5* 



are not only ready but eager to get at it. In other years, Bergen 

 County, by reputation, supplied the whole northern section of the 

 State and most of New York with mosquitoes. During the 

 coming seasons it is difficult to see how we are going to raise 

 enough for local consumption, so Essex, Hudson, Union and 

 Passaic as well as New York are respectfully requested to look 

 elsewhere than to Bergen for its mosquito supply. The Bergen 

 County Commission has received a substantial appropriation 

 from the Freeholders for the work of the coming year. Profit- 

 ing by the mistakes and experiences of previous work, it is pre- 

 pared to apply those funds carefully and efficiently. Bergen 

 County may be one of the babies in mosquito work, but, if so, it 

 is gaining in strength, and may soon be counted on to> take its 

 place with the full-grown, lusty warriors who have accomplished 

 undeniable results by the practical application of well-established 

 theories. 



Mr. Rider — In connection with the drainage of swamp lands 

 that have been cedar swamps a statement of my personal experi- 

 ence might be worth while. I have used dynamite for years and 

 used it effectively. I can dig more ditches with dynamite for 

 ten dollars than I can dig by hand for a hundred. 



Where the meadow is moist and difficult of drainage, this 

 method is most efficient. I cut the sticks of dynamite, which 

 weigh about half a pound each, in two pieces and place them 

 about eighteen inches apart, right along a forty- foot line where 

 at the ditch. Lighting one fuse explodes them all, and we 

 have a ditch open immediately the length that dynamite has 

 been placed, and that really needs little cleaning out. Where the 

 mud is not so soft, I place the sticks of dynamite closer together. 



Now, I remember an experience of some twenty-five years ago . 

 in the course of which it became evident that much better 

 drainage could be obtained by cutting a channel across an area 

 of extremely soft ground and thereby shortening the course of 

 the outlet stream. The ground was so soft that men feared to 

 venture on it. A line of dynamite sticks was laid along the 

 course of the proposed ditch by walking along broad boards 



