ii8 AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



bottom. It is important that the bottom of the ditch be as level 

 as possible to prevent any obstruction to the flow of water, and 

 at the outlet the ditch should be a little wider and deeper to give 

 unobstructed exit to the drainage. 



In those areas where the sand comes so close to the surface 

 that no ditching can be done, and in those swampy depressions 

 among the sand hills that have no outlet, filling is the only 

 remedy. Along the Barnegat strip especially, a very large per- 

 centage of the mosquitoes are bred among the sand hills just 

 back of the shore line, and the filling for these depressions is at 

 hand, surrounding them. For filling in large areas, hydraulic 

 dredges are necessary. Examples of their work can be seen at 

 Atlantic City, Cape May and the Kearney Meadows, and a large 

 extent of territory can be covered by such a dredge in a single 

 day. This sort of work is necessarily expensive* and available 

 only on a large territory; but in a single season the entire strip 

 from Point Pleasant to the Barnegat Inlet can be made com- 

 pletely mosquito proof, since only a shallow covering of sand 

 would be required to raise the higher and dangerous marsh area 

 permanently above the high tide level. As the bay bottom is a 

 fine sand, filling material of the best qualit}'^ is at hand in unlim- 

 ited quantity. 



Where inland filling among the Eand hills is to be done, it is 

 a good 'plnn tO' put on first a Iriycr of coarse drift or sedge hay, 

 upon and am.ong which the sand can be shoveled. This will 

 I'old the material and prevent blowing, which is responsible for 

 the formation of sonie of these basins. 



At several points along the shore, stretches h.ave l)cen laid out 

 into town plots, and streets and roa:ls have b^en l)ui"t. These 

 streets are often a little higher than the surrounding territory, 

 and no provision is made for the drainage of low-lying lots. 

 Indeed, as a rule, the natural drainage is cut off and nothing is 

 substituted, ihi result being the formation of the liveliest kind 

 of breeding places. Such lots usually grow a rank vegetation, 

 and if this is systcraaiically cut and piled on the lowest spots, a 

 little sand being added to give weight, a condition will be formed 

 which will at least iirevent mosquito breeding. In other words, 

 in all the shore cities, towns, villages and resorts especial atten- 

 tion should be p3.\d to the surface water within the limits of 

 the settled or plotted area, for it is my experience that a very 

 large percentage of the mosquitoes in such places breed within 

 their own lin.iits and can be controlled b}^ local work. Too^ much 



*I am informed that ifx. per cubic yard of filling is an average price on an 

 irea si:fl:cient:y large to make the dredges pay at all. 



