FOREIGN AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES 



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IcE-IIousE Management. — This is a matter 

 of no small importance, yet, how often do we 

 see it treated not only with indifference, but 

 upon the very worst principles possible to en- 

 sure its preservation; not one ice-house in fifty 

 is constructed upon correct principles — not one 

 in the same number is managed correctly. 



When we consider that damp and heat arc 

 the two great agents for thawing, it shou'd he 

 our endeavor to counteract these by every means 

 in our power. To effect this, ventilation must 

 be had recourse to, and non-conducting materi- 

 als employed in the erection. Of materials, we 

 may observe, that stone is, of all others, the 

 worst ; timber and brick are the best . The usu- 

 al practice of sinking ice-houses to a great depth 

 under the surfiiceis bad ; indeed, it has only one 

 redeeming property, wliieh is the convenience 

 of filling from the top. Its disadvantages are, 

 the difficulty of admitting sufficient ventilation 

 to correct the dampness, which, build them as 

 We may. is sure to exist in underground houses; 

 the conduction of heat from the surrounding 

 spil, and the ditficulty of effecting sufficient 

 drainage: these very far overbalance the advan- 

 tages thus offered. Why are the majority of 

 ice-houses, and most cellars during winter, so 

 mucli warmerthan the surroundingatmosphere? 

 Is it not from the heat conducted tluough tlieir 

 walls from the surrounding soil? Earth is a 

 much better conductor of heat than air, or, in 

 other words, it communicates its heat to other 

 bodies coming in contact with it, much quicker 

 than that element. Hence the necessity of i)lae- 

 ing betvyeen the earth and the ice some slower 

 conductor of heat, and the slowest conductors 

 we have applicable to the case, are timber or 

 air; both also, re.sist damp, while stone does 

 not, and besides, it is a rapid conductor of heat. 

 AVater is also a rapid conductor of heat, and in- 

 stances have been known where rain water has 

 percolated through the roof of an ice-liouse, 

 that the temperature within has been raised to 

 60°. Hence the necessity of keeping such hou- 

 ses perfectly drj% not only at top, but also all 

 tliroughout, by efficient drainage of the melted 

 ice. and by ventilation to correct the dampness 

 in the atmosphere and walls. Indeed, the walls 

 of an ice-house, to be in a proper condition, 

 should be as dry as those of a dwelling. Ven- 

 tilation, if properly applied, wilt, in most cases, 

 effect this, and should it not, the introduction 

 of a few bushels of unslacked lime, occasional- 

 ly placing it in boxes over the ice, will com- 

 pletely dry the walls without elevating the tem- 

 perature much, if the ventilators be openattlie 

 time. 



As air is a much slower conductor of caloric 

 ither earth or water, it might, at first 

 inferred, were ice surrounded by it, 

 would be the best of all for securing its 



keeping; and so it would, if kept in a state of 

 quie.scence, but this is impossible, owing to the 

 difference of temperature which will exist in 

 that portion of the air coming in immediate 

 contact with the surface of the ice, whetlier on 

 the top or around the side of the mass, which 

 will be reduced to a much lowor temperature, 

 say nearly '32°, than that in contact with the 

 walls of the house, if sunk tinder the surface, 

 from its receiving heat by conduction through 

 them, so that it is often found to be as high 

 there as 46° or 47° ; this difference of tempera- 

 ture causes circulation to take place, the lighter 

 air ascending upwards, seeking for escape, and 

 becomes replaced with the colder and more 

 weighty. It follows, therefore, that if this cir- 

 culation could be interrupt(>d, the melting ac- 

 tion on the ice would be greatly diminished, and 

 a state of quiescence secured. This ap{)ears, 

 however, to be impossible. — North British 



Journal of Hort. 



The Pleasures of Gardening. — We know 

 not one fancy, one recreation, so unalloyed in all 

 its points as the cultivation of a garden. It 

 Seems to aftbrd,in common with all the rest of the 

 fancies, the full enjoyment common to all, and to 

 have a large balance in its favor. The miser over 

 his treasure gloats not more completely upon his 

 money than the gardener docs upon his choice 

 fruits, flowers, and vegetables. The picture 

 collector is not prouder of his painting than the 

 florist is of his Tulips; nor does the owner of 

 the ancient gems of art point them out with 

 more satisfaction, than tlie gardener shows his 

 best named flowers. If the owner of a gallery 

 of pictures has his Rubens, his Leonardo da 

 Vinci, his Paul Potter, so has the owner of a 

 bed of Tulips. The florist combines in his single 

 garden as many fancies as would occupy half the 

 population, and delights in all of them. AVhat 

 if the conchologist boasts of his collection of 

 shells? He can only look at them in one state ; 

 there they are, always alike, no change; only 

 a few people can see them at once, and not one 

 in a thousand, though they may be pleased with 

 the beauty, can estimate the rarity of them. 

 The antiquarian pores over his coins in solitude; 

 he boasts jjcrhaps, that this crown, that guinea, 

 or the other medal, are the only known (uies in 

 existence; but can he increase them? Can he 

 oblige a single friend with an offset ? Will it ever 

 be better? but, if another be found like it, will 

 it not be worse? What has he rare that the 

 florist may not in his own estimation equal? 

 The Tulip-grower would say, " What coin have 

 you got equal to my flne Louis XVI ?" And 

 no possessor of the only coin of a kind, prizes 

 himself more upon his treasure than a florist 

 does in twenty flowers of twenty differen 

 lies. The lover of the garden is a gene 

 lector, and a creator of new beauties i 



