of New York. Tired of
consulting engineers, who looked at his water supply, informed him
that they could do nothing, and then charged him a big fee (to one he
paid $250), this owner resorted to the copper-sulphate treatment. The
cure cost the man just $2--but let his letter to the department tell
the story:

"My place in the country is located at Water Mill, in the township of
Southampton, in Long Island. I purchased it in April, 1902, and was
largely influenced in selecting this piece of land by the beauty of a
pond which bounds it on the east. This little body of water covers
about two acres, is fed by numerous springs, and discharges into Mecox
Bay, the southern boundary of the land. When I bought the place the
pond was filled with clear water. About the middle of the following
June algae began to show, and in August the surface was almost entirely
covered by the growth. The odor was offensive, and myriads of small
insects hovered over the masses of algae much of the time. I consulted
two engineers interested in the storage of water, and they told me
that nothing could be done. The condition was so objectionable that I
planned to plant a thick hedge of willows along the bank to shut off
the view of the pond from the house.... I examined the pond on June
15th and found large masses of algae covering an area several hundred
feet in length and from twenty to forty feet in width. No
microscopical examination was made of the growth, but I was informed
that it seemed to be largely composed of filaments of _Spirogyra_ and
other _Confervae_. On June 18th the treatment was begun.... In one week
the growth had sunk and the pond was clear water. I examined the pond
September 15th and found it still clear.

"The use of the sulphate of copper converted an offensive
insect-breeding pond into a body of beautifully clear water. The pond
was full of fish, but the copper did not seem to harm them."

_Effect of Copper Sulphate on Fish_

Native trout were not injured when the large reservoir at Cambridge,
N. Y., was purified by the copper treatment. A slightly different
result, in this respect, was reported from Elmira, N. Y., however.
Part of the report is as follows:

"The effect of the copper-sulphate treatment on the different animal
life was as follows: numerous 'pollywogs' killed, but no frogs;
numerous small (less than two inches long) black bass and two large
ones (eight inches long) killed; about ten large 'bullheads' w