674 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



cold, place on the floor sawdust, tan-bark, or rye-straw, to the depth of eight or ten inches. 

 On the top place another floor of the same size, putting a curb inside the posts to keep the 

 filling between the floors in its place. Next make a curb ten feet square and six inches deep, 

 and fasten the corners with common gate-hooks. On a cold day place the curb on the cen 

 ter of the floor, put in two inches of tan-bark, and dash water over the bottom until it forms 

 a coat of ice that will not leak. Fill the curb with water and let it stand until frozen solid. 

 With boiling water thaw the curb loose, raise it to the top of the frozen mass, fill and freeze 

 as before. Continue so doing until the mass is of the desired height. Place boards on the 

 inside of the posts, and fill the space with tan-bark or rye-straw ; nail boards on the outside 

 of the posts and fill the space with rye-straw; cover the top with tan-bark to the depth of ten 

 inches. Over the whole put a roof, to shield from the sun and rain. Cut and take the ice 

 from the top. Ice can be thus kept the entire season. If a stream of running water can be 

 turned into the curb, the labor of filling will be much lessened.&quot; 



Another method is to draw water from the well on severe cold days, and pour it into 

 deep square tin pans or wooden boxes that will hold water. When it is frozen solid, apply 

 hot water until the blocks of ice can be taken out, when they should be stored in an ice 

 house or other place for the purpose, and the pans or boxes be again filled as before. By 

 this means, ice can be manufactured with but little trouble. This should be done in the very 

 coldest weather. 



How to Construct a Cheap Conservatory. Perhaps some farmers may consider 

 directions with respect to the construction of a conservatory, scarcely admissible among those 

 of farm buildings, such a structure not being considered an essential adjunct to the farm, 

 and but rarely seen in connection with the farmer s house. But this does not prove that 

 such a desirable addition to any dwelling would not be just as highly appreciated by the 

 farmer s household, as any other, or that the attractions it might give to the farmer s home, 

 and the happiness and refining influence it would impart, would not many times repay the 

 slight expense of its construction. 



If farmers would make farm life attractive to their sons and daughters, and prevent 

 their leaving it for more congenial surroundings and employment in the city, they must do 

 more than is commonly done by the average farmer in this respect. Among the adornments 

 of a home, a simple conservatory would prove a very desirable addition. 



A veranda, or a portion of one, on the south side of a dwelling, can be very easily and 

 cheaply made into a conservatory by simply enclosing it with sashes, thus having windows 

 for the walls exposed to the sunlight. This will convert it into a cheap conservatory with an 

 abundance of light which can be regulated by means of shades, if desired. All that remains 

 is to provide shelves and standards for the plants. Heat for such a conservatory can be pro 

 vided by a warm-air pipe from a furnace, or by a small stove. The sun will add much to 

 the warmth during bright days. 



Summer-Houses. Rustic summer-houses and arbors are very pleasant to have on the 

 premises, and may be very easily constructed. The farmer and his boys may do much in the 

 way of such simple home ornamentations by spending a few days in this manner when the 

 farm work is not pressing. It is astonishing how much can be done towards making a home 

 pleasant and attractive, by devoting an occasional day, or a few hours now and then, to such an 

 object. Such structures need not be elaborate, or expensive. A lattice work of rough, 

 unplaned material, when covered with vines, will answer the purpose just as well as one 

 of nicely finished wood. Various plans for such structures can be devised, according to the 

 skill and taste of the owner. Painting is not essential for the preservation of the wood. A 

 much easier and cheaper method is to thoroughly saturate all the wood-work as soon as the 

 structure is completed with crude petroleum, applied with a coarse brush. Light wood 

 work, when thus treated, will remain perfectly sound for many years, which, if not oiled, 

 would decay in a short time. 



