THE GENESEE FARMER 



367 



outside groove, and makes two more. Having drawn 

 these lines over the whole surface in one direction, 

 the process is repeated in a transverse direction, 



Fig. 1. 



marking all the ice out into squares of twenty-one 

 inches. The "plow," fig. 2, drawn by a single horse, 

 follows in these grooves, cutting to a depth of six 



inches. One entire range of blocks is then cut out 

 with the " ice-saw," fig. 3, and the remainder are split 

 off toward the opening thus made with an iron bar, 

 fig. 4, shaped like a spade, and of a wedge-like form; 



^^ 



Fisr. 3. 



Fi-. 4. 



Fi?. 5. 



a veiy slight blow is sufficient to produce that effect, 

 especially in very cold weather. Platforms are placed 

 near the opening made in the ice, and with a hook, 

 fig. 5, the ice is caught, and by a sudden jerk thrown 

 up the slide on to the platform. Beside this platform 

 stands a " sled," of the same height, capable of con- 

 taining about three tons, which, when loaded, is drawn 

 upon the ice to the front of the storehouse, where a 

 large stationary platform, of exactly the same height, 

 is ready to receive its load, which, as soon as dis- 

 charged, is hoisted, block by block, into the house, by 

 horse power. Forty men and twelve horses will cut 

 and stow away four hundred tons in a day. When a 

 thaw or rain occurs, it unfits the ice for market by 

 rendering it porous ; and occasionally snow is imme- 



Fiir. G. 



diately followed by rain, and that again by frost, 

 forming snow ice, which is valueless, and must be re- 

 moved by the plane. A " plane," fig. 6, is gauged to 

 fvui in the grooves made by the marker, and shaves 



the ice to the depth of three inches ; it is drawn by 

 a horse until the whole surface of the ice is planed. 

 ^^he chips thus produced are then scraped off, and 

 if the clear ice is not reached the process is repeated. 

 If this makes the ice too thin for cutting, it is left in 

 statu quo, and a few nights of hard fi'ost will add 

 beloio as much as has been taken off above. 



Our engraving shows the process of ice-cutting at 

 Rockland Lake, near New York. The Rockland 

 Lake Ice Company is one of the largest in the coun- 

 try, delivering an enormous quantity of the article in 

 New York city. Their ice-houses*are located on the 

 margin of the lake. Tli^ mode of cutting and the 

 uses of the tools, as described, will at once be recog- 

 nized in our view. 



THE LONDON TIMES ON THE RECI- 

 PROCITY TREATY. 



The London Times comments at length on the Re- 

 ciprocity Treaty. We quote the concluding portion: 



" We shall not attempt to strike a critical balance 

 of the advantages given and received by the parties 

 to this treaty. It is a well-known result of such ar- 

 rangement that both sides find themselves gainers, 

 even on points where they had expected to lose ; 

 and in the present case we believe the losses will be 

 imaginary, while the anticipated gains will be doubled. 



" We do not presume that our colonists will find 

 their fisheries any the worse for the admission of the 

 Americans to share in them, or that the Americans 

 will suffer from the Canadian corn-growers. It is 

 more than probable that the fishermen of the one 

 country, and the agriculturists of the other, will be 

 alike benefitted by the change, which will provide 

 new markets, while it will supply a wholesome stimulus 

 to exertion. The advantages on both sides will be 

 marked, decisive and immediat'C — and the sacrifices 

 which each may conceive itself to be making, will in 

 all likelihood never be felt. 



"But, while the prospects opened by this treaty 

 are so promising abroad, they are still more satisfac- 

 tory at home. It is something to have put the com- 

 mercial intercourse of Canadians and Americans on 

 a desirable footing ; but it is far more to have 

 strengthened the ties of amity between two such 

 countries as Great Britain and the United States; 

 and to have removed what might at any time have 

 proved a cause of alienation and collision. 



" An American journal now before us observes that 

 the effect of this treaty will indeed be to annex the 

 British Provinces to the United States, as far as the 

 principal bijfinches of traffic are concerned ; but that 

 the United States will, by the same process, be an- 

 nexed to the British Provinces. In fact, strong addi- 

 tional reasons will now exist for the cultivation of 

 good feeling between Americans and Canadians, 

 while at the same time the two supreme governments 

 will be relieved from the embarrassments of a question 

 which has always threatened a catastrophe. 



"Among the minor advantages of the treaty, will 

 bo the fact that it disengages several of our vessels 

 of war from a disagreeable duty, and makes both' 

 ships and men available at a juncture when better 

 employment may be foimd for them. 



