2 BIILLETIISr 1032, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



mology and, successively, A. Spiiler, ISiiss Orilla Miner, and Miss 

 Flora A. Friese the State College of Washino;ton. 



IMPORTANCE OF THE, BLACKHEAD FIREWORM. 



The blackhead fireworm proved to be the most important cran- 

 berry pest of western bogs, and at the time the ravages of this insect 

 were first observed by the writer it Avas causing an estimated loss of 

 approximately 40 per cent of the combined crops of Washington and 

 Oregon. In 1918 this loss was reduced to approximately 15 per cent 

 and in 1919 to approximately 5 per cent, principally as a result of a 

 better knowledge of the life history and habits of the insect and more 

 general adoption of effective methods of control. 



This bulletin reports the results of an investigation of the life 

 history and habits of the blackhead fireworm in the States of Wash- 

 ington and Oregon which was conchicted during the ^^ears 1918 and 

 1919 from laboratory headquarters at Seaview, Wash. During this 

 period various methods of control were studied and thoroughly tested 

 under actual bog conditions. 



THE CRANBERRY INDUSTRY ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 



The town of Seaview, Wash., is located practically in the center of 

 the cranberry-growing district on the Pacific coast. In the State of 

 Washington this district comprises most of the peninsula of Pacific 

 County, in the southwestern corner of the State, directly north of the 

 mouth of the Columbia Kiver. Here the industry was started on a 

 commercial scale in the early eighties by a French gardener named 

 Chebot, who set out about 35 acres to the McFarlin, Xative Jersey, 

 Early Black, and Cape Cod Beauty varieties. Cuttings of most of 

 these varieties were brought in from Wisconsin, New Jersey, and 

 Massachusetts bogs. Some cuttings, especiallj^ of the McFarlin 

 variet}^, were doubtless brought in from Marshfield, Oreg., where 

 a Mr. McFarlin had started a bog 10 j^ears previously with his own 

 selection of A^nes from the East, which bear his name. Extensive 

 planting, liowever, did not take place until 1912, from which time up 

 to 1915 large areas in southwestern Washington were drained, 

 cleared, and made available for cranberry culture. 



Approximately TOO acres of cranberries are now in bearing in 

 southwestern Washington, with about 1,500 acres of peat land still 

 available for cranberry culture. In Oregon and the remainder of 

 Washington there is possibly a total of 1,500 additional acres of 

 cranberry land, about 300 acres of which in Oregon (in Clatsop and 

 Coos Counties) are now in bearing. Practically all the bogs of the 

 Pacific coast are sphagnum peat of various ages and thicknesses, 



