News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-02-25
FILLING THE ICE.HOUSE.
The Manner In which Il Is Done by PaFs
ticuiar Farmer.

The first ice house that we built was
not success. The ice was good as long
as it lasted, but it did not last long
enough. A man who had been in the
| ice business for many years told me that
the point of greatest importance was to
provide good drainage. We built the
| ice-house on o side hill, With q strong
plank floor, well supported.
The inside of the ice-house was lined
with boards, leaving space about six
| inches from the outside, which was
filed with sawdust. Care was taken
also to guard against the admission of
heat at the door. But the ice melted
rapidly. There was a constant dripping
of water from beneath, and by the first
| of August the ice was all gone. We had
made perfect provision for drainage, but
| with the exception of covering the bot
| tom with sawdust, there was nothing to
prevent the air from getting to the ice
Underneath. Of course, | ought to have
known better, and mention the fact to
show how easy it is to make mistake.
Drainage Is essential, but it is equally
essential to exclude the warm air from
getting to the ice from below. My pres
ent ice house is built ON side hill,
where there is plenty of fall for drain.
But no drain is needed. The soil is
porous enough to absorb all the water.
We dug a cellar six feet deep, and sur
rounded it with stone wall, and set
o frame building on top, with q large
ventilator. There is no floor, and the
inside is STRAIGHTFORWARD.
In filling the ice-house, we lay few
rails at the bottom, and cover them with
cut straw or sawdust. Theic is packed
close up to the stone wall, with no space
between and no sawdust.
The frame is about six inches wider
than the inside of the stone wall, and
when we get up above the wall there Is
space of six inches between the ice and
the boards. This space we fill in with
sawdust or cut straw, or if ice is album
dant, we place the ice close up to the
boards.
When you have filled the ice-house,
put in another load. We use about 200
pounds week for forty weeks, or 8, 900
pounds, and at the end of the year have,
say, 1000 pounds of old ice left. To
furnish this amount, we put in twenty
five tons of ice. In other words, to get
five tons of ice for use, we put in twenty
five tons. According to this, in small
ice-house, with no pains taken to pre-
serve the ice, four pounds are melted to
keep one. The ice melts from the top,
and an extra ton on top means an extra
ton for use.
l said no pains are taken at any time
to preserve the ice. The point of the
remark is this: If you have an abun-
ance of ice, with no fear of running
short, you are not constantly worrying
about its being left uncovered. We
take care, before the warm weather sets
in, to have plenty of sawdust or cut
straw on top of the Ice, and as 1t melts
on the sides of the building, fill the
space with the sawdust or cut straw.
This, of course, is essential But there
will be many times during the busy
summer months on farm when Tom,
Dick, or Harry will be called upon to
get ice, and will be pretty certain to
leave the door open or the ice uncovered.
Put in the extra load, and you need
have no fears of running short of Ice.
We let the Deacon and any other neigh
Dor who will help to draw the Ice in win
ter have all they want in summer. Keep
out rain, keep the air from getting to it
underneath, keep the top and sides COW
cred, and if the ice Is fifteen feet high,
it will keep. The sun may shine and
the winds blow on the covering, and do
good rather than harm. But do not for
get to put in another load on top. Fill
the ice-house to the roof. The Ice
should melt into cone shape, SO that the
water or melted ice will run off on the
outside When filled to the roof, the
cold water from the melting ice in the
centre will run in among the small
pieces of ice with which the cakes are
'chinked," and as 1t descends will
freeze the whole into one solid mass,
and after that all the wetting will be
from the outside.-Joseph HARRIS, IN
american AgriculturiSt.