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I realize that what I have to say will prove an old story to 

 many of you, but my object is to have appear in the record of 

 these proceedings a few practical suggestions for rural fresh 

 water work, to which may be referred the constantly increasing 

 number of people asking for information on this subject. 



Assuming that public support, sufficient funds to do the work, 

 and an effective organization have been secured, the initial 

 operation in mosquito control is to find the breeding places. 

 This means yard inspections and field inspections. Making these 

 inspections separately involves a constant duplication of effort 

 to cover a certain portion of territory. It is best to divide the 

 entire territory into sections, each section to contain just so 

 much territory as one man can thoroughly and completely in- 

 spect in one day. The inspector should then be held strictly 

 responsible for everything in the territory covered by the sec- 

 tion map given him, each morning. In closely built up districts 

 in the cities and larger towns four hundred yard inspections 

 should be the maximum for an eight-hour day. In the open 

 country, with only an occasional house, about five hundred acres 

 should be the maximum for an inspector using a bicycle. Ex- 

 perience in the particular locality to be covered alone will deter- 

 mine the final size of the sections. 



The frequency of the inspections depends upon the season and 

 the corresopnding period of incubation, rather than upon any 

 temporary fluctuations of the weather. Complete inspections 

 should be made at intervals timed to prevent the emergence of 

 adults. In Essex County the schedule prepared for the season 

 of 191 7 calls for twelve complete inspections exclusive of the 

 preliminary field inspection of spring breeding. They begin 

 May 14th, end October 2d, and range in duration from twenty- 

 eight to nine da^ys, inlcluding Sundays and holidays. Such a 

 scjiedule is not only necessary properly to prosecute the work, 

 but it is an invaluable aid in preparing the budget. Given the 

 number of sections to be covered, the number of days in which 

 to make the inspections, it is only a matter of arithmetic to 

 calculate the number of men required and the cost. In certain 



