I have noticed “collective rot” more in a package of strawberries or blackberries than apples. It blows my mind how many varieties of apples there are.

Better to trim and burn the infected branch, or even the whole tree.

It’s not that bad to start anew.

Chaucer was likely the first to write a version of the now commonplace proverb: “A rotten apple’s better thrown away / Before it spoils the barrel.” But I’m partial to Benjamin Franklin’s version: “The rotten apple spoils his companions.” The saying is often used to refer to the corruption of select individuals within a group. But the point is the fruit’s susceptibility to collective rot.