Melting point: 110 °C
Formula: CuSO4
Density: 3.6 g/cm³
Soluble in: Water
Classification: Sulfate

Copper sulphate is a very versatile chemical with as extensive a range of uses in industry as it has in agriculture. Its principal employment is in agriculture, and, up to a generation or so ago, about its only uses in industry were as a mordant for dyeing and for electroplating. Today it is being employed in many industrial processes:

Preparation of Bordeaux and Burgundy mixtures for use as fungicides Manufacture of other copper fungicides such as copper-lime dust, tribasic copper sulphate, copper carbonate and cuprous oxide Manufacture of insecticides such as copper arsenite and Paris green Control of fungus diseases Correction of copper deficiency in soils Correction of copper deficiency in animals Growth stimulant for fattening pigs and broiler chickens Molluscicide for the destruction of slugs and snails, particularly the snail host of the liver fluke

Seed dressing Soil steriliser, e.g Cheshunt compound (a mixture of copper sulphate and ammonium carbonate) to prevent ‘damping-off’ disease of tomato etc. Control and prevention of foot rot in sheep and cattle Bacteriostat for addition to sheep dips Disinfectant in prevention of the spread of swine erysipelas and white scours in calves Control of scum in farm ponds Plant nutrient in rice fields Preservative for wooden posts, wooden buildings, etc Ingredient of vermin repellents, e.g for application to bark of trees against rabbits Stimulant of latex yield on rubber plantations Protection against algal growths on flower pots