The San Francisco call., 1906-08-19
BURL|NGAME IS RID
OF MOSQUITOES.

BERKELEY, Aug. ia campdlBn II
unique in its purpose and the condi-
tions under which it was carried on
has been described by Professor III. J..
Quayle of the University of California
tcld the story of a scientists warfare
against plague Of mosquitoes In the
fashionable residence district of Bur-
lingame, in San Mateo County.
Quayle is recognized as one of the
most expert entomologists in the coun-
try. He has accepted call to an i'm
portant post in Iowa institution.
but before leaving prepared an ex-
haustive bulletin on the mosquito
fight which he waged with his uniyer-
sity crew against the pest OF mosqui-
toes at San Mateo. The university man
was successful, apparently, to a great
quito ridden, may be expected to find
directions in his bulletin for similar
campaigns against the winged plague.
The Burlingame Improvement Club
appealed to the university in the spring
of 1904 for help in fighting mosquitoes,
which were reported as intolerable In
the vicinity. Professor Quayle made a
brief examination of the territory and
decided that the mosquito giving 95
per cent of the trouble was a species
that bred in salt or brackish water
only Hence, he recommended that the
salt marsh area be given consideration
first, and that considerable money
would be needed to work the game OF
determination properly. The club con-
tributed $4,000 for the purpose. and the
war began early in 1905. The work
included the building of dykes. digging
of bitches for drainage purposes and
~, 1f niI NJ nnnlS wharp
larvae in large numbers might be
killed.
or his work Professor ouayle writes,
in part, as follows:
The actual work of control was
commenced February 81, when q gang
of men was started to work at ditching
started near the B1ackhawk dairy,
where the marshes begin north of Bur
lingame, it being the intention to work
northward toward San Bruno and make
the work permanent as far as we would
be able to go in single season.
Th ditching into the Blackhawk area
consisted in connecting the pools and
creeks in order that they might drain
more rapidly and before a brood Of
mosquitoes would have time to develop.
The largest OF ,,, these aed ditches tce ate were
inches deep, and these served as main
channels into which smaller laterals
were cut. In addition to the well de-
fined pools there was rsoinn considerable
was covered with but a few inches of
water for considerable time after
each hgh tide and ater Sstore snea the an
this area almost continuously. Such
areas had to be treated by making a
number Of parallel bitches from ility
permit Of sufficiently rapid drainage;
Small pools that were. far from tidal
creeks were made safe by filing in
rather than draining.
connection OF this work with the re-
clamation of marsh lands. This tract
useful only for duck hunting, is now
thoroughly dry and could be put to agri-
cultural uses at very little additional ex-
pense. Such work has already been
extensively taken up on the marshes
that a good crop of grain can be raised
on such land in the second year of It's
cultivation.
have heard Ii stated on two or three
different occasions during the past year
by physicians In lecturing on mosqui-
toes and disease that the eucalyptus
that where these trees exist no mos
quitoes will be found: In the Bur-
1ingame section all OF the numerous
lyptus, there are eucalytus along the
highways, and there are groves OF eu-
calyptus. yet where these trees are
most abundant it might be said that
the mosquitoes are most numerous.
During the summer OF 1904 we cap
tured in five minutes sweeping imme-
diately under eucalyptus trees a pint
be understood from what has been
stated that the eucalyptus tree at
tracts mosquitoes. 1t does this only in
so far as It affords shelter, and other
trees Will do this as we'll. indeed much
better. as. for example, the Monterey
cypress with its denser f0liaxe. which