1S3 



JOUEKAL OF HORTICULTUKE AXD COTTAGE GARDEXER. 



[ FcbmuT SO, use. 



to without any npimront e\i\, after its first stupifying effects 

 are overcome ; but its inordinate nse is followed by disease of 

 tlic liver, ner^•ousne99, congestion of the brain, jiaralysis, loss 

 of tone of the digestive organs, and disease in various forms, 

 It may for a time soothe the excited nervous system, but only 

 to render it mure irritable and feeble afterwards. A person 

 who smokes much may generally be distinguished by a pallid 

 couiitenanco, .Ufcitive breathing, defective action of the heart, 

 uui'aired energy, and loss of sight. In thousands of cases 

 these evils foUovs an injudicions use of tobacco. — QuixiDi Read, 

 Viddiili>h. 



THE LATE SNOWSTORM AND ICE-KEEPING. 



I AM glad that Mr. Fish has directed attention, at page 109, 

 to the storing and keeping of ice ; while in the same Number 

 Mr. Perkins suggested the use of machinery to crush it before 

 putting it into the ice-house ; and although at present (Feb- 

 ruary 7th), there seems to be but little chance of any of these 

 plans being brought into practice this season, discussion may 

 ehcit useful information as to the best mode of keeping ice. 



Those who were successful in securing a quantity of ice at 

 ;" ■■ time of the snowtlonn in January, may consider them- 

 tei.es fortimate, for I can assuie Mr. Fish that he was not 

 alone in being imable to obtain any. The storm here was 

 more remarkable for the depth of rain and snow than for the 

 intensity of the frost, so that there was scarcely any ice. The 

 d»y3 preceding the snowstorm were fine and even rmld, the 9th 

 and ioth of January dry, without frost, and with much less 

 wind than before, but the falling barometer indicated that 

 something was in store of which the heavens gave no token, 

 BO far as most people could discern. For myself, I confess to 

 not being gifted as a weather prophet, but another class of 

 beings were evidently better judges. The birds, which for 

 sevei.T.1 days prior to the 10th had been singing with all the 

 melody of an April morning, scarcely gave out a note on that 

 day, lUthough the air was clear and the thermometer about 

 43° ; but there was very little indication of frost, and I believe 

 it was not until the snow had fallen in large quantities that 

 the thermometer fell to 32°, and subsequently to 30°. The 

 snow was preceded by a very heavy fall of raiu, commencing 

 soon after midnight, and at daylight sulEcient snow had fallen 

 to hide the giound, a thin film of snowy water covering the 

 surface of small pools. The snow, drifting with a north wind, 

 kept falling throughout the day, so that by the night of the 

 11th some roads were impassable. A sharp frost set in after 

 the snow ceased, but the temperature evidently fluctuated 

 vei-y much, for although the thei-mometer indicated as low as 

 18°, the ice on exposed pools was only half an inch thick. The 

 12th was mostly fair, but the thennometcr seemed to alternate 

 between a thaw and frost, and at night there was a clear sharp 

 frost. This, however, had not been continuously severe, for the 

 ice on the following morning was barely an inch thick, and 

 that only in particular places, and a thaw setting in ice could 

 not have been housed in anj- quantity without being much 

 mixed up with dirt. Rain falling early in the forenoon and 

 continuing all day rendered ice-collecting unadvisable ; for it 

 would not only have exposed men and horses to the inclemencv' 

 of the weather, but the ice seemed would have received large 

 accessions of mud, which in the best of times finds its way 

 into the ice-house in greater quantities than is desirable, and 

 I have no doubt hastens the decay of the ice. 



The amount of rain and snow which fell on the 11th 

 exceeded the amount on any single day in 1S6.5, being 1.35 

 inch. The frost, however, of the two succeeding nights pro- 

 ■4-idcntially delayed the melting of the snow, otherwise some 

 disastrous floods would have occurred. As it was, the river 

 Medway was higher than it had been for upwards of twenty 

 years, but the rain water being mostly carried off before the 

 8now melted, the flood was prolonged rather than increased, 

 and the rainfall of the 13th added to the supply. Such was 

 the snowstorm, or rather the wintrj- periud, of the middle of 

 January in Kent, for both before that time and since, we may 

 be said to have experienced a long, wet, and dull autumn, there 

 never beiu? sufficient frost to kill bedding Geraniums, .tc. One 

 or two beds of the former, fully exposed, looked remarkably 

 fiesli up to the time of the snowstorm ; till then the plants had 

 not been in the least injui-cd by the frost, and were absolutely 

 in a growing state. They were, however, killed by the frost and 

 snow, and have since been removed. 



The above meteorological notes not having much connection 

 with ice-keeping, are here only given with a view to show the 



impossibility of obtaining in quantity ice of a kind that is 

 likely to keep, as it rarely happens that it can be taken direct 

 from the pond and put into the ice-well in a clean state ; and 

 its contact with the ground during a thaw results in more or 

 less mud becoming attached to it, and although the ice wastes 

 fast enough, the dirt all remains. Even when tlie greatest of 

 care is taken, and the ice and the weather are all that can be 

 desired, a certain quantity of mud always finds its way into 

 the ice-house, and in summer the upper surface of the ice will 

 be found covered with mud, and this evil is still greater when 

 the ice has been secured in a dirty condition. Weeds in the 

 pond from which the ice is taken, as well as tree leaves, sticks, 

 and other rubbish, although they form but a ^raall item in the 

 sum total at the time of filling, all help to augment the casing 

 »f dirt and to create wonder among the inexperienced how such 

 matters came there. The keeping of ice, however, depends on 

 so many circumstances combined, that it is no wonder that 

 there is so much difference of opinion as to the proper mode 

 of securing this luxury, and as it contains within itself some of 

 the causes of its decay, a glance at these will enable us to judge 

 with more accuracy the means likely to arrest that decay. 



It cannot have escaped the notice of the most careless ob- 

 server how much lighter ice is than water, taken bulk for balk. 

 I am not prepared to say how much lighter it really is, but 

 believe it must be nearly 20 per cent., and as pure water weighs 

 02} lbs. to the cubic foot, I will suppose that ice weighs about 

 50 lbs. Now, if a cubic foot of ice be deposited in a place 

 prepared fbr its reception, it contains within itself about 

 300 cubic inches of air, and as it is impossible in practice to 

 obtain such blocks of solid ice, breaking such as there are, and 

 their stowage in a rough state, must increase the quantity of 

 air contained in the mass. If that air could always be kept 

 at a temperature below 32°, no wasting would take place ; but 

 as this cannot be done, the question is how to di.-place as much 

 of that air as possible, and render the lump as dense and solid 

 as it can be made. To effect this object is by no means easy, 

 for the very process of freezing is acccnipanied by an expan- 

 sion of the water that is congealed, and a large per-centage of 

 air is included in the ice. I believe that ice of unusual thick- 

 ness — say 5 or 6 inches or more, is more porous than that 

 which is thinner, clear ice about half an inch thick, or there- 

 abouts, being in my opinion the most dense ; but the benefits 

 of ice of this thickness are more than counterbalanced by the 

 difficulties in obtaining it and other attendant inconveniences. 

 It has not often been tested against ice of greater thickness, 

 neither is it likely to be so, for excepting in cases of emergency, 

 or to serve a temporary purpose, it is usually left to become 

 thicker. It is certain, however, that ice aboat an inch thick 

 is more solid than that -1 or 5 inches or more in thickness, 

 especially if changes in the temperature take place previous to 

 its being secured. Ice of the latter thickness, however, breaks np 

 better, so that when it is to be pounded as advised by Mr. Per- 

 kins, it is more convenient than thinner ice ; but the propriety 

 of pounding it very fine has been questioned by many, and as 

 there are evidently objections to doing so, let us see what these 

 really are. 



In the first place, it wiU, I think, be admitted, that the best 

 way to ensure the good keeping of ice, is to render the mass as 

 dense as possible. 'Will merely pounding it do this ? In years 

 gone by it was customarj- to break coals up smaller in order 

 that they might measure out more. Now, if ice does this, the 

 object is defeated ; it is true, the pounded ice is intended to be 

 rammed together again, but unless the weather be very frosty 

 at the time, the pieces when so broken will be liable to melt and 

 waste before they are imited again, and I am far from certain 

 whether under any circumstances they can be made to form so 

 dense a mass as before. I would, on the whole, prefer a portion 

 of the ice to be broken somewhat like road metal, and some 

 much finer, so that in the amalgamation, all the cavities that 

 would have been left if the mass had been nicrdy filled with 

 rough large lumps thrown together, may be the better filled by 

 the smaller pieces. This is the mode which we generally adopt 

 here, and I believe it is that foUowed at most places. It has 

 the recommendation of convenience, and is more quickly car- 

 ried out than if the whole of the ice were broken small ; and 

 as the tilling of an ice-house is a work that must be performed 

 in one or two days, it is better to complete it in the time ani 

 way specified, rather than only half do so in another manner. 

 As the quantity has much to do with the ice keeping long, it is 

 better in all cases to fill the house, well, or whatever place it is 

 stowed in. 



Storing ice has for many years been a subject as to which 



