Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-12-15

Too Much les HoUsE.-WL were for
three years the victim Of too much ice
house. Ours was Il fancy one with nice
cupola on top. "A stone foundation built up
in mortar and air tight. covered with
matched siding and neatly painted. 1t
was close as jug and lined with saw
dust, which was packed in between a
board lining and the siding. We had
little square hole left on the east side for
ventilation. The building was a lean-to
on the north side of the kitchen, and
fronted toward the north. There were
but two outsides. the north and east. The
roof was very fat and made of tin. For
fear this would get hot and affect the
temperature of the ice house we painted
it, and this made il last longer, and then
we put ceiling overhead to break the
effects of the heat if any should come
through. Most people would say, now
you are all right, fill it up with ice and it
will keep. 1t did not, and so we shut
the extra ventilatOr on the east side, but
this did not make the ice keep. We got
out of ice before the summer was half
gone.
During the rest of the season we talked
ice-house with everybody we thought
knew anything about it. One man who
was in the business extensively, said the
trouble was in the stone wall which made
the foundation. Ice" he said, would
not keep near stones. and they doubtless
carried the heat inside" We could not
verv well remove the foundation, so we
tried to remedy its effect by putting plenty
of sawdust between it and the ice. We
also added another ventilation hole on the
door. and put blind on it with open
shutters. The next year the ice kept
better, but not rs we wanted it. We
were on the right track, and the next
year, when we took the blind out and
left all the ventiators open, the ice kept
good. This is the way we learned the
secret of keeping ice, which is plenty OF
sawlust and plenty of ventilation; with
ont these, no mttter how fancy the house
is, and how many theories and rules have
been carried out, the ice will not keep,
A neighbor always has plenty of ice and
he does not have any ice house at all. He
packs it in n square body under the COW
shed, which has IA northern exposure and
covers it thickly with sawdusT, which he
packs firmly as he can, setting up boards
on end around the pile to keep the saw
dust in place. He is careful to have the
first tier of ice high enough from the
ground so that water will not reach it. He
puts the sawdust foot thick around the
ice and three feet thick on the top.
A pile of ice feet high, feet wide, and
s feet long will make 1884 cubic feet. And
this is enough for the use of an ordinary
family for the table and to cool the cream
etc. Six team loads fill an ice house
which contains about 400 cubic feet. The
blocks should be cut as smooth as possible
and square so they will fit closely, and
then ice must be chopped up fine and
crowded in between the pieces so as to
make solid mass. The closer the ice is
i packed and the more solid the mass is
united together the better it will keep
When IN ice house is too close there issa
great deal of condensation which makes
the whole contents wet and dripping and
causes the ice to melt rapidly. The all
must be kept as dry as possible. | always
like to see the top of the sawdust dry.
The more ice there is in pile the better
it will keep. A small quantity must be
covered deeper and thicker than Il large
mass A large mass will almost keep
itself. 1t does not require the protection
of sawdust, but straw or double wall Of
boards will be ample. Every person who
makes butter ought to have ice. 1t will
more than pay for use in the dairy, and
then for the family it is luxury every
provident man should supply.-F. d
Curtis, IN Tribune.