The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1875-02-05
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Ice, says .. contributor 70 the New
York Times, il an. absolute necessity in |
the dairy during the summer season.
Butter of first quality cannot be made |
without it, except in rare instanccs where
! very cold spring can be: brought, into
use. In the household, if it is not :
necessity. it is . luxury Of more than
common value. In every house it may
be 4 comfort, and in those where some
refinement CT civilization exists it is =
Where ice has once been
used, either in the dairy or the house.
hold, its use will rarely .afterward be
dropped. In the country it may be pro.
cured for q very small cost, and those
who have as yet never enjoyed the ad-
vantage Of = plentiful supply ought not
to neglect the immediate preparation of
an IN ice house and the early procuring
Of . stock of ice.
The ice house is matter Of the great
est simplicity. The chief requisites area
perfectly close bottom or > foundation,
having, however, at the same time, good
drainage for the waste water, sufficient
such as sawdust, spent tanbark, charcoal
dust, chat or chopped straw-beneath
around, and upon the ice, to protect it
from contact with the air, and =: tight
roof above to shed rain, but open at the
gables to admit of ventilation. If these
prime needs are secured, the toughest
structure will be as effective as the costli-
est and most ornate. Many costly ice.
houses have failed to preserve the ice,
while rough board structure in the cor
ner of barn has kept it perfectly from
season to season. To make a cheap and
useful ice.house one may follow these d.
rections: Upon a gravelly knoll foun.
dation two feet deep may be excavatcd.
If the soil is clay the excavation should
be four feet deep, and two feet be filled
with broken stone, coarse-si(ted ashes,
gravel or sand A plain box. house of
boards is built around the excavation,
with double walls, so that one wall is car.
ried up from the bottom Of the excava.
ton, and the other at least eight inches
outside Of it. The studs of this build.
ing should be of two by eight inch scant-
ling. A house ten by twelve feet, and
eight feet high, will hold twelve tons Of
ice, and one such house would
be sufficient to furnish four
families with eighty pounds Of
ice each every day Tor four months. Here
is favorable opportunity for neighbors
tc join forces and divide the expense of
building and filling a house, as a small
one would be amply large enough to sup
ply the needs of several. The doors Of
the house should be double; the inner
door should be of pieces of board placed
crosswise, so thai they may be taken
down as the ice and packing arc reduced
by removal. The space between the way
should be filled with dry sawdust or any
of the other materials we have mention
cd. A roof Of double boards or shingles,
and with broad caves, covers the house.
An opening in each gable end is left to al
low perfect freedom of ventilation. Air
currents above the ice help to preserve it,
but beneath 1t they cause it to melt very
quickly. A ditch is dug around the
house, the earth from which is thrown up
rs bank against it. In the spring, hop
roots or creeping vines may be planted in
the bank, forming useful shade to the
house, and an agreeable and slightly Gov.
ering. The building should be tightly
perfect, although this is not necessary, if
the packing is Of the best material and
well beaten down.
The ice should be cut in blocks of equal
size; twelve by sixteen inches is con.
venient form, and eight of these blocks
each way of the house, or sixty.forr in
all. will cover the floor surface, leaving q
space Of one foot all around the ice, which
is filled with ice or other packing. This
packing is firmly trampled down as the
ice is packed; packing two feet in depth
should be placed in the bottom Of the
ice beneath the house. This will alb
sorb the leakage from the ice. The ice
should be packed very closely, and all
the unavoidable interstices between the
blocks should b. packed closely with
pounded ice.
A supply of ice may be put away in a
barn or shed by boarding up one corner
in the manner above described. In this
case, where the ice would not be exposed
to the winds or warmth of the sun, less
care is needed to make everything close
and tight. The bottom, however, muet
be air.tight, and provision must be made
for carrying off the drainage. This is
best done by inserting in channel made
in the floor piece of lead pipe bent in the
form of on % which makes an effective
air-trap, but which permits the water to
escape. In this case, too, no roof is
needed, two or4hree feet of sawdust over
the ice being sufficient to preserve it.
Ice is best when cut in cold, dry
weather, and such weather should be
chosen for such work and for packing it
away in the house. The only tools need
ed for the cutting are an axe to start the
first cut, and cross.cut saw fiom which
the handle and pocket at one end have
been removed. If farmers will only put
up enough ice, .heir wives and daughters
will provide them with ice cream in har-
vest lime as repayment in part.
Concerning the Ear Marks OF Butter
The Hon. John Shattuck, a noted but
ter dairvman Of Chenango county, N. Y,
said, at the late convention Of the New
York State Dairymen's Association, that
he had found the color on tho inside the
ear to be one intallible guide in the selcc.
ton Of good butter COW. II the skin on
the inside the ear is of a rich yellow
color, the COW was sure to give a good
quality of milk that is, milk rich in but
ter. He said in I'LL his experience he had