48 



Freeholders granted $14,000 to be used in mosquito extermina- 

 tion work during 191 5. So that it might well be said that 191 5 

 marks the real beginning of labor of this nature in Bergen 

 County. This county is then the youngest of the counties in the 

 northern part of the State in the work. The other surrounding 

 counties, with two and three years of actual work to their credit, 

 are naturally in a more stable and developed condition than is 

 Bergen. Our work is still in its infancy, and its undeveloped 

 condition puts us in a position where we cannot as yet safely 

 predict Utopian conditions for the people of Bergen County 

 during the coming* summer. But we believe that the foundation 

 which we have been able to build is a firm one and that it will be 

 able to support the further work which we are at present con- 

 templating. 



Upon the upland, Bergen County presents a condition much 

 similar to the other neighboring counties, and the methods which 

 we have used to combat the breeding in these sources of trouble 

 approximate those used in the other counties. Bergen County 

 is, however, essentially a commuting county, and for this 

 reason we have found on inspection that the premises are 

 very neatly kept and quite free from artificial breeding places. 

 For this reason our house inspection in certain communi- 

 ties has not been quite as rigid as is customary. The salt 

 marsh of Bergen County, however, presents a problem which 

 is unique. To my knowledge there is no marsh in the 

 State that is similar to it. It is said that Bergen County 

 has 8,000 acres of salt marsh. More than 60 per cent, of 

 this, however, is not real salt marsh, but might more accurately 

 be termed quasi marsh. In the ordinary salt marsh it is excep- 

 tional when the peat runs shallower than 30 inches. In digging 

 a 30-inch ditch little difficulty is experienced in getting the 

 depth through this characteristic marsh mud. But in Bergen 

 County this shallowing of the peat is the rule rather than the 

 exception. There are scattered here and there on the meadow 

 old cedar swamps, varying in size, some very small, others over 

 a mile in length. The conclusion to be drawn is that at one 

 time this entire area now designated as salt marsh was a great 



