96 



BITTER PIT INVESTIGATION. 



as to be entirely unmarketable, but the trees themselves were badly affected with Woolly Aphis 

 The results are given in the following table : — 



Table XVIII.— Results of different Methods of Pruning on Cleopatra Apple Trees. 



Pruning. 



No. of Apples. 



Weight of 

 Fruit. 







lbs. 



Severe 



31 



5| 



Light 



41 



8 



Leader 



33 



6 



None 



28 



H 



Hitter Pit. 



Four apples 



Five apples, all full grown 



Two apples, big, the largest in the lot 

 One apple, moderately sized 



Remarks, 



The largest proportion of big 

 apples in any of the plots 



These results have no special value from the point of view of pruning, since any effect produced 

 by it was counteracted by the general development of Black Spot, owing to the absence of spraying, 

 but they are given for comparison with future results when the trees will be similarly pruned and 

 treated in every other respect as in the general orchard, including spraying. 



I have also to acknowledge that the smallness of the plots will hardly give a fair test of the 

 effects of the different methods of pruning on Bitter Pit, but since it was necessary for the purpose 

 in view to select a very susceptible variety, and since the Cleopatra is such a noted " pitter," and 

 has been so generally discarded, it was exceedingly difficult to get large blocks of this variety for 

 experimental purposes. 



This experiment, however, shows incidentally the value of spraying in the production of a 

 crop free from Black Spot, and is so instructive that a photograph is given (Fig. 122) of the 

 yield of the twelve trees when this necessary operation was neglected. 



7. At Government Farm, Bathurst, New South Wales. 



Experiments with hard, medium, and no pruning at all were carried out with Cleopatras, and, 

 as there were from ten to twelve trees in each plot, there is sufficient variety to secure average 

 results. The following are the results : — 



Table XIX. — Hard Pruning — Twelve Cleopatra Trees in two Rows. 







Yield of— 









Tree No. 







Total. 



Per cent. Pitted. 







Good Fruit. 



Pitted Fruit. 











lbs. 



lbs. 



lbs. 







■\ 



158 



4 



162 



2-47 





2 



199 



3 



202 



1-49 



Row 1 < 



3 



216 



2 



218 



0*92 



\ 



225 





230J 



2-38 





1 



162 



H 



166J 



2*56 





,6 



192 



2 



194 



1-03 





'1 



168 



2 



170 



1-18 





2 



101 



3 



104 



2-88 



Row 2 < 



3 



117 



4 



121 



3-31 



* 



198 



3 



201 



1-49 





5 



219 



5 



224 



2*23 





fi 



168 



6 



174 



3*45 





Totals for 12 trees 



2,123 



43| 



2,1661 







Averages for 12 trees 



m -9 



3-64 





2-02 



