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devote their entire time, thought and energy to the work of 

 mosquito control. Under these men others were trained until 

 by degrees an organization was built up capable of handling the 

 work in all departments with efficiency. Under these conditions 

 the awarding of work to a contractor was nO' longer a matter 

 of seeming necessity, but now became a matter of option. The 

 Commissions or Associations in charge of the work were now in 

 a position to consider deliberately the estimates furnished them 

 by the contractors and to decide whether doing work in this way 

 really meant a lower cost, and in doing this they had to take into 

 consideration the cost of supervision, the cost of equipment, the 

 cost of material and the cost of operation. Each bid of proposed 

 work resolved itself into a question of fact. Some Commissions 

 or Associations felt strong enough to discard contract work en- 

 tirely; others divided it, giving some out on the contract, doing 

 some with their own laborers. Still others maintained that they 

 were not justified in purchasing expensive equipment and assum- 

 ing the chances which must be run in carrying out actual labor. 

 They preferred to cling to the one constant sum of contract price 

 rather than to depend on the variable quantities of labor market, 

 prices of materials and the possibility of meeting unexpected 

 obstacles, claiming that the silghtly higher contract price" was 

 their insurance that a certain amount O'f work would be accom- 

 plished at the end of the season. The contractor appreciated this 

 change in conditions and made every effort tO' improve his organ- 

 ization and perfect his tools, so that as Commissions or Associa- 

 tions increased in strength the contractor did not suddenly drop 

 out of sight, but the system is still in general use, and one thing 

 which makes it especially necessary at the present time is the 

 fact that work is now being done on a so much larger scale. 

 Formerly contracts were awarded for fifty, sixty or one hun- 

 dred thousand fe-et. Now it is not uncommon to hear of con- 

 tracts whose footage is over the million mark. Now, while 

 an Association might cut 100,000 feet of ditching in a season, 

 it is the exceptional Commission which feels justified in de- 

 veloping an organization of such a type that it could cut much 

 over that sum. So much for the origin and growth of the 



