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New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 397 
of copper carbonate. It. was not entirely free from dirt and con- 
tained a considerable amount of sulphate. There is one advantage 
in having the copper carbonate saturated with water, it dissolves 
more readily in ammonia. This, however, is an operation that is 
not beyond the ability of the average fruit-grower, who could him- 
self well moisten the carbonate with water before treating with 
ammonia. The objections to putting such a form on the market 
are (1), that it is not needed, since any one can “ hydrate ” his cop- 
per carbonate by mixing it with water; (2) the manufacturer 
places no guarantee upon it, and it contains less than sixty per 
cent. as much copper carbonate as the simple dry copper carbon- 
ate. It would be possible to overcome this latter objection. 
ANALYSES OF ‘‘ COPPERDINE.” 
1. The first sample of copperdine analyzed was in dry form, 
prepared for the season of 1891. It was put up in atwo-pound 
can and claimed to be a mixture of copper carbonate and ammo- 
nium carbonate, in the proportions recommended by the United © i 
States Department of Agriculture. The price of the two-pound 
can was seventy-five cents. The materials were not very well 
mixed, so, in order to obtain a fair sample for analysis, over half 
of the contents of the can was removed and mixed thoroughly ; 
from this a sample was taken for analysis. The mixture, on 
analysis, was found to contain nearly seven per cent. of copper, | 
which would be equivalent to about two and one-quarter ounces 
of copper in the whole two-pound can. This amount of copper 
is equivalent to about eight and three-quarters ounces of copper 
sulphate, or to about four ounces of copper carbonate. The two: 
pounds of dry copperdine, therefore, contained about four ounces 
of copper carbonate and twenty-eight ounces of ammonium 
carbonate. If these materials were purchased at retail at a drug- 
store in Geneva, they would cost as follows: 
; Cents. 
Four ounces of copper carbonate, at forty cents per pound...... 10 
Twenty-eight ounces ammonium carbonate, at eleven cents per 
0 RS 2) os a cee: UE 19 
—_—_——_——- 
= 
Total cost of materials in two pounds of dry copperdine.... 29 




