UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



P BULLETIN No. 1098 ^W 



Washington, D. C. 



October 20, 1922 



IMPOUNDING WATER IN A BAYOU TO CONTROL 

 BREEDING OF MALARIA MOSQUITOES. 



By D. L. Van Dine,' 



Entomologist, Investigations of Insects Affecting the Health of Man, Bureau 



of Entomology. 



CONTENTS. 



Page, 



Introduction 1 



Topography and formation of tlie 



region 2 



Farorable conditions for mosquito 



development 3 



Location of cultivated lands, road- 

 ways, and dwellings 3 



Problem of Anopheles control in 



the r^on 4 



Bayou Walnut and the Anopheles 



survey 4 



Fishes of the region 10 



Clearing the bayou 11 



Construction of the dam 12 



Page. 



Maintenance work following clear- 

 ing and construction 14 



Survey of Anopheles breeding after 



impounding 14 



Fishes in the impounded area 16 



Factors preventing mosquito breed- 

 ing in the impounded water 17 



Leakages caused by crawfish and 



means of preventing them 18 



Advantages of impounding, apart 

 from prevention of Anopheles 

 breeding 19 



Summary 20 



INTRODUCTION. 



Malaria is responsible for important losses in returns from agri- 

 cultural crops in the Delta region of the lower Mississippi Valley. 

 The disease is, as well, a great handicap to the further development 

 and extension of agriculture in that region. The prevailing system 

 of labor in the Delta is that of the negro tenant farmer, and it is 

 among this class that the disease is highly prevalent, causing losses 



1 Resigned May 15„ 1922. The writer wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to George 

 S. Yerger, o^mer of Hecla plantation, for his interest and cooperation in the work ; to 

 Alexander Clark, manager of Hecla plantation, for the supervision of the work of clearing 

 the bayou and the construction of the cross levee and spillway of the dam ; to Haw Kirk- 

 patrick for the photographic work in connection with the project ; to Dr. R. E. Coker, 

 Dr. A. F. Shira, and F. M. Barnes of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries for the cooperative 

 ■ work on fishes ; to the U. S. Bureau of Plant Industry for the plant determinations ; to 

 the U. S. Geological Survey for the topographical maps of the region ; and to H. H. 

 Kimball, A. H. Jennings, E. Foster, and F. H. O'Neill, formerly of this bureau, for 

 assistance in the survey work. 



