BULLETIN 244. 



BLUEBERRY INSECTS IN MAINE.* 



William Colcord Woods. 



Perhaps as unique and interesting an ecological community 

 as may be encountered in the state of Maine is presented by 

 the blueberry barrens of Washington County Which comprise 

 some two hundred and fifty thousand acres of unforested wild 

 land in the eastern part of the state, extending roughly from 

 Cherryfield in the west to Machias in the east and comprising 

 more especially Deblois and the townships numbered i6, 17, 18, 

 19, 24 and 25. How the barrens originated is a matter of dis- 

 pute and there are several theories as to their beginning, but 

 at any rate this fact is clear: in this section of the country 

 wherever the forests are removed and more especially when 

 they are destroyed by fire, blueberry bushes tend to spring up in 

 large numbers. The barrens or "plains" consist of great 

 stretches of mostly level or slightly rolling land more or less 

 broken up by lakes and swamps. Climatic conditions such as 

 characterize the whole coast of Maine prevail here : short sum- 

 mers, which on the barrens are very 'hot, and very long cold 

 winters during which, however, the plants are usually well pro- 

 tected by a thick covering of snow. The average annual rainfall 

 is 45 inches ; typically there is a heavy rainfall in the spring fol- 

 lowed by a dry period in June, a condition v^hich seems to be 

 favorable to the growth of blueberry bushes. When tested the 

 soil, which is a mixture of sand, gravel and loam, is found to 

 give an acid reaction. 



The Blueberry in Maine. 



In Maine the blueberry blossoms about the middle of May, 

 and on the barrens the berries begin to ripen quite generally by 



*Papers from the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station : Ento- 

 mology No 83. 



