VoL. LX. No. 2681. NEW YORK, JUNE 15, 1901. 
THE FIGHT AGAIHST MOSQUITOES. 
UNCLE SAM I^EADS THE BATTLE. 
Effectivo Work on Long Island. 
For years people have endured the stings and poisons 
of the deadly mosquitoes—not willingly, but because they 
knew no remedy. Now science Is coming to their aid. 
Prof. Ij. O. Howard, of the National Department of Agri¬ 
culture, issued a valuable bulletin on the mosquito and 
some of the best methods for lighting It. This has led 
people in various parts of the country to proclaim a de¬ 
structive warfare against the Insect. Considerable work 
of this sort has been done on Long Island. 
I have been fighting the mosquito practically in the 
way suggested by Prof. L. 0. Howard’s bulletin, and 
I consider the experiments outlined in that bulletin as 
practical and worthy of the attention of farmers and 
country people. I do think that mosquitoes may be, 
in the course of a year, certainly in two years’ per¬ 
sistent and intelligent work, entirely exterminated 
from a given locality. It has been determined con¬ 
clusively that malaria is not only transmitted by 
mosquitoes, but that malaria mnnot he and is not 
transmitted in any other way! (See Prof. Celli’s 
work on malaria, in which he traces the life history 
of the malarial germ, and demonstrates this point 
conclusively. (See also the works of 
Grassl and Ross on this subject.) Re¬ 
cently it has been proven that yellow 
fever is transmitted by a certain variety 
of the Culex mosquito, or what has 
lately been determined to be a distinct 
species of mosquito. While it has been 
demonstrated that these mosquitoes 
transmit yellow fever, it is not, as in the 
the case of malaria, the only means by 
which yellow fever is communicated. 
When the fact, which has long been 
known and frequently referred to by 
Prof. Howard and other eminent ento¬ 
mologists, is considered, that mosquitoes 
breed only where there is water, that 
they will not breed in absolutely salt 
water, the problem of exterminating 
them becomes comparatively simple. 
The female mosquito, as you will see by 
Prof. Howard’s bulletin, lays from 200 
to 400 eggs, which hatch out In the 
course of a week or 10 days, at Summer 
temperature, into little water creatures 
like minute tadpoles (larvae). These 
creatures are obliged, it appears, to 
come to the surface every few minutes 
to breathe, and when deprived of this 
opportunity, will die in the course of a few hours. 
There are, therefore, three ways of attacking the 
pest. The first and best method is to drain all water 
or places where water will lie, even temporarily, for 
a space of 10 days or two weeks. Such large ponds 
as cannot be drained may be covered with a film of 
kerosene oil, a barrel being sufficient, if allowed to 
flow on the windward side of a pond, to cover three 
acres of water. As this will evaporate before 10 days 
or two weeks, the operation must be again repeated. 
Such ponds as are of an ornamental character and 
preclude the possibility of being treated with oil, can 
be filled with a species of fish which devour the mos¬ 
quito larvae. Sunfish, sticklebacks and top minnows 
are suitable for this purpose. 
I am convinced from my observations and experi¬ 
ments that no pocket of water which exists as long 
as three weeks at a time is free from the liability, if 
not from the absolute certainty of breeding vast num¬ 
bers of mosquitoes. As Prof. Howard points out, a 
single mosquito that has hibernated during the Win¬ 
ter in an old building, tree trunk or heap of leaves, 
■will produce from four to six generations of 200 to 
400 mosquitoes each in a single season. There are a 
number of varieties of mosquitoes, even on Long 
Island, and they differ from each other in habits and 
appearance as much as birds do from each other. I 
succeeded last year in eliminating them entirely from 
my property at Lloyds Neck, Oyster Bay, with the 
exception of four days, and the mosquitoes that then 
made their appearance were of a variety not bred on 
my property. I hope you will arouse the interest of 
your readers to the Importance and practicability of 
exterminating this pest. I feel that they are as easy 
to deal with and control as is the spread of smallpox. 
Long Island. w. j. matheson. 
A NOVEL METHOD OF RAISING MELONS. 
The illustration. Fig. 170, gives a partial view of 
the inside of a palm house which is being utilized as 
a forcing house for early watermelon plants. All the 
bench space is taken up with the closely-packed 
wooden boxes, as shown in the picture. There are 
4,000 of these boxes, covering an area of about 450 
square feet. The boxes are of cheap construction, 
each one consisting of but one piece, and having no 
bottom. They are four inches square by six in depth, 
and will each accommodate two or three plants. 
There being no bottoms to the boxes it is necessary 
to place them upon a wooden base of some kind to 
prevent the roots from penetrating beyond the space 
allotted to them. The soil used is a medium light 
loam. The seeds are placed in this the first week 
in May, and the plants are allowed to grow undis¬ 
turbed for three weeks. The extended space between 
the plants and the glass in the forcing house causes 
the plants to grow spindly, so that it is necessary to 
harden them off in cold frames before they are placed 
in the open ground. 
After the plants have hardened off well, and the 
nights have become moderately mild, the boxes are 
carried to the field and ripped off from the plants 
as they are set out. Two boxes or four to six plants 
are allotted to each hill, but not more than three are 
allowed to mature. While this particular method 
would not be practicable as a commercial practice, 
a similar method could be followed profitably with 
an ordinary forcing house, allowing one to obtain 
marketable fruit from two to three weeks earlier than 
when the seed is simply planted in the field, e. a. b. 
R. N.-Y.—Melons are sometimes started on sods or 
in metal pots, and taken to the field when of fair size. 
Last season we gained nearly 20 days by such. The 
metal pots used are those described in Ruralisms. 
IS BEN DAVIS SELF-FERTILE? 
What Other Variatias are Neadad? 
I have planted 400 tree.s of Bon Davis apples. These 
trees will be at least one-eighth mile distant from any 
othen apple trees. Are they self-fertile enough to produc,e 
perfect fruit without planting some other varieties of 
apples with them? In any event, would they be benefited 
if other sorts were planted In the same orchard with 
them? What varieties would you recommend for this 
purpose, bearing in mind the fact that I only wish to 
plant red Winter varieties of apples for profitable re¬ 
sults? I understand that the Ben Davis is a late bloomer, 
in fact, I am acquainted with only one or two Winter 
varieties of apples that bloom as late in the season as 
the Ben Davis. Would such standard varieties as Bald¬ 
win, King and Northern Spy remain In flower long 
enough to have a beneficial Influence on the bloom of 
the Ben Davis? reader. 
New York. 
The Ben Davis is grown more than all other varie¬ 
ties combined in the Ozark region, and it is planted 
largely in blocks in which there are no other trees 
grown. It is self-fertile enough to produce perfect 
fruit withotit the assistance of other varieties. How¬ 
ever, It is probable that the yield would be increased 
to some extent by having other varieties in the or¬ 
chard, and where it can conveniently be done it is ad¬ 
visable to plant at least a few other 
trees here and there through the or¬ 
chard. [Prof.] J. T. STINSON. 
Arkansas. 
We are not in the Ben Davis section 
here, and our trees of that variety are 
not far from other varieties. No in¬ 
stance has ever come under my own ob¬ 
servation where it was proven that the 
Ben Davis did not perfectly fertilize it¬ 
self, and yet I would not say that it 
might not be the case sometimes. We 
do not call the Ben Davis a late bloom¬ 
er here; it is later than some and ear¬ 
lier than others, for instance, the Wil¬ 
low Twig and the Genet, but I would 
hardly know how to compare it with 
the Baldwin, King and Spy, as we grow 
them in such limited quantities. I gen¬ 
erally practice and advise planting va¬ 
rieties so that they may fertilize each 
other, but more because I think there 
possibly may be times when it is neces¬ 
sary than from positive knowledge that 
it is so. u. n. BRYANT. 
Princeton, Ill. 
Many varieties of apples do not pro¬ 
duce enough pollen to cause the best fer¬ 
tilizing of their fruits; besides, it is often better to 
have pollen from other varieties used for this pur¬ 
pose if it can be done. Sometimes it makes better 
fruit, and fruit of better color. In some localities cer¬ 
tain varieties, like the Ben Davis, produce abundance 
of pollen, while the same variety in other localities 
will not produce enough to fertilize itself. Again, 
there are strains of Ben Davis which give enough 
pollen thoroughly to fertilize all its fruit, while there 
are other strains which are deficient. In southern 
Missouri the Ben Davis will fertilize itself in blocks 
of 100 acres, while in the very northern part of the 
State it will not. I do not know just how it acts in 
New York, but if there is any doubt at all, then plant 
two rows of Jonathan or York through the center of 
the orchard. a, goodman. 
Missouri. 
I have no knowledge of stock Injured by spray; heard 
stories of the kind, wonderful ones, years ago, when use 
of Paris-green was a new thing, but never any reliable 
account of trouble. I do not think It possible for such 
trouble to come from use of Bordeaux Mixture. Perhaps 
you will recall my writing to you a few years ago for 
advice about a cow of mine which drank as much as four 
gallons from the top of a barrel of Bordeaux Mixture. 
I did not have knowledge of it until several hours had 
elapsed. I then gave the cow 1% pound salts, which showed 
their effect most decidedly, but I never saw any 111 effect 
from drinking the Bordeaux Mixture. n. ic. 
Medway, Mass. 
