176 



ditches caved in on the sides before a sufficient depth for satis- 

 factory drainage could be obtained. This was finally obviated 

 by using a trench voider than the standard, and sloping it back 

 instead of trying tO' keep the sides vertical. 



Another interesting proposition was encountered in some of 

 the larger salt ponds — ^almost salt lakes — ^scattered here and 

 there over the outer meadows. Some of these ponds have been 

 well-known shooting stands for shore birds and ducks for gen- 

 erations, and there was strong local sentiment against draining 

 them. Such ponds, howlever, because of their size and depth, 

 are seldom breeders — this we know from breeding records kept 

 by the villaige of Lawrence for over a decade. So tO' satisfy 

 the hunters and to save expense on ditching and maintenance 

 they were left undrained. A marginal ditch was thrown around 

 them to drain off the overflow and retain the water of the pond 

 at a definite level. Where necessary, small surrounding ponds 

 not connected with the main one were drained into the marginal 

 ditch or opened into the main pond. Liater we may in some 

 cases find it necessary to deepen the margins of somie of these 

 ponds. 



As a result of this work, together with that of New York City 

 on Jamaica Bay, it is expected that the Rockaway Peninsula 

 will hereafter be practically free from salt-marsh mosquitoes, 

 except when the wind blows from the east, and the Nassau 

 County Commission will soon remedy that. 



WORK OF' THE NASSAU COUNTY EXTERMINATION COMMISSION. 



Last winter, when it became evident that there was to be a 

 great deal of mosquito work done on Long Island, and that 

 New York City was going to take the matter up in a more 

 systematic way than formerly, a number of citizens of 

 Nassau County formed a committee known as the Nassau- 

 Suffolk Mosquito Extermination Association, for the purpose 

 of securing the passage of a bill authorizing .the creation of a 

 mosquito extermination comimission for the county more or less 

 on the lines of those in New Jersey. The bill was not prepared 



