76 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



for the sale of an article which is claimed to be "six times as strong 

 as Paris green as ordinarilv nsed," but the label and statement snbmit- 

 ted only claimed that it contained one per cent of Paris green, the re- 

 mainder being air-slacked lime and land plaster. Cost of materials 

 and labor not over one dollar per hundred; the price at Avhich it is 

 sold is ten dollars per one hundred pounds. 



In tlie early spring information was furnished to the jiapers of the 

 state of an attempt to jdace upon the market a brand kmjwn as "Por- 

 deaux mixture and Paris Green Compound." The very name "com- . 

 pound" was enough to make one suspicious of it, but when the guar- 

 antee Avas filed it merely stated that it contained "the standard amount 

 of Pordeaux Mixture and Paris green." This statement did not com- 

 ply with the law which requires the "i>ercentage of the leading ingre- 

 dients" and the manufacturers were informed that if it was Pordeaux 

 mixture they would have to guarantee the amount of copper sulphate 

 and lime, as well as of arsenic oxide. The}' then furnished the follow- 

 ing: 



PORDEAUX MIXTURE AND PARIS GREEN COMPOUND. 



GUARANTEED ANALYSIS. 



Copper sulphate None 



Hydrated Lime 8.5 per cent 



Ultramarine Plue 714 per cent 



White Arsenic ; 7i/^ j)er cent 



The material was in a powder form and was of a light blue color not 

 unlike that of Pordeaux powder. As can be seen from the analysis this 

 would have no value as a fungicide, although the accompanying circu- 

 lars made high claims for its fungicidal (pmlities, and were apparently 

 supported by the very strongest testimonials from parties who claimed 

 to have used it. 



As it was not Pordeaux mixture in any sense of the word a permit 

 was refused under that name and several shipment.s Avhich had been 

 made to retailers were rejected by the consignees. 



While it is not likely that very much Paris green will be used upon 

 fruit trees, there is still a large demand for it for use upon potatoes. 

 There has been a marked improvement in the different brands on the 

 market, since insecticide control work was taken up by some of the 

 eastera states. Formerly it was sametimes found that samples did 

 not contain more than 10 per cent of arsenic oxide, but out of 500 an- 

 alyses recently made by the Pennsylvania State Poard of Agriculture, 

 of a dozen or more brands, and including practically all that are on the 

 market, only one sample fell below the requirement of 50 per cent of 

 arsenic oxide, and most of them ran from three to five per cent above 

 the requirement. As practically all of the Paris green used in the 

 country is manufactured by seven or eight firms, this- would indicate 

 that at the jn-esent time there is little fear of its adulteration. 



