GARDENING NOTES

New Zealand Tablet, 28 September 1916, Page 51

GARDENING NOTES

(By Mr. J. Joyce, Landscape Gardener, Christchurch.)

FRUIT PESTS. This week I will continue my article on fruit pests, which is taken from the New South Wales Farmers’ wide). Powdery Mildew. The presence of this fungus is readily detected in an apple orchard by a number of the branches of the trees affected having either dead tips, which are of a greyish white or black color, or having tufts of smallsized leaves covered with a thick greyish white down at their extremities; and it is from this later characteristic that the fungus derives its name. The diseased leaves and twigs are whitish at first, but as the disease advances they become blackened, and finally the twig dies. Powdery mildew is widely distributed over the State; but as a rule it confines its attacks to a few varieties, the winter pearmain being especially subject to it. The remedy for the disease is to cut off and burn all diseased branches, and to spray the trees when the buds are bursting in spring with Bordeaux mixture. Bitter-Hot. This disease is called the ripe rot, as it only appears when the fruit is ripening. Its appearance is very characteristic: first, it is a soft brown spot, which rapidly increases in size and varies somewhat in color, small pustules of a purplish color then appear on the surface of the rot and burst, but the rot goes on spreading till the whole fruit is diseased. Early apples are much affected by this disease, the Irish peach apple being specially subject to it. The remedy is first to gather up and destroy all diseased fruit, and secondly to spray just as the fruit begins to ripen with the ammonia carbonate of copper, repeating the spray at intervals of ten days as long as necessary. Mouldy Core. The following description of this disease is taken from Dr. Cobb’s report —This is a diseased condition brought about by the presence of common mould in the core of certain varieties of apples. Outwardly such apples often appear to be sound, but on cutting in halves the cores are found to be in a mouldy or rotten state. This is only the beginning of the trouble, for sooner or later the whole apple becomes rotten and worthless. The way in which this mould gains an entrance to the core of the apple will be seen at once if one of the diseased apples be split in halves with a sharp knife. It will be found that the blossom end is open so as to form a passage leading to the core. Varieties with open blossom ends are subject to this disease. The remedy is not to grow apples having a direct opening from the eye to the core. No other cure can be suggested. I have an apple named Warner’s king, which is subject to the disease. It is a very large, soft cooking apple, and is the only variety which I know of. Bitter-Pit. This is a disease which some apples are subject to. The disease is easily known by the fruit affected being spotted or pitted on the surface, and if the skin is removed from the spots or pits, a dry spongy brown mass is seen, which is very bitter to the taste. When the disease is severe it renders the fruit quite inedible and detracts from the selling value of the fruit, as the diseased fruit will not keep, usually going dry and not rotting. According to the report there seems to be no remedy for the disease. This disease is different from bitter-rot.