20 N. H. Agri. Experiment Station [Bui. 244 



months. The refrigerator on Farm No. 7, however, was an exception 

 and used more current. 



Figures on the minimum amounts of current consumed are the least 

 dependable because they represent the start and close of the seasons 

 when the machines were used intermittently. They w^ere operated from 

 71/2 percent to 36 percent of the total time. The general average was 

 19 percent. 



COST OF ICE 



Without regard to the quantity of refrigeration needed for a farm, the 

 processes required are much the same, and involve: (1) Building and 

 maintaining an icehouse; (2) cutting the ice and supplying labor to put 

 it in storage; (3) providing the delivery system; (4) tying up money 

 for considerable periods of time, and (5) the use of labor and materials 

 w^hich, by the new method, can be released to more profitable work. 



On farms which require considerable ice, the cost per hundred-weight 

 delivered in the refrigerators, cooling rooms, or tanks is less than on 

 other farms. The cost on dairy farms is usually low. 



On farms which require ice for house use only, the same steps are 

 necessary, and, therefore, the cost per hundred-weight for the smaller 

 quantity of ice is greater. Doubling the amount of ice stored does not 

 double the cost; certain overhead charges change little. 



On account of widely varjnng conditions, it is difficult to find an 

 average cost per hundred-weight for ice delivered to the cooling chamber 

 on the farm. In general it costs as much as in the city during the same 

 season; during the period of the tests the cost was 50 to 60 cents per 

 hundred-weight. 



Each farai placed a slightly different value on the various operations 

 involved in harvesting ice. (Table 8) . To find an equal basis for com- 

 parison, forty cents an hour was assumed to be the value of man and 

 team labor. 



On the first three farms the ice used for the house refrigerator was a 

 part of the total required for both the dairy and house. 



On Fanns No. 5 and 7 the ice was put in by the farm help, but on 

 Farm No. 6 the work was contracted for at a fixed price. 



Due to the quantity of ice handled, the first three farms were 

 able to effect an economy over the last three. Only under extreme 

 conditions did the cost of ice in the first group for the house equal the 

 high cost of the second group. The cost varied from $20.62 to $64.16 

 for Farms No. 1, 2, and 4; the average was $36.14. The variation 

 for the latter farms was from $43.40 to $64.00 with an average of $50.46. 

 The average total cost for all farms was $41.63. Monthly average 

 costs were $6.29. Daily average costs were 21 cents. 



CONCLUSIONS 



Three general sets of conditions are represented by the seven farms: 

 (a) Farms that have need for and operate only a household refrigerator 

 (Farms Nos. 5, 6, and 7) ; (b) farms that must operate both a household 

 refrigerator and a cold storage for large quantities of marketable pro- 

 ducts (Farms Nos. 1, 2, and 4) ; and (c) farms which require refrigera- 



