2 BULLETIN 1032, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
mology and. successively. A. Spuler, Miss Orilla Miner, and Miss 
Flora A. Friese the State College of Washington. 
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 was 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 conducted during the years 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 River. 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, Native 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, especially of the McFarlin 
variety, were doubtless brought in from Marshfield, Oreg., where 
a Mr. McFarlin had started a bog 10 years previously with his own 
selection of vines from the East, which bear his name. Extensive 
planting, however, 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 700 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, 
