S Circular 111 



has continued to date. In 1912 local agencies were organized 

 in a broader way and the county mosquito extermination com- 

 missions were authorized and appointed. In this year the com- 

 missions began work in Essex and Union counties. In 1913 the 

 work was taken up in Hudson, in 1914 in Passaic and in 1915 

 in Bergen counties. In addition to suppressing the breeding of 

 fresh-water mosquitoes, these county mosquito commissions 

 have taken over the maintenance of drainage works established 

 by the State Experiment Station, have supplemented the drain- 

 age of areas already partly completed and have undertaken and 

 carried out the drainage of areas hitherto untouched. 



A considerable portion of the salt marshes included in the 

 metropolitan district are peculiarly difficult to handle from a 

 mosquito-control standpoint, because they have been gridironed 

 with railroads and roadways, and large volumes of sewage have 

 been poured out upon them. In fact, there are some areas 

 which, because they are shut-off from the sea and polluted with 

 sewage, have sunk to a level considerably below mean high tide, 

 rendering their drainage by gravity impracticable. Thus, 

 through the activity of man, the ordinary methods used for 

 mosquito drainage on the marshes as nature made them have 

 been rendered impracticable over considerable sections of this 

 area. 



Approximately 60 per cent of these 28,000 acres have been 

 treated in such a way as to bring the breeding of the mosquito 

 pest under control. A very large proportion of the work neces- 

 sary to this end has been done by the local county mosquito 

 commissions. 



The managers or superintendents of some 17 manufacturing 

 establishments, on meadows where mosquito control had been 

 undertaken, were recently interviewed in order to obtain their 

 opinions in regard to the value of the work. With one exception 

 all highly commended the work. The exception was a gentle- 

 man who said he knew very little about the subject and therefore 

 could not give an estimate of the value of the work, but was in 

 favor of continuing it. Those who had been on the meadows 

 for some years spoke of the myriads of mosquitoes formerly pres- 

 ent where now one is seldom seen. What these practical men 

 think of the value and efficiency of the mosquito control methods 

 used on our salt marshes may be judged by extracts from a few 

 typical letters appended to this circular (pages 42-44). 



