436 AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



Fourth Street there is a lot which was very bad. Filling in is the necessary 

 work there. 



The Borough of Beach Haven hired a gang of Italians and two natives 

 of the place to do the ditching laid out. Our first instructions were to lay 

 out so much ditching as would be done during the past summer. This we 

 did with a surplus. But it was found necessary to do more than stake out 

 ditches. The purpose and size of the ditches was new to the laborers. 

 Supervision was necessary and was given. The section (A) dug by the 

 Italians and the sections (B) and (C) dug by the natives are examples of 

 what good ditching will do in an infested country. The ditching in section 

 (B) had to be gone over twice, since the ditches were not dug deep enough 

 the first time. This, of course, added to the expense. Beside the supervision 

 of the ditching, the use of oil was seen to, so that two broods were largely 

 destroyed. We thus added to the object of staking bad territory, the pur- 

 pose to see the work successfully done. The results of the work have 

 shown that Beach Haven gets its mosquitoes from local breeding areas and 

 not from some outside source, across the bay, for instance. The work has 

 also demonstrated the practical value of the methods employed, that is, 

 ditching or filling bad territory. I do not include oiling, because at this late 

 day it is generally understood that the use of oil is but a makeshift and to 

 be used only where temporary relief and a quick method is sought and where 

 a single crop is to be destroyed. 



The proposition at Beach Haven is an easy one. From the ocean there is, 

 of course, no concern. There is but a narrow strip of land southward. We 

 have no reason to believe that Beach Haven suffers from mosquitoes which 

 have been carried by winds or have flown across the bay from the main- 

 land. Northward there is also but a narrow strip of land. We know that 

 the supply of mosquitoes from the local breeding grounds is very large. 

 The distance to tide water is very short. The majority of the marshes are 

 composed of the heavy sod which makes such fine support for the sides of 

 the ditch, so that when once dug, with a little care, they will last and re- 

 main serviceable. The millions of larvae which passed through the ditches 

 when they were first dug and later the absence of water in old pools such as 

 in sections (A), (B) and (C) show the practical value of the ditches. 



Respectfully submitted, 



November 20, 1903. (Signed) JOHN MELLOR. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE SHREWSBURY RIVER WORK. 



One of the first communities along shore to take up the ques- 

 tion of mosquito extermination was Monmouth Beach, and at the 

 invitation of Mr. Eugene Winship I visited that place during the 

 summer of 1902 and several times in 1903, to look over the 

 ground, advise and in general to give what assistance I could. 

 Mr. Winship's history of what was done and how the work grad- 

 ually increased is told in his own words a little further on. 



