THE BITTER PIT

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10237, 13 May 1911, Page 5

THE BITTER PIT

NOT CAUSED BY SPRAYING.

OPINIONS OF EXPERTS

(Received May 12, 10.30 a.m.)

SYDNEY, May 12.

Mr Allen, the Government Fruit Expert, eppo'ses the suggestion that bitter-pit is the result of spraying, stating that it was equally prevalent before spraying.

NEW ZEALAND OPINIONS. <By Telegraph—Press Association.) ;' WANGANUI, Last Night. Mr H. D. Williamson, orchardist and late Government Inspector of Orchards, expresses the opinion, based on* forty years' experience of fruit growing and experimenting with fruit diseases, that the Melbourne scientists are mistaken in attributing the disease to codlin moth spray. He says bitter-pit is caused bv a microscopic fungus, and has been common among apples in the Wanganui district for fifty years. The spores of the fungus are capable of being carried many miles, and drop upon the" fruit. When packed, one contaminated apple will affect a whole case in three weeks. He says that when spores first appear on the surface of the frnit. 4-4-50 of Bordeaux Mixture will destroy .it, but after it has penetrated, tbo fruit spraying is of no use. HASTINGS, Last Night. Writing to the Tribune ro bitter-pit, Mr F. E. Nottage, Inspector of Orchards. Hawke's Bay, mentions two facts which appear on the surface largely to discount the value of the theory advanced by Dr. Jean White and Prof. Ewart, of the Melbourne University. They are: (1) In Western Australia where codKn moth is unknown and arsenical spraying never resorted to, bitter-pit was alarmingly prevalent, and occasioned great loss to fruit growers every year. . I

(2) In bu travels around orchards in the Dominion during tho past fontyears, he frequently noticed bitter-pit on trees which bad never sprayed for the control of codlin moth or other pest. Mr Nottage is a practical grower of many jyears experieaoe.