68 



his successor, Prof. John C. Smock, called further attention to 

 the subject, and in the annual reports of 1896 and 1897 the 

 results of my own investigation were given. 



KI.IMINATION O'^ MOSQUITO one: THING ONI^Y. 



To my mind, the elimination of the mosquito, although very 

 important, is but one of the desirable things to be accomplished 

 by such drainage. Consequently my work was along economic 

 lines, with a view to successful utilization of the marshes for 

 agricultural and commercial purposes. The work which has 

 been done to alleviate the mosquito nuisance has accomplished 

 very much in that direction, but it is not solving the economic 

 problem. While the cost per acre is low, the work is tempoarry 

 and the outlay is a recurring one. A much larger expenditure 

 per acre, if it will produce valuable land, will in the end be more 

 practicable, and once it becomes profitable will be attended to 

 by private owners without burdening the State. On the con- 

 trary the State and local governments will reap the benefit not 

 only of mosquito elimination, but also of a large increase in their 

 taxable property. 



We did not, however, entirely lose sight of the mosquito 

 problem, because that also is to some extent an economic one. 



We fully realize that the elimination of the mosquitO' nuisance 

 would add largely to the value of upland property in the State. 

 At the time of my 1896 report also, while the connection of the 

 mosquito with malaria and other diseases had not been fully 

 demonstrated, experiments had been made in Italy which in- 

 dicated that they might carry malaria, and I laid especial stress 

 upon the advantage which would accrue through the mitigation 

 of the insect nuisance, both in my ofiicial reports and in a paper 

 which I read before the New Jersey Sanitary Association. 



EMBANKING 0I.D EVEN IN NEW JERSEY. 



The embanking and draining of marshes subject to inundation 

 by tides is very old. Indeed it was largely practiced in New 

 Jersey long before Dr. Cook's first report. He states that 



