Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1908-05-30
ICE FARMS OF BENGAL,
Method of Making Natural Ice in N.
Tropics.

In hot India, where every day in tho
year the resident gets all the heat ho
wants, there are four or five months NJ
the ycar-Novcmber to March-whe,
the nights, although never reaching
even to frostiness, can be made m
produce many tons of ice in the open.
The fields in which the ice is made
are low, fiat and open, and the ice il
produced in large lots when the tenn
pcrature of the air is u degrees or N
degrees Fahrenheit above the CONCEAL
ing point, writes l.. Lodian in the
Scientific American. The method
practiced is an instructive example Of
keen observation adapted to material
purposes by a Nation which is today
ignorant of the science Of the thing:
that. is, they could not explain,
questioned. what actually causes he
forming of the ice beyond a few vague
phrases like the Wind and Keeping
the earthly heat down" Yet this same
ice forming process has been utilized
in Indasia since the ages that are lost
in the night of time" and all with
scientific observation and accuracy
which the Hindu has acquired by in
stinct handed down through countless
generations.
The ice plot is a rectangular piece Of
ground, say $50 feet long by 80 broad
running in an castcrly and westerly
direction. The soil is removed to
depth of a couple of feet. This eXca-
walton when made is smoothcd. and
then allowed to remain exposed to the
torrid rays of the sun to dry Then
rice straw in small sheavcs is laid in
an oblque direction in the hollow
with loose straw on the top) to the
depth of a foot and half, leaving its
surface half a foot below that Of the
ground.
Numerous beds of this kind are
formed (thc ensemble constituting the
ice farms') with narrow sidewalks
between them. in which here and there
large covered carthen water jars are
sunk in the ground for the convenience
Of having water nearby to fiji the
shallow carthen vessels in which il Is to
be frozen These dishes are 9 inches
in diameter at the top diminishing to
inches al the bottom, l y inches deep
and Il inch thick. and are so porous Is
49,
water is placed in them.
When evening comes the shallow
earlhcnware pans are placed in rows
upon the litter. ana by means of little
burnt tilt pots secured to the ends Of
lengthy hambusa canes each pan Is
half filed with water The quantity,
nevertheless, varies according t. tn"
expectation OF ice; the natives can
forecast that by the aspect Of the
heavens and the cVenncS with which
the air currents come from the north
west.
There are about five thousand plates
in each Of the beds and the ice yield
will average say onc-Quartcr pound
from each dish.
in the cool season, when the tenn
reraturc of the air at the lee fields Is
under 80 degrees Fahrenheit. and there
are gentle breczcs from the north and
west directions. ice appears in night
in all of the shallow pans. Native
watchers are on the lookout to note
when q thin film appears on the water
in the pans, when the contents OF
several are mixed together ana
sprinklcd over the other dishes. TINS
method augmcnts the freeing action.
Stagnation has been discovered by
the natives to diminish the quantity of
ice produced. When the armament IS
entirely clear, with zephyr currents
from the northwest. the congclatlon
begins before or about midnight. ana
continues to advance till morning
when the thicllcst ice is formed, 1t Is
often an inch thick. and sometimes the
whole contents of the dish are frozen
compact.
The ice dishes present q large, moist
external surface to the air currents.
producing rapid evaporation and
lowering of the tmpcraturo. IN"
water which pcrcolates through the
porous trays exposes so large sur
face to tho breeze that it is promptly
frozen In addition to the cVap"ra-
tive effect we also have the influence
of heat insulation to fall back upon in
explaining tn" phenomenon.
The thick layer of dry straw IN the
ice beds forms a large surface, when
is Il poor conductor Of heat. The iFat
can penetrate but little way hlo 1t
during the day. SO soon as TN" sun
sets this large and powerfully radiat-
ing surface is brought into action anu
affects the water in the thin, porous
pans, themselves strong radiators
Some of the natural ice farms oi
Bengal produce in Il single night over
ten tons of ice employing 300 persons
of all sizes and ages, ana the cary
morning harvesting Of the ice by tiltSe
little gentry darting about is one VI
the few animated scenes worth nouns
in the Gauges region.