The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1897-11-26
Brown Rot or Fruit Mould.
lMOnilia fructigena. PersoOn.l

being introduced into our state, the
latest to excite alarm being the we'll
known "brown-rOt" or "fruit-mOuld d'
of the plum, peach and cherry. We
first noticed this disease last August
In the vicinity of Summer, Pierce
County, where, we we're informed, it
has caused more or less damage for
six years past. Shortly afterwards
specimens were sent us from Olympia
and Vancouver, and a writer in an
Oregon agricultural paper states that
it has been present in Western Oregon
for five or six years. From this it
would appear that the fungus is widely
distributed west of the Cascades and
must now be included in the list of
pests which the fruit-grower must
regularly deal with in the raising of
his crops
The fungus was particularly injur-
ious during the past season to the
prune crops and our account deals
with it especially as it affects that
crop, though it must not be forgotten n
that the same fungus also lives upon
and is capable of dong serious damage
to cherries, peaches and apricots In
rare cases the fungus is also found o n
the grape and the apple.
Usually the first symptoms to at
tract attention are the numerous
grayish white pustules that appear on
the surface of the attacked fruit.
These pustules consist of the repro
ductive bodies of the fungus, which
under the microscope are seen to be
oval In shape and arranged in rows
like string of beads. They are called
cOnidia. The fungus becomes, scatter
ed by these conidia, being carried by
air currents or in some cases by in.
sects. Under favorable circumstances
the conidia quickly germinate, send
ing out germ tube that'will penetrate
healthy fruit and soon cause it to
rot. In the laboratory a single conid-
ium planted ON an apple or plum viii
develop so far in twenty-four hours
that new conidia will be produced
From this it is easy to understand
why the disease spreads so rapidly in
orchards in favorable weather; some
times the whole crop being ruined in
a few days time.
A remarkable feature of this fungus
is that the attacked fruit usually
"mumifes," that it becomes dry and
remains hanging to the trees. It is
mainly on these "mumifed" fruits
that the fungus passes the winter and
on such fruit the conidia will be found
in abundance in the spring. While
the conidia will germinate almost i'm
mediately under favorable conditions,
they are, nevertheless, capable of with
standing hardships and will grow after
being kept as long as two years.
The pustules just described consti-
tute only the reproductive part of the
fungus. In the interior of the fruit
are found innumerable colorless fila
ments constituting the mycelium or
vegetive parts of the fungus.
Besides the fruit the fungus also at
tacks the leaves, the flowers and the
twigs. When the flowers are affected
they turn brownish and become
rotten. In most cases it is through
the stalk of the flower that the fungus
enters the twig where it sometimes
causes serious damage, especially in
the case of peach trees The mycelium
in the twigs lives from year to year
and with little doubt the fungus was
introduced into our state in this form
by some farmer who purchased East
elm nursery stock.
The disease spreads much more
rapidly in damp weather than in dry,
so that some seasons the damage is
more serious that in others. Wet
weather about the time the fruit is
ripening is particularly favorable TO
the fungus and this may account in
part for the injury it caused this sea-
son.
REMEDIES.
| AS the fungus passes the winter
mainly on the s'mumified" fruits it is
of prime Importance that these be
gathered and burned. This treatment
alone is often sufficient to hold the
| fungus in check and even if the trees
are sprayed should not be omitted
The experiments carried on at various
experiment stations, especially those
of Delaware and Virginia, have shown
that the fungus can be held in check
by the following treatment: Spray
during the winter or before the buds