The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1911-10-20
THE ICE
SUPPLY
BY H. H. MUSSElMAN,
OF THE MICHIGAN AGRI-
CULTURAL COLLEGE.

solved to forestall the running of the
butter, the souring of the milk and
the spelling Of the roast by means of
some method OF cooling. The present
Is not a bad time to think about car
rying these resolves into action.
One method where good ice may be
obtained at reasonable distance from
lake or stream is to provide an ice
house and ice box or refrigerator.
Ice making. though somewhat dis
agreeable, may be done at time Of
the year when other work is slack,
and If attacked in the right way is no
| worse than much other work which
must be done. With bountiful sup
ply of ice and a refrigerator of SUI.
ficient capacity, cold storage may be
provided for food and dairy products.
1t is recommended that a refrigerator
of not less than 100 pounds capacity
Of ice be used for average conditions,
and one of from $50 pounds to 200
pounds capacity will be found to ad-
vantage in some cases.
The ice box or refrigerator should
be easily accessible to the kitchen
and dining room, and for filling. If
placed so that it may be filled without
entering the house a great deal of dirt
may be avoided This is sometimes
accomplished by placing the refrig-
orator on the back porch or in a per-
manent location where it may be filled
from an outside window.
With regard to ice storage, an ex-
pensive or specially constructed build.
ing is not essential Any room Of
proper dimensions where good under
drainage may be provided, the walls
fairly air tight and so arranged that
ventilation may be secured above. ice
may be stored without great loss from
melting. A building designed for this
purpose will have several points of
advantage, however.
In building an ice house the ca
pacity is the first thing to be con-
sidered. Solid ice weighs about '56
pounds per cubic foot, and stored ice,
allowing for voids between cakes and
layers, averages about 40 pounds per
cubic foot. On this basis a cube of
stored ice 10x10x10 would weight 20
tons. Assuming a consumption of 500
pounds per week weight of one ton
per month would be consumed which
for six months would be six tons. Con.
siderable allowance must he made for
no1f hot &c e.
to say that space for not less than IS
or 20 tons should be provided. II,
cutting ice the size of cakes should
be such as will be hest suited TO
loading, storing, and the size of the
refrigerator. A cake Of ice in. thick,
Is in. wide and 80 in. long weighs
140 pounds, so that some care should
he taken not to get the cakes too
large for handling, especially where
lifting must be done
The keeping property of Ice depends
almost altogether on how well it is
insulated from the heat. Air, mineral
wool, asbestos, sawdust, shavings ana
chaff are good nonconductors. Air is
one of the best provided it is confined
to small porous spaces as in the voids
In sawdust, shavings, etc. Dry ma
terials are also more effective as nom
conductors of heat, as a rule, than
wet. Let us note how these principles
may be applied in ice storage.
We have mentioned good drainage
beneath the ice. In any event there
will be considerable meltage and the
water thus formed should be drained
away to prevent wetting of the non
conducting material and thereby rem
dering il less effective. A line OF
ordinary drain tile should be laid
under the center or along each side
below the ice and covered with six
inches of gravel or cinders. On the
cinders or gravel there should be
placed from six inches to IL inches
of sawdust or shavings, upon which
the ice is laid.
The walls of the ice house may con-
sist of studding sheathed on the in
side with rough lumber and with tar
paper and siding outside. Cement
blocks should also make excellent
walls since they do. not deteriorate by
dampness as does wood. Little is
gained by placing sawdust between
the sheathing and siding, as 1t is like
ly to become damp Placing it thus
does save rehandling each year, how
ever. In any case the total thickness
of insulation should not be less than
IL inches either at the sides, above or
below the ice.
Ventilation is necessary above the
ice to keep the air and insulating ma
terial dry, This may be accomplished
by latticed windows and ventilating
flue or shaft at the peak of the roof.
Protection from the sun Is also ad-
yantageous. Shade trees and wide roof
projection help in this respect. A
continuous door in the ice house is
also desirable so that the ice may be
put in at any level and unnecessary
lifting avoided either in filing or
taking out Some means of keeping
this opening closed quite tightly as
high as the top of the nonconducting
material should also be provided. To
prevent channels forming for air to
circulate heat to the ice, the insulating
material should be rammed or packed