Februarv', '15] 



HEADLEE: MOSQUITO CONTROL 



41 



For the past three years two counties in New Jersey have been 

 tr;^dng to control the mosquitoes within their hmits. For the past 

 two years two other counties have been engaged in similar work. 

 Three of these counties — two of which have been working three, and 

 one, two 3^ears — are sufficiently ahke in their internal and external 

 conditions to render a comparison of their methods and results of value. 

 For purposes of discussion, they vnll be referred to as counties A, 

 and C. 



Description of the Counties 



County A consists of two rather narrow parallel ridges of high 

 ground that run northeastward — one on each side of the Hackensack 

 River Valley. The eastern ridge extends southwestward along the 

 head of Xewark Bay to the Kill-von-Kull; and New York Bay and the 

 Hudson River wash its eastern base line. The ridges are rather well 

 drained but include between them more than 11,000 acres of salt marsh, 

 nearly all of which, before ditching, bred salt marsh mosquitoes at 

 some time in the season. The entire area of the county amounts to 

 about 60.48 square miles of which 17.29 are tidal marsh and sparsely 

 inhabited. A population of 572,172 people is concentrated on these 

 two ridges vrith the great majority on the eastern one. To the north 

 of this county lie the 8,378 acres of salt marsh of the upper course of 

 the Hackensack River and its tributaries. To the southwest lie the 

 8,000 acres of salt marsh along the northern, western and southern 

 shores of Newark Bay and to the southward the salt marshes of Staten 

 Island. 



County B consists of a greatly rolling surface rising from the salt 

 marsh on the northern and western sides of Newark Ba}^ As one 

 proceeds northwestward, the ground rises and becomes rougher until 

 the hills merge into low mountains. The 554,069 people are largely 

 concentrated in the southeastern section in the city of Newark, but to 

 the north and westward of Newark the area is also thickly populated. 

 Of the 129.72 square miles of surface, a little more than 7 are salt 

 marsh. All of this salt marsh is found along the eastern and north- 

 eastern boundary between the high land and Newark Bay. County 

 B lies within reach of the 19,846 acres of Hackensack Valley salt marsh, 

 the marshes of Staten Island, and the 4,000 acres of County C. 



County C surface is much like that of County B but a large portion 

 is level lying. It begins as a 4,000 acre salt marsh north and west- 

 ward of Newark Bay and the Arthur Kill, and rises gently to the low 

 mountains along its western and northern edge. Its entire surface 

 includes 104.94 square miles. The population is generally distributed, 

 the largest city, Elizabeth, shomng in 1912 a population of 78,500. 



