A Disease in Maize.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 453, 12 March 1890, Page 4

A Disease in Maize.

(From the “Now Zealand Farmer,” Writing to the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Mr A. Alexander, of Ingham, Herbert River, reports a disease in his maize by which he states 75 per cent, of his crop was lost. The cultivation of maize is steadily extending in New Zealand, and therefore any information relating to diseases or insect pests to which it is liable should be of interest to many of our readers:—“Before the green plants show any sign of disease, except a lighter line in centre, one may notice scores of small insects, the size and shape of mosquitoes, jumping about in the centre of the stalk (.sic). After a while the latter will commence to wither, and in pulling it asunder one will notice large numbers of larva;, the progeny of those insects. “I enclose a specimen of larvie and stalk. If the disease would simply damage the crop wo might overlook it, as we have to do with many other drawbacks, but if it enter the crop before the formation of the cobs then it will utterly destroy the whole.” Concerning the above, the Queenslander has the following : letter, with tho specimen of the larvie and stalk, was submitted by the Under Secretary for Agriculture to the curator of the Museum, with the request that the matter might be investigated. The report of Mr H. Tryon, the assistant curator, upon this matter, has been forwarded to us by the Agricultural Department, arid will be incorporated with his report upon insect and fungus pests mors particularly affecting the fruits on the Darling Downs which will shortly be issued by the Department of Agriculture. The report would occupy something like two pages of our space, which we cannot afford ; and our readers will, we are sure, be glad to be spared the trouble of wading through a mass of matter of-no interest to any one except a scientist. It would be well if some of our men of science in a small way would put some ; restraint upon themselves when reporting the results of their investigations of any subjects in which the public is interested and avoid technicalities as much as possible. The insect is described by Mr Tryon as a small leaf-hopper.’ “The following is the concluding paragraph of the report, and is about all that ordinary mortals will care to read of it:.—‘‘To. a portion of diseased maize-plant forwarded . by Mr Alexander were still adherent, though dried up, a few specimens of the leaf-hopper in different stages of development, and it might be concluded frooi this that these in-

sects give rise to all the symptoms of disease recorded, and especially so seeing that they are both competent to and do injure the maize-plant. We are not, however, prepared to admit as much concerning them, but only that they may act as the exciting cause of the maize disease, which we are of opinion is immediately due to another cause. The same insect may be observed infesting quite a number of grasses besides the maize-plant, bub do not on them occasion any injury comparable with the disease before us ; and, again, a maize disease very similar to that one the symptoms of which we have described may be met with when the leaf-hoppers are entirely absent from the crop.’ ”