:588 NEW JERSEY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 



jiiyself carlv in ISTovcinbL-r, ]\rr. B. G. Pratt writes: "The factory- 

 lias been arranged with every hibor-saving device, with a view to 

 ithe most ccoiiOmical production of 'Scalecide.' All raw material 

 is handled by pumps or gi-avity, giving the chemist in charge the 

 personal control of all raw material without depending on un- 

 ■fikilled labor, thus insuring uniformity and exactness throughout 

 ithe whole operation, and nothing is left to guesswork." 



We found the A\-ork in })rogress when we arrived and oil was 

 i)eing pumjied from the underground tank into one of the large 

 mixing tanks, of which there arc live on the lower floor. Each of 

 ihese tanks has a capacity of thirty thousand pounds, or a carload 

 of the finished product, and the materials enter from the first story 

 through openings in the floor, from which, also, the process of 

 jnixing can be obser^•ed by means of electric drop lights. As soon 

 iis the gauge shows a proper amount of mineral oil in the tank, one 

 of the vegetable oils is added from barrels — four barrels of the 

 prepared oil which is stored on this first story being run in while 

 -the agitators are started to fonn a homogeneous mixture. On the 

 ■■second story is a large metal tank containing another prepared 

 ^vegetable oil treated to assist in combining with the mineral oil, 

 :find from this a definite quantity, registered by gauge, is next nin 

 in. The agitators, when once started, continue their work un- 

 -ceasingly, and from time to time samples are drawn and tested 

 in the laboratory, which is on the floor from which all materials 

 <cnter the mixing tanks. When the samples drawn indicate a 

 amiform mixture, the alkali and water is added in the correct 

 proportion, and testing begins again until the proper reaction is 

 obtained by the most delicate tests. When this reaction is satis- 

 factory the mixture is complete as to materials and it dissolves or 

 ^nixes readily with water. It is then tested for stability and agita- 

 tion is continued until no "'cream" separates from the diluted 

 :material. Mr. Pratt writes further: 



"As each tank is started a consecutive number is given and a 

 •complete record made of same. Samples are drawn, labeled and 

 iested, and. preserved for future reference. The tank is allowed 

 to stand for at least twenty-four hours after finishing, and then 

 other samples are drawn and tested before receiving the O. K. of 

 the chemist, after which contents are drawn out into barrels and 

 <*ans, each numbered with the corresponding number of the tank 

 3ind sample, a record of which is again made on each shipping 



