200 MOSQUITOES 



any case, and entirely without reference to the question 

 of niosquito-sui)ply, to see why swamp-hmd shouUl l)e 

 aHowed to exist. There are many hirge tracts of swamp- 

 L-ind which coukl he drained with a comparatively slight 

 expenditure of money, and which, when once reclaimed, 

 would be of very g-reat value for agricultural purposes. 

 There is a great deal of this land in the immediate vicin- 

 ity of many large communities which suffer from the at- 

 tacks of mosquitoes and which arc more or less malarious. 

 In such instances, community drainage-work should be 

 undertaken for the health and comfort of the community. 

 Misguided owners of swamp-land, if tliey cannot l)e made 

 to see that such measures would l)ring dollars and cents 

 into their pockets, should be coerced. 



In many cases such drainage or swamp-reclamation is 

 an exi)ensive and a more or less complicated matter. The 

 swamps, for example, on the borders of the Great Lakes, 

 and of the smaller lakes which abound in central New 

 York, in Wisconsin, and at other points, cannot be thor- 

 oughly reclaimed without the expenditure of large 

 amounts of money. The same may be said for such great 

 brackish marshes as the Hackensack meadows in tlie 

 vicinity of New York City and the great stretches of 

 high marsh- land, occasionally overflowed only by the 

 highest tides, which exist at many points along the At- 

 lantic coast. In such cases even large communities will 

 not be ajit to undertake the responsibility of drainage 

 and diking measures on account of the expense. This 

 means that such measures should be adopted by States. 

 A good practical state drainage law is in these days a 



