10 
BULLETIN 973, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 
o. Fillers in which the bottles are filled in a manner similar to the 
fourth method, but are capped by hand. 
Table 1 shows the labor used in filling and capping with the various 
systems. 4 
Table 1. — Comparative mart-hour requirements, on the average, for filing and capping 
botties with different types of machines. 1 
Type of machine. 
Plants. Cities. 
Average 
number 
of 
machines 
used per 
plant. 
Bottles 
filled 
and 
capped 
per 
machine- 
hour. 
(1) Large automatic 
(2) Eotary automatic 
(3) Singles-row automatic 
(4) Machine filler and capper, operated by 
hand levers 
(5) Machine filler, with hand capping 
1.50 
2.00 
3.75 
1.50 
1.20 
5.994 
4'. 809 
10, 136 
3,717 
1.79S 
1.229 
701 
763 
768 
553 
3,S95 
1.999 
2,080 
2,338 
1,576 
1 At practically all plants where data on labor used in filling and capping and in washing bottles were 
obtained, the machines could be so adjusted that naif-pint and gill bottles could be handled as well as 
quarts and pints. The data given were obtained on quart and pint bottles of millr only. 
The most important items in this table are those showing the 
number of bottles filled and capped per man-hour. The largest 
number of bottles per man-hour (1,229) was filled and capped with 
the large automatic machine. The number filled and capped per 
man-hour was not greatly different with the rotary, single-row. and 
hand-lever types of machine, being 701. 763. and 768. respectively. 
The number of bottles filled and capped per machine-hour was 
nearly the same with the rotary and single-row types, being 1.999 
and 2,080 respectively, while with the machine filler and capper of 
the hand-lever type 2.33S bottles were filled per machine-hour. 
Some of the plants using the latter type of machine had large-capacity 
machines, but on account of the extra men required to operate these 
machines there was practically no saving in labor over the other types. 
In Table 2 are shown the wide variations in the man-hour and 
machine-hour requirements at the various plants using the various 
methods. 
Table 2. — Range of variation in the number of bottles filled and capped per hour, man- 
hour, and machine-hour by the different methods. 
Type of machine. 
Bottles filled 
and capped per 
hour. 
Bottles filled 
and capped per 
man-hour. 
Bottles rilled 
and capped per 
machine-hour. 
(11 Large automatic 
(2) Rotary automatic 
(3) Single-row automatic 
(4) Machine filler and capper, operated by hand 
levers 
(5) Machine filler, hand capping 
1.933 to 10. 95S 
1.350 to 13. 333 
1,S33 to 15.077 
750 to 7,760 
350 to 5.000 
966 to 2. 155 
334 to 1.437 
674 to 838 
320 to 1.552 
233 to 866 
1.933 to 5.479 
1.114 to 3,966 
1,833 to 2, 154 
750 to 3, 880 
350 to 3, 200 
It can be seen in this table that there is a wide variation in the 
amount of work done at different plants using the same types of 
machinery. It will be noticed that there was a wide variation in the 
number of bottles filled per machine-hour, as well as in the number 
i For a description of various fillers and cappers, see U. S, Department of Agriculture Bulletin No.S90, 
Milk-Plant Equipment. 
