AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 285 



John G. Bergen. — I am glad .to hear sometliing said about drainage of 

 ice-liouses, because it is with them as with land — all do not want draining. 

 My ice-house has no drain, because the ground does not need it. Many 

 ice-houses lately built in my neighborhood have a hole dug as deep as- 

 needed, and lined with rails set endwise, and the ice keeps well. The cost 

 is a mere trifle. 



Mr. Carpenter, — If an ice-house has a drain it must have a trap to ex- 

 clude the air, or it will melt the ice. 



The Secretary stated that non-conducting substances should be always 

 used in connection with the ice. Pine boards are good non-conductors. 

 Sawdust and charcoal are the best non-conductors. 



Prof Nash. — A hollow wall is always preferable to a solid one for ice- 

 houses, as well as for dwellings. I would recommend the construction of 

 ice-houses on scientific principles. If the land is very porous, like Mr. 

 Bergen's, it needs no artificial drainage. Air is undoubtedly the best non- 

 conductor of any substance. 



R. G. Pardee. — It is a known principle in keeping ice that you must 

 have ventilation, and drainage must be provided for, so that no water will 

 stand in the bottom. 



Mr. Carpenter. — My practice is not to open my ice-house, except in the 

 morning. 



John G. Bergen. — This is an important question, and we should be care- 

 ful not to befog it, with technicalities about ventilation. The degree of 

 temperature when ice is packed has some effect, but it must be considered 

 that there is a diff"erence in the quality of the ice. I am in the habit of 

 packing my ice with the thermometer at all degrees, from thawing to zero, 

 and find no difi'erence in its keeping if the ice is solid when it is put in. 



Prof. Nash. — I built an ice-house in a shaded side-hill, ten feet square, 

 at an expense of not exceeding $25, which kept ice perfectly. The cube 

 of ice was about ten feet. But I think if I had built a better house I 

 could have kept a smaller cube of ice, and it would have cost me much less 

 to fill it. 



A member stated that ice should be sound and newly frozen, to insure 

 its keeping well. If made up of part snow, or partly thawed so as to be 

 full of air-bubbles when packed, it will melt in the ice-house, no matter 

 what the temperature is when it is packed. But solid, firm, hard-frozen 

 ice may be put in the house in a warm day and kept perfect. 



Solon Kobinson. — I have found, as a general thing, that cheaply con- 

 structed ice-houses are the best ice-keepers. I know of one built in the 

 side of a bank, where the soil is porous, of rough hemlock boards, the 

 cracks in the sides open, and the door opened every day, and almost every 

 hour, where the ice keeps better than in some very costly houses. 



BOILING POTATOES. 



The Secretary read the following rule for boiling potatoes : Always 

 select potatoes of equal size, and peel and put them into cold water, with 



