138 REPORT ON COOPERATION IN AMERICAN EXPORT TRADE.
industry. The combined nine establishments have a capacity for
producing each 24 hours, 8,000 quintals (about 600 long tons) of
lime and 18,000 quintals (about 8,400 long tons) of Portland cement.
In order to insure uniform standards, all shipments, before they are
dispatched, are subjected to a test by a controlling office of the
syndicate.
The syndicate handles three kinds of cement, the delivered prices
for which in 1913 were as follows: 6 lire for No. 1 slow-hardening
Portland cement, 4.50 lire for No. 2, and 4 lire for quick-hardening cement.
 These prices are for delivery in sacks of 50 kilograms, if the
sacks are returned; if not returned, an additional charge of 0.60 lire
is made per sack. For long-distance shipments new sacks are always
used, not to be returned, and a charge of 0.80 lire is made per 100
kilograms shipped. All shipments bear the word « Sindacato,” which
is the mark of the organization.!
Superphosphate.—The superphosphate industry in Italy, which,
until the latter part of the nineteenth century, was scarcely known,
passed through a period of prosperity from 1890 to 1900 which led
to such an overproduction in 1902 that the manufacturers sought
relief in the organization of the General Italian Society for the
fertilizer business, with headquarters at Milan. This combination
represented about 150,000 cubic meters of lead chambers for producing
 sulphuric acid and a total production of 4,000,000 quintals
of superphosphate. During the next two years the combination
sharply reduced production, and obtained materially higher prices.
The selling quotas which were assigned were unsatisfactory to many
of the members, not permitting them to sell more than half their
capacity. As a result, dissensions arose and in 1903 the combination
came to an end.?
In the same year, however, two large fertilizer concerns—Magno
Magni &amp; Co., of Vicenze, and Ducco &amp; Alessio, of Florence, came
together and formed the Unione fra i consumatori e fabricanti
di prodotti chimici (Union between Consumers and Manufacturers
of Chemical Products), with a capitalization of 15,000,000 lire, which
was later increased to 25,000,000.° (See also p. 294.)
The table below shows the production of superphosphates in Italy
for the period 1905-1914:

1 Kartell-Rundschau, 1913, p. 331.
2 1’Engralis, 1902, pp. 163 and 1048; 1904, p. 783.
I’Engrais. 1903, p. 1073; 1908, p. 427: 1910, pn. 1221