A Disease in Maize.

Auckland Star, Volume XXI, Issue 54, 6 March 1890, Page 6

A Disease in Maize.

(From the "New Zealand Farmer."

Writing to the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Mr A. Alexander, of Ingham, Herbert River, reports a disea.se in his maize by which lie 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 notico scores of small insects, the size and shape of mosquitoes, jumping about in tho 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 larva? and stalk. If the disease would simply damage the crop we might overlook it, as Aye 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 tlie above, the Queenslander has the following: — "Mr Alexanders letter, with tha specimen of the larv._ 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 thia matter, has been forwarded to us by the Agricultural Department, and will be incorporated with his report upon insect and fungus pests more particularly affecting the iruits on the Darling Downs which will shortly be issued by tho Department of Agriculture. The report would occupy something like two pages of our space, which we oannofc afford ; and our readers will, we are sure, be glad to bo 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 ot any subjects in which tho 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 road of it: —• To a portion of diseased maize-plant forwarded by Mr Alexander were still adherent, though dried np, a fow specimens of the leaf-hopper in different stages of development, and it might be concluded from this that these insects give rise to all the symptoms of disease recorded, and especially co seeing that they are both competent te and do injure the maize-plant. We are not, however, pregared to admit as much concerning them, ut 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, but 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 hnvo dec-ribed may be met with when the kaf-hoppera are entirely ft b=ent from the crop.'"