The Mosquito Must Go 



11 



While the Newark Meadows have been selected for illustra- 

 tion because the permanent mosquito eradication work is more 

 nearly complete there than elsewhere in the metropolitan district, 

 relatively large increases in ratables are found on other meadows 

 where the control work has advanced far enough to be considered 

 a factor in real estate values. 



It must not be supposed because the apparent direct in- 

 fluence of the suppression of the salt-marsh mosquito on the 



Table 2 

 Taxable Values on the Newark Meadows 



Year 



Ratables (Net Valua- | 



Increase over J 



Tax Produced 





tion Taxable 



Preceding 

 Year 









Per Cent 





1896 



$ 390,335 





$ 7,650 



1897 



385,335 



— 1 



7,642 



1898 



323,999 



— 15 



6,804 



1899 



323,655 



— 0.1 



6,861 



1900 



323,850 



0.06 



7,253 



1901 



323,385 



— 0.1 



6,920 



1902. 



320,562 



— 0.8 



7,116 



1903 



320,697 



0.04 



7,440 



1904 



320,492 



— 0.06 



7,275 



1905 



322,892 



0.7 



7,298 



1906 



460,140 



42 



8,016 



1907 



545,565 



18 



9,241 



1908 



658,480 



20 



10,750 



1909 



726,985 



10 



13,896 



1910 



758,670 



4 



14,653 



1911 



1,113,465 



46 



21,948 



1912 



1,428,525 



28 



29,153 



1913 



1,735,610 



21 



35,071 



1914 



2,192,685 



26 



45,651 



1915 



2,251,355 



2 



51,367 



1916 



3,750,885 



66 



91,910 



1917 - 



4,764,965 



27 



128,668 



1918 



6,500,890 



36 



188,539 



1919 



7,015,110 



7 



238,513 



meadow valuation has been stressed, that the uplands of the 

 urban district derive no benefit from the elimination of this sum- 

 mer nest. Quite the contrary. The mosquitoes of the salt 

 meadows are far-flying insects. Residence sections lying to lee- 

 ward of a marsh, even though miles away, may suffer severely 

 from invasions of the pest. And people who have a choice do 

 not knowingly invest their money in homes in a mosquito-infest- 

 ed neighborhood. The elimination of the breeding ground from 

 which the insects come would naturally be followed by a rapid 

 increase in ratables in such a neighborhood. Real estate experts 

 are agreed on this point. 



