ige 



GtEA:^lKG8 In bee CUlTURE. 



I'eb. 



blocks of ice were swimming ol' their own ac- 

 cord again (at least it looked so to me), along 

 the narrow channel, or canal, of clear water. 

 Of course, they had a little push once in a 

 while, from men stationed at intervals, arm- 

 ed with these same ice-hooks ; but some way 

 It happened that every time the chain apron 

 came around it caught a block of ice just 

 right, and up went tlie ice on the inclined 

 plane. I followed out into the river to see 

 what made those blocks sail along just so 

 far apart, and in such regular order. Pretty 

 soon 1 came to a man standing on a heavy 

 plank laid across the channel. In his hand 

 was a tool something like the one figured 

 below. 



SPLITTING-BAR, SUCH AS IS USED ON THE 

 HUDSON RIVER. 



Well, the blocks as they came up to him 

 were in pairs — that is, there were two to- 

 gether, with a deep groove where they were 

 to be separated. As they sailed under his 

 plank lie quietly^let his chisel down into the 



that looked very much like cultivators. I 

 asked one of them if it was as much fun as 

 cultivating corn. He looked at me a mo- 

 ment, and then smiled ; and his smile con- 

 vinced me that he was one of my neighbors, 

 even if he was away off here in Albany, 

 while I lived in Ohio. I told him they might 

 be thankful for one advantage they had over 

 working in a cornfield. He asked me what 

 it was, and I suggested that they did not 

 have any mosquitoes or flies to bother the 

 horses. It was a bitter cold morning, but 

 the workmen seemed to enjoy their work 

 notwithstanding. They did not have any 

 boys to ride the horses. The horses were 

 all led by men. Very likely the boys were 

 at school, all of them, and may be a boy 

 would not use care enough in leading a horse 

 so as to mark out the work accurately. The 

 cultivator used was something like the figure 

 below. 



AN ICE-MARKER, TO BE 



groove, and the double block was separated. 

 A little further up stood another man with 

 a similar tool. Now, the ice, as it came to 

 this man, was in a long strip composed of per- 

 haps 40 blocks, say 2 feet wide and 20 feet 

 long, something like the diagram figured 

 below. 



A STRIP OF ICE BEFORE IT IS CUT UP. 



Well, as this block of ice ran under the 

 plank, whereon stood this second man, he 

 chiseled off two blocks, where you see the 

 light dotted lines in the diagram above. 

 The next point to be considered was. Where 

 do these long strips come from ? By this 

 time I was out in the middle of the river, 

 and men and horses were drawing things 



DRAWN BY A HORSE. 



You will notice that one side of the plow, 

 or cultivator, is a long plate of steel, having 

 a sort of blade on each end. Well, between 

 the handles of tlie plow is a rod with a loop 

 on the end. The steel blade slides into one 

 crease, and guides the plow while it cuts an- 

 other; and when you get to the end of the 

 row, by means of the rod with a loop on the 

 end you throw the steel blade, or guide, to 

 the other side, so you can go back again. 

 This measures the blocks of ice absolutely. 

 After this marker has passed, another horse 

 takes the regular plow shown below. 



AN ICE-PUOW. 



