146 REPORT OF THE BOTANIST OF THE 
tured, lowering the market value of the fruit to a very large 
extent, and in many cases ruining it entirely. (Plate XV, Figs. 
1 and 2.) 
This fungus does not cause as rapid decay of the fruit as most 
of the more common ones do, ‘such as blue mold, Penicilluum 
glaucum, and bitter rot, Gloeosporium fructigenum, but works 
rather slowly as compared with these, and under more exacting 
conditions than most rot-producing fungi. The decayed spots 
are distinct, except where several have coalesced, circular in 
outline, and vary in diameter from the size of a pinhead up to 
an inch, or even more. A very prominent characteristic of this 
rot is that it is a very shallow-growing one; the decayed spots 
extend into the fruit but a little way. (Plate XVI.) In the 
more common rots of apples a large area of the fruit is rapidly 
affected, and the decay extends to the core and often beyond 
toward the opposite side, and usually the affected tissue is soft, 
whereas in this rot it is rather hard and cork-like and quite dry. 
The taste of the. decayed tissue caused by this fungus is also 
very characteristic, being decidedly bitter. This fact is of great 
importance in the manufacture of cider, for if apples affected 
with much of this rot are made into cider it will have a bitter 
taste, ruining its value as a beverage. It has been reported to 
us, but we have not made investigations to confirm it, that if the 
cider is to be made into vinegar the bitterness is not an objection. 
After the apples had been harvested and were left in piles on 
the ground for a few warm days, it was observed that the disease 
had made very rapid progress in the bottom and interior of the 
pile, and that the fungus was in an exceedingly vigorous condi- 
tion. But where the fruit had been barreled up tight and left in 
the orchard, as is the common practice, or was put in ordinary 
storage sheds, or shipped in ordinary freight cars, after a week 
or two it was discovered that the disease had made much more 
rapid progress, waS more vigorous and had done greater dam- 
age than at any other time during the fall. It was also notice 
able that the fruit in the bottom of large bins, such as are used 
about cider mills and drying houses, would become one mass of 
decay if allowed to remain there longer than a few days. 

