20 BULLETIN 1305,, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
The question of labeling requires careful consideration. With but 
a limited output of salted almonds the labeling could probably be 
done most economically by hand; but, since almond butter will also 
be marketed in similar packages and will require labeling and since a 
labeling machine does better and more uniform work, the finished 
article would present a better appearance if done with the machine 
(9). Its installation, however, is not absolutely necessary and may 
be deferred if desired, but in the general arrangement of the other 
equipment this should be kept in mind. 
The second line of products — almond butter and almond confec- 
tion — starts also from the picking table, where kernels which can not 
be used for salted almonds, or even the entire output from the blancher 
if desired, are diverted at right angles to an overhead conveyer (10). 
From the conveyer they are conducted to the dry roaster (11), which 
is a machine of the type used for roasting peanuts (fig. 3). It can 
be equipped with either gas or coal burners. The cooling pan (12) 
into which the kernels are dumped to be cooled is operated in con- 
nection with the roaster. This pan has a perforated bottom and an 
air stack, and rapid cooling is accomplished by drawing air through 
the kernels by means of a special fan attached overhead. 
When sufficiently cooled the kernels are dumped from the pan into 
a hopper located beneath the floor and then elevated to the nut- 
butter mill (13), where they are ground into a smooth homogeneous 
mass (fig. 4). If the product is to be flavored with oil of bitter 
almonds this can be added gradually when the salt is added. These 
mills are equipped with adjustable salting devices, so that the product 
as it emerges from the mill is the finished butter. From this mill it is 
packed directly into the glasses and sent to the vacuum capping 
machine or it is sent in the opposite direction (14) to the confection 
mixer (fig. 5). If almond confection is to be prepared, less salt is 
added and more oil of bitter almonds, since the additional sugar which 
is used in the confection reduces the strength of the flavor. For 
almond confection the ground kernels are thoroughly mixed in the 
confection mixer with confectioners' sugar and a small quantity of 
water or fixed oil of almonds. The finished mass is then dumped out 
and packed in cans (15). The best method for filling the cans has 
not thus far been determined. Since the output of a product like 
almond confection will no doubt be limited and confined principally to 
the use of confectioners and bakers, it can perhaps best be sold in 
tin cans holding 5 to 10 pounds. The product could readily be packed 
by hand and the labeling could also be done economically by hand. 
The third line of products comprises almond paste and almond 
powder. In preparing almond paste the general practice seems to 
be to give the kernels a preliminary coarse grinding (16) by passing 
them between corrugated granite rolls (fig. 6). They are then 
mixed with some of the sugar and passed through a machine (17) 
with smooth granite rolls (fig. 7) which reduces the mixture to a 
very smooth paste. Although this is the general practice on a large 
scale, somewhat similar results can be accomplished on a smaller 
scale by the use of a small machine which has a device for cracking 
the kernels before they pass between the rolls, thus combining the two 
processes in one machine. The ground kernels next proceed to the 
paste mixer (18), which is the same as the confection mixer. Here 
water and the remainder of the sugar are incorporated into the 
mixture, and the resulting paste is passed to the cooker (19), where 
