20 



BULLETIN" 216, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Table VIII. — Comparative cost, storage capacity, insurance rates, and other data con- 

 cerning public and private warehouses classified according to construction. 



State. 



Type of warehouse 

 (construction). 



Number. 



Total 



capacity 



in flat 



bales. 



Average 



capacity 



in flat 



bales. 



Total cost. 



Cost per 



bale 

 capacity. 



Average 



insurance 



rate. 



Georgia 



Wood 



26 



69 



215 



5 

 22 

 11 



5 

 22 



14,250 

 53,935 

 280, 170 

 10, 700 

 20, 750 

 14, 000 

 13, 250 

 27,850 



548 

 782 

 1,303 

 2,140 

 944 

 1,273 

 2,650 

 1,266 



$48,350 

 125,820 

 1,089,500 

 31,750 

 76,500 

 40, 950 

 30, 450 

 27, 820 



S3. 40 

 2.35 

 3.89 

 2.97 

 3.64 

 2.925 

 1.54 

 1.00 



$3.30 



Corrugated iron . . . 



2.70 

 1.95 





Standard 



1.52 



North Carolina 



Oklahoma 



Concrete or stone. . 



Brick 



Standard 



Corrugated iron. . . 



2.29 

 1.96 

 1.25 

 2.20 



Table IX. — Comparative cost, storage capacity, insurance rates, and other data con- 

 cerning public and private warehouses classified according to sprinkler equipment. 



State. 



Equipment of ware- 

 houses. 



Number. 



Total 



capacity 



in flat 



bales. 



Average 



capacity 



in flat 



bales. 



Total 

 cost. 



Cost per 



bale 

 capacity. 



Average 



insurance 



rate. 





With sprinklers 



Without sprinklers. . 

 With sprinklers 

 Without sprinklers. . 



30 

 30 



8 

 8 



129, 200 



63,200 



47,900 



8,600 



4,307 

 2,107 

 5,988 

 1,075 



$527,900 



248,600 



173,500 



22, 950 



$4.09 

 3.77 

 3.62 

 2.67 



$0,246 



North Carolina 



1.67 



.238 



1.52 



PLAN, EQUIPMENT, AND COST. 



It is impossible to overestimate the importance of proper planning, 

 construction, and equipment of cotton warehouses. These have an 

 important bearing not only upon the cost of the structure itself and 

 the cost of handling cotton but also upon insurance rates. The 

 public warehouses now in use which are equipped with automatic 

 sprinklers have cost about $4 per bale storage capacity, and cotton 

 stored in these buildings is insured at an average of about 25 cents on 

 the $100 per annum. These investigations show clearly that the 

 average cost of warehouses not so equipped is not very much less than 

 $4 per bale storage capacity, while the insurance rate is very much 

 higher, comparatively speaking. It is admitted that the automatic 

 sprinkler equipment is expensive, but the warehouses now in use 

 which are equipped with sprinklers are comparatively large, most of 

 them have been built according to the underwriters' standards, and 

 in a general way they have been planned and built on a business 

 basis, which accounts for the saving in cost of construction. 



If the present crop of cotton is assumed to be 16,000,000 bales, new 

 warehouses to store all of it could be constructed and equipped with 

 automatic sprinklers for $64,000,000 or less. If all of this crop should 

 be stored for a period of six months the cost of insurance at $2 per 

 $100, which is lower than the average paid at present, would 

 amount to $8,000,000 if the cotton is valued at $50 per bale. In the 

 new warehouses costing $64,000,000 this cotton could be stored for 



