ALMONDS FOR VARIOUS FOOD PRODUCTS 17 
carton filling and sealing machine is greater than the combined cost 
of all the other machinery. The labeling machines intended for 
labeling the salted-almond and almond-butter packages and the 
friction- top cans are relatively cheap, and although they are not 
included in the list for the necessary initial equipment their installa- 
tion would increase the total cost so slightly that they might well be 
included. These machines as a rule label the packages much more 
neatly and uniformly than can usually be accomplished by hand 
labor. 
LABOR AND POWER 
The cost of the labor involved in the manufacture of these products 
can not be estimated with any degree of accuracy at this time. 
The personnel required to operate a plant as here described will 
depend largely on the completeness of the equipment installed. As 
a rule, one person is required for each of the machines. If hand 
operation is substituted for some of the automatic machinery a 
greater number of workers of course will be necessary. The hand 
labor involved in sorting and cleaning the nuts at the picking table 
vdll also depend somewhat on the extent to which screens and reels 
could be utilized for the operation. Although in most cases one 
person is required to operate each of the several machines, some of 
the operations require attention only at certain intervals, and one 
person could probably take care of several such operations. As an 
example of this type of operation may be mentioned the mixing of 
the paste, the confection, and the powder. The machines used for 
this purpose are charged and discharged at regular intervals, and 
the extent to which these operations could be coordinated would 
largely determine the labor requirement. 
The entire equipment can be operated by electric motive power, 
and most of the machines are equipped with individual motors. The 
power requirement, exclusive of that for the carton sealer and liner, 
is approximately 20 horsepower, which is equivalent to about 20 
kilowatts. Steam will be required for the processing kettle and for 
the paste cooker. The best fuel for use in connection with the 
roasters is probably gas, but if this is not available the machines 
should be equipped with electric heaters. 
OVERHEAD CHARGES 
The overhead charges include taxes, insurance, supervision, adver- 
tising and selling costs, and general office expenses. None of these 
items can be even approximately estimated, because too many factors 
are involved. Much will depend on the character of the business 
organization which undertakes the manufacture of these products. 
The scope and nature of the advertising which is always necessary 
to introduce new products can hardly be determined in advance, 
and the selling organization that must be developed is subject to 
factors and conditions that can not readily be forecast. No attempt, 
therefore, is made to estimate the cost of the several items included 
in overhead charges, but it may be stated that in the manufacture 
of products of this nature these charges no doubt constitute at least 
25 per cent of the total cost of production. 
