418 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Ohio and western New York. Eau celeste, however, sometimes injures the 

 foliage, and we do not advise its extended use. 



ANTHRACNOSE OF THE CxRAPE. 



Use Bordeaux mixture the same as recommended for black- rot under 

 method A. 



USE OF COPPEE COMPOUNDS FROM HYGIENIC STANDPOINT. 



Ever since the copper compounds came into general use as fungicides 

 the question as to their effects, hygienically considered, has received more or 

 less attention. With the exception of the New York city board of health 

 no positive stand on this question has been taken, so far as we are aware. 

 Many vague and misleading statements, however, have from time to time 

 appeared in the horticultural and agricultural papers. Every one familiar 

 with the situation understands why these rumors, for such they can only be 

 considered, are sent out. They are not aimed particularly at the practice of 

 spraying, but are simply efforts on the part of selfish competitors to cripple 

 the legitimate trade of more energetic and wide-awake rivals. 



We take the ground that fruit sprayed with the copper compounds in 

 accordance with the directions of the department is harmless. No better 

 proof of this is to be found than that shown by the experience of this 

 country. For five years the copper compounds have been used by hun- 

 dreds and thousands of fruitgrowers in every part of the United States, 

 yet in all that time not a single authenticated case of poisoning, so far as we 

 arc aware, has been brought to light. It is true a few individuals have 

 claimed that they were made sick by eating sprayed fruit, but in all such 

 cases careful investigations have revealed that claims of this kind were 

 absolutely without foundation. However, we do not consider these general 

 statements sufficient to warrant us in taking the stand as regards the harm- 

 lessness of the copper compounds when properly used. More direct testi- 

 mony is readily obtained and some of this we now propose to consider. 

 The question may properly be discussed under two heads, namely: 



(1) The present condition of our knowledge as regards the toxicology of 

 copper; and 



(2) Are the salts found in sufficient quantity upon the fruit at the time 

 of harvest to prove injurious to health? 



No doubt the majority of people, including physicians, would answer 

 the first statement at once by saying that copper is a poison. When we 

 come to look carefully into the matter, however, it is found that the very 

 best authorities differ on the subject. For more thaii a hundred years 

 the question as to the poisonous nature of copper has been discussed, and 

 yet, after reading all the testimony, it is exceedingly difficult from the 

 evidence adduced to form a definite opinion. 



In 1885 the question was discussed before the Belgium royal academy of 

 medicine for seven months, the object being to obtain some authoritative 

 data as to the effect of copper, contained in French canned vegetables, on 

 the public health. While it was finally decided that the copper compounds 

 in foods were harmful, no direct stand as to the poisonous nature of the 

 substances was taken. Those who antagonized the view that copper was 

 an actual poison cited many eminent authorities to bear out their asser- 

 tions. In the whole discussion, however, it was remarkable that not a 



