128 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



dust or the ice. The sawdust should be kept well packed on the 

 sides and evenly distributed over the top surface of the ice. Saw- 

 dust will keep ice much 'better when dry than when wet. 



Since ice at best is a very perishable product, requiring special 

 equipment for its preservation, such natural advantages as are offered 

 by shade and exposure should be taken advantage of in locating an 

 ice house. A shady situation with a northern exposure has a decided 

 advantage as a location for such a building. 



* In general design ice houses are of three types: (1) Those built 

 entirely above ground; (2) those built partly above and partly under 

 ground; and (3) those of the cellar type, built entirely below ground. 

 The above ground structure is by far the most common of these 

 types. 



The advantages and disadvantages of these three types may be 

 briefly stated as follows. Above ground houses can, as a rule, be more 

 economically constructed than either of the other designs. Excava- 

 tions are expensive to make and difficult to insulate and drain prop- 

 erly. Insulation and drainage are two of the most important factors 

 in the preservation of ice. It is true that the temperature of the earth 

 varies less than that of the air, but the fact that the temperature of 

 the earth at 6 or 8 feet below the surface remains at or about 55 F. 

 the year around makes it quite as important to protect the stored ice 

 against the earth heat as against the heated air. It is more difficult 

 to remove ice as needed during the season from pits than from struc- 

 tures above ground. Slight advantages are apparent at harvest time 

 in favor of the cellar or the half-sunken types of house, and under 

 some circumstances they will be preferred to the other type. 



The length of time ice may be kept depends upon the character 

 of insulation provided. This will naturally vary with the location of 

 the ice house and the method of construction. The simplest type of 

 ice preservation consists in stacking the cakes in a compact mass on a 

 well drained site, as well protected as possible by natural or artificial 

 barriers from sun and wind, and covering the mass with sawdust, 

 shavings, fodder, marsh hay, or any other good insulating material. 

 Such a crude method is not to be recommended except as a temporary 

 makeshift for ice that is to be used early in the season. 



In order that the house may be filled without unnecessary labor 

 a continuous door should be provided in the middle of one end. The 

 door should be made in two or three sections, and as the house is filled 

 loose planks of proper length should be at hand to place across the 

 opening of the door to hold the packing material in place as the heap 

 of ice grows in height. 



The ice must be placed on a bed of sawdust, shavings, or other 

 packing material at least 15 inches deep, and the rick of ice should' 

 not approach the side walls closer than 15 or 18 inches, the interven- 

 ing space being filled with packing material and thoroughly rammed. 



Instead of the cheap, temporary construction just described, ice 

 houses of a permanent nature can be built from brick, stone, or con- 

 crete. In these, as in frame-constructed houses, the mass of ice should 

 approach as closely as possible a cube in form. If the masonry house 



