CONTROL OF CUTWORMS IN ASPARAGUS FIELDS IN THE INTERIOR OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

Abstract

Emulsions of dieldrin, aldrin, isodrin, toxaphene and chlordane applied to the soil surface and incorporated to a depth of about 4 inches proved highly effective in controlling the red-back cutworm, Euxoa ochrogaster (Guen.) when tested in asparagus fields in the interior of British Columbia in the summer of 1953 and 1954. In 1953 aldrin emulsion mixed with the soil was much more effective than when it was left on the soil surface, Bran bait containing paris green, although giving fairly satisfactory control, was less effective and slower in action than the emulsions. In 1952, dieldrin, aldrin, and isodrin dusts, applied to the soil surface, were superior to and faster in action than bran baits containing aldrin or endrin; all of the 1952 treatments were apparently slower in action in dry soil than in relatively moist soil. A survey of asparagus fields treated by growers in 1953 but not in 1954 indicated that aldrin emulsion, mixed with the soil at about 4 lb. of toxicant per acre, protects asparagus for at least two years.