34 



ditch was the depth of top sand. This means the cleaning' 

 machine would have to be adjustable as to depth. The afore- 

 mentioned difficulties deal only with the ditches installed by 

 hand spades and machines, with a width of ten inches. Many 

 thousands of feet of ditches of various widths and' depths have 

 been dug by meadow owners for drainage purposes. These 

 ditches form a part of O'ur drainage systems and need constant 

 cleaning. It would be foolish to expend a sum of money for a 

 machine unless it was capable of cleaning every ditch on which 

 we depend for drainage in this work of mo'squito' control. 

 , Another very important point is that of moving quickly and 

 with the minimum amount of labor from section tO' section of 

 meadow, crossing creeks by planks and boat, road embankments 

 and even railroads. This is more important than it at first 

 appears, as we fig'ure eight thousand lineal feet of ditches 

 would have to be cleaned per day to enable our keeping the 

 drainage systems up to their maximum! efficiency. 



Atlantic County has many acres of meadow to be ditched 

 before it can claim a complete drainage system., and until that 

 is accomplished no effort can be made toward a general clean- 

 ing of ditches. In the meantime maintenance of the systems 

 already installed will be carried on where most needed. 



President DarnaIvI^ — ^The next speaker is Mr. Harry G. 

 Van Note, of Oakhurst, Newi Jersey. 



The Maintenance of Salt-Marsh Drainage Systems. 



BY H. G. VAN NOTE, CHIEE INSPECTOR OE THE MONMOUTH 

 COUNTY MOSQUITO EXTERMINATION COMMISSION. 



The maintenance of salt-marsh drainage systems is one 

 of the most important features of the work to be performed if 

 the salt-marsh mosquito extermrnation work is to be effectively 

 and permanently maintained. No' two' meadows in the various 

 counties of the State seem to present the same conditions. The 

 soils in many of the mieadows are almost impervious to water, 

 and it is difficult to secure a proper drainage system. Other 



