COST OF MANUFACTURE 187 



or twenty-five cents to fifty cents per pound of butter fat. 

 Maximum war-prices up to and including May 1918 were $3.50 

 per 100 pounds of milk and 75 cents per pound of butterfat. 



Cane sugar varies in price largely with the season and with 

 the success or failure of the sugar cane crop. Sugar prices 

 usually reach their climax in fall and their minimum price in 

 late winter or early spring. The variations usually fall within 

 the limits of $4.00 and $6.50 per one hundred pounds of sugar. 

 Maximum war price was 7Jc per pound. 



Tin cans vary in price with style of can and whether made 

 in the condensery or bought from a can-making concern. Some 

 factories are paying more or less heavy royalties for the priv- 

 ilege of using certain patents of cans. Cans intended to be 

 sealed without the use of solder, but which are guaranteed to 

 make a hermetical seal, are generally higher in price than those 

 in the sealing of which solder is used. This difference in price, 

 however, is offset, in part at least, by the cost of the solder 

 and gasoline. Cans purchased from can-making concerns usually 

 are more expensive than cans manufactured in the condensery. 

 This holds true only where the tin-shop of the condensery is 

 properly equipped and efficiently manned. The cost of cans 

 bought from can-making concerns is about fifty-five cents per 

 case, varying somewhat with size and style of can; when made 

 in the condensery the price may be lowered from 10 to 20 per 

 cent. Maximum war price was 90 cents per case. 



The cost of coal varies with quality and locality. Under 

 average conditions, the condensing and packing of one pound 

 of fluid milk requires about three-tenths of a pound of coal or 

 thirty to forty pounds per case. A good quality of "mine run" 

 can be laid down at the factory in states near the coal region, 

 like Indiana and Illinois for about $2.50 per ton, or in northern 

 states, like Wisconsin, for about $3.30 per ton. The cost of coal 

 per case, therefore, may vary from about three and eight-tenths 

 to six and a half cents per case. Where natural gas or refuse 

 from lumber mills are available, the cost of fuel may be reduced 

 materially by the use of these substitutes for coal. Maximum 

 war price raised the cost of coal about 12c per case. 



Solder and gasoline for sealing the cans average about three 

 and a half cents per case. The price of solder is about twenty- 



