1 May, 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL, 335 
matter of considerable importance to discover both how such failure has been 
occasioned and how a repetition of it may be avoided. The undesirable results 
alluded to are occasioned by what is styled “‘ Maize Blight,” a title by which is 
“designated a malady of very marked characteristics. No one during the present 
season can have failed to have observed maize fields in which the plants may 
have attained their full dimensions, but have prematurely died ; that have their 
foliaye—and especially the lower leaves—vyariously blotched, spotted, or other- 
wise marked with yellow and brown ; that appears to have been dipped in some 
blackish fluid that has dried upon them; that are to a greater or less extent 
covered with some sticky material that may be remarked also here and there on 
stem or leaf, issuing from the underlying tissue in the form of little masses of 
whitish growth; and that, moreover, yield only small and stunted cobs, or, as 
more commonly happens, none at all; or, further, three or four diminutive 
barren cobs may arise from a single stem on the stalk. 
During the present season it is maize that has been planted either late in 
March or during April that has principally suffered, but prior to it, so-called 
“blighted” crops have resulted from sowings made during August and Novem- 
ber, as well as in other months. Corn grown with and without irrigation 
have alike suffered ; and the “ blight’ has been experienced with several 
varieties of maize, as well as in that which has grown under different conditions 
so far as regards soil. This maize affection, that is far too well known to need 
further description, is by no means peculiar to the Lower Burdekin districts ; 
nor is it one whose first occurrence is avery recent one. It transpires that it 
was noticed here by some farmers seven or eight years ago, and has recurred 
annually with greater or less severity ever since. The speaker, however, already, 
in 1889, described it as prevalent in the preceding year, if not earlier, in the 
maize fields of the Herbert River; and it occurs in Cairns, as well as apparently 
everywhere along the coast to the north of Mackay. With regard to its direct 
cause, it may be remarked that its presence has been assigned to many agencies, 
but on looking into the matter none of these are found to be adequate for its 
explanation. It will be unnecessary, therefore, to enter into particulars con- 
cerning them. Those who are familiar with the disease are well aware that the 
~ maize plants affected by it are constantly subjected to the presence of numerous 
insects of all orders, both day and night. These have been, with few exceptions, 
attracted by the sticky fluid that issues from all parts of the plant as one of 
the symptoms of its presence, or by the whitish-brown gum-like substance left 
by this on drying, or by the sooty fungus that grows as a mould upon the latter. 
Amongst these there is one which, though not the most conspicuous, and indeed 
capable of being overlooked, is of both peculiar form and habit. It is a tiny 
leaf-hopper less than one-sixth part of an inch in length, belonging to the genus 
“delphax” and family “Fulgoride.’ In its adult condition it is a small 
narrow object, the brownish-grey colour of which is suggestive of that of portion 
of the dead maize plant itself. During bright weather, on being approached, or 
the plant whereon it occurs disturbed, it will readily spring into the air, when it 
can be seen only as it meets the direct sunlight. At other times it may be seen 
singly, or in twos or threes, furtively making off behind or beneath the stem or 
leaf on which it rests, moving with a curious sidelong gait, and ever and anon 
suspiciously resting in its progress. In its passage through the air it is aided 
by its ample wings folded backwards along the sides of the body when not in 
use, of which the first pair are prettily marked, and in jumping by the peculiar 
conformation of its hind legs, that are each endowed with a peculiar semi-oval 
terminal toothed plate on the tibia, and several stout spines on the feet. These 
insects vary in size, the males being invariably smaller than their consorts. 
When young the maize “ Delphax” has a very different appearance. It then is 
of a pale yellowish-brown colour, with red eyes, and has no wings, or, if more 
advanced in growth, wing-pads only. In this pupal or larval stage it may be 
met with on pulling the leaf from the stem, just within or above the leaf-sheath, 
beneath the young tassel (male inflorescence) or amidst its branches, on opening 
this out, or in similar hiding places in contact with young and succulent plant 
