No. 4.] COLD STORAGE. 233 



sible. The floor of the ice compartment should receive most 

 careful attention, and the rules here stated should govern all 

 ice-house construction ; first, after levelling the ground, lay 

 a floor two inches above the ground, so that here may be the 

 first air space. An inch or an inch and a half above this lay 

 a second floor, and four inches above this lay a third floor, 

 and have it pitch toward the centre, the centre or gutter ris- 

 ing an inch above the second floor. Cover this third floor 

 with galvanized sheet iron, the cost of which is not very 

 much at the present time. Above this dishing floor lay 

 another, of two or three inch wide slats, and upon these place 

 the ice. The water of the melting ice falling upon the sheet- 

 metal floor should be taken from the building through a lead 

 pipe, and this should empty into a tub of water. Keep the 

 outlet or mouth of the pipe always under w^ater, so as to 

 prevent air entering underneath the ice. 



The partition between the compartments should be a 

 double one, with an inch and a half air space, to prevent the 

 absorption of moisture. At the top and bottom of this par- 

 tition there should be spaces for circulation. These spaces 

 should extend the entire length of the partition, and be so 

 arranged as to open when cold air is wanted in the storage 

 room, and to close when such cold air is not wanted. 



One hundred dollars will go a long way toward defraying 

 the expense of such a house as is above outlined. 



The ventilation of a cold-storage room, be it larffe or 

 small, is eflected by the opening of doors or windows, and 

 l)y ventilating shafts placed in the ceiling. Where prac- 

 ticable an electric fan is a speedy and efficient method. 



A modification of the above-described combined ice-house 

 and cold-storage room may be had by the consti-uction of the 

 ice-house on the outside of a barn or other building, with 

 space opening into a cold-storage room in a l)arn or other 

 cellar. The cold-storage houses of cities are, as a rule, built 

 of brick, and exceptionally strong throughout, to support 

 the great weight of ice needed for refrigeration. A house 

 that takes 300 tons of ice at a time on its top floor has walls, 

 as a rule, that are 20 inches thick, with a foot more of air 

 spaces, divided as may be into three or four such spaces. 

 Where brine or ammonia is the refrigerant, such strength is 



