(2) All departments should, so far as possible, be maintained in separate buildings.
(3) Building materials should, so far as possible, be non-absorbent.
(4) Light and air should be arranged for in plenty.
(5) The question of movement of product to minimize labor should be given proper attention. In the building of a packing house it is only within the last few years that this matter has been studied from the standpoint of obtaining the best results at the least expenditure for operating.
(6) Formerly it was considered proper to build the killing house and coolers on the ground level, excavating a cellar for the storage of some of the products; the power house, tank rooms and other buildings for the disposition of by-products were placed without reference to economy in operation. Experience has proven that it is economical to slaughter animals on the upper floor of a building, and instead of spreading out on the ground and covering a large area as formerly, to build higher over a smaller area. With a proper incline the animals will walk to an elevation of 50 or 60 feet without detriment to their condition, and it is much cheaper to do this than to kill them on the ground level and elevate the products, or to convey or transport them to distant buildings on the same level.
(7) The use of gravity is recognized as a proper procedure in all departments from a low labor cost standpoint. The locating of the buildings, one to another; to minimize the transferring of products; and the grouping of products as to convenience in shipping by wagon, by car or by boat, as the case may require, are also important.
(8) Very important is the question of grouping cold storage departments so as to minimize the wall space and exposure from radiation; likewise the concentration of buildings requiring heat to avoid the loss of fuel by reason of long steam lines, and radiation which can not be prevented.
Principles of Design.
—The crux of the plant appears to be the slaughtering department for it is here the work begins and from this source radiates the various parts for disposal. One well-known and successful designer works with the idea of beginning at the rendering department, and establishing the tops of the rendering tanks, or digestors, on a level with the viscera separating floor, from which the refuse is readily transported without the use of elevator or lift service.
The slaughtering floor is naturally above this level, and all other departments disposed to meet the various needs. Obviously there being so many controlling factors, no examples can be set out to meet all conditions. There follows however, a ground plan and sectional view of several plants of varying sizes with descriptive data.