ICE-HOUSE. 



ICHNEUMON FLIES. 



feet long by 2 feet wide ; and perfectly closed ' 

 by a well-fitted door at each end. All round 

 the bottom of this conical cover, a gutter should 

 be placed to carry oft* the rain to a distance 

 from the ice-house, and prevent the circumja- 

 cent ground from getting soaked with moisture. 



The ice-house should have no window to 

 admit light ; but be, so to speak, hermetically 

 sealed in every point, except at its cess-pool, 

 which may terminate in a water-trap to pre- 

 vent circulation of air. 



A clear day should be selected for charging 

 the ice-house ; but before beginning to fill, a 

 quantity of long dry straw should be laid on 

 the bottom crosswise; and as the ice is pro- 

 gressively introduced, straw is to be spread 

 against the conical sides, to prevent the ice 

 from coming into contact wilh the brick or 

 stone work. The more firmly compacted the 

 ice is, the better does it keep. No layers ol 

 straw should be stratified among the ice, for they 

 would make its body porous. Some persons 

 recommend to pour in a little water with the 

 successive layers of ice, in order to fill up its 

 small crevices, and convert the whole into one 

 mass. This may answer well when the ice is 

 put up very cold, as the water may then be 

 directly frozen into a solid mass. 



Over the top-layer a thick bed of straw should 

 be spread, which is to be covered with boards 

 surmounted with heavy stones, to close up the 

 interstices in the straw. The inner and outer 

 doors should never be opened at once; but 

 the one should always be shut before the other 

 is opened. 



Dry snow well rammed keeps equally well 

 with hard ice, if care be taken to leave no ca- 

 vities in the mass, and to secure its compact- 

 ness by sprinkling a little water upon the suc- 

 cessive charges. 



To facilitate the extraction of the ice, a 

 ladder is set up against its sloping wall at one 

 side of the door, and left there during the 

 season. (Urc's Dirt.) 



The time preferred for filling an ice-house, 

 should, when practicable, be during the preva- 

 lence of extreme cold, or as soon after as pos- 

 sible, since the colder the ice when packed 

 away, and the thicker the blocks, the longer it 

 will last. Ice and snow can often be laid by, 

 even in the Middle States, many degrees below 

 32 or the common freezing point of water. 

 The larger the quantity of ice accumulated in 

 one place, the slower will be the rate at which 

 it will melt. 



One of the principal objects to be kept in 

 view in the construction of an ice-house, is to 

 have it so that the water will pass off directly, 

 as fast as the ice thaws. If the situation is 

 sandy, or if you come to a layer of sand or 

 gravel about the proper depth, no further care 

 will be necessary ; but if you find a stiff clay, 

 rock, or earth of any kind impervious to water, 

 you must contrive an outlet or abandon the 

 place. This outlet may be constructed in se- 

 veral ways. If. on the side of a hill, dig a drain 

 and make it air-tight by means of a water-trap or 

 inverted syphon; or the water may be drained 

 into a well and pumped out ; or you may sink a 

 well in the bottom until you come to sand or 

 gravel, and fill it up with stone. The cellar 



walls may be laid with stone, brick, or even lined 

 with wood, as is most convenient or economi- 

 cal. A space of 8 or 10 inches is generally 

 left between the wall and surrounding earth, 

 which is filled in with tan, charcoal, straw, 

 corn-stalks, or any other non-conductor of heat, 

 the first-named article being generally pre- 

 ferred. A house 9 feet square in the clear, 

 and 9 feet deep, will hold about 25 cart-loads 

 of ice, which will be enough for a large family. 



A cheap ice-house may be made thus : Dig 

 a cellar, say 10 feet square, and 10 feet deep. 

 Then cut small timber from the woods the pro- 

 per length, and build up in the cellar after the 

 plan of building log-cabins, leaving a space 

 between the logs and earth to be filled in with 

 straw, tan, or other suitable material. Raise 

 the wooden walls 2 or 3 feet above the sur- 

 rounding ground, and heap up a bank so as to 

 turn off the rain-water. A thatched roof is 

 generally recommended, as the best to keep 

 out heat, but some object to such covering as 

 affording harbour to rats and other vermin. 



The importance of keeping ice well sur- 

 rounded vith a non-conductor, and having the 

 water absorbed as fast as melting takes place, 

 is shown in the following extract from the 

 Kentucky Farmer : 



" We take at sunrise from the ice-kouse, as 

 much as will be probably wanted through the 

 day, and cover it up in some saw-dust placed 

 in a barrel in the dairy-house. At night, the 

 size of any given piece is scarcely perceptibly 

 diminished. It is a perfect charm." 



In some parts of the United States where 

 thick ice is rare, some persons pack away 

 large quantities of snow, which, if the mass be 

 large, and the snow dry or previously well 

 drained, will often keep through the summer. 

 In most seasons ice may be collected in suffi- 

 cient quantities to fill ice-houses in every lati- 

 tude of the Middle States. If no pond or 

 stream of water of sufficient size be at hand, 

 advantage may be taken of any little rill, which, 

 by the erection of a small dam, may be made 

 to overflow a considerable space. If the water 

 be not more than 6 or 8 inches deep it will 

 answer every purpose. 



In stowing away ice the pieces should be as 

 square as possible, and as large as they can be 

 got or handled. They should be placed closely 

 together like stone in a wall, and the crevices 

 well filled with smaller fragments. The plan 

 sometimes recommended of pounding o r crush- 

 ing the large pieces is reprehensible. 



ICHNEUMON FLIES. Insects belonging 

 to the natural order Hymenoptera, which in- 

 cludes bees, wasps, ants, saw-flies, &c. The 

 injury caused by this whole order is so small, 

 and the benefits derived from many of them so 

 great, that instead of being enumerated among 

 destructive insects, they may be pronounced 

 the benefactors of the human race. 



With regard to the ichneumon flies, they 

 perform an important and very singular part 

 in the economy of nature, by working the de- 

 struction of caterpillars,, plant-lice, and othst 

 destructive insects. This they effect by piercing 

 their bodies with a kind of sting or piercer 

 called ovi-positor, and thus laying their eggs 

 in a living nest. Each ichneumon fly see m 

 3 i 2 653 



