3SS 



THE AGRIUULTURA.L VEWS. 



])KOK-.n'Ki, 14-. ins. 



MOSQUITO CONTROL 



( Conc/iitiid . ) 



'J'he luilowiiij^ i-i the ciiiicliibinii ut thi.' ieL-ture uti 

 the above subject by Dr. W. l)wii,'ht Pierce, the first 

 part of which appeared in the issue ot ihis .lournai 

 ).,r Nov.'ivibi-r :-!0 1<I1S:^ 



There are many ways <>f applying the nil. The cmi- 

 iiionest method is by knapsack sprayer, ur, where the ditch 

 is along a road, by horse-drawn tanks fitted with a spraying 

 bar. For slow moving water, and sla^inant water, ;is well 

 •as fnr the treatment of ruts, puddles, hoof prints, and so 

 torih, these methods are satisfactory. 



For moving water there are many devices for maintain- 

 ing a regular drippiiui of ciil from a suspended vessel upon 

 the surface of the water. Such ilevices can easily be rigged 

 up by any practical man. 



The war his brought »bout, however, some new and 

 fveii more eHijieni methods of oiling, which bavu been 

 developed along many angles by Dr. ilann, the Post Surgeon, 

 and Lieut. Knert ot the Marine Corps, at <^>uantico, Va., 

 with the assistance of I'harmaci.st Mate Duncan. They 

 -have found that .-awdust impregnated with crude oil will 

 hold it for a long time, and will slowly give it up to the 

 water. They therefore place the sawdust impregnated with 

 <iil in a box, and sink it in a Mowing stream; or they thr^w 

 a few grains of sawdust in a hoof print, or a handful on 

 a puddle; or they fi.x a tinaling boom to hold at the back of 

 •it a (juantity of sawdust, and thus give off a constant film. 

 For each condition a slight modification of ihe application 

 is made, and they obtain an e.xoellent and lasting tilm, not 

 •leslroyod by rains. 



Dr. Ebert's automatic oiler is a i;ylinder sunk beneath 

 the .surface, which takes in water and displaces the oil, the 

 amount of di.-'placement being regulated by spigots. This 

 oiler, dropped under a bridge in a big river, or placed in 

 A large tidal bay amidst rank vegetation, produces a con- 

 stantly renovated film 'jf oil which is very effective. 



ARTIKIC[.\I. i;i)NTAINi:US OF MO.Sljri'lO I,Ai;VAK. 



In mosquito work much attention must be given to all 

 types of artificial water containers, as rain barrels, cisterns, 

 latrines, tin can dumps, garbage cans, gutters, water pitchers, 

 Howtr vases, aquaria, table isolation recei>tacles in tropical 

 ■:ountries, cesspools, n^wers, toili'ts, and Hushing bo.ves, traps 

 in sinks, drinking fountains, water troughs, etc- Flushing, 

 periodic emptying, covering with oil films, stocking with 

 fi.sb, are among the possible expt-dients available in one or 

 another of the ca.ses. Lieut. W. L. van Dine and Dr. W. V. 

 King have devised a new treatment for water in fire barrels 

 and water tanks used fur storage of water to lie employed 

 :in cleansing cans, in each of which ca.ses oil is very indi.s- 

 pensable. These receptacles may be treated with borax. 



Kl.-Sll .\S .MCLSl^nro I'O.N'TKol.. 



.•\mong the principal patural enemies of the mosijuito 

 ate tish; and in permanent ponds and lakes, and in streams, 

 the stocking wiih the proper species of fish may be consid- 

 ered as one of li'e most satisfactory mclli'ids of mo.squito 

 control. In the I'nitcd .States top minnows and jiold fi.sh 

 nre i:ommonly u.sed for this pur|jose. The llureau of Fisher- 

 ies lists the following .^nl^l■ican fish available for introduc- 

 tion into American waters infested by mosquitoes: the 

 kilJiHshcK.. Fundiiliis ilin/'heinis, /•' <li<l"ir, J\ iio/aliis, 

 F.' clirysotin, and J''. Not Hi: the top minnows, Gamhusia 

 >if/iiiis, Utleraiiilriti J'i)riii<i:i(i, Afn/iit.iiiitt I.Uipinna. Eniun- 

 .•inlliiis iil'fsiis, E, f^/iiriosit!:, Meso};o/ii<./ius C/Mt/ndoii, 



Cfntranhus iiuiiroptcrus, 3tpomis (ynii(/iiiSf J). ;,77'/'o.c«.f, 

 E/assomu ^o//iir//iii, .yiiftiiiiginiiif c/ir\ ' ■■ ■-■ La/'iiks/hes 

 </uYu/us, CarasMiu^ miraiiis (gold tish). 



The most -onuilete summary oi tn- spfi-ies of fi.sh 

 available- in varims parts of the world is givfn by Hegh 

 (pp. 140-.50). Howard J>yar, and Knab, and also Le Prince 

 and Orenstein ili.scns* the subject. 



The Panama larvicide is somewhat toxic to tishe.s, und 

 undoubtedly s rme of the volatile oils are a'so, although the 

 literature speaks (iinly in general terms on this subject. 



lih>TRt:i TJOX f>V AIJllIvT MO.slMi ITOKS. 



Howard, I )yar, and Knab, and ako Hegh cite various 

 methods of destruction <>f adult mosquitoes in dwellings, 

 such asputfing powdered pyrethrum into nooks frec|Uented by 

 the mosquitoes, fumigation by burning pyrethrum, sulphur, 

 Or cyanide fumiifation, vap lurs of eresyl anl of creoline. 

 Le Prince and Orenstein describe a labyrinth trap foe 

 windows quite similar to the Hodge window rty trap. Hegh 

 figures and describes other traps. 



IMidTKi'l'liiX OI- llWKI,l,l.\>;s IKO.M Mom.H IT i|;s. 



In mosquito sections the screening of ail habitations 

 against mosquitoes is es.sential. This must be done thor- 

 oughly, and the screens must be carefully e.vamined and 

 re|iaiied. When holes or openings occur in the screening 

 the mosquitoes enter and are trapped, and the building is 

 often worse off than if unscreened. 



For protection against Anopheles alone a IB-mesh wire 

 screen is sufficient, but small Aedes can pass through this, 

 and therefore 17 or IS mesh is necessary. Le J'rince and 

 Orenstein give the specifications for the L'^-mesh screen 

 to be i>f 90 per .-eiit. pure copper and not more than nue- 

 half of 1 per cent, of iron for damp tropical countries, the 

 gau/e having eighteen strands of wire of one hundredth of 

 an inch diameter in eaich linear inch. In many i)arts of 

 the I'nited States other types of wire screening are thor- 

 oughly efficient. -Mr. F. 0. IJishopp has for several years 

 been making tests of serviceability of many types of screen- 

 ing in various parts of the country, and although he has not 

 submitted a final repirt, will gladly advise anyone desiring 

 this inforinalion for uffioial p irposes. His address is Box 

 208, Dallas, Texas. 



Where inosquitoon are abundant, the double door 

 vestibule, arranged so that the two doors cannot be opened 

 at the same time, is highly desirable, especially for hospitals. 

 In tropical countries, with verandahs around the entire 

 hou.se, the entire screening of the verandah is essentiah 



flMlKCTIoN OF Till-: INIMVIIU'AI., 



Campers are in the habit of using almost anything that 

 will make a dense smudge to drive away mosquitoes. The 

 fumes of burning pyrethrum powder are not obnoxious to 

 inost per.'ions, and arc very effective in freeing a room of 

 mo.squiioes. Thi> pnwder, .slightly moi.stened and moulded 

 into a candle, will burn slowly like punk. The e.s.sential oil 

 of the powder may be volatilized by placing the powder on 

 a metal screen above a lamp chimney. 'I'he odour is r.nly 

 slightly perceptibl.', and not unp'easant. 



Ff)r protection of the body, camphor, oil citronella, oil 



ca.ssia, and other essential oilsar^ found ethcacious. Howard, 



Dyar. and Knab recommend as the b.-si in their experiments: 



Oil of citronella ! <«. 



Spirits of camphor I „ 



< )il of cedar .j „ 



• 111 the West Indies i»i.vone desu'ing to .st*)ck a lo.sorvoir 

 i)\ ntlier body iif winter with tish .sluMild comniuniciite wiMi I'l.- 

 otfieers of \\w .Ajtrieiiltiiral I>i-partmen1s 



