Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1900-09-10

In a bulletin just issued by DR.. L. o.
Howard, entomologist of the depart
ment of agriculture at Washington, he
treats at length of the mosquito from a
scientific as well as popular, or unpop-
ular. standpoint.
According to DR.. Howard, Lapland
and Alaska appear to be the lands
i where the pestiferous insect does most
flourish. Dr. Howard points out that
in Lapland the flight of mosquitoes is
comparable only to fall of snow and
| that in the neighborhood of the Crimea
the Russian soldiers often die of morti-
fication from mosquito bites. It APP
! pears from the literature on this sub
ject that mosquitoes can be found from
the equator to the pole. In fact. the
farther north the explorer goes the
more fierce are the tribes of this insect.
While the mosquito is by no means
an inactive body, he does not travel
! far from his native swamp Of his own
volition. But when the gentle wind
blows over his haunt he rises in sWarms
and is waited far away to settle in a
new locality and there reproduce his
be frequently found during the winter
months in barns, cellars and cold gar
retS.
Returning visitors from the seashore
are held accountable for the spread of
the lowland mosquitoes into the in
| Troir troy mo MI nd
Weehawken, Hoboken, Jersey City,
Ocean City and other seaside resorts
carry in the care mosquitoes by the
hundreds. In this way" says DR..
Howard, unlimited quantities of mos
quitoes are carried unlimited distances,
and, emerging from the cars, will start
to breed even in localities where mos
quitoes are ordinarily rare, or would De
rare under ordinary conditions. In
this way even the mountain resorts
will get their supply of lowland mos
| ouitoes, and with the improvement of
railway service and the increase in
number of through cars the danger is
constantly increasing"
| About $50 species of mosquitoes are
known, of which only about 80 divided
into five different genera, have been
!, found in the United States.
Kerosene The Best Remedy.
Dr. Howard treats at length of the
remedies for the mosquito plague. He
is firm believer in the theory that an
ounce of prevention is worth a pound
/ of cure, and, while he is favorably I'M
pressed with the idea that dragon flies,
fish, nighthawks and whip-poor-wills
! destroy many mosquitoes, he believes
that few ounces of koresene scattered
over stagnant pools is more efficacious.
DR.. Howard dismisses the subject of
dragon flies by saying:
''Tha whole subject of the natural
enemies of the mosquito is of little
practical Importance. Beyond doubt
the most satisfactory method of deal
| ing with the mosquito is to prevent its
reproduction" For this DR.. Howard
strongly recommends the use of kero-
sene sprayed on stagnant pools, ponds
and other breeding places.
The use of oil for this purpose is by
no means anything new. DR.. D. c.
Clark of Baltimore points out that as
! long ago as 1872 in work published in
London the writer urged that mos
quitoes could be satisfactorily dealt
with by pouring oil upon standing
waters infected by them. DR.. Clark
says: During the past few years
kerosene has been rather extensively
used at many places in an effort to
limit the mosquito supply. AS already
pointed out, there are many places
where the source of mosquito supply is
definitely limited and easy of treat
| men;, and in such cases on account OF
the cheapness of Kerosene it will be
the best means of eradication. IN
othe. places where communities are
surrounded with swamp land or in the
case of extensive sea marshes kerosene
can be practically used in connection
with other and more elaborate
measures comprehending, as a rule,
dyking and draining
Experiments Which Succeeded.
Among recent experiments in this
| line which have been successful DR..
Howard mentions that made by 4
| country club on Staten island, the
Town Improvement society of Summit,
N. j., by M. J. Wightman at Midland
| Beach and others. At Staten island
and Summit, N. j.. spray pump was
used Permanganate of potassium has
been recommended ny some writer's,
but DR.. Howard holds that no good
whatever can result from the use of
permanaganate of potassium.
! He also says no results can be OBJ
tanned from proprietary mixtures that
cannot be obtained from petroleum Oil.
Eucalyptus Oil on the skin keeps mos
quitoes from biting and it is plain that
a grove OF eucalyptus trees about the
house will prevent mosquitoes. AS the
eucalyptus tree grows principally in
California this remedy is not likely to
become popular one. Dr. Howard
concludes that the best way to deal
with the mosquito is to drain the