318 CITY MILK SUPPLY 



automatically lowered, the valve closed and the bottle carried by the 

 conveyor beneath an automatic capping machine which caps it as it is 

 traveling on to the place where a man feeds bottles into the conveyor and 

 puts the capped ones into crates. The remarks on valves in the preced- 

 ing paragraph apply to those in use on the rotary fillers. These machines 

 afford excellent opportunity to inspect the bottles thoroughly and they 

 work fast, filling and capping 38 to 54 quart bottles a minute. 



The very largest city milk plants are using automatic power-driven 

 machines that fill and cap six to eight cases of quart bottles a minute. 



Bottle Caps. Small dealers cap bottles by hand, somewhat larger 

 ones use hand-capping machines of various sorts and the big ones sta- 

 tionary machines that work very fast. Some of the machines are rented 

 by the dealers, of the manufacturers who for various reasons prefer to 

 retain the ownership. of them. Formerly milk bottles with " lightning 

 tops" were in general use. These tops were of tin plate, were wired fast 

 to the bottle and were open and shut by a bail that fitted the neck of the 

 bottle when the cap was closed. The tin top sat flat on top of the rim of 

 the bottle and to prevent leakage a thin pliable, fiber cap was put under 

 it. These tin tops rusted, got out of repair, leaked more or less and inter- 

 fered with the cleaning of the bottles so that they fell into disuse when 

 the Thatcher Manufacturing Co. brought out the common-sense bottle 

 cap in 1889. 



The feature of this bottle is that within the neck is a shoulder or cap- 

 seat that holds the cap, a stiff parffined fiber disc, in place. This cap 

 gave general satisfaction and is in common use. In time the criticism 

 was made that cleanliness and safety demand that the whole mouth of the 

 bottle be covered to protect it from dirt, the drivers' fingers and possible 

 infection. Such caps were soon put on the market and are now supplied 

 to customers that can afford to pay for them. The Crown Cap and 

 Seal Co. in 1910 put out a small-mouthed milk bottle and a special 

 "Dacro" metal cap to fit it. The Standard Cap and Seal Co. later 

 brought out a fiber cap that completely covers the top of the milk bottle 

 to which it is fastened with a wire ring. Each of these companies has its 

 capping machines. Many dealers are putting out their certified milk 

 and cream with a common-sense cap over which is placed a fiber or foil 

 cap 'that completely covers the bottle. 



Cost of Bottling Milk. The cost of bottling milk has been carefully 

 studied by the Dairy Division of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 

 Figures as to the number of men employed and as to time taken to bottle 

 the milk were obtained from the plant managers and these were checked 

 up by observations in the plants. The figures do not include the packing 

 of the milk in the storage room after the milk was bottled. These four 

 methods of bottling were considered : 



