c, affecting the Apple," there is one referred to as Spotted Apples, and 

 the description is so precise that there is no difficulty in recognising the obscure disease afterwards 

 named Bitter Pit by Dr. Cobb. The account of it is given in full on account of its importance. " For 

 several years I have received apples from various parts of the colony covered with slightly depressed, 

 roundish spots or pits, about one-eighth of an inch in diameter. In most cases the. colour of the 

 spots was normal, but in one case the spots were brown. Beneath the pits the fruit was coloured 

 brown for some distance towards the core, but gradually lessening in width, until the altered part 

 disappeared. This part, although decayed in one sense, did not cause the adjacent parts to rot, as 

 m ordinary vegetable decay. Although it seems natural to suppose that the diseased spots are of 

 fungus origin, yet I could not detect with the microscope any mycelium permeating the tissues. One 

 fruit-grower asserts that the disease is owing to the trees being young and making too much sap 

 when planted in a damp situation. Sir E. D. Ross kindly referred the matter to Mr. Mundy, his 



