SUGAR-CANE SIRUP MANUFACTURE 55 
heavy equipment being on the ground floor or on low platforms. 
The framework of the building may therefore be of lighter construction. 
COST OF MAKING SIRUP 
One of the first questions asked by anyone who contemplates going 
into the sirup-making business is, “‘ How much will it cost per gallon 
to make sirup?” ‘This question should be followed by, ‘‘How much 
will a gallon of sirup bring on the market?” and ‘‘ What is the proba- 
bility of selling the output year after year?” The first question can 
be answered more definitely in advance than the last two. 
The costs of the plants complete (Table 11) are used to calculate 
the cost of making sirup shown in Table 14. This gives the cost per 
gallon of making sirup, based on cane selling at $5 per ton delivered 
at the mill and on the assumption that the yield of sirup per ton of 
cane is somewhat lower than may reasonably be expected. The cost 
is divided into four parts—cost of cane, fixed charges, labor, and fuel 
and supplies. 
COST OF CANE #1 
Table 14 shows that the cost for cane per gallon of sirup varies 
from $0.244 for a 50-ton plant to $0.218 for a 300-ton plant. In the 
calculations following Table 8 (p. 18) the yield of sirup from a 3-roller 
mill is given as 19.4 gallons per ton of cane, whereas for a 50-ton plant 
(Table 14) a yield of 20.5 gallons per ton of cane from a 3-roller mill 
is assumed. This difference is due to the fact that an extraction of- 
60 per cent is assumed for the small plant (Table 8) and an extrac- 
tion of 70 per cent for the larger and more heavily constructed mill 
recommended for the 50-ton plant (p. 44). Table 15 shows the 
cost per gallon of sirup for variations in price of cane which may 
reasonably be expected. 
FIXED CHARGES 
Fixed charges are calculated on the basis of 8 per cent yearly 
depreciation, 2 per cent yearly upkeep, 6 per cent interest on invest- 
ment, and 3 per cent for taxes and insurance. As the plant depreci- 
ates in value from the original cost to nothing in 1214 years, the 
average investment over the entire period is one-haif of the original 
cost. Interest therefore is calculated at 3 per cent instead of 6 per 
cent on the first cost of the plant. Consequently the fixed charge 
per year for plants of each type is equivalent to 16 per cent of the 
. original cost. 
LABOR 
Labor costs vary greatly in different sections of the country. The 
figures in Table 12 apply to rural districts, where the cost of labor 
is usually relatively low during the sirup-making season. Kstimates 
of the cost of this item in any locality or for any future period, when 
the prevailing daily rates of pay differ from those given in Table 12, 
may be made by substituting other daily rates and recaiculating 
the labor costs per gallon of sirup. 
11 Ses footnote 5, p. 12. 
