The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1893-12-30
pnrting Up zee.

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Ice is almost indispensable to the dairy
man for bringing bis milk and cream to
and keeping them at the proper tempera-
turc. Aside from its use in the dairy, ice
is a luxury which well repuys all the
cost of putting it up, and the wonder is
that so few farmers lay in a liberal stock.
ice can be kept in the simplest kind Of a
structure. The essential conditions are
thar it shall he closely packed in a mass,
that there shall be no air spaces at the
bottom, that il shall be surrounded
pacEed inl by a good non-condueting
material in sufficient quantity, that il
shall have a tight roof to exclude rain,
and that ventilation is provided. Aclleap
board building with the cracks. battened
answers about as we'll as a costly struct-
ure with double walls filled 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. Sawdust or dry
tanbark furnish the best packing mate
rails. But these in many localities are
hard to obtain. Next to these, dry cut
straw or chaff 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
conductor, though whole straw is often
successfully used. In the latter case
the space for filling between the pile of
ice and the walls Of the building need to
be wider than ii cut straw were used
In case cut straw is used we would leave
a space Of sixteen inches for filling, but
with whole straw of two feet, The stills
OF the building should rest on the ground,
or on u wall built for them, allowing no
air to enter underneath. We would lay
tile a foot below the surface inside, with
its outlet some distance away, to keep the
bottom dry, but the tile should not open
in the building to admit air. A founda-
ton of at least a foot deep Of the packing
material, sawdust, tanbark or straw
should he laid over the bottom, on which
to auild the pile Of ice, and the blocks
should be cut as nearly as possible of
uniform size SO as to pack closely, and it
is we'll to go over each layer as it is put
IN and fill all the cracks with pounded
ice so as to make the pile as near solid
as possible. 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 solidly as
possible, and a covering Of at least two
feet in depth be made over all. Ventila-
ton should be provided for by openings
i'll the gables or 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 i'll two sections, al upper and low
er. with boards laid across OF the inside
Of the frame holding the packing mate
rial in place.
"The proper size depends upon the
amount of ice that is required. Ice will
measure about forty cubic feet to the ton,
and ten tons would be q liberal supply
for family use. This would be equivalent
TO a pile eight foot long. eight feet wide
six and a half feet high. Ii we allow
two feet on all sides for spck!ug space,
the building to hold this amount in the
form above given would need be twelve
feet with nine foot posts. A door Ill the
gable would be needed for putting in the
top layers and taking out ice early il the
season. As cheap and good a way for a
cheap building would be to set posts in
the ground three on a side Except the end
where the doors are) with 2xl for plate
and middle and bottom girths, and board
up and down the batten. banking up at
bottom to exclude air. The roof should
project considerably on all sides, and if
it could be built under.the shade Of trees
it would be all the better. When eX-
pense is no object, and a permanent
structure is desired, a brick or stone
foundation should be put i'll Oh which to
lay the stills, which should be bedded in
mortar, and double walls can be made
by using ks or 2x12 for %studding, and
filling the space between the outside and
inside boarding. leo should be cut and
put up only in freezing weather. II cut
and handled when the temperature is
above freezing, the blocks splinter and
crack and its keeping qualities are con-
> siderably injured."-New England Farm
er.
.