100 N. J. Mosquito Exte:rmination Association 

 Prosrress in Mosquito Control in Connecticut in 1917 



BY W. E. BRITTON, STATE ENTOMOI.OGIST, NEW HAVEN, CONN. 



Two factors operated to curtail the amount of new work in 

 Connecticut during 191 7: (i) the fact that our country is at 

 war has induced numerous economies, and as so many Hues of 

 work are imperative some of those which seem less so must 

 wait, and (2) the proposed change in the policy of the state 

 toward mosquito work and the legislation providing for it. 



An important feature of anti-mosquito work in Connecticut 

 during 19 17 was an amendment to the statutes whereby the state 

 takes charge of maintenance as well as new work, and three- 

 fourths, or 75 per cent of the cost is collected from the town 

 by the state comptroller. The director of the Connecticut Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station is named in the act as the admin- 

 istrative officer in charge of this work for the state. The new 

 law satisfies the demands of our lawyer friends by providing 

 (i) a more adequate notice to property owners and other ob- 

 jectors; (2) a more satisfactory provision for appeal; (3) 

 an arrangement for assessing benefits and damages; (4) that 

 the work shall not be delayed while these matters are being ad- 

 justed. The act also provides that work done prior to its pas- 

 sage miay be maintained if duly approved by the director. None 

 of this maintenance work in any town can average more than 

 one dollar per acre in one year. The General Assembly appro- 

 priated $10,000 as the state's quota to cover this work for the 

 biennial period ending September 30, 191 9, one-half, or $5,000, 

 being for maintenance and a part of it becoming immediately 

 available. As the act was not approved until May 18, 191 7, 

 some work contemplated was delayed so that it could be done 

 under the provisions of the new law. Consequently, it was 

 rather late in the season before this maintenance work was taken 

 over by the state and the towns had done little or nothing mean- 

 time to improve the situation. 



My assistant, Mr. B. H. Walden, was appointed by the di- 

 rector as his deputy in charge of mosquito-elimination work. 



First, I will mention the new work which has been accom- 

 plished during the year. 



