certain species of mosquitoes are the most common, if not the only, 

 means of conveying malarial germs and of introducing those germs into 

 the human system. More recently mosquitoes have been found to be 

 the cause, and so far the only proved cause, of the infection of yellow 

 fever. Marshes and stagnant pools of water are the principal breeding 

 places of mosquitoes, and to remove the pests such places should be 

 drained and the lands reclaimed for agricultural purposes. In Italy the 

 mosquito pest has been the cause of the abandonment of vast areas of 

 land. , The salt marshes do not seem to offer the condition necessary 

 for the breeding of the few species of malaria mosquitoes existing in this 

 country, but they are breeding places for vast numbers of mosquitoes of 

 other species which annoy the residents and stock along much of the 

 coast line and in certain places impair the property valuation. 



These recent discoveries of the cause of the infection from malaria 

 and yellow fever have resulted in a renewed interest in the means of 

 exterminating mosquitoes and incidentally in the drying out of marshes 

 and swamps. The writings of Dr. L. 0. Howard, Entomologist of this 

 Department, on mosquitoes have aroused the interest of the inhabitants 

 of mosquito and malaria infested localities in the subject of swamp 

 reclamation ; and this Bureau is in frequent receipt of letters inquiring 

 about the agricultural value of the marsh lands and methods for their 

 reclamation. A great many people seem willing to undertake the 

 drainage of these marshes and tidal meadows if it can be shown to them 

 that there will result a pecuniary profit. Therefore, to determine the 

 agricultural value of these soils a trip, was made to Oyster Bay, Long 

 Island, where reclamation work was in progress. Samples of the soil 

 and subsoil of the eel-grass mud were collected and subjected to lab- 

 oratory examination. No elaborate study of the subject is possible at 

 this time, so a simple statement of the conditions existing there is all 

 that can be made. 



The conditions are sufficiently typical of coast marshes all along the 

 Atlantic coast to warrant the application to other localities of an}- les- 

 sons learned. The opinions of several earlier writers on the subject 

 have been quoted, and it is to be hoped the value of marsh lands has 

 been brought out clearly enough to direct more serious attention to 

 their reclamation. Shaler 1 says: 



The great advantage of the northern marsh areas is found in the fact that they 

 are generally near the larger centers of population of the country, when- they 

 will have a high value as market-garden soils or fields for the raising of hay. 

 When brought into their best state such areas will, measured by the price set 

 upon other lands in the same neighborhood, have a value of not less than $:>00 

 an acre. As the total reclaimable area bet ween New York and Portland (Maine i 



1 Sea Coast Swamps of the Eastern United States, U, S. Geological Survey, 6th 

 Ann. Rep., p. 380. 



