FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
117 
when we consider the benefits to be de- grade, and greater prices, it seems that 
rived in increasing the yield, raising the the case for spraying is conclusive. 
AMMONIATED OR DIEBACK MARKED FRUIT 
B. F. Floyd, Gainesville, Fla. 
No symposium on Bright Citrus Fruit 
can be complete without a discussion of 
“ammoniated” fruit. While no official 
estimate has ever been made, there is no 
doubt but that the percentage of culls 
caused by dieback is large. Many com¬ 
plaints have come to my desk from pack¬ 
ing-house managers, stating the large 
percentage of culls induced by this cause, 
and asking help for the growers. And 
the quantity of such fruit brought into the 
packing house does not represent the total 
loss, for much was left in the grove as 
drops. 
“Ammoniated” fruit is the name that 
has been given to those fruits which have 
been marked by the diseased condition 
known as dieback or exanthema. The or¬ 
igin of the name is in the fact that the dis¬ 
ease is favored or induced by feeding the 
trees with excessive amounts of certain 
sources of ammonia. However, the name 
is a misnomer, for it gives rise to the 
false impression that all sources of am¬ 
monia are favorable to the disease; where¬ 
as, it is only the organic sources, such as 
cottonseed meal, and various animal ex¬ 
crements and products, that are accused of 
inducing it. It would be much better to 
speak of such fruits as die-back-marked 
fruits. However, the name is an estab¬ 
lished one, and is doubtless the one that 
will prevail. 
APPEARANCE 
“Ammoniated” fruit is characterized by 
an apparent gum-soaked condition of the 
outer rind, in spots and irregular areas. 
This appearance is due to the fact that the 
cells of the epidermal and sub-epidermal 
tissues are filled with a gummous mass. 
The spots and areas are very little raised, 
and the surface is often cracked in a criss¬ 
cross manner. The color of the markings 
varies from a light to a dark brown. 
Splitting and dropping are common, but 
not constant, characters. The line of 
splitting develops in the marked areas. 
This method of splitting is so character¬ 
istic that the grower recognizes such split 
fruits as being distinct, and speaks of them 
as “die-back splits.” 
The markings on the fruit may develop 
at any time from that when the fruit is 
of walnut size until it is nearing full size. 
If the condition is severe, splitting and 
dropping may persist until there are but 
few fruits. 
There is no particular arrangement of 
the spots and areas, excepting that a spot 
or area often occurs at the blossom end of 
the fruit, in which a split may develop. 
Another character of “ammoniated” 
fruit, although it is not a constant one, 
'is the development .of clear gummous 
masses in the angles of the segments. Oc- 
