AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY. 251 
the negative, or to modify the faulty nega- 
tive to suit a certain grade of paper. Either 
course is open to the worker, but for the 
present we will consider the first sugges- 
tion. 
The slower a plate the more quickly it 
will develop and the more contrast it will 
give. This also holds true with gaslight 
paper, as does the opposite statement that a 
quick plate or paper will develop slowly 
and give less contrast, relatively speaking. 
For dense, contrasting negatives a quick pa- 
per is indicated. 
For the second lot of negatives, those that 
are probably fair as printers, special velox 
will give good results. In fact, it can be 
used for 80 per cent of all negatives. For 
some landscapes and portrait work try 
rough velox. It will produce prints which 
are the equal of platinotypes in appearance. 
It is better to choose the faster grade when 
a choice of speeds is offered, as most of 
the papers now in use tend toward con- 
trasty results. 
Having considered the dense and the me- 
dium classes of negatives, there remains 
the third and, to my mind, most unsatis- 
factory class, comprising those that are too 
thin to give good prints. These negatives 
need a paper that will give the maximum 
contrast, and for that purpose carbon velox 
is best. There is trouble at first in handling 
it quickly enough and over development 
often results. To avoid that, arrange trays 
in a row, remove the print from the tray 
as soon as it is thoroughly wet with devel- 
oper, dip it in the rinsing tray and put it in 
Fs hypo before it has time to develop too 
ar. 
Besides carbon velox try cyco. It is good 
paper and is adapted to thin negatives. In 
fact it is possible to select a paper that will 
give a good print from almost any negative, 
but do not get into the habit of slighting 
the exposure and development with the idea 
that it can all be made right in the printing. 
Nothing can equal a print from a correctly 
exposed and developed negative. 
C. M. Whitney, Bayonne, N. J. 

USE OF FERROTYPE PLATES. 
Arthur Roth asks for a recipe for paste 
and a method of applying it to prints while 
on a ferrotype plate. It is obvious that his 
object is to find some method of pasting 
ferrotyped prints to mounts without de- 
stroying the high gloss. I advise him 
to try the following method: Apply to 
edge of print mucilage, not too thick, mak- 
ing a border about % inch wide; place 
print on mount, lay thin sheet of white pa- 
per over it and ‘carefully rub down; remove 
paper and run finger tip around "edge of 
print. Next paste a piece of paper of the 
size and thickness of print to back of mount 
to prevent cockling. If mucilage is evenly 
applied to print and allowed to dry about 
Y% minute, none will exude to smear print 
when rubbing down on mount. 
Care should be exercised in selecting 
plates when purchasing. Some time ago 
in selecting ferrotypes it was necessary for 
me to reject over 2 dozen in order to find 5 
perfect plates. Nearly all presented a por- 
ous surface when viewed on the side in a 
good light. These pores, although small, 
no doubt account for the difficulty many ex- 
perience in removing dried prints from 
ferrotype plates. If your plate has a per- 
fect finish and you keep it so, it will not 
be necessary to use paraffine. Manufactur- 
ers of ferrotype plates should turn out bet- 
ter goods, and if necessary charge more for 
them. H. A. Kalkman, Newport, R. I. 

SNAP SHOTS. 
Almost every amateur knows that his 
printing out paper will not keep fresh a 
great length of time, neither will his chemi- 
cals after mixing, but it is not known just 
how long a dry plate can be kept without 
depreciating to such an extent that it will 
fail to produce a good negative if care is 
taken in development. 
Two years ago I was on a hunting, fish- 
ing and camera shooting trip on the St. 
Francis river, Cross county, Arkansas, and 
ran across 4 boxes of dry plates that had 
been left by an itinerant photographer, who 
had departed between suns, owing a board 
bill, 5 years before. Having used 
all the plates I had taken with me I de- 
cided to give the find plates a trial. In 
Memphis, September 29th, about 4 o’clock 
in the afternoon of a cloudy day, I gave the 
plates an exposure of % of a second, using 
a ray filter for cloud effects. Subsequent 
development and printing gave me pictures 
that surprised me, for I did not expect 
much, Considering the time of year and 
day, briefness of exposure and ray filter 
it was a fair showing for plates 7 or 8 
years old. 
Jas. G. Wheat, Louisville, Ky. 

On page 82 of the January, 1904, issue of 
RECREATION I see that Edward Krivanek, 
Chicago, Ill, asks how to prevent prints 
sticking to the ferrotype plate. I suggest 
that he thoroughly clean the surface of his 
plate, using ammonia or washing soda in 
the water. Before using the plate dust on 
a little powdered tale or French chalk, re- 
moving any excess. Then wax the surface 
of the plate with the following solution: 
Yellow resin.....90 grains. 
Beeswax ..cccess I5 grains. 
Turpentine ...... 4 ounces, 
To apply the wax coating, put a little of 
