360 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 10 



sons who, cognizant of the prevaiUng dry summer conditions of CaH- 

 fornia, would believe this state largely free from these pestiferous and 

 noxious insects. True it is that the great valleys of California have 

 little or no rainfall during the summer months, but this very fact im- 

 plies the necessity for ample water to produce California's vast acre- 

 ages of agricultural products. This water, supplied by extensive irri- 

 gation systems, is one of the important factors in the production of 

 mosquitoes. To this must be added numerous more or less stagnant 

 summer pools, due to our maLy rapidly receding creeks and streams. 

 Furthermore, water from the melting snows of the Sierras continually 

 flows down the mountain sic- nd spreads out here and there over 

 the meadows of the foothills. bus even though there may be little 

 or no rainfall for several mc lHs during the summer, there is ample 

 water and in such condition tha L ilie breeding of mosquitoes is favored. 

 The fact that California is bounded for many miles by the Pacific 

 Ocean adds many acres of salt niarsh to its mosquito-producing areas. 

 Thus the mosquito problem of the state involves both fresh water and 

 salt marsh species. 



That malaria has existed in California for at least sixty years is 

 evident from the following quotatir'n from the writings of Edwin 

 Bryant,' one time alcalde of San Frai sco an an extensive traveller in 

 California in 1846-1847, viz.: "On some t>. ions of the Sacramento 

 and San Joaquin Rivers, where veg*" . rank and decays in the 



autumn, the malaria produces chilL ;". ver, but generally the at- 



tacks are slight and yield easily to mr ...lae" (page 452). 



That mosquitoes abounded at that lin^^ is evidenced by the follow- 

 ing quotation also from Bryant: "By this change we were relieved 

 from the annoyance of mosquitoes, which have troubled us much dur- 

 ing the night at our encampment." This quotation is taken from an 

 entry made between the 3rd and 7th of September 1846 while encamped 

 at Sutter's Fort (p. 273). 



The first effort on the part of the University of California to assist 

 in the abatement of the mosquito nuisr.nce was made in Marin County 

 in the vicinity of San Rafael at the re juest of Mrs. George T. Page of 

 the San Rafael Improvement Club. This request is dated April 5, 

 1903. An investigation was made by Professor C. W. Woodworth 

 and assistants with the result that ' "' was applied according to recom- 

 mendations to certain salt marsh areas responsible for the trouble. 

 This was followed by the employe i of Mr. A. L. Ashman during the 

 spring and summer of 1904 for i. irpose of mosquito abatement. 



In March 1904 the Burlingame n j\Iateo County) laiprovement 



iBry ant, Edwin, 1848. What I saw in ifornia. D. Appleton & Co., New York 

 (480 pp.). 



