REPORT ON MOSQUITOES. 477 



these places (which are sometimes very large) have the appear- 

 ance of the mosquito breeding area at Jersey City and Newark ; 

 but no depressions are found in them. These places too become 

 covered with water at a little above ordinary tide. 



On the east border of the meadow, between Fairview and 

 Homestead, east of the Susquehanna and Northern Railroad of 

 New Jersey tracks, the land is low and floods at unusual high 

 tide through the culverts under the railways ; when the water 

 recedes its condition allows of mosquito breeding and this small 

 place needs attention at times. 



Many patches of woodland are included in the Hackensack 

 Meadow; a few of these project into the center of cat-tails, but 

 the majority border the cat-tail areas. Most of these are be- 

 tween Little Ferry and Rutherford, and a few of them are very 

 large tracts. All were thoroughly investigated a number .of 

 times and in most cases nothing was found. Some of these areas 

 are called floating swamps because the decayed vegetation which 

 is always water soaked and often knee deep, rises and falls with 

 the tide — or rather swells with the water. Near Little Ferry 

 the woodland areas are not large and only cover with water at 

 times of spring freshets and extraordinary high tides. Depres- 

 sions are often numerous and these when filled with rain water 

 or water left by receding tides will breed mosquitoes and have 

 been found doing- so. The larger places, such as between Berry's 

 Creek and Hackensack River, south of the Paterson Plank Road, 

 never breed mosquitoes though the places are alive with adults. 

 Collections of adults from all these places, made at different 

 times in the year, always proved to be the migratory forms which 

 breed on the salt meadow but find shelter in these protected 

 pieces of woodland. 



Other woodland areas, not directly standing in the cat-tails, 

 such as the large area between Berry's Creek and IMonachie, do 

 breed a few mosquitoes ; but these are entirely insignificant. No 

 pools are found in them, the only places for larvae to live being 

 in the water in the very small depressions which happens to re- 

 main on top of the spongy mass. Adults are always found in 

 these places in large numbers but 90 per cent, are cant at or and 

 sollicitans, the remaining 10 per cent, being sylvcstris or local 

 breeders. 



From what has been said above it will be seen that no breeding 

 goes on in any part of the meadow which is covered with cat- 

 tails ; the reason for this 1)eing that cat-tails will grow only where 

 the ground is almost always covered with a few inches of water. 

 At the borders where the cat-tails are mixed with other plants 

 there is also no breeding, because the tide covers it verv often, 



