Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1891-12-18
Ice and Ice Houses.
The Importance of Ice for the Farmers
summer Use.

PLAIN DIRECTIONS FOR IT'S SUCCESSFUL
STORAGE, GATHERED FROM A vARr-
TY OF SOURCES.
From the New England Farmprl
Ice can be kept in the simplest kind of
structure. The essential conditions are
that it shall be closely packed i'm a mass
that there shall be no air spaces at the bot
tom, that it shall be surrounded. hacked
ln) 10y good nOn-conducting material i'm
sufficient quantity, that it Shall have a
tight roof to exclude rain, and that vcnti-
lation is provided. 4 cheap board building
with the cracks battcned answers about as
wei as Il costly structure with double walls
lllled in. The keeping of the ice does not
depend so much upon the walls of the
building as upon the kind and amount of
material with which it is packed. Saw.
dust or dry tan bark furnish the best pack
ing material. But these in many localities
are difficult to obtain. Next to these dry
cut straw or chaif is probably the best.
and almost any farm can furnish the straw.
Cut straw is better than whole, because it
packs closer and makes a better non-con-
ductor, though whole straw is often sue
cesstulIy used. In the latter case the space
for filling between the pile of ice and the
walls OF the building needs to be wider
than If cut straw were used. In case cut
straw is used we would leave "A space of Is
inches for filing but with whole straw of
two feet The stills of the building should
rest on the ground, or on wall built for
them, allowing no air to enter underneath.
We would lay tile foot below the surface
inside, with its outlet some distance away,
to keep the bottom dry, but tile should not
open into the building to admit air. A
foundation of at least a foot deep of the
packing material, sawdust, tan or straw,
should be laid over the bottom, on which to
build the pile of ice, and the blocks should
be cut as nearly as possible of uniform
size so as to pack closely. When the pile
is finished, or as it progresses, the filling
between it and the sides of the building
should be made and tramped down as SOL
idly as possible and a covering of at least
two feet in depth be made over all Ven
tilation should be provided for by openings
in the gables or a ventilating shaft going
up through the roof to permit the escape
of the moist air which gathers above the
ice. The door should be for convenience
made in two sections, an upper and lower,
with boards laid across on the inside of the
frame holding the packing material in
place.
The proper size depends upon the
amount of ice that will be required. Ice
will measure about 40 cubic feet to a ton,
and 10 tons would be liberal supply for
| family use. This would be equivalent to a
| pile eight feet long, eight feet wide and
six and one-half feet high. If we allow
/ two feet on all sides for packing space, the
! building to hold this amount in the form
above given would need to be II by II feet
with nine foot posts. 4 door in the gable
would be needed for putting in the top lay
ers and taking out ice early in the season.
As cheap and good way for a cheap
building would be to set posts in the ground
three on side Except the end where the
doors are) with by for plate and middle
and bottom girths, and board up and down
and batten banking up at the bottom to
/ exclude air