New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-12-06
PUBLIC MEETINGS.
AMERICAN INSTITUTE FARMERS, CLUB.


ThorleVs Food for CattLe.-Judge hEIGs, the Sec
retary read paper partially descriptive Of, but more
particularly putting Thoreys food for cattle, when II
stated was composed entirely Of vegetable substances
rart Of which were aromatic and very valuable as
food for all kinds Of cattle, and remarkably economical
This IT," said the Secretary, information which
thought would be interesting and valuable 10 the
Club
Solos RoBIssor-Se it would be If we could get it;
hat unfortunately all that has been read gives us no
practical information whatever IL simply pun OF
something imported from England 10 feed American
cattle with, told, cheaper than we can feed
them ourselves. Now, | want 10 know what TINS
wonderful substance IT, and how is possible 10 pack
enough into barrel 10 feed horse 40 times ana
how SO many feeds be sold for the price named
That is the information that want, but cannot get
Nep D,sfrfector.-R. G.. PARDKE stated that
100 parts of plaster Of Paris and TO parts Of
coal tar mixed together, is the ingredients OF new
dsinfecant lately discovered and highly approved IN
Paris II must be thoroughly mixed by grinding, or
in mortar, and then very small portion nas won
derfu effect upon every substance Of offensive ma
ture This is the disinfector that the papers OF
France have lately spoken of as IN use IN the hospts
of Paris. Ii is new discovery, and II only nall as
useful as il is alleged il must become very popular, as
il il so very inexpensive. IL is sold ont oil the Parls
shops BY the single pound, and lees than ten cents
The Hubbard Sgudsh.-WN \. CARPENTER ex-
hibed specimen of the pure Hubbard squash, which,
of % varieties grown by him. he considers the best III
ALI respects Of the whole squash family. The shell OF
this il Of pae green and the flesh rich golden yell
low The largest size is about ~ 10 pounds weight,
ard average about or ponnss. one Oh tne goo 900
Winter II is also, like the Boston marrow, good TO
ufe even before is fully ripe. Mr. Carpenter opened
the one presented and distributed the seed TO all the
members of the Club who desired to plant them
Ice-HoHses.-This question was called up and DIS
eussed at length Some of the facts elected are gwen
az follows:
Mr. PARDEE read an extract from paper upon the
ventilation and drainage of ce-houses IL states that
ica-house calculated to melt Ice
much faster than above because the earth gets heated
and mets the ice.
WIN. s. CARPEsTER-It is a question Of great mo-
ment TO farmers how small a cube OF ice can De kept
Well | have not, in my experience, found that less
than ten feet square VIII Keep. =,
Mr. PEIL said that he built ice-house Just like
log cabin, in the ound, with board roof that keeps
ice first rate He built of stone, and one OF BRICK,
laid in cement, neither of which would keep Ice. lie
81 in a cold day. leaves the house open TO allow
the ice TO freeze. He packs broken ice into all the
sraces between the cakes, and puts straw at tue Dot
tom eight inches thick, and packs the ice up 10 the
wood on the sides, and leaves it until June or July
when there j, a space melted away all around, and
that is then packed tight with straw His ice-house
most thoroughly ventilated IN the upper portion OF II.
full set of ice tools about $50, but he did not
think il necessary for farmer to go to that EXPENSE
saw If nearly good ice-plow, to cut ice on
small scale when great haste Is not very necessary
as il the case with the great ce-gatherers for market
| ions G.. BERGEE-My ice-house is cellar, abost
twelve Het square the top and ten feet at the bot
| TOM an this is fitted with double-boarded frame
| the hollow filed with sawdust The earth is 20 porous
| that il gives a natural drainage. There Is a bndlng
used for other purposes the icehouse, which IA
ventilated but the ice part has no ventilatoni and
cover he ice with sawdust and also around the SIDES
and il Keeps well. pack the cakes close, ana they
| come out as square as they went in
| VIM y tAkPESTER-I have "a HoOr over my ice,
which keep covered with straw, and fad It an excel
| lent thing 10 revent thawing
| Prof. NAsF-I think that an ice-house should not
| bo,-o r,xyeio yentllatlOn-the tighter the
Mr.. BrReEs is of the same opinion about ventila-
f possibl e,' thinks the "r 'H00'1 DC 'A''''
Mr.. PELL-There is a free circulation Of air in the
upper part Of my ce-house and nothing but straw to
| exclude the air from the Ice.
| Mr.. BERGEs-Some of my neighbors break up the
blocks of ice but prefer the solid blocks My opinion
is that straw is better than salt hay to pack ice in.
should prefer to have very heavy coat OF straw on
the ice and then L don't care about the ventilation
| above. will say, however, that my nelghbors, IN
houses that have upper floor, and are good deal
| open at the top, do keep the ice well.
| SoLOs ROBISsoN-Ihere ia Misunderstanding
about this term ventilation As of the advocates
Of il for an ice-house well all other houses, do
not open exposure, but simply to allow an escape
Of the heated air that will accumulate in the space be-
| tween the straw and the roof Make it tight all
around the body of the ice possible by using non
conducting stances from the exterior, and cover
the top Of the ice closely you please with saw
duet straw but don't make the upper part too close
At least leave the cracks in the gable ends open. As
for the sdes the best of all substances TO I'LL with is
fine charcoal the next best sawdust; next tan bark
straw, leaves from the forest or salt hay or any other
fbrous substance. II s not necessary have double
wall if your ice is sufficiently packed around with any
of the above substances. The air, at any rate,
must not come in contact with the ice, nor with
| board that touches it. And stone on the
ground will melt ice much quicker than wood
What have been most anxious for in bringing mp this
discussion upon cehouses is TO divert the subject Of
all scientific nonsense about making buildings TO keep
=. - tt.fw 50
would undertake it. Yet there are thousands of
who might enjoy the comforts Of full supply of ee
and some of them would do it if they only knew that
| they could build house at almost cost. A 10y
cabin as described by Mr.. Pel a cellar lined with
fence rails and board roof with plenty of saw-dust
leaves or straw will keep it longer than a
brick building put up at cost Of 500. want to en-
| courage people TO build cheap ice-houses.
| Prof. NAsH-We are too much inclined TO be nova
tors in all buildings and in cehouses particularly.
/ We must look at the true philosophy of Keeping ice,
shall fail; for the philosophy of it Is TO put 1t as
much away from the air possible, and that If why we
pack it in straw sawdust, &c. As to giving some
ventilation to the loft, space the ice, 1t may
/ be of service.
VIZ S. CARPESrER.-Some of my neighbors think
the ice keeps the best if the cakes edge.
! Mr.. BERGES-The great ice-packes have seen put
in their cakes fat, and very compact.
Mr.. PELL-Tbe great Hudson River ice-houses are
very large and always built above ground with double
wall, filed with saw-dust The ice is packed close,
and broke ice filled in all the cracks Some single
cehouses hold 5000 tuns and most of the used In
| the city is cut upon the river and not upon lakes
Mr.. QUISs-l noticed that some of these icehouses
rise sct bay The roofs and sides are dcuble and the
best Of them are filed with fine charcoal, making the
walls IS inches thick. know person who mad an
underground ice-house, and has above, which
| he prefers-the ice keeps in this the best.
| Ar. CARPEgTER-I find the bottom layer Of my
house which is underground one keeps better than
| the LAYERS above.
Mr.. PELL-Ene charcoal absorbs 80 per cent of air,
I IL ,ba he 4. ia