Procei^dings 0^ Fii^TH Annuai. Mee:,ting 27 



Prog^ress of Mosquito Work in Atlantic County 



BY J^RED A. REII.I.Y, ATlvANTlC CITY, N. J. 



The season of 19 17 was the fifth of active work by the Atlantic 

 County MosquitO' Extermination Commission. The appropria- 

 tion, as in previous years, was $26,000', not the $^2 6,000 of a: few 

 years ago, but the shrunken dollars O'f today. It was not tO' be 

 expected that the: usual amonnt of new work could be accom- 

 plished with this amount of money and we were agreeably sur- 

 prised tO' find that over one million feet of new ditches had been 

 installed, the usual fresh- water work carried on and over four 

 million feet of previously-dug ditches cleared of obstructions. 



The cost of moisquito control work is increasing each year, not 

 only for labor and materials but for the transportation oi men 

 by automobile and boat to the meadows far from headquarters. 

 For example, to reach the Tuckahoe River meadows, on which 

 we are now working, requires first a 12-mile trip by automobile, 

 second a 5-mile trip by boat and third a walk of about one mile 

 on the meadows. Part of this lost time must be borne by this 

 commission, for which they receive no return. 



In the judgment of men who have made a study of mosquito 

 control, the past season proved tO' be a successful one. To be 

 sure, a large part of this county, like some others in this state, 

 was covered with an immense brood oi mosquitoes from the 

 salt marsh which caused much annoyance and brought forth 

 criticism from, the country residents. Careful inspections of both 

 the drained and undrained meadows were made by reliable men 

 during the entire breeding season. The drained meadows pro'- 

 duced practically nO' breeding but the undrained meadows, espe- 

 cially those located on the west side of the Great Egg Harbor 

 River, produced more mosquitoes than any other meadow here- 

 tofore noted by men of this commission. 



These meadows have always been very bad breeding grounds, 

 and assisted by the unusual weather conditions prevailing during 

 July, proiduced a maximum crop of mosquitoes. To make matters 

 worse this emergence was followed by 11 successive days of 

 southwest winds which carried the mosquitoes in countless num- 

 bers to every corner of the county with the exception of the cen- 

 tral part of Atlantic City. This visitation was not easily for- 



