A refiner of cane sugar buys his raw product in the open market and must pay for all his operating and administration expenses and obtain his profit from the margin between the buying price of raw and the selling price of refined sugar. The cost of refining is not constant, as it varies with the fluctuating values of fuel, containers, labor, and particularly the cost of raw sugar. If it costs 62½ cents per 100 pounds to refine sugar with raws at 3.86 cents per pound, it will cost about 82½ cents per 100 pounds with raw sugars at 6 cents, assuming that such items as fuel, containers, labor, etc., remain constant. This is due to the greater value of the raw sugar lost in refining, to the heavier insurance premiums and higher interest charges. With high-priced raws, the margin between raws and refined must be proportionately greater to offset the increased cost of refining. The refiner, like the consumer, would prefer to see sugar selling on a low basis, while the producer always hopes for the opposite. SHIPPING DEPARTMENT Here will be found every modern convenience for the rapid loading of cars and steamers. Adequate railway trackage is provided for the handling of shipments moving by rail, and on the waterfront side of the warehouses there is ample berth room for steamers that carry the sugar to cities and towns on the inland waterways and the seacoast, together with points tributary thereto. Facilities are also at hand for local delivery by drays. Railroad cars are sometimes sent to refineries by water, on car barges, to be loaded with sugar and then towed to what are known as railroad terminals, where the cars are taken from the barges and started on their journey to destination. The capacity of a car varies from twenty-four thousand to one hundred thousand pounds. If an amount of sugar equal to that consumed in the United States in 1915 were loaded into cars containing 1000 sacks of 100 pounds each, it would require 81,087 cars, which would make up a train 768 miles long. A large part of the product is delivered direct from the packing-room conveyors into the waiting cars and steamers, thus avoiding unnecessary handling. A single shipment frequently includes a number of different styles of package, and great care must be exercised to insure accuracy in count and description. As dry granulated sugar readily absorbs moisture, every precaution must be taken to make the storage rooms thoroughly damp-proof, so that the sugar may always be in good condition when shipped from the refinery. Shipments are made only on written orders from the sales department to the head of the shipping department. These orders set forth the name of the buyer, the kinds and quantity of sugar desired, the point to which the sugar is to go, the route by which it is to travel, the date on which it is to be shipped, and the terms of sale. At the proper time the sugar is loaded, shipped, and in due course delivered to the buyer.