. Diseases of economic plants. Plant diseases. 80 Diseases of Economic Plants turning them brown, soft, and rendering them worthless. Aside from injuring the mature fruit, the rot attacks the flowers and twigs. The disease ranges over the entire peach- growing territory, but is usually most severe in the South. In some years the loss has amounted to more than 50 per cent of the crop, or an aggregate annual loss of $5,000,000. The estimated damage in Ohio alone in one year was a quarter of a million dollars; in one year in Pennsylvania twenty carloads were lost. Apples, pears, and quinces are a
. Diseases of economic plants. Plant diseases. 80 Diseases of Economic Plants turning them brown, soft, and rendering them worthless. Aside from injuring the mature fruit, the rot attacks the flowers and twigs. The disease ranges over the entire peach- growing territory, but is usually most severe in the South. In some years the loss has amounted to more than 50 per cent of the crop, or an aggregate annual loss of $5,000,000. The estimated damage in Ohio alone in one year was a quarter of a million dollars; in one year in Pennsylvania twenty carloads were lost. Apples, pears, and quinces are attacked, but to lesser extent. Its characteristic appearance on the fruit enables one to recognize it easily. It fir^t appears as small, circular, brown, decayed spots. These rapidly en- large until they embrace the whole fruit, which at the same time shrinks slightly. As the decay advances, small tufts of brown threads appear near the centers of the original spots, and spread rapidly until the whole fruit is covered. If the fruit hangs in clusters, adjacent fruits begin to decay at the points of contact, and the dis- ease spreads from fruit to fruit un- til whole clusters are lost. Fruit, after it is picked, may also suc- cumb to attack, and peaches that were apparently sound at picking may be seriously damaged when they reach market. Thus the loss falls upon grower, car- rier, dealer, and consumer. The decay is so rapid that infection to-day may mean a totally unsalable peach two days hence. Peaches diseased on the tree may fall to the ground, or remain on the tree, where they shrivel and hang over winter, to con- stitute the ''mummy" peaches so familiar in infected orchards. Upon the blossom the disease is first evident as a slight, brownish discoloration, which spreads rapidly, causing the. Fig. 41. — Mummy peach showing Sclerotinia asco- phores. After Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced f
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1921
