40 BULLETIN 4S6, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Comparing the figures for the two outfits the following will be 

 noted : 



(1) The charges for interest, repairs, and deterioration are higher per barrel 

 capacity in the large factory, because of the relatively larger amount invested. 



(2) The labor employed is of a more expensive character in the large fac- 

 tory. The total outlay for labor, however, is less per unit capacity. 



(3) A lower grade of wood can be used in the steam plant. However, the 

 larger quantity needed necessitates hauling it for longer distances, thus making 

 the cost per cord about the same. The total expense for fuel in the steam 

 plant is considerably less per unit capacity than that of wood and gasoline 

 combined in the small outfit. 



(4) Upon the whole, the large steam plant, operating night and day, pro- 

 duces sirup at a cost of about 38 cents per barrel (or 1 cent per gallon) less than 

 the small outfit, operating only 12 hours a day. 



If the steam plant were operated only 12 hours a day the daily 

 fuel consumption would be more than half and the daily sirup 

 capacity would be less than half the estimates given, so that the 

 large steam plant would be operated at an expense per barrel fully 

 as high as that of the small outfit. An advantage, however, of the 

 large outfit not shown in the operating costs is the fact that the mill 

 would be more powerful, resulting in a higher extraction of juice 

 from the cane, equal to about 4 or 5 per cent of the weight of the 

 cane, thereby increasing the sirup yield from 5 to 7 per cent. In 

 this increased yield appears to be the principal advantage of the big 

 steam plant over the small outfit when both are run intermittently 

 12 hours a day. 



VALUE OF PRODUCTS AND PROFITS. 



Under the preceding two headings calculations were made upon the 

 cost of production of the cane crop and of the sirup therefrom, basing 

 the calculations mainly upon the experience in actual practice of 

 well-informed farmers of southern Georgia and applying to a well- 

 managed farm in that locality having good soil. In Table II are 

 brought together the figures thus obtained, together with the calcu- 

 lated total cost of the finished sirup per acre, per barrel, and per 

 gallon. The total cost is obtained by adding the cost of the cane, 

 the expense of manufacture, and an allowance of 1 cent per gallon 

 as the expense of marketing the sirup in bulk. For the expense of 

 manufacture, the figures applying to the small outfit under the pre- 

 ceding heading, viz, $3.63 per barrel (or 11 cents per gallon), are 

 used. Assuming a yield of 22 gallons (two-thirds of a barrel) of 

 sirup per ton of cane, the cost per ton for making the cane into sirup 

 is calculated at two-thirds of $3.63, or $2.42. 



