ICE 



[ 506 ] 



ICE 



quired, the thatch is opened at the 

 bottom, each time, the ice cut out with 

 a pickaxe, and the thatch replaced. 



If an Ice-home is built, Mr. Cobbett's 

 plan, as follows, is the Fig. 1. 

 best: Fig. 1 a is the .'ra t '. 

 centre of a circle, the ,** .u^ *.<? 

 diameter of which is ten .* .* *\ \ 

 feet, and at this centre ' 9 * a & ; 

 you put up a post to \ ^ * 

 stand fifteen feet above "% * f * 

 the level of the ground, : * 

 which post ought to be about ten 

 inches through at the bottom, and 

 not much smaller at the top. Great 

 care must be taken that this post be 

 perfectly perpendicular, for if not, 

 the whole building will be awry ; b b b 

 are fifteen posts, nine feet high, and 

 six inches through at the bottom, with- 

 out much tapering towards the top. 

 These posts stand about two feet apart, 

 reckoning from centre of post to centre 

 of post, which leaves between each two 

 a space of eighteen inches ; c c c c are 

 fifty-four posts, five feet high, and five 

 inches through at the bottom, without 

 much tapering towards the top. These 

 posts stand about two feet apart from 

 centre of post to centre of post, which 

 leaves between each two a space of nine- 

 teen inches. The space between these 

 two rows of posts is about four feet in 

 width, and is to contain a wall of straw ; 

 e is a passage through this wall; d is the 

 outside door of the passage ; / is the 

 inside door, and the inner circle, of 

 which a is the centre, is the place in 

 which the ice is to be deposited. The 

 wall is to be made of straw, wheat straw, 

 or rye straw, with no rubbish in it, and 

 made very smooth by the hand as it is 

 put in. Lay it in very closely and very 

 smoothly, so that if the wall were cut 

 Fig. 2. 



9 9 



across, as at g <j in Fig. 2 (which Fig. 2 

 represents the whole building cut down 



through the middle, omitting the centre 

 post), the ends of the straw would 

 present a compact wall. It requires 

 something to keep the straw from 

 buldging out between the posts ; little 

 stakes as big as your wrist will answer 

 this purpose. Drive them into the 

 ground, and fasten at the top to the 

 plates, which are pieces of wood that 

 go all round both the circles, and are 

 nailed upon the tops of the posts. 

 Their main business is to receive and 

 sustain the lower ends of the rafters, 

 as at m m and n n in Fig. 2. From s 

 to m there need be only about half as 

 many as from m to n. The roof is 

 forty-five degrees pitch, as the car- 

 penters call it. If it were even sharper 

 it would be none the worse. There 

 will be about thirty ends of rafters to 

 lodge on the plate as at m, and these 

 cannot all be fastened to the top of the 

 centre post rising up from a. The plate 

 which goes along on the tops of the 

 row of posts, b b b, must be put on in 

 a somewhat sloping form, otherwise 

 there would be a sort of hip formed by 

 the rafters. The best way to put on such 

 deep thatch is to have a strong man to 

 tie for the thatcher. The thatch is to 



Fig. 3. 



be of clean, sound, and well-prepared 

 wheat or rye straw, four feet thick, as 

 at h h in Fig. 2. The bed for the ice 

 is the circle of which a is the centre. 

 Begin by laying on the ground round 

 logs, eight inches through or there- 

 abouts, and placing them across the 

 area, leaving spaces between them of 

 about a foot. Then, crossways on these 

 poles about four inches through, placed 

 at six inches apart. Then, crossways 

 on them rods as thick as your finger, 

 placed at an inch apart. Then, again, 

 small, clean, dry, last winter-cut twigs, 

 to the thickness of about two inches, 

 or instead of these twigs, good, clean, 



