26 BULLETIN 1158, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
MATERIALS. 
The same raw materials are used in the manufacture of the sweet- 
potato sirup in the proposed plant as were used at the experimental 
plant, namely, sweet potatoes, malt, and kieselguhr. At Fitzgerald 
No. 1 Porto Rico potatoes were used. In the proposed plant the 
sirup could be made from culls, the oversized and undersized sweet 
potatoes, which cost only about 25 cents a bushel, 10 thus greatly re- 
ducing one of the main cost items and, in turn, the total cost of pro- 
duction. 
The malt and kieselguhr should be the same as those used at Fitz- 
gerald (p. 15). 
LABOR. 
The following labor layout would be required : 
One plant superintendent to supervise operations, handle plant cor- 
respondence, look after pay roll, order raw materials as needed, keep 
record of finished product, make shipments, etc. 
One skilled laborer to take charge of plant operation, help with 
the actual production of the sirup, keep apparatus and equipment in 
first-class condition, keep plant records, etc. 
Three laborers to help with the actual production of the sirup, 
tend boiler fire, burn kieselguhr, etc. 
When it is desired to put the sirup into pint bottles, extra labor 
is required. To put 100 gallons of sirup into pint bottles, per 10- 
hour day, three extra men are required. 
Since the proposed plant was considered as being located in one 
of the southern States, the rate of pay prevailing in that section was 
taken. A superintendent for a plant of this size would probably re- 
ceive $1,800 a year. The skilled laborer to take charge of plant 
operations could be secured for $3 a clay, and the common laborer 
could be secured for $1.50 a day. The higher wages which were paid 
at the experimental plant were necessary because the employment 
was temporary. 
METHOD OF MANUFACTURE. 
The method of manufacturing the sweet-potato sirup would be 
the same as that at Fitzgerald (pp. 15-20). The method of handling 
the materials, however, has been changed so as to eliminate some of 
the labor required at the Fitzgerald plant. This is especially true 
in the handling of the sweet potatoes from the time they are taken 
from storage and put in the mash tank for steam blanching. 
In the proposed plant, the potatoes would be carried to the con- 
veyer belt in the storage house and dumped on the belt which would 
carry them to the washer. Immediately before the potatoes passed 
into the washer, two men, one on each side of the belt, would give 
the potatoes a visual inspection as they passed by. The potatoes 
showing signs of rot, etc., would be picked off the belt and placed in 
containers for disposal. 
The potatoes would pass through the washer and drop on a chute, 
which would convey them to the hopper scales. Here the potatoes 
would be weighed, after which they would be dumped into a second 
10 This was the consensus of opinion of sweet-potato growers around Fitzgerald. 
