6 



BITTER PIT INVESTIGATION. 



possible, the ravages of the disease, which appears not only in the fruit on the tree, but may 

 also develop in transit, becomes greater every year as new orchards are established and the fruit 

 export trade expanded. 



As showing how rapidly the cultivation of the apple is being extended in the different States 

 of the Commonwealth, and how a large export trade is being built up, I will give some figures relating 

 thereto, kindly supplied by the Commonwealth Statistician : — 



Table I. —Production of Apples in the Commonwealth for the past Three Seasons. 





Queensland. 



New South 

 Wales. 



Victoria. 



South 1 

 Australia. 



West 

 Australia. 



Tasmania. 



Totals. 



1908- 9 



1909- 10 



1910- 11 .. 



bushels. 



31,121 



29,662 

 25,410 



bushels. 



385,649 

 474,838 

 596,561 



bushels. 



1,241,826 

 1,121,702 

 1,667,271 



bushels. 



398,812 

 557,130 

 476,904 



bushels. 



186,321 

 217,533 

 261,563 



bushels. 



1,070,546 

 1,480,107 

 1,347,952 



bushels. 



3,314,275 

 3,880,972 

 4,375,661 



Totals . . 



86,193 



1,457,048 



4,030,799 



1,432,846 



665,417 



3,898,605 



11,570,908 



7 



For the season 1910-11, the total production of apples in the Commonwealth was 4,375,661 

 bushels, on the basis of 40 lbs. to the bushel, showing an increase over the previous season of nearly 

 half-a-million bushels, and for the three seasons ending with 191 1, there was a grand total of 11,570,908 

 bushels produced. 



Table II. — Oversea Export of Australian Apples from the Commonwealth for the past 



Three Years. 





Queensland. 



New South 

 Wales. 



Victoria. 



South 

 Australia. 



West 

 Australia. 



Tasmania. 



Totals. 



1909 

 1910 

 1911 



bushels. 



88 

 70 



58 



bushels. 



14,315 

 27,820 

 20,962 



bushels. 



214,902 

 188,233 

 304,002 



bushels. 



62,925 

 141,002 

 63,527 



bushels. 



1,645 

 6,657 

 17,535 



bushels. 



449,035 

 702,630 

 957,725 



bushels. 



742,910 

 1,066,412 

 1,363,809 



Totals . . 



216 



63,097 



707,137 



267,454 



25,837 



2,109,390 



3,173,131 



Confining our attention to the oversea export trade, and omitting all reference to the large 

 Inter-State trade, there were 1,363,809 bushels exported during the year 1911, and this shows an 

 increase of nearly 300,000 bushels over 1910, and of about 621,000 bushels over 1909. The total 

 oversea export trade has thus reached such dimensions that the production is only about three and 

 two-third times that of its bulk. With the large number of new orchards being planted and 

 coming into bearing in the various States, there is bound to be a great increase in production, 

 and while new markets are being opened up the quality of the fruit must be maintained. 



The problem set before me in the investigation of Bitter Pit is a very definite one— to determine 

 the cause and devise a remedy, if possible ; and, although in theory the cause has to be determined 

 first, in order that the way may be prepared for a reasonable means of prevention or mitigation, yet 

 in practice the measures adopted to reduce or minimize the disease will also help to throw light 

 upon the factors concerned in its causation. 



Hence, even from the outset, not only are there investigations in the laboratory to discover the 

 true nature of the part of the plant affected, viz., the fruit, and the characteristics of the disease to 

 which it is subject, but there are also systematic observations and experiments in the orchard to 

 determine the contributing factors, either in the way of lessening or aggravating the disease, The 



