ASHES AND PLASTER ON CORN— ICE HOUSES. 



341 



hundred times greater than in the outward atmos- 

 phere. How suggestive is this fact to the practical 

 farmer, of the importance of keeping his soil livily 

 and porous, not only by the application of vegetable 

 refuse, but by iucroaaiug the manure of hia stables by 

 all manner of means, and the cultivation of clover 

 both as food for stock, and also as a manuring crop 

 to be plowed in without stint, as it is hardly less val- 

 uable for its mechanical office in the soil than for its 

 alkaline, mineral and organic constituents. 



Joseph Harris, Editor of the Country Gentleman, 

 who was several years on the experimental farm of J. 

 B. Lawes, says that clover contains more nitrogen 

 than the richest barn yard manure ; and that some 

 samples of clover hay contain six times as much ni- 

 trogen as the exposed and long-wa«hetl stable manure. 

 When we add this e.xperimental authority to that of 

 ScHOBLER, to wit : that a soil abounding in decaying 

 vegetable matter (humus) will absorb from a moist 

 atmosphere 12 lbs. of water in 72 hours, while a stiff 

 clay absorbs only 4 lbs., and a silicious sand none at 

 all, we have the best of testimony to show how neces- 

 saiy is the cultivation of clover as a manurial amend- 

 ment to all arated soils in the warm and dry climate 

 of the United States. 



Waterloo, N. Y. 



ASHES ARD PLASTER IN THE HIIX FOE CORN. 



An article headed "Thou art the man," perhaps, in 

 some respects, may apply to myself. I have for a 

 number of years, in raising Indian corn, experimented 

 with plaster, (gypsum), ashes, and so on, in various 

 ways, and although I can not tell by a measurement 

 of the different crops in experiment, yet, from obser- 

 vation, I should judge that the experiment of mixing 

 plaster and ashes of about equal weight, and then 

 dropping a table-spoon full of the mixture in each 

 hill, instead of on it, has iuoreased the crop one-quar- 

 ter, and, the present season, perhaps one-half. Any 

 one seeing my corn-field this season, could tell to a 

 hill where this mixture was put into the hill, instead 

 of on it. If plaster or ashes, or both, are to be used, 

 it requires no more time to put it in the hill than it 

 ■would on it Corn, when young, has many enemies 

 and it may be that those that attack it in the roots 

 find this mixture placed in contact with their point 

 of attack an olijection. Those that never tried it, 

 try it in some way, and this article may pay you a 

 hundred fold for taking a paper devoted to the inter- 

 ests of farming. Alexakdek Titus. 



YoBKTOwy, West Co., N. Y. 



ICE HOUSES, KEEPING ICE, &c. 



A CORRESPONDENT requested information on the 

 subject of ice houses, keeping ice, &c. We handed 

 the matter over to one who has had much experience 

 in this matter, and the following is his reply: 



"Mr. Editor: — At your request I will describe 

 the best manner of keeping ice, as far as I have had 

 experience. 



Ice houses should be built above ground, with an 

 air-tight floor, and sides near enough so to prevent 

 a current of air from passing through. The frame 

 should be built so as to ceil inside and out, (as suits 

 convenience or fancy,) leaving a space between to be 

 filled with charcoal, ashes, tan-bark, sawdust, or 

 chaff' ; — (coal or ashes most durable.) The roof 

 should be water-tight, with chimneys or openings 

 equal to one square foot in twenty-five, for escape of 

 vapor arising from the ice. A brick or stone build- 

 ing should be ceiled with wood inside, and filled as 

 above. 



"The floor should be made to slope to one aide; 

 or, better, from each side to the center, to a spout, 

 to conduct the water under ground to a drain; or 

 else with a cell or syphon in it, filled with water, to 

 prevent air from passing up. On the inside plac« 

 scantliEg one or one and a half feet apart, and fill in 

 between with the same as the sides. Cover lightly 

 with straw, and stow on the ice, taking care to fill in 

 closely between the cakes with ice broken fine. Keep 

 a little straw between the ice and ceiling. When 

 filled, cover about four inches deep with straw, and 

 in warm weather turn it over every two or three days. 



" The size will depend as much upon the length of 

 time the ice is needed to be kept, as upon the quan- 

 tity to be taken out, as ice melts from the top most. 

 It appears to require about ten feet square by fifteen 

 feet high to keep the whole season, well taken care 

 of; consequently it is economy to buy as needed, 

 when convenient to a large ice house, where ice can 

 be purchased. 



" Refrigerators for keeping ice may be made like a 

 cupboard, of any required size, of matched boards; the 

 bottom may be made double, filled lightly with coal cr 

 a-shes. Constructadouble grate of wood one footbelow 

 the top, by placing a tier of wooden troughs, thick 

 enough to sustain the required weight, from two to six 

 inches wide, with a space between corresponding with 

 the width, and sloping enough to pass the water to a 

 conductor, that may be a trough fastened to either 

 side to support the grate, and conduct the water to 

 a vessel Across the first tier of troughs place two 



