434 AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



dug, and there several places were found in which breeding was going on. 

 The tide came up into these ditches at every high tide. Crabs and fish were 

 in abundance. In this section (A) is the water tower, and a little south 

 of the water tower there is a pile of lumber under which there is a con- 

 stant pool which is also a breeder. Across the road is a section marked 



(B) where 2800 feet of ditching has been done. In the section marked (B) 

 there yet remains 350 feet of ditching staked out and not dug. The ditches 

 in section (B) depend upon a sluice under the Bay Road for an outlet into 

 tide water. This sluice is not as low as it should be for perfect drainage. 

 To overcome the difficulty, a hole was dug at the sluice a foot deeper than 

 the ditch, to form a sort of retreat for the fish which came up at high tide. 

 The result is this : The fish enter the ditches at high tide and remain in the 

 ditches continually, so that although all the water does not pass off at every 

 low tide, there is a constant supply of fish to keep the ditches free from 

 possible breeding. The water completely fills the ditch at high tide near 

 the sulice box under the road, and gradually becomes more shallow in the 

 ditch. The ditches in section (B) were dug between our July visit and my 

 August trip. But they were not dug deeply enough. They had to be done 

 over again. During the August trip a sluice bo.x was pat under Bay Avenue 

 to make an opening for the ditches on the eastern side of the avenue. Before 

 any ditches were dug in section (B) it was a terrible place. On two- 

 thirds of the area there was not a square yard which under proper condi- 

 tions was not a breeding place. After two weeks or so of dry weather 

 section (B) would partly dry out. Then a rain ould flood it again, and with 

 the water came the hatching of the eggs of Ctile.r sollicitans, and in a few 

 days a harvest of mosquitoes. This is not a statement of what might hap- 

 pen, but of what we actually saw. The ditches were dug and finally made 

 deeper, as described above, and I watched the place during the August visit 

 and found that the water, in a day or so after the rain, had disappeared 

 from the surface of the ground not more than damp. This effectually checked 

 the breeding on this section. There were a few small holes in the northeast 

 corner which needed ditching and the stakes were put in. There is a road 

 from the railroad station to the Bay Road between section (B) and the rail- 

 road track. This was repaired by the railroad company and a ditch was 

 dug in section (B) parallel with the road and about five feet from it, con- 

 necting without ditches. The filling on the road was well done. The ditch 

 was well placed but it was left full of loose and ragged sod, which hindered 

 the flow of water and the passage of fish. At the extreme end of the railroad 

 there is a house which is used as a storage place for oysters. The house 

 stands on piling and beneath it there is a pool which was found to be a 

 constant breeder. The place should be filled in. Going north along the 

 railroad there are places on the east side of the track, between sections (B) 

 and (C), which need to be ditched. The ditch along the railroad track at 

 this point is of little or no service. If the ditch along the railroad were 

 cleaned out, the breeding places could easily be treated. On the west side of 

 the railroad up to this point, between sections (B) and (C), the territory 

 was found to be good and safe. In section (C) 935 feet of good ditching has 

 been done. In this locality there still remains 400 feet of ditching which 

 has not been dug, but which has been staked out. . Most of this was staked 

 out during the August trip. This section was also a very bad place. There 

 were pools which at times had so many larvje in them that there appeared 

 to be a shadow on the water. After the ditches were dug. I visited the place 

 many times and in the locality of the ditches there were no pools, and 

 consequently no breeding. There were other pools several hundred feet 

 away which had not been treated and it was for these that I staked out 

 ditches. These last pools were found to be very bad. and are located at 



(C) on the sketch. They are chronic pools, diminishing in dry weather and 

 swelling after a rain, thus forming a constant breeding ground. The sec- 

 tion (C) is at the northern boundary line of the Beach Haven Borough. 

 North of this boundary line (North Beach Haven) no ditching has been 

 done. The breeding area has been staked out as shown in section (D). 

 North Beach Haven has a small population, and from present indications 



