August, '11] NICKELS: ARGENTINE ANT 357 



supply the jars with a little extra Vmit, maple syrup or honey, and nests 

 occurring in concrete sidewalks or in foundations can be stopped off 

 by filling the cracks or entrance with a little plaster of paris. This 

 has proved very effective. 



I will give you the costs of the undertaking so far, which we estimate 

 to be about four times as much as it will be in future work, due to the 

 fact that since this was the first time systematic ant extermination 

 has ever been attempted, it was thought wise to give the jars much 

 more attention than will be necessary in future work. 



Supplies for five blocks $53.61 



Labor at 40 cents per hour for the large territory 



and 50 cents an hour for the small amounted to 199.75 



Total $253.36 



for six months work. 



Now we will attempt to estimate what a square mile of control work 

 will cost. In the average San Francisco section there are eight blocks 

 to one side of the square and 17 to the other, in all giving 136 blocks 

 and 50 miles of streets. If it were necessary to go from house to house 

 and enter each yard from the street in order to make a circuit of the 

 jars one would have to travel about 150 miles. A man can cover ten 

 miles of street in this way a day. Two men could cover the territory 

 once a week and $2,400.00 should furnish ample salary. So far we 

 have expended about $10.00 a block for supplies. To insure safety one 

 might consider $15.00 a square a safer estimate for the large territory, 

 this gives $2,040.00 for supplies, totaling $4,440.00. About $500.00 

 should be added to this to pay the hire of an extra man occasionally 

 and to insure against inefficiency, possible breakage, etc. 



From this it will be seen that $5,000.00 will pay for a year's campaign 

 per square mile of territory. This gives $37.40 as the cost for one 

 block. Most squares have fifty subdivisions, this means about 75 

 cents per lot per year for poisoning and ultimate extermination. In case 

 it be necessary to continue the work for more than one year it seems 

 probable that another $1,000.00 should be enough to finish the work 

 the second year. 



For a large area like that in Oakland, Alameda, San Jose or Los 

 Angeles the jars could be shifted on to new territory as fast as the old is 

 cleaned up. Allowing a large margin of safety, subsequent sections of 

 land should be taken care of for $3,000.00 or 45 cents to the lot per 

 year. 



In the small area in which the work is being done, the average expen- 

 diture by the residents was at least $25.00 in time and money per month 



