274 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 



the plan of having a double partition, with the hollow space be 

 tween filled with some non-conducting substance. 



" In the first place, the frame of the sides should be formed of 

 two ranges of upright joists, 6 by 4 inches ; the lower ends of the 

 joists should be put into the ground without any sill, which is apt 

 to let air pass through. These two ranges of joists should be about 



two feet and one-half 

 apart at the bottom, 

 xVv^J-v and two feet deep at 

 tne top- At the top 

 -J these joists should be 

 Wz mortised into the 

 ^ ^ ^ ^ cross-beams, which are 



FIG. 5. Manner of nailing the boards to the joists. to support the upper 



floor. The joists in the two ranges should be placed each opposite 

 another. They should then be lined or faced on one side, with 

 rough boarding, which need not be very tight. This boarding 

 should be nailed to those edges of the joists nearest each other, so 

 that one range of joists shall be outside the building, and the other 

 inside the ice-room or vault. (Fig. 5.) 



" The space between these boardings or partitions should be filled 

 with wet tan, or sawdust, whichever is cheapest or most easily ob- 

 tained. The reason for using wet material for filling this space is 

 that during winter it freezes, and until it is again thawed, little or 

 no ice will melt at the sides of the vault. 



"The bottom of the ice vault should be filled about a foot deep with 

 small blocks of wood ; these are levelled and covered with wood shav- 

 ings, over which a strong plank floor should be laid to receive the ice. 



the last eight years ; and the East and West Indies, China, England, and the 

 South, are constantly supplied with ice from that neighborhood. Wenham 

 Lake is now as well known in London for its ice, as Westphalia for its hams. 

 This enterprise owes its success mainly to the energy of Frederick Tudor, Esq., 

 of Boston. The ice-houses of this gentleman, built, we believe, chiefly by 

 Mr. Wyeth, are on a more gigantic scale than any others in the world. An 

 extra whole year's supply is laid up in advance, to guard against the acci- 

 dent of a mild winter, and a railroad several miles in length, built expressly 

 for the purpose, conveys the ice to the ships lying in the harbor. 



