420 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



latter, hygienic-ally considered, there is a -great deal of evidence which will 

 be considered later. 



Accepting, then, 0.5 grams as the maximum amount of copper in any of 

 the forms discussed that may with safety be daily absorbed, let us see how 

 these figures compare with the quantity of this metal found in connection 

 with properly sprayed fruits as well as some other foods and drinks. An- 

 alyses to determine the amount of copper on sprayed grapes have been 

 made in Germany, France, America and other countries. The result of all 

 of these show that grapes sprayed intelligently rarely contain more than 5 

 milligrams (0.005 gram) of copper per kilogram, the average being from 2i| 

 to 3 milligrams per kilogram. In other words, 1,000,000 pounds of grapes 

 sprayed in the usual way with the Bordeaux mixture would contain fT-om 

 2i to 5 pounds of copper. To reduce the figures still further, each 100 

 pounds of fruit would contain 17.5 to 35.0 grains of copper. On this basis 

 an adult may eat from 300 to 500 pounds of sprayed grapes per day with- 

 out fear of ill effects from the copper. This shows how ridiculously 

 absurd are the statements that fruits properly sprayed with the Bordeaux 

 mixture or any other copper compound are poisonous. 



Turning our attention to another phase of the subject, let us consider 

 some other articles of food and drink in no way connected with spraying. 

 In the first, place it has recently been shown that grapes which have never 

 been treated with any fungicide may contain as much as 2 milligrams of 

 copper per kilogram — two parts in a million, or practically the same as the 

 average amount found in connection with sprayed fruit. Finding copper, 

 therefore, in connection with fruit is no indication that such fruit has been 

 sprayed with the copper compounds. Perhaps if this fact is remembered 

 in the future it may prevent hasty conclusions and consequent annoyance. 



According to numerous analyses wheat may contain from 4 to 10 milli- 

 grams of copper per kilogram, the average being 7.2 milligrams per kilo- 

 gram. The United States exported to Europe and other foreign countries 

 in 1890. 54.387.767 bushels of wheat weighing approximately 3,263,020 

 pounds, or 1.480,217,466 kilograms. If each kilogram of wheat contained 

 7.2 milligrams of copper, then there were 10,667 kilograms or 23,490 

 pounds of this metal sent out of the country in wheat alone. In the face 

 of these figures we do not see how any foreign country can logically object 

 to American fruits on the ground that they contain copper without also 

 objecting to wheat. 



Wheat, however, does not contain anything like as much copper as some 

 other foods and drinks. Beef and sheep liver, according to reliable and 

 repeated analyses, contain respectively 56 to 58 and 35 to 41 milligrams of 

 metallic copper per kilogram of fresh substance, while in chocolate the 

 enormous amount of 125 milligrams to the kilogram has been found. In 

 conclusion, it is only necessary to call attention to one other matter to show 

 how unjust and discriminating it would be to condemn American fruits on 

 the ground that they contain copper in unwholesome quantities. Brief 

 reference has already been made to the re-greening of vegetables, as prac- 

 ticed by the French. Peas, beans, cucumbers, and similar products are 

 plunged for eight or ten minutes into a solution of copper sulphate in 

 order to fix the natural green coloring matter. After removing the veget- 

 ables from the copper sulphate solution they are washed in pure water, 

 placed in jars containing a solution of common salt, sealed and sterilized 

 by heat. 



