DISEASES AND PESTS OF THE MAIZE CROP 449 



of spray-pumps and the components of the spray, and by chap. 

 means of public meetings and lectures enlisted their hearty X ' 

 co-operation. 



Much good work was also done by large flocks of locust- 

 birds, the principal among which were (1) the true locust- 

 bird, wattled starling or klein springhaan vogel, Creatophora 

 carunculata ; (2) the small locust-birds or pratincoles, Glarcola 

 pratincola and G. melanoptera ; (3) the white stork, Cieonia 

 alba; and (4) the white-bellied stork, Abdimia abdimii. 



416. The Tok-tokje. — Mr. Mally reports damage done to 

 young maize plants in the Eastern Province, Cape Colony, by 

 the tok-tokje, Psammodes Reichei S. : — 



"The larva attacks wheat, oats, barley, and maize. It 

 evidently tunnels along in search of food, and when it locates 

 a stool of wheat or other grain it comes to the surface, so that 

 it can just reach the base of the stem. It then pulls off the 

 hard outer layers in little shreds and arranges them so as to 

 form a protectionary cover for itself. It evidently feeds on 

 the soft juicy inner layers of the stem, and when one stem is 

 eaten off it makes for another one, the attacks usually being 

 limited to the short basal joint. In a number of cases noted 

 the larva had drawn the stem down into the burrow and de- 

 voured it almost entirely. The plant may be injured at any 

 time during its growth, and there may, therefore, be a heavy 

 drain on the crop in addition to that indicated at the time of 

 ripening. In one instance a larva was found feeding on the 

 maize roots. There was a very poor stand of maize in this 

 field, and the farmer was inclined to think that these larva? 

 were the cause of it. He said that early in the season many 

 of the plants seemed to die off, and that others were blown 

 down, but in time recovered and regained an upright position. 

 This is due to the fact that the larva feeds from the side which 

 it finds first, and in that way destroys about half of the roots, 

 and the remaining half support the plant sufficiently to enable 

 it to make a short turn at the base and make fairly good 

 growth ; but it always remains a stunted plant." 



417. Remedies for the Tok-tokje. — Mr. Mally adds : — 



" I doubt the practicability of trying to starve out the larvae 

 by clean cultivation, for they can go a long time without food. 

 Frequent ploughing, harrowing, and rolling would be more 

 likely to give good results, because the great majority of the 



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