Experiments with MBC derivatives for the control of Dutch elm disease

Preparations of methyl benzimidazol-2-ylcarbamate (MBC) hydrochloride stabilized with HC1, MBC nitrate stabilized with lactic acid and MBC bisul-phate stabilized with KHS0₄ were made from technical MBC. As it was the least phytotoxic to elm shoots, the hydrochloride was selected for field experiments on the control of Dutch elm disease using 6 m elms. In protectant experiments using 1.51 of 0.25 or 0.5 % MBC per tree, only five of eighteen injected trees became infected while all the control trees were severely diseased. In curative experiments, injection with 0.25 % MBC 2 and 4 wk after inoculation with Ceratocystis ulmi kept symptoms to < 1 and 5% respectively, compared with 76% in untreated inoculated trees. MBC at 0.5 % Save similar results.