Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-01-03
THE ICE HARVEST.
What il Said of il by Dealers i'm 1'his
City-The Effect OF SHOWS and Mid.
winter Thavvs on the Keunebec-
Cuitivating Ice In the POTOMAC.

Mr &. b. Church. of the Independent Ice COM
pahy, When questioned as to the prospects OF the
Ice crop, sad "Tbe prospect I'm Maine is good, but
IL Is rather too early to say whether the crop Will
be large Or small The company is now cultivatlng
Ice On the kennebec and at Boothbay, and the
prospect Is now very fine the ice being nine inches
In thickness. We have quite force On the fields
about 90 single teams and 10 double teams, With
120 men on the kennebec f1elds-with storage for
6O,OO0 tons OF ice, and 90 teams and about so men
at Boothbay, whence the ice is shipped all the year
round. We had reports on Wednesday that the ice
was getting soft, and the force had TO come of.
there Is such thing as January thaw in Maine,
ana CT course ! cannot say how much of a thaW IL
VIII be- On all the fields between Richmond and
Farmingdale the ice is OF good No. ] quality clear
as crystal, With prospects OF fine crop. AS soon
as the ice reaches three inches In thickness the
cultivation commences, and by scraping the snow
on when 1t falls, We get good solid, pure iCe The
cultivation Is where the expense comes in"
I'VE have" continued Mr.. Church, "a line field
OF ice at the Three Sisters perfectly clear and now
three inches thick. andif weget cold snap We can
cultivate 1t, and it viii help us out. There was
some snow On this but IL melted off beautifully,
leaving the fields as clear as crystal. 1t is, how
ever, 100 early in the season TO say much about the
prospects OF ice, either here or in Maine but
would say that If we have no very bad thaw this
OF good Ice we have now in store on the Kenne-
pee remaining over from last wtnter about 12 900
tons of the best kind OF ice, as clear as crystal
which is destined for this city"
THE PROSPECT NOT FAVORABLE.
At the office OF Rich & Co.. at the Sth street
wharf, STAR reporter was informed that the firm
depends entirely the Kennebec river for its sup
ply. having discarded the product furnished from
the suSquehanna, Hudson and other rivers as less
pure than that or the kennebec. The company,
the reporter was told, has fifteen storage houses
with capacity OF $1,000 tons, which can be in
creased Indefinitely to meet the growing demands
Ihey also have another house at PittSton, Maine,
on the same river. with 900 tons capacity giving
them an actual available supply of 10000 tons 10
draw upon. They have now In this city s. supply
OF ice on hand sufficient they claim, last until
May next. Trey say the prospect at this time for
plentiful supply OF the best quality OF ice does
not look llattering. On the Susquehanna and Hud-
son rivers the Ice is still quite thin, and on the
kennebec river IS not above four inches thick with
coating OF snow on top, which has to be scraped
OF, because 1t acts as blanket preventing theIce
from freezing. The ice is cultivated by growing
II by means OF plows made for the purpose. The
Ice cracks open In these grooves, and the water
Issuing forth, oyerfioYS the surface, thus adding
constantly to the thickness OF the ice. By this
process almost any desired thickness can be OBJ
tanned.