ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF MOSQUITOES 327 



blithely, and by noon have given up the work and started back to the 

 city. Of course such conditions do not occur every year; nor do they 

 continue throughout the season; but they do occur often enough and 

 last long enough to make the farmer hesitate about putting in a crop 

 which he knows would pay if he got it, but which he may be compelled 

 to see rot on the ground because no pickers can be found to brave the 

 mosquito hosts. Few persons are ready to believe at a first statement 

 how important a factor in. the agricultural development of a region the 

 mosquito may become. 



Third: there is the effect of the mosquito upon the availability of 

 a territory for development as a residential district. 



This is the most important feature of the problem in New Jersey to- 

 day, and there is no exaggeration in the statement that the elimination 

 of the mosquito would add ten millions to the taxable value of real 

 estate in two years. Let me illustrate: New York City is a highly 

 desirable place of residence in winter ; but less so in summer, and there 

 are thousands of residents of New York City who are well able to 

 afford a summer home within an hour or two from town, and who are 

 quite willing to pay for it. New Jersey has many places ideal in 

 situation and accessibility, and one such place developed rapidly to a 

 certain point and there it stood, halted by the mosquitoes that bred in 

 the surrounding marsh lands. Country club, golf, tennis and other 

 attractions ceased to attract when attention was necessarily focussed 

 on the biting or singing pests that intruded everywhere, and the tend- 

 ency was to sell out. But the owners were not ready to quit without 

 a fight, and an improvement society was formed which consulted with 

 my office and followed my advice. In one year the bulk of the breed- 

 ing area was drained, mosquitoes have since been absent almost entirely ; 

 one gentleman, not a large owner, either, told me his property had 

 increased $50,000 in value, and new settlers began to come in. This 

 year one of the worst breeding areas of the olden day was used as a 

 camping ground, and 100 new residences are planned for next year. 



New Jersey has miles of sea coast that is unequaled for summer 

 resorts. All but a few points are practically abandoned as unin- 

 habitable. Barnegat Bay and its surroundings constitute a fisherman's 

 paradise, and again and again settlements have started, done well for 

 a season and have been abandoned. Those who came one year never 

 came again, and many who came for a month stayed only a day. 



, The only thing that prevents a continuous line of summer resorts 

 along the entire shore line is the mosquito pest, and were that removed 

 there would be a scramble to get land. 



We may take the result on Staten Island as an example. This 

 Island, now a part of Greater New York, is geographically a portion 

 of New Jersey, separated from the mainland by a narrow stream or 



