The Mosquito Must Go 13 



No Other Region in New Jersey and Probably No Other in the United 



States Has Such a Capacity for Rapid and Enormous Industrial 



Development as the Metropolitan Meadows 



Important as has been the development, and large as has 

 been the increase in ratables in those sections of the meadows 

 where salt marsh-mosquito breeding has been placed under con- 

 trol, this development and increase is but a small per cent of the 

 possibilities of this area. But 350 acres, or 7 per cent of the 

 total of 4,631 acres comprising the Newark meadows, are being 

 utilized for industrial purposes. Probably not over 5 per cent 

 of the 28,000 acres of meadow lands in the Hackensack Valley 

 and Newark Bay region have been reclaimed for industrial pur- 

 poses. 



Certainly no other part of New Jersey, and it is doubtful 

 if any other like area in the United States, can match the ad- 

 vantages of the 28,000 acres of metropolitan meadowlands for 

 industrial enterprises. This area is in closest proximity to — 

 literally adjoins — the densest and largest center of population 

 in North America. In fact, it is right in the midst of this popu- 

 lation. It is crossed by the most important railroads of the 

 country. The Hackensack and Passaic rivers and Newark Bay 

 are important waterways for this area. The chief port of exit 

 and entry of the United States is on the threshold. Indeed, the 



Fig. 2. Coincidence Between The Progress of Salt-Marsh Mosquito 

 Control Work and The Rise in Valuations of The Newark Meadows 



The broken line is a graph of the increases in the ratables of Essex 

 County from 1896 to 1918. The unbroken curve is a graph of the changes 

 in ratables of the Newark Meadows from 1896 (the first year the meadows 

 were assessed separately) to 1919. 



The per cent of increase (above the zero) or decrease (below the zero) 

 in ratables is indicated by the divisions on the heavy vertical line at the left. 

 The divisions on the heavy horizontal base line represent the years from 

 1896 to 1919. 



The sudden jump in both the county and meadow lines between 1905 and 

 1906 is probably due to a change in the classification of railroad property 

 which was made about that time. It is of no significance in regard to the 

 mosquito work. 



The ratables (net valuations taxable) for the county experiences a 

 steady, consistent increase (with the above exception which affected both 

 county and meadow line alike) from 1896 to 1918. 



The graph of the meadow ratables drops between 1896 and 1898 and then 

 runs practically parallel to the base line to 1905 From 1905 to , 1919 the 

 meadow line rises almost perpendicularly. At 1905 it is 4% points below the 

 county line ; in 1918 it is 12% points above the county line or almost 3 

 times as far above the zero line as the county graph is. 



From 1905 to 1919 the increase in valuations (as shown by the graphs) 

 is relatively enormous for the meadow lands as compared with the county. 

 It is significant that the increases in valuations on the Newark meadows have 

 come since 1905, the year mosquito control work was started on these mead- 

 ows, and that the rise in ratables has exactly paralleled the progress of the 

 control work. 



