Proceedings of Seventh Annual Meeting 93 



This law was amended in 191 7 and an appropriation of $5,000 

 made to pay one-fourth of the cost of new work. The maintenance 

 was placed under the director of the Agricultural Experiment Sta- 

 tion and $5,000 was appropriated to cover one-fourth of the cost 

 thereof, the remaining three-fourths to be paid by the towns. This 

 included ditching done prior to the passage of the law, provided the 

 work met with the approval of the director. The bill as introduced 

 asked for a much larger appropriation, and provided for paying 

 one-half of the cost of both new work and maintenance. It was 

 also intended that the supervision expenses be paid in full out of the 

 appropriations, but the amendment as passed was so worded that the 

 attorney general ruled that the supervision expenses must be in- 

 cluded with the cost of the actual labor. This caused much dis- 

 satisfaction on the part of some of the towns, and it was found diffi- 

 cult to establish a satisfactory basis on which to divide the super- 

 vision expenses among the dif¥erent towns. 



For these reasons the law was again amended by the 1919 Legisla- 

 ture to provide for paying the supervision expenses in full both for 

 new work and maintenance, out of the state appropriation. 



During 1918 and 1919 no new ditching work has been done under 

 the state law. Surveys and estimates for ditching work have been 

 made in four towns covering over a thousand acres of marsh. A 

 part of the money has been pledged, and it is hoped that a portion 

 of the area ,at least will be ditched another season. 



The actual state work during these two years has been the main- 

 tenance of the ditching on 5,000 acres of salt marsh, in the towns of 

 Madison, Guilford, Branford, East Haven, New Haven, Orange 

 and Fairfield. 



The writer has had direct charge of the work. At the beginning 

 of the season the state comptroller advances a sum of money to 

 meet current expenses out of which the weekly or monthly bills for 

 labor, etc., are paid. At the end of the month, certified bills for 

 each town, with receipts for money paid out attached as sub- 

 vouchers, are sent to the comptroller, and paid by him. At the end 

 of the season the money advanced is returned to the comptroller, 

 together with a certified statement of the expenditures in each 

 town. The comptroller then collects from each town three-fourths 

 of the amount charged against it. 



We have found it advisable to use local labor as far as possible. 

 In 191 7 the selectmen of three towns agreed to furnish men for the 



