Seo. 15.] CELLARS, CHIMNEYS, AND ICE-HOUSES. 295 



ever, tliat my neighbors' ice-houses that have no upper floor, and are a good 

 deal open at the top, do keep the ice well. 



Prof. Kash — "We are too much inclined to be innovators in all our build- 

 ings, and in ice-houses particulai-ly. Wc must look at the friio j)hilosopliy 

 of keeping ice, or wo shall fail ; lor the iihilosophy of it is to put it as much 

 away from the air as possible, and that is why we pack it iu straw or saw- 

 dust, etc. As to giving some ventilation to tlic lofr, or space over the ice, 

 it may be of service. I think that an ice-house should nut have any pro- 

 vision for ventilation — the tighter the better. 



Solon Kobinson — There is a misunderstanding about this term ventila- 

 tion. As one of the advocates of it for an ice-house, as well as all other 

 houses, I do not mean open exposure, but simply to allow au escape of the 

 heated air that will accumulate in the space between the straw and the roof. 

 Make it as tight all round the body of tlie ice as possible, bv using non- 

 conducting substances from the exterior, and cover the top of the ice as 

 closely as you please with sawdust or straw, but don't make the upper part 

 too close ; at least, leave the cracks in the gable ends open. As for the 

 sides, the best of all substances to till witli is line charcoal; the next best, 

 BaM'dust ; next, tan-bark, straw, leaves from the forest, or salt hay, or any 

 other fibrous substance. It is not necessary to have a double wall if your 

 ice is sufliciently packed around with any of the above substances. The air, 

 at any rate, must not come in contact with the ice, nor with a board that 

 touches it. And a stone or the ground will melt ice much fpiicker than 

 wood. "What I have been most anxious for in bringing up this discussion 

 upon ice-houses, is to divest the subject of all scientific nonsense about 

 making buildings to keep ice of so expensive a character that no common 

 farmer would undertake it. Yet there are thousands of men who might 

 enjoy the comforts of a full supply of ice, and some of them would do it 

 if they only knew that they could build a house at almost no cost. A log 

 cabin, as described by Mr. Pell, or a cellar lined with fence-rails and a 

 board roof, with plenty of sawdust, leaves, or straw, will keep it longer than 

 a stone or brick building, put up at a cost of §500. I want to encourage 

 people to build cheap ice-houses. 



A corresjiondent says: "I live on Statcn Island, where neither charcoal, 

 sawdust, nor tan-bark can be had, exce])t at great expense, but dry forest- 

 leaves and salt hay cost but a tritle. AVill either of tlie latter answer a good 

 purpose for an ice-house out of the grouiul, and, if so, whicli is the best i (1.) 

 I propose to make two boxes of rough hemlock boards — the outer one 

 twelve feet square by ten feet high, the inner one ten feet square by the same 

 liiglit — so as to leave a continuous si)ace of twelve inches all round between 

 tiie boxes, this space to be filled with leaves or hay pressed down ligiit. (2.) 

 The roof to be covered with tongued and grooved boards, and set at an 

 angle of 35 degrees, with a ])rojection of two feet. Tlie double (K>ors 

 will be in the peak of the roof, the outside frame to be sui>i>orted by chest- 

 nut posts, lined on one side, and set into the ground four teet apart ; the 



