Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1885-10-16
FARMERS Column.
Give fools their gold ~ knaves their power
Let fortunes bubbles rise and fail;
Who soxvs n field trains a flower.
Or plants a tree. is more than all.
Ice-HoUses on the Farm.

II ID lIdl u u uuueIStdUu WHY more
farmers have not ice houses. 1t is a
significant fact that wherever farmer
has built an ice house, he has not al
lowed it to be unused or to fall into
decay. After man has once had his
harvest drink-water, tea, and milk
cooled, he is not apt to subject him
self to warm drinks again. Ice-wateI
is to be condemned; but water cooled
by ice is as much more wholesome than
warm water as it is more palatabe
The GOODNESS impaired by ice adds as
much to TIE palata bleness and whole
someness Of food as it does to drink
Ice not only preserves and increases
the palatableness of butter, but loss of
sweetness certainly indicates loss of
wholesomeness; and so with meats
and fruits. Ice keeps meat from faint
ing, thereby keeping it wholesome as
we'll as toothsome. The farmer can't
go to the market every morning and
purchase fresh meat, and he cannot,
keep meat III summer without ice !;
therefore the farmer without an ice
house must eat salt pork during hot
weather, and that is just what large
majority Of US do. Ice will often save
meats, vegetables, and fruit from spoil
Ing outright. An ice-house robs the
will-barrel, but how much it saves
for the table is hard to bs realized
without the aid Of practical expert
ence.
| am decidedly of the opinion that
the apparent Indifference Of farmers to
the claims of ice houses is due to a
mistaken notion of their cost. | have
frequently heard my neighbors say
that they would have an ice house if
1t did not cost so much. Now an ice
house is one Of the most economical
and cheap things in existence. The
materials need cost but trif1e, and
the farmer can construct the house
himself. If it is desired that the
house add to the attractiveness Of the
property, and is placed where it will
be in plain view, then it must be made
more expensive. But it can be put in
some inconspicuous place, or hidden
behind trees or vines, in which case
the necessary cost Of it will be very
small.
All that is required is something
that will ward off rain and keep a
stratum of sawdust about the ice. The
house need not be sunk in the ground.
There Is no need of double walls. All
parts may be of the cheapest materials.
Refuse boards, slabs, even poles, will
do for the sides: and a roof of boards
or clapboards will answer as well as
any. Let me describe as satisfactory
81 ice house as | have yet seem: It
was in a locality where timber was
plenty, and the sides were made of
poles. These were built up as you
would build up rail pen, being rath-
er deeply notched to prevent rolling, ,
and to make the sides rather close.
As they projected out over the cracks,
driving rain did not beat in. This
pen was covered over with boards. /
Tapped to form a tight roof, and then
weighted down with heavy poles.
When the ice was put in, an opening
between it and the poles foot wide
was left and, as the pile of ice was
built up, the sawdust was packed into
this opening. Thus there was no need
of double walls The entire cost of
the house. good sized one-was not
twenty dol 'ars.
There Lust be good drainage, and
the best way to secure this is to make
a foundation of broken stones; but
these are not necessary. In localities
quite numerous IN the West-where
stones are not quite readily obtainable,
sticks Of wood or rail pieces may be
used. Tramp them down solid till
you have a layer foot thick. Then
put layer of sawdust six to eight
inches thick upon this, and it is then
ready for the ice.
The more ice the better it will keep,
and there must be a certain bulk for
it to keep at all. The minimum bulk
that will keep we'll is twenty-five tons.
As a ton occupies about forty cubic
feet you can calculate the dimensions
Of the house accordingly. A house
ten feet each way inside the sawdust
will hold twenty-five tons-the mini
mum amount.
1t is very important to pack the ice
closely. There must be no crevices.
Shape the blocks so that they will fl
closely together cover with layer of
sawdust eighteen inches thick. Then
it will require watching in the spring.
Even March winds are sometimes so
warm that they will melt the ice. As
soon as this happens, get on it and
tramp it down solid, closing all holes
and crevices. WI Ell air-holes are al
lowed to form, the ice will waste rap
idly. Ventilation must be provided
for. Windows can be made in the
gables, or make projecting roof and
leave the gables open. Get the ice
from the purest source you Can.
The proper time to build an ice
house is now. Have it ready and fill
it at your convenience. After you
have enjoyed the luxury of ice for one
summer, you would not forego it for
five times the labor and expense, pro-
vided you build an ice-house without
going to too much expense to make
it nice house,-C0rresp0ndenceof the
Country Gentleman.
All the extra care Of the colts will
be handsomely repaid in the early de-
velopment of the young horse, and the
better horse it will make gives better
return in ready cash for the extra feed
and care Of the colts.
In the care of eggs while waiting