42 N. J. Mosquito Extermination Association 



the height of the breeding season, some vandal, beUeving that his 

 inaHenable right to hunt and fish was being destroyed by the drain- 

 age we were doing, chopped away the Stump Creek Gates and flooded 

 the Lyndhurst Meadow. A few days later, a large section was 

 washed away in the dike of the New York Acreage Company and the 

 Rutherford Meadow was also flooded. Previous to this neither of 

 these meadows had been breeding. 



So you might well say that last year the "breaks" were against 

 us. Nevertheless, we made steady progress with our drainage pro- 

 gram on both the salt marsh and the upland. We had a share in the 

 building of the Saw Mill Creek tide-gates which were constructed 

 by a joint appropriation made by the Dupont Powder Company, the 

 Hudson County Mosquito Extermination Commission; and the 

 Bergen County commission. These gates, which are strong and well- 

 built, form an important link in the drainage of our North Arlington 

 Meadow. The Stump Creek tide-gates were reinforced and prac- 

 tically rebuilt, the pipe-line dike extended and about 18,000 feet of 

 new ditching cut on the Lyndhurst meadow to bring about proper 

 drainage of this formerly wet area; a second ditch 5 feet wide, 

 4 feet deep and over 5,000 feet long was driven through the large 

 cedar swamp south of the Pater son Plank Road to help drain this 

 extremely bad mosquito breeder ; small tide-gates were placed in 

 Eckle's Creek and Craig Creek on the Little Ferry Meadow ; and 

 more than 100,000 feet of io-in<ch ditches were cleaned to obtain 

 proper flow on meadows previously drained. 



On the upland, we did drainage work in 17 different boroughs 

 or townships, putting in good working order more than 75,000 feet 

 of drainage ditches. Our chief objective on the upland was, as last 

 year, the Camp Merritt zone. We hoped by prompt and thorough 

 work to be able to maintain the rather enviable record we made there 

 in 1918. The camp surgeon and the United States Public Health 

 Service again took an active interest and despite and adverse weather 

 conditions. Camp Merritt, experienced but little mosquito annoy- 

 ance during the entire summer. We also drained the Coles Brook 

 Valley, which affects the towns of Hackensack, Maywood and River- 

 side ; cleaned and regraded the Calicooneck ditch ; and drained large 

 swamps in Westwood, Haworth, Lodi, Hasbrouck Heights and 

 Moonachie. This work was done under contract on a cooperative 

 basis with the municipalities affected and our receipts from this 

 source were over $2,000. We have found in our work that this 



