30 Procekdings of Ninth Annual Mwing 



cost of this to the county and increasing available funds for 

 drainage. 



In either case, the town directly contributing has an added 

 interest in mosquito work and an additional incentive to learn 

 about and take a real part in this vast undertaking. That which 

 you get for nothing, you value little. That which you have to 

 pay for has intrinsic worth. Community interest in mosquito 

 control is most desirable and most necessary and must be aroused 

 and sustained if mosquito work is to continue. And perhaps it 

 might be worth while to emphasize the second point just men- 

 tioned. That is, that local interest must not only be aroused but 

 sustained. It is one thing to get people fired to enthusiasm on 

 a proposition that presents a novel undertaking; to get com- 

 mittees appointed; and funds raised for mosquito control. It is 

 quite another matter to- sustain that interest over a prolonged 

 period when disappointments, delays and set-backs ensue. It 

 is not so hard to get local committees established and initial 

 funds contributed. But to get those committees to function and 

 to keep them keyed up and to get money for maintenance after 

 the first work is done is exceedingly difficult. This is perhaps 

 the most discouraging feature of attempting decentralized work 

 in mosquito control. 



To summarize then, the need for locally supported campaigns in 

 mosquito control occurs because the work is so diversified that any 

 one organization working alone is seriously handicapped and 

 badly outnumbered. While it is suppressing the mosquito in one 

 spot, she is wriggling to maturity somewhere else. The mos- 

 quito is a common enemy. As such it should not be opposed 

 by a picked few, but by all, and the more quickly we can get 

 that hypothesis accepted and adopted the more quickly will our 

 hopes become realities. The method of obtaining and enlisting 

 local support is largely a matter of discretion with the central 

 body. Ways which have been found of practical advantage in 

 actual experience have been outlined above briefly. They are 

 by no means the only ones which are feasible. No commission 

 is so well organized or so well established that it can get along 

 without local support in its broadest sense and while they may 

 not need financial aid they will need help of another character 

 and it behooves them to work out a method of getting it, best 

 suited to their own needs and that of the community they are 

 serving. As to results obtained, it is measured in increased thor- 

 oughness of work done, for where a municipality is paying di- 

 rectly it keeps a closer check ; in a shortening of the time requisite 

 to carry out the permanent measures of drainage, which are a 



