224 MANAGEMENT OF DAIRY PLANTS 



ton. At this particular ice cream factory the hardening tanks 

 were kept in a large open room without refrigeration. The 

 ice cream was repacked twice daily in the hardening tanks. 

 This expense might be reduced materially by keeping the hard- 

 ening tanks in a refrigerator room. In one ice cream factory 

 where that system of hardening was introduced it was found 

 that the ice cream kept in most excellent condition by repack- 

 ing only once daily. Some are using brine instead of ice and 

 salt for the hardening tanks. This will tend to reduce the cost 

 somewhat. The dry hardening rooms are the most sanitary 

 and for larger plants the most economical, but for a very small 

 plant that system would prove to be rather expensive. It is 

 economy to use brine direct from the cold storage system for 

 freezing the ice cream wherever such brine is available. 



IV. Cost Due to Loss of Ice Cream Containers and Tubs. 

 The loss of ice cream containers and tubs may be a big item 

 unless systematic records are kept of outgoing containers. 

 The ice cream manufacturer should select some individual 

 color or some method of painting his tubs so that they will not 

 resemble those of his competitors. By this individuality the 

 packers will be generally known and will usually be returned to 

 the proper factory. The tubs should furthermore bear the firm 

 name and address. They should be numbered so that it may 

 be possible to keep record of the individual containers. It is 

 convenient to use letters for designating the size of containers. 

 A might thus be used for lo-gallon packers, B for 5-gallon 

 packers, C for 3-gallon packers, etc. In accordance with that 

 system the lo-gallon packers would be numbered Ai, A2, A3, 

 etc.; 5-gallon packers would be numbered Bi, B2, B3, etc. 



When a shipment of ice cream is sent out a tag should be 

 attached to the tub bearing the name and address of the cus- 

 tomer (Form XIX). 



Part of this tag bearing the name and address of the customer, 

 the number of packer, and the date shipped is torn off from the 

 original tag and filed on a board, properly numbered. When- 

 ever the containers are returned the original tags are com- 

 pared with corresponding stubs and destroyed. Some manu- 



