444 AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



bright bridge has been examined and breeding pools were found 

 on all ; but from Seabright bridge to Red Bank no such places 

 were discovered. 



There are a number of islands in the Shrewsbury River and 

 some of these were found to have bad breeding places. 



The results obtained from these inspections were encouraging, 

 and a drainage plan was laid before the people of Monmouth 

 Beach and Rumson Neck. 



On February 15th another series of inspections was made to 

 get an estimate of how many feet of ditching it would require 

 to drain the entire strip of meadow on both sides of the Shrews- 

 bury River. After going over the ground carefully, it was esti- 

 mated that 250,000 feet of ditching would clean the entire 

 meadow from Seabright to East Long Branch, from Pleasure 

 Bay to Little Silver Creek, and from Little Silver Creek to Sea- 

 bright bridge on the west side. 



The Monmouth Beach Association took the matter up at once 

 and secured the money to have the area from Seabright to At- 

 lantic Avenue, North Long Branch, made safe. A contract was 

 given out and work started in March. The pools were then 

 already filled with larvae, but their growth was slow, due to the 

 cold weather. The work proceeded so fast that before the larvae 

 were half grown every pool between Seabright and North Long 

 Branch was laid dry. This work destroyed the first brood, which, 

 had it come to maturity, would have swamped Monmouth Beach 

 as this same brood swamped other shore places, including New- 

 ark and Elizabeth. Not one of these mosquitoes hatched to do 

 any damage. 



The effect of the work was too obvious and the success so 

 great that the residents of Rumson Neck took up the matter 

 at once and gave out a contract to drain the meadow from Sea- 

 bright bridge to Little Silver Creek bridge. The larvse were 

 now a little more than half grown and fear was expressed that 

 this brood would get through all right before the ditching could 

 be completed. But a cold spell came in which kept the larvae back 

 so far that when every ditch was cut but one they changed to 

 pupae, and one other day would have seen them on the wing. This 

 last lot of the enormous brood was hurriedly drained into the 

 Shrewsbury River, where the killies were waiting for them in 

 numbers sufficient to wipe them all out. The race was won. 



This entire work of nearly 200,000 feet of ditching was done 

 for a little more than $2,000. The islands in the Shrewsbury 

 were taken up immediately after the Rumson Neck side was done, 

 and it took only two or three days to make them safe. 



