Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1904-09-08


of FINLEY Importance the account by
Prof. ! 3. Smith in the August num-
Der of the Booklover's Magazine OF
the progress made in the scientific
warfare on the pest.
in the city of Elizabeth" N. j.,
says Prof. Smith, "a campaign was
started against the mosquito, and in
1903 the first work was done on the
salt marshes when in 1902 | had To-
Gated the principal source of supply
for that city. The result was that in
a territory where millions of mos
quitoes developed in 1902 practically
none developed in 1903. The effective
character of the methods was proved,
and this was demonstrated to the
Newark board of health, which, com
bining with the state work, ,authOriz-
ed the ditching of one of the worst sec
tions of the meadow east of that city.
The work was done by machine at
cost of about one cent a running foot
and the bitches were six inches wide
by about thirty inches deep. Within
forty-eight hours the area covered by
the bitches was dry and no surface
water remained later in the season
for more than twentyfour hours. In
the spring of 1904 the dtched area
showed not a lavre and could be cross
ed in slippers. On the other side OF
the road rubber boots were needed
and wrigglers were in countless num-
bers. The object lesson was startling
and for 1904 the city has arranged to
have the entire marshes drained"
Regarding mosquito broods and the
number of specimens that develop
within a limited area, few persons
recognize the fact that breeding is in.
tensive rather than extensive. II is
not that there is a scattering of wrig
glers over a large body of water
There is. on the contrary, concen.
tration of specimens over a limitless
area. The best illustration of that
was seen last year in one of the New
Jersey resorts, where a small pond,
with an area of 1894 square feet, pro-
duced one brood of over ten million
six hundred thousand specimens!
those who have never seen really
well populated mosquito pool; but
the estimate was carefully made after
hours of work. In which every part of
the pond was sampled and the lavre
in each sample were counted. There
were two similar ponds close by and
the combined output of these three
wriggle factories was quite sufficient
to give the place full and sufficient
supply.
There is scarcely cellar, in re-
gion where mosquitoes are found at
all, that does not have its winter
population Of the pest. To this series
belong the common house or rain.
barrel mosquito and the malaria car
riers or dapple-wing insects.
The house mosquito gets its name
because of its tendency to get indoors
and because its favorite breeding
places are in barrels or other recep-
tacles containing water found in and
about dwellings. Rain-barrels, els.
terms, sewer basins. and even cess
pools, answer equally well. and the
water contained in broken cup may
develop a group of three or four hun
dred. There is no place too small or
in.
The house mosquito is the species
that requires attention from every
good housekeeper and every citizen
because of the wide range of its breed
ing places. It means for its control
that every man shall keep his back
yard free from stagnant pools: that II
a rain.barrel or cis,ern is necessity
he will cover the former and all the
openings TO the latter with wire mos
quito netting; and that where cess.
pools are in use there shall be traps
between them and the house and a
screen over an opening to the outer
air.
In the campaign against the mos
quito one of the most interesting fea.
lures of the investigation in New Jer-
sey has been the determination of the
fact that many of the supposed danger
spots are really quite safe.
For instance, some cattail areas and
the edges of the salt meadows breed
practically no mosquitoes after the
first days of the early summer and
such as develop are not troublesome,
Those ponds or pools are covered
with green scum or duckweed, or e''-
come filled with fine green spirogyra,
which harbor no wrigglers; and no
breeding ever takes place in perma-
nent waters where fish abound other
than bottom feeders. provided, how
ever that the borders of the pond or
stream are sufficiently clean TO allow
the fish 10 get TO the edges.
Holland. which is cut up with slug
gish canals in every direction and
offers apparently ideal breeding
places for mosquitoes. is practically
exempt from the pest; first, because
the numerous canals drain the land