46 
MMEilv&e Mow'i 
ously boiled and cooled. In the morning, this 
water is found frozen into a loose mass some¬ 
what like coarse snow and is removed before 
sunrise to the preserving pits, which are formed 
upon some high, dry situation, twelve or fifteen 
feet deep, lined with dry straw and coarse blan¬ 
keting. As fast as deposited, it is beat down as 
solid as possible, until the accumulated mass 
becomes so cold, that it freezes into a perfectly 
compact mass. The pits are thatched over and 
secured by dry straw, which preserves it for a 
long time. Many hundred persons are thus 
employed, their success depending upon a 
light atmosphere and clear, serene weather, 
and great care to have the straw dry, as this 
curious effect is not, as might be supposed, alto¬ 
gether attributable to evaporation. 
No doubt, the Boston ice trade has sadly inter¬ 
fered with these oriental ice manufacturers. 
PRESERVING SNOW, 
For summer use, has been practised in Italy 
for long ages. A deep conical-shaped pit is dug 
in dry porous ground, and lined with faggots 
and straw, and provided with means of drain¬ 
age. The snow is gathered and packed very 
tight and covered over with dry straw and a 
double-thatched roof which keeps it even better 
than blocks of ice will keep. 
But it is not at all necessary to dig a pit to 
form an ice house. If a mass of snow or ice were 
piled up in a conical form, six or eight feet 
high, and covered over with a stack of straw, it 
would keep all summer. 
VEGETABLES AND FRUITS IN USE IN ENGLAND 
AT DIFFERENT SEASONS OF THE YEAR. 
January .— Cabbage, colewort, sprouts, Savoys, 
leeks, onions, beets, sorrel, endive, chervil, spin¬ 
ach, celery, garlic, shalotes, scorzonera, potato, 
parsnips, turnips, broccoli, lettuce, cresses, mus¬ 
tard, rape, salsify, various herbs; also cucum¬ 
bers, asparagus, and mushrooms, though out of 
season. Fruits—apples, pears, grapes, melons, 
walnuts, and other nuts. 
February and March .— In addition to the above, 
kidney beans and forced strawberries. 
April, May, and June .— In May, new potatoes, 
early peas, kidney beans, carrots, turnips, early 
cabbages, cauliflowers, asparagus, artichokes, 
and all sorts of forced salads. 
In June, strawberries, cherries, melons, green 
apricots, currants, gooseberries, pears, grapes, 
nectarines, peaches, and some other fruits; 
nearly all of which are grown for the London 
market, and of course very dear. 
June, July, and August. —Vegetables of all 
sorts abundant, particularly beans, peas, pota¬ 
toes, French beans, onions, cabbages, &c. 
In July, strawberries, gooseberries, pine ap¬ 
ples, plums, cherries, apricots, raspberries, 
melons, currants, damsons. In August and Sep¬ 
tember, peaches, plums, figs, filberts, mulberries, 
cherries, apples, pears, nectarines, grapes, pines, 
melons, strawberries, medlars, quinces, Morello 
cherries, damsons, and other late plums. 
October, November, and December. —Carrots, tur¬ 
nips, parsnips, potatoes, skerret, scorzonera, on¬ 
ions, leeks, shalotes, cabbage, Savoys, colewort, 
spinach, chard beets, cardoons, cresses, endive, 
celery, lettuce, salad, and pot herbs. Some 
of these last mentioned continue into Octo¬ 
ber ; then apples, bullace plums, medlars, dam¬ 
sons, quinces, &c., and others as in January. 
Many of the fruits that grow luxuriantly in 
America, in the open air, can only be grown un¬ 
der glass in England. The advantages of cheap 
fruits, every one may possess in America, can¬ 
not be enjoyed by the common people of Eng¬ 
land. Peaches, such as often sell in the New- 
York market for one dollar a bushel, would sell 
in London for a dollar or even two dollars a 
dozen. 
VILLAGE LECTURES.—No. 4. 
The Soil and the Air Continued. —Take a jar 
full of oxygen gas; it is not common air, though 
air contains it, and it is to the oxygen that the 
air contains, that it owes its ability to burn 
things, and its ability to maintain respiration— 
the breath of life in living animals. In the air, 
this gas is mixed with another, called nitrogen, 
which dilutes the former, so as to make it fit 
for the ordinary conditions of human life; were 
it not thus diluted, it would be much too violent 
in its action. I have here a jar full of it, an d you 
will see that it makes use of the least spark to 
produce a flame; so that if the air were pure 
oxygen, every spark would end in a conflagra¬ 
tion. 
I shall burn this piece of wood in this oxy¬ 
gen gas. Now, on removing the wood, I find a 
portion of it has disappeared—it has burned up 
—it has united with the oxygen gas, and is now 
in this jar, in the form of a clear gas. The gas 
is of very different properties now; the oxygen 
gas being satisfied by union with the charcoal 
in this way, has no longer any appetite, so to 
speak, for union with other things of the same 
kind ; it will not now unite with the substances 
of tallow, and consequently so far from en- 
| couraging that chemical action which is pro- 
