272 



RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 



man's establishment solely. But in this country, the ice-house forms 

 part of the comforts of every substantial farmer. It is not for the sake 

 of ice-creams and cooling liquors, that it has its great value in his eyes, 

 but as a means of preserving and keeping in the finest condition, 

 during the summer, his meat, his butter, his delicate fruit, and, in 

 short, his whole perishable stock of provisions. Half a dozen cor- 

 respondents, lately, have asked us for some advice on the construc- 

 tion of an ice-house, and we now cheerfully offer all the informa- 

 tion in our possession. 



To build an ice-house in sandy or gravelly soils, is one of the 

 easiest things in the world. The drainage there is perfect, the dry and 

 porous soil is of itself a sufficiently good non-conductor. All that it 

 is necessary to do, is to 

 dig a pit, twelve feet 

 square, and as many 

 deep, line it with logs 

 or joists faced with 

 boards, cover it with a 

 simple roof on a level 

 with the ground, and 

 fill it with ice. Such 

 ice-houses, built with 

 trifling cost, and en- 

 tirely answering the 

 purpose of affording 

 ample supply for a 

 large family, are com- 

 mon in various parts of the country. 



But it often happens that one's residence is upon a strong loamy 

 or clayey soil, based upon clay or slate, or, at least, rocky in its sub- 

 stratum. Such a soil is retentive of moisture, and even though it 

 be well drained, the common ice-house, just described, will not pre- 

 serve ice half through the summer in a locality of that kind. The 

 clayey or rocky soil is always damp it is always an excellent con- 

 ductor, and the ice melts in it in spite of all the usual precautions. 



Something more than the common ice-house is therefore needed 



Fig. 3. The common Ice-house below ground. 



