4/8 AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



though it is not continually covered. Only at the extreme edges, 

 pools sometimes form, often from rain; but these are classed as 

 locals and should be treated as such. They breed Anopheles, 

 Culex syhestris and C. territans. 



On the meadow where it is unprotected by trees, mosquitoes 

 are often found in the brightest sunshine and collections proved 

 these to be always sollicitans. In the woodland areas the species 

 is almost always cantator. 



Directly south of Snake Hill the salt marsh begins and large 

 depressions are cut in, very favorable for breeding. 



A fresh water swamp lying between Hackensack, Hasbrouck 

 Heights and Monachie is also- included in the Hackensack 

 Meadow. This is usually dry except for a few hundred feet on 

 the east side of the ditch (Berry's Creek) and a narrowed border 

 on the west side, which is covered with cat-tails and almost al- 

 ways with water. At one time this area was flooded and mil- 

 lions of young larvae of C. syhestris were breeding throughout 

 the whole meadow. It was thought that, at last, a place was 

 discovered where Hackensack and neighboring towns got a good 

 supply of mosquitoes. One week later this place was again in- 

 vestigated and the surprising thing was that hardly a larva could 

 be found. The whole area excepting the cat-tail border men- 

 tioned above, was perfectly dry and it seemed incredible that this 

 place could have been breeding larvae. The few that were found 

 were concentrated with barely enough water to- cover them; 

 they were full grown and in the pupal stage and probably many 

 of these died because the water did not last long enough to mature 

 them. The case was plain, the surface water had run off and 

 evaporated and hosts of larvae had perished. Further evidence of 

 this fact was that the towns were visited at dusk and very few 

 mosquitoes of the species that bred here were taken. The major- 

 ity were cantator which came from the salt marsh areas to the 

 south. 



In the entire territory covered by this report, not a single larva 

 of either of the salt marsh species was taken at any time and 

 Culex syhestris was always the dominant form if not the only 

 one. The house mosquito, Culex pipiens, occurred rarely or not' 

 at all. 



C. THE PASSAIC VALLEY PROBLEM. 



The swamps of the upper Passaic River are very extensive and 

 take up practically all of the low lying region from a few miles 

 west of Paterson to a few miles east of Morristown. A l.arge part 

 of these swamps are grassy meadows, other parts are woodland 

 and a few are covered with cat-tails. 



