366 



THE GENESEE FAEilER. 



ICE-HOUSES. 



Winter, of course, is the time to make and put up 

 ice for summer use ; and a few sugpfcstions on this 

 Bubjcct may not be out of phice at this seiKSon. 



The cheapest possible ice-house is one made over 

 a frame-work of forked sticks, set in the ground, 

 having a covering of poles, and these thatched with 

 straw. In this way a good shelter for ice may be 



making and keeping all the ice any family may need. 

 The water may be pumped from an ordinary well, and 

 frozen in a broad shallow vat — adding more water as 

 the congelation advances. The larger the mass the 

 better, if the blocks can be hanUcd. 



The machinery employed for cutting ice on a large 

 scale, for shippers and shipment, is worked by men 

 and horses in the following manner : 



From the time the ice forms, it is kept free from 



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Xw' 



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ifi'j 



lonned for fifteen or twenty dollai's. Tbo thach- 

 work should be double, to have confined air between 

 the walls of straw. The floor should have a free 

 drainage, and rest on stone or blocks of wood ; and 

 it may be of shavings, tan-bark, or straw alone. 



A double frame of wood is the next cheapest ice- 

 house, and its cost will depend on its size and the 

 price of lumber. 



In all northern climates there is no difficulty in 



snow until tbicls: enough to cut ; that process com- 

 mences when the ice is a foot thick. A surface of 

 some two acres is then selected, and a straight line 

 drawn through its center. A hand-plow is pushed 

 along this line until the groove is about three inches 

 deep, when the " marker," fig. 1, is introduced. This 

 is dravm by two horees, and makes two new grooves, 

 Iwonty-one inches apart, the gauge remaining in the 

 origmal groove. The marker is. then shifted to the 



