NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



SEPTKBIBER >0, 1S3*. 



WKW JBN«i,ANl> FARMJEU. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPT. 10,1834. 



For the N'nt^ En^Untd Farmer, 

 Mr. Editor — Tt is ;iu iiitprestiiif; eviileiice of 

 the inertasiiij; attention to and luofjres.s of lloiti- 

 cultiirii, iiiiil KMCouniging to tliose wlio have hi^en 

 so efficiently eiifjaged in promoting it, tinil es|)e- 

 cially lliose connected witli tlje Ma.ssachiisetts Uor- 

 ticiiltiiial Society, that we can now liave as the 

 prospect indicates, a gfand Exliihition of Fruits 

 and Flowers. 



I sliall he liigldy gratified if I can suggest any 

 thing to aid so ih,'siial)ie an ohject or contiihnte to 

 its advancement : 1 woidd therefore propose anil 

 reconuiKMid to all who have Fruit Orchards, Fruit 

 Gardens, Flower Gardens or Plants to contrihnte 

 either a hasket of frnit or houcpiet of flowers, and 

 (although I perceive there is no special provision 

 for vegetahle productions yet I think niariHiioths 

 and new varieties will he acccptalih') llierchy make 

 in the aggregate a splendid exhihiiion and siih- 

 serve the ohject intended. The henetits to he de- 

 rived from such an exliihition by the powerful in- 

 oiteineiits to inchistry, improvement and conipeti- 

 tioti will he incalcniahle if a right spirit dictates 

 the contributions, and the Society duly interest 

 and exeit themselves on the occasion. I would 

 urge the importance of this, and we may have the 

 17th, 18th and 19lh three glorious days in the 

 aiiuals of the Mass. Hort. Socif;ty. B. 



ICE HOUSE. 



A friend of the Editor has requested sncli di- 

 rections as we can furnish, relative to the constrnc- 

 tion of ice houses, ami the preservation of ice for 

 summer's use. ]n compliance with his wishes, 

 we republish an article, (which first appeared in 

 the N. 1:^. Farmer, vol. X, p. 134) written by Pro- 

 fessor Cleaveland, of Brunswick, Me., than whom 

 we knew of no person more competent to give in- 

 fortnation on this or any other snhject involving 

 the philosophical principles of rural economy. 



For the New Engioiid Farmer. 



Mr. Fesspudcn — In answer to your request for 

 practical information on the subject of Ice Hou- 

 ses, I take the liberty of giving you a description 

 of one, which I constrni'ted several years since, at 

 a moderate expense, and in which I have been 

 perfectly successfnl in preserving ice through llic 

 aummcr and nuluinn. 



A pit, about l'^ feet long and 9 feet wide was 

 dug in level groumi to the depth of about 10 feet. 

 The four walls or sides of the let! House consist 

 entirely of cedar. Each wall is renilered double 

 hy nailing the boards to two opposite sides of joists 

 4 inches scpnu'c, placed perpendicidai ly, at the dis- 

 tance of a few feel from each other. The inter- 

 val between the boards is filled with tun, and 

 a space of about 4 inches in wnlth entirely 

 around the building is also occupied by tan ; so 

 that the earth or soil novvljere touches the boards. 

 Upon these walls, whiidi are 11 feet in height, 

 and of course project one fool above the surface of 

 the ground, is placed a very sharp roof. This' 

 roof is also double, and the interval bitvveen the 

 boarils is filled with charcoal powder. It is paint- 

 ed white on the outside. 



The aforementioned pit is divided by a double 

 partition, filled with tan, into two apartmciils. Iti 

 one of them, which is about 8 feet square, the ice 

 IB deposited. The other department is employed 



as an entry, at the bottom of which is a door, made 

 double as aforementioned, for the purpose of tak- 

 ing out the ice frotn day to day. This entry, vvhose 

 temperature in the lower i)art is very uniformly 

 that of cool weath«r in the autumn, is furnished 

 with shelves for the reception of liutter, meat, 

 milk, &c., during the heat of smnmer, and is fomiil 

 to be extremely useful. 



The ice is cut in blocks of regular form and ve- 

 ry closely packed, the interstices being filled with 

 pulverized ice. All the space which reiriains 

 above the ice is filled with dry straw. A few ce- 

 dar slabs form the floor on which the ice rests. 

 There are several reasons for' preferring cedar to 

 other kinds of wood ; and I did not find its ex- 

 pense to exceed that of merchantable pine boards. 

 It would be convenient to have the entry a little 

 longer than the one just described. 



Vours resjiectfiilly, 



P. Ci.EAVELAND. 



In a subsequent comninnication for the same 

 paper, sec vol.X, p. 139, Profi'ssor Cleaveland ob- 

 serves — " On reading- the description of my ice 

 house in your last number, it occurred to me that 

 I might not have been siifiiciently minute on one 

 or two points. The roof is so sharp and high, 

 that it affords a convenient passage into the entry, 

 above ground, at the end of the building, by a tri- 

 angular door, through which the ice is easily in- 

 troduced at the top of the pit. This door is closed 

 after the straw is deposited in the space above the 

 ice. This one door, opening to the atmosphere, is 

 snflicicnt for all purposes." 



A writer for the New England Farmer, (see vol. 

 X, p. 139) with the signature ".^ Middlesex Far- 

 mer,^' state's as follows: " My ice house is a very 

 simple and cheap afl'air. It is 12 feet every way, 

 dug on a gravelly knoll. It has a stout ce<lar post, 

 about 13 feet long, at each corner, and 1 believe 

 four more [)osts between those, with a sill mortis- 

 ed on the top, all rotind, to keep them all in place. 

 Outside of the.se posts it is planked with old cast 

 ofl^ bridge plank, which were originally 5 inches 

 thick, and these are siicnred, not by nailing, hut 

 merely filling in behind with gravel. The roof is 

 a common one, rather steep, sloping of course to 

 the groimd, and shingled in the orditiary way; the 

 door is at the east end. There is no floor be- 

 tween the ice and the roof. The ice m.-iy be tak- 

 en out at any hour, but it is generally done early 

 in the liiorniiig. Befme the ice is put in, some 

 small spars (round lails if yon please) are placed 

 on the bottom of the cellar, and brush put cross- 

 wise, so as to keep the ice from touching the 

 ground. The ice is sawed in blocks of 2 or 3 feet 

 long ami about 2 feet wide, and jjacked in the cel- 

 lar, side by side. When filled to the top, some 

 straw iir shavings are laiil over to a considerable 

 thickness, and that is all. Some years, when the 

 ice is thin, it is goin; in Septendii.r or October: 

 but when it can be had, solid, ami of good thicdi- 

 ness, after using it fri:rly for all family purposes, 

 and occasionally fur neighbors, some of it remains 

 at the end of the year. The posts shoidd be about 

 13 feet, so as to enter thegroimd a hltle at bottom, 

 and rise a little above the top, for the purpose of 

 making a small baid< outside fm- turning olf the 

 rain. The quantity put in is, I thiidt, about 13 

 tons or loads." 



It is remarked in the Genesee Farmer, that there 

 is one iin()ortant point in packing away ice which 

 does not appear to he well understood. We mean 



the temperature of ice, wlien it is put into the ice 

 house. It is well known that according to Fahr- 

 enheit's thermometer, 32 degrees is denominated 

 the freezing point, or that degrc.'e at which the 

 water congeals. If the temperature is raised but 

 one degree above this the water melts, but to 

 whatever degree below the temperature is reduced 

 no change takes place. Now it takes nearly the 

 same quantity of heat to raise the temperature of 

 a body one degree when it is below 32 degrees, 

 that it does when it is above. From this position 

 it is plain, that the colder tlie ice when packed in 

 the ice house, the greater would be the ipnmtity 

 of heat required to thaw it, or the greater the 

 length of time in the same temperature. Suppose 

 one ice house was filled when the temperature of 

 the ice and atmosphere was of thirty degrees, or 

 two degrees below the freezing point, and ajiother 

 was filled when the temperature of the atmosphere 

 and ice were at zero, then would it not nipiire 

 fifteen times the quantity of heat to melt the ice 

 in the latter that it would in the former, and if the 

 heat was coinmuniciited in the same manner, 

 would it not require time in proportion? If so, 

 then it is all-important, at whatever temperature 

 the ice is collected, it should only be packed in 

 houses when at the lowest temperature. Now 

 the contrary of this is often pursued. The gath- 

 ering of ice is at best a cold business, and most 

 people omit doing it until the last of winter, and 

 then prefer those days which are most pleasant, 

 and proceed to pack the ice in the house as it is 

 gathered. There can be no objection to gathering 

 or drawing the ice to an ice house in pleasant 

 weather, but it should never he packed down but 

 when the mercury indicates extreme cold, as in 

 proportion to it will be the durability of the ice 

 under the same exposure. 



QJ^In our next we shall give a full list of all 

 the premiums oft'ered hy the Massachusetts Socie- 

 ty for promoting Agriculture. 



MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL, SOCIETY. 



The annual meeting of the Iloiiicultmal Socie- 

 ty (or the choice of President, Vice Presidents, 

 Treasurer, Secretaries iind Council, for the year 

 ensuing, will be hfld at their room, SI Cornhill, 

 on Saturday the 20ih iiist. precisely at 11 o'clock, , 

 A. M. A general and punctual attendance is re- 

 quested. Chas. M. Hovet, Sec. pro tern. 



ERRATA. 



In the New England Fanner Extra — which 

 contains the List of Premiums 10 be awarded by 

 the Massachusetts Society for pronioting Agricul- 

 ture, in December next — for " i'h Faneuil Hall in 

 the City of Boston''^ read " at a place hereafter to ht 

 designated hy the Trustees." 



ITEMS OP UVTELLIGEWCE. 



Uifayettts Grure. Where rest the mortal remains of 

 Liifayctte ? He is interred in the garden of the house 

 No. 15, of the street of Pictus. This house is occupied 

 as a Young Ladies' Boarding School, under the direction 

 of the Ladies of St. Sacrament. To reach tlie place 

 where repose the remains of Lafayette, it is necessary 

 to traverse a large yard, then enter a vast enclosure, 

 Imrdered on the southern side hy a beautiful avenue of 

 lindens (tillculs.) Then follow this shaded alley until, 

 near its extrenuty,you turn into another enclosure more 

 narrow, which leads you to the gate of the Cemetery of 



