Control of Gray Garden Slugs in No-Tillage, 1985

Corn was planted into a thick soybean mulch located near Worton in Kent County, Md. Corn was seeded in 30-inch rows on 27 April. At time of treatment on 30 May, corn was at the 3- to 4-leaf stage and slug damage was severe, with 30- 40 slugs/sq ft. Plots were 4 rows by 25 ft replicated 4 times arranged in a randomized complete block design. Sprays were applied by C02 backpack sprayer calibrated to deliver 20.4 gal/acre at 40 psi. The Mesurol bait was formulated with % lb of Mesurol 75W mixed into 100 lb of cracked corn with 1 qt of Coke used as a sticker. This bait was spread by hand shaker can at the rate of 20 lb of formulated bait/acre. Slugs were sampled with 1-sq-ft flat roofing shingles covered with aluminum foil. Two shingles were placed at random within the plot, and the number of slugs nesting beneath was recorded on 4 and 7 Jun.