54 N. J. Mosquito Extermination Association 



has explained the matter pretty thoroughly. .The only thing is to 

 convince the parties that the work must be done. In Ocean County 

 once when we had a contract going the owner came down on the 

 marsh with a shotgun and said, "If you cut another ditch I will shoot 

 any of you." I didn't happen to be on that job that afternoon, I 

 was on another part of the marsh. But I saw the foreman of the 

 contract that evening and he said, "The owner stopped us ditching 

 here. He is going to shoot us." I said, "I guess he wouldn't shoot 

 you. I will be down in the morning and I will go and see him." 

 I went up to his house and asked, "What is the trouble about the 

 marsh?" "Well, they ain't going to cut any more of these ditches in 

 my meadow," he replied. "Why?" I asked. "Well, they are going 

 to ruin the meadows." I said, "Don't you know that they are breed- 

 ing mosquitoes?" "Yes." "Well, don't you know that the law 

 will make you do it if you stop these people doing it?" Well, he 

 didn't know about it. "Well," I said, "they sure will, and as I un- 

 derstand the law, if you stop the men doing it the Board of Health 

 will make you do it at your own expense." He began to study about 

 it and I asked, "Will you go down there on the marsh with me and 

 look it over and talk it over ?" He got ready and went to the meadow 

 with me, and after I showed him what we wanted to do, he went 

 home as pleased a man as you would want to see. I never had any 

 more trouble with him. 



Mr. J. B. Leslie (Bergen County) : There has been one point 

 broug'ht up that we very often find in our county. If we have a 

 business property owner that is all right we can, if necessary, get 

 him up before the commission and make him see the light. But in 

 Bergen County the majority of our large swamps are on the prop- 

 erty of perhaps a half a dozen and in some cases thirty-five or forty 

 different property owners. It might be that we can get thirty-three 

 of them but the other two are land poor or for some other reason 

 can't help us, and they are the two that control the outlet. So 

 we have found it very satisfactory to work through the dififerent 

 municipalities and get them to contribute their share, pointing out 

 that unless they help we are unable to control the swamp. Sooner 

 or later two-thirds or three-fourths of the town are very anxious 

 to get it done successfully, and are very willing to come in ; that is, 

 if they want to take it up and assist the property owners ; some 

 towns do. That puts the burden of half the cost or more, on the 

 municipality and they do accept their share of the work. We have 

 found that this plan works very successfully in Bergen County. 



