204 MOSQUITOES 



of private individuals are investing considerable capital 

 in carrying out further imiirovements. 



The question of drainage-work was treated very inter- 

 estingly and convincingly by Mr. H. C. Weeks, of Bay- 

 side, Long Island, in the Scientific American Sa-pplement, 

 January 5, 1901. The following paragraphs are taken 

 from this imi3ortant article. 



There are many causes which militate against reclaiming 

 marshes, which must be done before the largest factor in the 

 spread of mosquitoes is eliminated. Generally they are held in 

 small tracts by a number of owners, and the more the owners, 

 the greater the difficulty of action. This fact suggests the neces- 

 sity of every state having, as some places have, drainage laws 

 that would relieve such a situation. And that leads to the 

 statement of the necessity of some legislation preventing a small 

 interest in a tide-stream, owned by a few, and used but little, 

 overriding the general interest and preventing a drainage scheme 

 that w^ould improve the health and material interests of a large 

 territory, as well as relieve it of mosquitoes. In passing — how 

 often does it occur that a train-load of passengers is held up by 

 an open bridge over a little stream, and the cause of it all, a 

 sailor standing on his rights and unconcernedly waiting for the 

 tide or wind to bear his little craft through the draw. Such 

 things are contrary to the spirit of the age, and should be rem- 

 edied. 



Another difficulty is found in the fact that owners, as a rule, 

 are not informed of the financial side of the case, and they are 

 unwilling, sometimes unable, to invest in a plan for reclamation 

 that will mean an outlay to them, when there is already an in- 

 come in the salt hay produced, though generally this is of no 

 net profit. 



There is, too, a great lack of information on the general sub- 



