The Bozeman courier., 1927-07-22


malta has made a success of its
campaign to eliminate the MOSQUITO
from that section of the Milk River
valley" says Charles ID. Greenfield of
the agricultural development depart-
ment of the Great Northern railway.
"For number of years." he contin-
ues, "a serious drawback in the Milk
River valley has been the pest of mos
quitOs during the summer. The Malta
territory was one Of the worst affected
The situation was so bad that it was
difficult to keep farm labor, especially in
the beet fields, while the adverse adver-
tising was very damaging. But the Com
mercial club Of Malta has proved beyond
all doubt that a real campaign against
the pest will bring results.
Story of the Fight
''The story of the fight waged by the
Malta Commercial club against the
mosquito may be Of value to other sec
tions Of Montana. Last April, Secretary
7. j. Larson of the Commercial club, and
County Agent H. 7. Lantz brought to the
attention Of the organization the adVisa-
bility Of making an effort to rid the sec
ton OF mosquitoes. The people Of the
town raised a fund Of S135 and J. r.
Parker and G. B. Phillips, entOmOlogists
Of the state college, were asked to visit
Malta and give advice on the conduct of
the proposed campaign. Thev came.
looked over the country and made recon-
mendat1onS. In addition, the advice of
Prof. Eric Hearle, who has a nationwide
reputation in connection wit hthe elm
ination Of insect pests, was solicited
Professor Hearle's home is at Indian
Head, Sask.
with the s135, 500 gallons Of crude oil
was purchased and in addition the ga
RACES contributed waste crankcaSe oil
Secretary Larson and members of the
Commercial club started the active cam
paign Of oiling the water pools in the i'm
mediate vicinity OF Malta. Elmer John
son, signal man for the Great Northern
did the work along the railroad right-of-
way, and the farmers co-operated sin
cerely, as did also Pat Manahan of the
Malta water service. The success of the
early in the season, before the wigglerS
had been Matched.
Farmers CO-Operated
! 1T was a particularly bad season tC
make a successful campaign, because o1
the unusual rainfall. Pools were formed
in many places where in ordinary year.
there was no water. According to Secre.
tary Larson, the campaign could not have
| been a success had not the farmers co.
operated 100 per cent. Within a radius
of four miles Of Malta the farmers were
enlisted. They were furnished the oil
told how to use it, and they did the rest
1T was only little while after tht
work started until the farmers had be
gun to realize that they were .waging
successful fight. Almost every day
farmer would drop into the commercial
club office and ask for more oil, havin
found new breeding place of mosqui
toes. Invariably the farmers would re
port that they were getting wigglers b
the million.
Shown 1t Can Be Done
Until this year, the most active busi
ness in Malta and vicinity has been tn
,, waving Of arms to beat of mosquitoes.
spent several days and nights in Malt
recently and the town is as free Q
mosquitoes as if it were the middle @
the winter. Malta has shown how tn
> mosquito pest can be. eradicated an
there is little question but other section
Of the Milk River valley will follow ii
example next year.
!, With the success of the work estab
, lished, the business men Of Malta pro
pos eto contribute $1,000 next season an
j. carry on more extensive campaign. Th
? fight on the pest will be extended fror
: Bowdoin to Dodson dam. A man will b
, employed to have direct charge of tn
campaign and give all Of his time to
during the Matching season"