123 



Of the 1 88 pools and marshes found within the territory 

 covered by the Passaic County Commission's work, a very small 

 number of them could be economically drained. The greatest 

 number were, so situated as to make drainage impossible. 



There are just two things that can be done, if in these large 

 areas breeding is to be controlled — filling or oiling — but filling, 

 like draining, on account of the cost, can be utilized to only a 

 limited extent in mosquito control. 



The utilization of city waste, in relation to the work of 

 mosquito control, is am eoonomiic problem of far greater im- 

 portance than is generally recognized by muincipal authorities. 

 I believe that co-operation on the part of the city department 

 having control of the disposal of city wastes, with the Mosquito 

 Extermination Commission, would produce results highly satis- 

 factory to all concerned. The unsanitary and unsightly con- 

 ditions created by the indiscriminate dumping of city waste in 

 different parts of a city produce conditions that depreciate 

 property values and make the neighborhood undesirable for 

 residential purpose. I wish we could in some small way impress 

 upon the municipal authorities of cities and towns having charge 

 of the disposal of waste the importance of this economic ques- 

 tion, and its great bearing on the problem of mosquito exter- 

 mination, in the filling of the numerous swamps and pools of 

 stagnant water existing in the outlying districts of cities. 



In inland counties, where the appropriation is limited to , an 

 amount just sufficient for temporary work, the active co-opera- 

 tion of local boards of health in enforcing ordinances and the 

 State Sanitary Code is necessary, if any progress is to be made 

 in mosquito extermination work. Local boards of health are 

 not only authorized to take this action, but the law makes it 

 their specific duty to enforce the provisions of the sanitary 

 code. Fortunately the law is clear upon this point, as is appar- 

 ent in the reading of Section 6, Chapter i, of the State Sanitary 

 Code. If local boards of health could be induced to co-operate 

 and enforce the abatement of breeding places, a great point 

 would be gained and the reduction of the mosquito annoyance 



