AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
351 
with the inuck. We shall be pleased to have Mr. 
Lyman and others try the experiment and report 
the result. 
ICE HOUSES. 
dimply as a matter of economy an ice-house may 
W ell have a place on a majority of large farms, 
find two or three proprietors of smaller farms 
can readily unite in the construction and fill¬ 
ing of one for common use. When butter and 
cheese are manufactured even on a limited scale, 
the advantages of ice in Summer are evident. Va¬ 
rious articles of food and meats, bread, milk, but¬ 
ter, lie., are kept fresh so much longer in an ice-box 
or chest, that there is considerable saving of fuel 
required in hot weather for frequent cooking. Ev¬ 
ery one can estimate for himself the saving, and 
also the advantages of the cheap luxury in hot 
weather of cool drinks, fresh food, die. 
A CHEAP ICE ROOM, 
An ice house is, after all, a cheap and easay built 
structure. The filling is done at a season when the 
cost of labor is but very trifling, and need scarcely 
be taken into account. We have heard of effective 
ice rooms constructed at an expense not exceeding 
/ire dollars -. A correspondent of the “ Country 
Gentleman ” describes one which scarcely cost this 
sum. In the north-east corner of a shed he par¬ 
titioned off a room eight feet square in the clear, 
using for the partition the cheapest rough boards. 
A row of joists was set up on the north and east 
sides, and boarded up to leave a vacant space of 
ten to twelve inches. On the other two sides two 
rows of joists were set up and boards nailed on, 
leaving a similar space between them. The space 
was filled with spent tan-bark. A loose floor was 
laid down and covered with a layer of loose straw. 
Pure, clear, hard ice was cut up with a saw into 
easilv managed pieces, and packed closely in the 
room, leaving six inches between the ice and sides, 
which space was filled with saw-dust. Over the 
ice saw-dust was spread to the depth of a foot. It 
might be well to fill up to the roof with straw. He 
states that the whole cost of construction and filling 
did not exceed seven dollars. The family had used 
ice all Summer as freely as if there had been an 
unlimited supply, and there is evidently enough in 
store to last until the “ new crop comes in.” 
AN ICE-HOUSE OF MODERATE EXPENSE. 
We present, herewith, engravings of a conveni¬ 
ent, ornamental, and comparatively cheap ice-house, 
which we find in “Allen’s Rural Architecture.”* 
We copy, by the publisher’s permission, from this 
work, a portion of the author’s description : 
“ The size may be twelve feet square, and from 
that up to any required extent. Less than twelve 
feet square would be too small for keeping ice well. 
The idea here given is simply the 'principle of con¬ 
struction. 'fhe posts should be full eight feet high 
above the ground to where the plate of the roof is 
attached. Mark out your ground the size you re¬ 
quire for the house ; then, commencing at one cor¬ 
ner, dig a double set of holes opposite each other, 
one foot deep, and two-and-a-half feet apart, on 
each side of the intended building, say three 
feet equidistant, so that when the posts stand 
up they will present a double row, one-and-a-half 
feet apart. Then set in your posts, which should 
be of oak, chestnut, or some lasting wood, and pack 
the earth firmly around them. If the posts are 
sawed, they may be 4 by 6 inches in size, set edge¬ 
ways toward each other. If not sawed, they may 
* This book, which we have frequently referred to, is, in 
our opinion, one of the best sources of information regarding 
the economical structure of rural buildings of all kinds, from 
the stately farm mansion down to the simplest hen-house, or 
piggery. Published by A. O. Moore, of this City. Price 
#1 25, at which price single copies can be procured and for- 
wur ded, post-paid, to any of our subscribers desiring it. 
be round sticks cut from 
the woods, or split 
from the body of a 
tree, quartered — but 
sizable, so as to appear 
decent — and the in¬ 
sides facing each other 
as they stand up, lined 
to a surface to receive 
the planking. Of course, 
when the posts are set 
in the ground, they are 
to show a square form, 
or skeleton of what the 
building is to be when 
completed. When this is 
done, square off the top 
of each post to a lev 
el, all round; then 
frame, or spike on to 
each line of posts a 
plate, say six inches 
wide, and four to six 
inches deep, and stay the two plates together strong¬ 
ly, 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 in the center 
of the side where you want it, two-and-a-half or 
three feet wide, and six-and a-half feet high, and 
board up the inner partition 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 this space between the 
posts with moist tan-bark, or saw-dust, well packed 
from the ground up to 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, a foot 
thick, and it is ready to receive the ice. 
For the roof, take common 3 by 4 joists, for raft¬ 
ers ; or, in place of them, poles from the woods, long 
enough, in a pitch of full 35° from a horizontal line, 
to carry the roof at least four feet over the outside 
of the plates, and secure the rafters well, by pins 
or spikes, to them. Then board over and shingle 
it, leaving a small aperture at the top, through 
which run a small pipe, say eight inches in diame¬ 
ter—a stove-crock will do—for a ventilator. Then 
et in four little posts, say two 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. If you 
want to ornament the under side of the roof, in a 
rude way—and we would advise it—take some 
pieces of 3 by 4 scantling, such as were used for 
the roof, if the posts are of sawed stuff—if not, 
rough limbs of trees from the woods, to match the 
rough posts of the same kind, and fasten them to 
the posts and the under side of the roof, by way of 
brackets, or braces, as shown in the design. 
When the ice is put into the house, a close floor 
of boards should be laid on joists, which rest on 
the plates loosely, so that this floor can be removed 
when putting in ice, and this covered five or six 
inches deep with tan, or saw-dust—straw will do, 
if the other cannot be had—and the inside arrange¬ 
ment is complete. Two doors should be attached 
to the opening, where the ice is put in and taken 
out; one on the inner side of the lining, and the 
other on the outer side, both opening out. Tan, 
saw-dust, or straw should also be placed on the top 
of the ice, when put in, so as to keep the air from 
it as much as possible; and as the ice is removed, it 
will settle down upon, and still preserve it Care 
must be taken to have a drain under the floor of 
ICE-HOUSE. 
GROUND PLAN. 
the house, to pass off the water which melts from 
the ice, as it would, if standing there, injure its 
keeping. 
We have given considerable thought to this sub¬ 
ject, and can devise no shape to the building mole 
appropriate than this, nor one cheaper in construc¬ 
tion. 
WASPS. 
In some parts of the Country two or three va¬ 
rieties of wasps are so numerous as to be a nui¬ 
sance at least. A correspondent of an English 
paper, “ The Field,” recommends the use of spir¬ 
its of turpentine, which he says will destroy the 
wasps without setting it on fire when poured into 
their nests or holes, though he recommends firing 
when there is no danger of burning objects near 
by. This can be applied in the day time, since 
the absent wasps when returning will dash into 
the flames and perish. 
A Good Trap for wasps says the same writer, is 
a sugar-hogshead, with a few pounds of sugar 
left in it; place in it a milk-dish half full of water; 
put a lighted candle, one with a large coarse wick, 
in the middle of it; have a lid that you can clap 
on at any time to shut out the daylight; all, or 
nearly all, the wasps in the neighborhood will fre¬ 
quent this trap if you only give them a day or two 
to find it out. When you have some thousands 
in clap on the lid, and the wasps will naturally 
fly at the candle, and, singing their wings, fall 
into the water. I have killed a pailful in a day by 
this method. The greatest difficulty I found was 
to get a candle that could not he put out by the 
wasps flying into it. It will be necessary to get 
something which could not be put out by them 
Of course it will not be necessary to light 
just before putting on the lid. 
it till 
