202 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 7 



observed. The moth from this emerged on July 19; others emerged 

 later, the last issuing on August 21. 



In view of the serious nature of the outbreak of 1912, Doctor Hewitt 

 arranged for an investigation of life-history, habits, methods of control, 

 etc., in the spring and summer of 1913, and I was instructed to plan 

 these experiments and also to proceed to Alberta to begin the work and 

 make a survey of the infested districts. Mr. E. H. Strickland was 

 appointed to carry on the work in the field throughout the season to 

 make a special study of this and other cutworms occurring in the 

 province. 



In the end of April and early Maj^ we found the cutworms fairly 

 numerous, throughout the Lethbridge District, in spring wheat, fall 

 wheat and oats. In certain places they were very numerous, as, for 

 instance, at Iron Springs where they were present in some fields in 

 numbers varying from 3 to 11 to the square foot. The larvie on this 

 date (May 6) were mostly from one fourth- to one half-inch long. 

 In our field control experiments we divided infested fields into various 

 sized plots, none smaller than one tenth of an acre each. These were 

 treated with various strengths of Paris green,- salt and sugar, mixed 

 with moistened bran, and scattered, in the usual way, over the fields. 

 London purple and lead arsenate were also used. 



During our first series of experiments the weather was very dull and 

 cool and the cutworms fed very little. The highest percentage killed 

 in some of the plots was only 25 per cent. Even later experiments 

 when the weather was warmer and the larvse more active, unfortunately 

 did not furnish satisfactory results. From observations made during 

 the evening, by Mr. Strickland, it would appear that the habit of this 

 Porosagrotis larva is to travel-over the surface of the soil and when a 

 suitable plant for attack is found, it immediately burrows and feeds 

 just below the surface. One half-grown caterpillar was observed to 

 crawl nine feet in fifteen minutes. If this underground feeding habit 

 is fairly constant it will, of course, explain why we failed to get better 

 results from poisoned bran. Further experiments will, of course, be 

 conducted whenever the opportunity arises. It is interesting to note, 

 however, that at Raymond, 26 miles from Lethbridge, in large fields 

 of sugar beets the attack of 1912 was stopped within 24 hours after 

 the bran was applied. The application of poisoned bran was made 

 between the 10th and 15th of May, and the actual cost, including 

 material and labor figured out at 30 cents per acre. When visiting 

 Raymond on May 15, 1913, I was fortunate in reaching the sugar beet 

 fields at a time when bran was being applied to protect this year's crop. 

 Five men, a distance of 10 feet apart, were distributing the bran with 

 both hands, from a sack hung in front of the body. The manager of 



