34 N. J. Mosquito Extermination Association 



To detail this work in the upland section of our County is not 

 necessary. Suffice it to say that many a low spot, the paradise of 

 the mosquito, has been wiped out, especially in the White Oak 

 Ridge section of the Orange Mountains, where alone over nine 

 miles of new ditches were dug to connect up ponds of various sizes 

 and drain them into Canoe Brook of the Rahway River. Again 

 a large swamp containing ten acres, and known as Bufifalo Swamp, 

 lying between the First and Second Mountains, was made free of 

 mosquito breeding and many low spots along the Upper Rahway 

 River were newly ditched and conditions bettered. 



The total amount expended from November 1, 1917, to October 

 31, 1918, was $65,626.38. The amount asked for and approved by 

 the Director of the New Jersey Experiment Station and granted by 

 the Board of Chosen Freeholders for the year 1919 is $72,000. 

 Some $4,500 of the appropriation for the year 1917-1918 was not 

 used and was returned to the Freeholders. 



There are many mill ponds and pleasure lakes in Essex County 

 in some of which mosquito larvse breed. It is the plan of this Com- 

 mission to require the elimination of mosquito breeding by the 

 owner where such condition exists, and to offer its cooperation in 

 advising and formulating a proper plan in this regard. 



Experiments in the use of small fish as natural mosquito ex- 

 terminators were made by the Commission's research expert, and kil- 

 lie fish caught in the Newark bay were transported to one of the fresh 

 water ponds. As far as could be observed, out of 250 released, all 

 but 30 survived the change from brackish to fresh water. Professor 

 J. Percy Moore, who has been retained by the U. S. Bureau of 

 Fisheries, made an inspection of our water conditions with a view 

 of determining the kind of fish best suited to accomplish this pur- 

 pose. The investigation is still being made. 



Besides the question of mosquito control on the salt marshes, the 

 Essex County Commission has for years been confronted with the 

 problem of handling mosquito breeding on twenty thousand acres 

 of fresh water swamps and meadow lands in the Upper Passaic 

 Valley; approximately one half of this area is in Morris County. 

 One of these tracts, known as the Great Piece Meadow, where is 

 located the U. S. Navy Rifle Range, covers an area of 4,000 acres. 

 Nearby is Hatfield Swamp, about 3,000 acres, and adjoining is 

 Long Meadow, over 1,000 acres in size. There are many smaller 



