ICE-HOUSES. 



509 



air from below, as it will always stand 

 full of water. The drain below the pas- 

 sage of the fruit-room will prevent any 

 over dampness in the flooring. Heated 

 air may be conducted from the back 

 of the fire-places p into the vacuity 

 in the fruit-room wall, and may be 

 admitted into the interior of the room 

 by turning valves in the inner wall. 

 Cold air may have ingress by a pipe or 

 pipes from outside the bank into the 

 vacuity, and from thence through the 

 valves into the interior ; and the ingress 

 may be through the vents at top. How- 

 ever, I am of opinion," he says, " as 

 far as my experience of keeping fruit 

 goes, that little air, heat, or light is 

 necessary, and that an atmosphere in- 

 clining to a damp state rather than a 

 dry is essential. The air-pipes, of course, 

 will be useful in extraordinary cases. 

 The room d, on the left-hand side, is 

 intended for the accommodation of 

 bowlers, and, as a dessert and sitting 

 room, should contain chairs, a table, and 

 a strong press for the bowls, curling- 

 stones, &c. The room on the right hand 

 is for preparing the dessert in, and for 

 keeping and ripening some of the finer 

 sorts of French and Flemish pears, &c, 

 and should be fitted up with shelves and 

 drawers for seeds." 



" Ice-houses are frequently built in a 

 very obscure corner, and sunk in the side 

 of a north sloping bank, under the shade 

 of forest trees, and often at a considerable 

 distance from the house and garden, and, 

 when passed at any time, present no 

 peculiar attraction ; whereas, if built on 

 the plan here described, they may occupy 

 a place at one side, or even in the middle 

 of the flower garden, and being of such 

 magnitude, would contain ice and fruit 

 for the constant supply of a large family. 

 If the elevation of the rooms d d was 

 built in the form of a Grecian temple, 

 the bank of earth covering the ice-house, 

 &c, planted with dwarf ornamental 

 flowering shrubs, and partially shaded 

 with trees on the south side, or studded 

 over with rock-work, it would be not 

 only an object of peculiar attraction and 

 elegance, but would afford the means of 

 recreation, and combine economy with 

 utility." 



The ice-house at the Hirsel is construct- 

 ed as follows ; — it has been found by Mr 



Smith to answer the purpose completely. 

 A high, dry, airy situation, having a 

 northern exposure, and partially shaded 

 with large trees, has been selected. A 

 pit, 14 feet square and the same in depth, 

 was excavated and lined round with 

 coarse boarding ; a well, 5 or 6 feet deep, 

 dug under this for the melted ice to 

 drain into ; and from this well a leaden 

 pipe is carried up to a convenient part, 

 to which a pump is attached, so that any 

 water accumulating in the well may be 

 pumped up. In gravelly soils this pre- 

 caution is unnecessary. This well is 

 covered by laying some strong planks 

 across it; and these, covered with faggots, 

 form the base for the ice to rest on, and, 

 as will be seen, act as a drain to keep the 

 bottom always dry. In each corner of 

 the pit a strong post is fixed, upon which 

 a roof is placed 4 feet above the surface 

 of the ground. The space from the 

 ground to the springing of the roof is 

 boarded with slabs, having a door in the 

 north side, in which a sliding ventilator 

 is fixed, and another ventilator is placed 

 in the opposite side — Mr Smith having 

 found this ventilation useful, a subject 

 which of late years has occupied the 

 attention of several, and a result which 

 is curious as being directly at variance 

 with former practices. Ventilation is at- 

 tended to particularly in windy weather, 

 when the ventilators are opened frequent- 

 ly, by which, Mr Smith says, any water 

 that may have accumulated on the top 

 of the ice will become frozen again. Of 

 this there may be doubts ; but of the 

 advantage of ventilation there can be 

 none, were it only to allow the heated 

 air, with which all under ground ice-houses 

 abound, to escape, and so lower the in- 

 ternal temperature ; and also to remove 

 the damp, which always accompanies con- 

 fined heated air in such places. 



The ice is broken and put in in the 

 usual way, using reeds instead of straw — 

 which amounts to the same thing — as a 

 non-conducting body between the ice and 

 the sides of the pit. Much stress appears 

 to be laid in this case, as well as in many 

 others, on a plentiful supply of boiling 

 water during the process of filling. This 

 is a practice we never have adopted, nor 

 can we see the rationale of it. The roof 

 is thatched from 18 inches to 2 feet in 

 thickness : the eaves project above 2 feet, 



