GAEDEN STRUCTURES. 



215 



In this manner it is not difficult to keep late 

 Pears until March, and Apples until May or June. 



Ice-house. — The cheapness and convenience of 

 artificially-made ice (it can be obtained delivered 

 at a cost of one penny or less per pound) renders 

 the comparatively expensive system of storing 

 no longer necessary. Where, however, home- 

 stored ice is preferred, it may be kept by either 

 of the following methods : — 



The design fig. 277, and of which fig. 278 is 

 the ground-plan, of an American ice-house, is of 



J3£& 



Fig. 277.— American Ice-house. 



the most economical kind, yet sufficiently orna- 

 mental to make it an agreeable appendage to 

 any family establishment. The size may be 12 

 feet square — less than that would be too small 

 for keeping ice well — and from that up to any 



±± 



SCALE 



Fig. 278.— Plan of American Ice-house. 



required extent. The idea here given is simply 

 the principle of construction. The posts should 

 be fully 8 feet high above the ground to where 

 the plate of the roof is attached, and the house 

 built thus : — 



Mark out your ground the size you require for 

 the house; then, commencing at one corner, dig 

 opposite each other a double set of holes, 1 foot 



deep and 2 J feet apart, on each side of the in- 

 tended building, say 3 feet equidistant, so that 

 when the posts stand up they will present a 

 double set \\ foot apart. Then set in your posts, 

 which should be of some lasting wood, and pack 

 the earth firmly around them. If the posts are 

 sawed they may be 4 by 6 inches in diameter, 

 set edgeways toward each other; or they may be 

 round sticks cut from the woods, lined to a sur- 

 face to receive the planking. Of course when 

 the posts are set in the ground they are to show 

 a skeleton of what the building is to be when 

 completed. When this is done, square off the 

 top of each post to a level all round; then frame 

 or spike on to each line of posts a plate, say 6 

 inches wide and 4 to 6 inches deep, and stay 

 the two plates together strongly, so as to form 

 a double frame. Now plank or board up closely 

 the inside of each line of posts, that the space 

 between them shall be a fair surface. Cut out 

 or leave out a space for a door, 2 J or 3 feet wide 

 and 6 \ feet high, and board up the inner par- 

 tition sides of this opening, so as to form a door- 

 casing on each side, that the space between the 

 two lines of posts may be a continuous box all 

 around. Then fill up the entire space between 

 the posts with moist tan-bark or saw-dust, well 

 packed from the ground up the plates ; and the 

 body of the house is inclosed, sun-proof and air- 

 proof, to guard the ice. 



Now lay down inside the building some sticks 

 — not much matter what, so that they be level— 

 and on them lay loose planks or boards for a 

 floor. Cover this floor with a coating of straw 

 1 foot thick, and it is ready to receive the ice. 



For the roof take common 3x4 joists as 

 rafters, or in place of them poles from the woods, 

 long enough in a pitch of full 35° to carry the 

 roof at least 4 feet over the outside of the plates, 

 and secure the rafters well to them by pins or 

 spikes. Then board over and shingle it, leaving 

 a small aperture at the top, through which run 

 a pipe, say 8 inches in diameter (a stove-crock 

 will do), for a ventilator. Then set in four little 

 posts, say 2 feet high, as in the design; throw 

 a little four-sided pointed cap on to the top of 

 these posts, and the roof is done. To ornament 

 the underside of the roof in a rude way, take 

 some pieces of 3 x 4 scantling, such as were used 

 for the roof, if the posts are of sawed stuff — if 

 not, rough limbs of trees to match the rough 

 posts — and fasten them to the posts and the 

 underside of the roof, by way of brackets, as 

 shown in the design. 



When the ice is put in, a close floor of boards 

 should be laid on joists which rest on the wall- 



