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Show Early Spring Treatment Is Recommended j For Successful Control of Alfalfa V eevil ! Early spring treatment of alfalfa alfal-fa for weevil control developed by entomologists of the U. S. Legume Seed laboratory at Logan, Lo-gan, has proved to be a most effective ef-fective method and is being recommended rec-ommended to growers. This is the information from Frank V. Lleberman, entomologist of the laboratory, who is the authority on alfalfa weevil. He is stationed at Utah State Agricultural col-eege. col-eege. Whether the field is used for hay or seed, or hay followed by seed, early spring spraying is an outstanding method of weevil control. Crop protection is excellent with this method, said Mr. Lleberman. Lle-berman. It's the kind of protection protec-tion from alfalfa weevil that seed growers need. Hay growers are freed of concern over poisonous poison-ous residues or rigid cutting schedules. Early spring treatment will prevent retardation of the second crop as well as damage to the first growth. The treatment Mr. Lleberman recommended is spraying the field with Chlordane or Dieldrin. Its purpose is to kill most of the adults that have wintered over In the field and to do it before the females have opportunity to lay many eggs. The spray should be applied when the shoots of the first growth are one to two inches long. Usually this means be-' tween March 15 and April 15, de-pending de-pending on the season and the locality, according to Mr. Lieber- man. The spray should contain one and one-half to two pounds of technical chlordan? or one-1 fourth pound of technical dield-1 rin per acre. When applied by j ground sprayers at least six to1 eight gallons of water should be used. There are indications, how-1 eveV, continued Mr. Lteberman, that use of more water, that is 15 to 20 gallons, will give better results. Dusting has not given satisfactory results and is not recommended. Any grower can control the alfalfa al-falfa weevil in his own fields without cooperation from his neighbors. This is possible because be-cause most of the adults do not leave the field in which they are produced. Instead, they spend the winter there and lay their eggs in the same field the following spring. Therefore, large infestations infesta-tions on nearby farms have little or no effect on the farmer's own field. However, unless the early spring treatment is properly timed, failure may occur, warned the entomologist. |