312 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
forgotten. We would seek for stalks with one 
good ear, rather than those with two small ones. 
A Milk Sink or Cooler. 
Mr. “ W. H. B.,” Cecil Co., Md., sends a descrip¬ 
tion of a home-made “Milk Sink,” as he calls it, 
which he holds as superior to any other he has seen. 
As it is not to be secured by a patent, we present 
it to our readers. A brick box is built 6 feet long, 
8 feet wide, 24 inches high inside, and the walls the 
The lid of the sink should not be put down tight 
until the new milk is perfectly cold. A large but¬ 
ton fastened on the edge of the wooden cap will 
serve to keep the cover up sufficiently to allow the 
air to circulate freely. When the milk is cold the 
cover is closed, and the Sink is left to itself until it 
is time for skimming or putting in new milk. The 
Sink described is large enough for 15 to 20 cows. 
With a large dairy it might be .an improvement to 
have a partition about one-third of the way from 
one end for new milk, as the cans containing it 
shown in the accompanying engraving. The ex¬ 
cavation in the center of the room is the freezing 
tank which contains an uncongealing bath. Molds 
are placed into this bath which contain the water 
to be frozen. The bath is cooled to a low temper¬ 
ature, by means of the volatizing liquid, which is 
caused to vaporize within tubes that pass through 
the bath. The vaporization is greatly increased by 
having the air partially exhausted from the pipes ; 
in other words, there is a partial vacuum in which 
the vapor is rapidly formed. The latent heat of 
AN ARTIFICIAL ICE MACHINE—PORTION OF ROOM SHOWING THE PROCESS. 
length oi one onek (8i inches) in thickness. There 
are pieces of wood the size of the bricks placed in 
the top layer of bricks, in the four comers and in 
the middle of each side, for the purpose of fasten¬ 
ing a wooden capping, thus making the walls se¬ 
cure. The “box” thus constructed is shown in 
figure 1. A lid is then made of thin boards, and 
fastened on one side by stout leather hinges, with 
a handle on the middle of the front side to raise it 
by. See figure 2. It is necessary to state that the 
brick-work is laid up in hydraulic cement, and to 
insure from any danger from leakage, two coats of 
cement are put on the inside of the Sink. Two 
f ig. 1.—THE BRICK-WORK. 
small outlet pipes are put in one end of the Sink, 
one near the bottom and the other near the top. 
They may be of iron li inch in diameter, and are 
closed by simple plugs at the outer ends. It would 
be well in the construction of the Sink to have one 
end a little higher than the other, that the water 
may all flow out the lower pipe when desired. The 
cans that Mr. B. uses are made of “ 3x ” tin, 18 
inches deep and 81 in diameter, holding 20 quarts. 
Two strips of thin iron are soldered across each 
other on the bottom of the cans, to keep them from 
wearing out; they are provided with covers, and 
bails to lift them by. When all is ready, fill the 
Sink with water until the cans will nearly float. If 
possible have the Sink near the pump, or so that 
the water may be conveyed in a pipe. Mr. B.’s ar¬ 
rangement is something like that shown in figure 3. 
should have more room than those containing cold 
milk. “ When straining the new milk into the 
cans always do it outside of the Sink, as there is 
otherwise more or less spilling or spattering into 
the water, and in warm weather it might cause the 
Sink to become sour and smell. Cleanliness is 
about half the battle in first-class butter-making.” 
Artificial Ice and How it is Made. 
W r hen the terqperature of water falls to 32degrees 
Farenheit., or zero Centigrade, it passes into the 
solid state—in other words, it freezes and becomes 
ice. In most parts of the earth, this formation of 
ice takes place naturally to a greater or less exteut. 
During nearly half of the year, ice is one of the 
most common objects in the temperate regions of the 
earth. Ice, formerly regarded as a luxury in warm 
weather, has so many economic uses, that it has 
become a necessity, and the capital invested in col¬ 
lecting and preserving it, could we know its amount, 
would be immense. The question of producing 
ice artificially at any time, and in places most need¬ 
ing it, is a most important one. The working of 
the various ice machines, depends upon a well 
known principle in physics, namely; When a 
body changes its state, i. e., a solid becomes a 
liquid, or a liquid becomes a gas, heat is taken up, 
and consequently cold is produced. This principle 
is illustrated in various ways. If we cause ice to 
melt by placing salt with it, there is a great absorp¬ 
tion of heat, or a production of intense cold. A 
certain amount of heat is necessary for the ex¬ 
istence of water as a liquid ; when we would con¬ 
vert it into a solid again, we abstract that heat. 
The amount of heat disappearing in these changes 
is said to be latent, or hidden in the liquids. So 
in the change from a liquid to a gaseous state, 
or a state of vapor, heat is similarly taken up. 
This is nicely illustrated in the pouring of a little 
ether upon the hand—as it volatilizes, heat is ab¬ 
sorbed from the hand and a sensation of cold is 
experienced. There are a number of liquids that, 
; like ether, are very volatile, that is, pass readily 
into the form of vapor—such as Ammonia, Sul¬ 
phurous Oxide, Ethylo-Sulphurous Dioxide, etc., 
all of which are now more or less used in the 
artificial production of ice. In the various pro¬ 
cesses one of these very volatile liquids is made 
to take on the gaseous state; to do this it must 
have heat from some source, and it is so arranged 
that water shall supply this needed heat, and in so 
doing it becomes solid, or ice. The details of the 
method vary, depending upon the liquid used, but 
the construction of the apparatus is essentially as 
vaporization being constantly taken up from the 
non-freezing bath, reduces its temperature ; that in 
turn absorbs heat from the molds containing the 
water to be frozen. The vaporizing liquid is kept 
in constant motion—being used over and over again 
—by means of an exhaust and compression cylinder 
in connection with a steam engine, shown in the 
rear of the room. The non-freezing bath is also 
kept in motion by the engine. When the water is 
frozen, the mold containing the ice thus formed is 
raised from the bath by means of a crane and pul¬ 
leys, as shown in the engraving, and the ice re¬ 
moved, when the mold is again filled with water. 
The same kind of apparatus is now used to some 
extent, for cooling rooms in which fruits, vege¬ 
tables, meats, and other perishable articles are 
stored. Instead of having a large bath tank for 
Fig. 3.—THE SINK COMPLETE. 
the reception of ice molds, the cold, non-freezing 
liquid is forced through long tubes in the cooling 
room, and in this way the storehouse is cooled. 
The practicability of the artificial production of 
ice is demonstrated beyond a doubt, and it may be 
well for those farmers, etc., who are so located that 
a supply of natural ice is not at hand, to look into 
the matter of ice machines. The machines are 
made of very many sizes to suit the trade, ranging 
all the way from a capacity of a hundred pounds 
to several tons of ice per day. A number of 
farmers might combine and a single small machine 
would furnish them all with the ice needed, and 
could at the same time be used to cool a store room 
for the keeping of fruits, meats, and vegetables. 
We are indebted to the New York Ice Machine 
Co. for the engraving herewith presented. 
