i89i 
869 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Business. 
ICE AND ICE-HOUSES. 
There Is nothing new to be learned about Ice. All that 
is known about it is an old story, and has been familiar to 
the students of common science who may have read all 
about it in the popular text books. But not every person 
who might, or should, have studied the familiar sciences 
has had the opportunity or taken the pains to do so ; con¬ 
sequently something of interest may be said even of this 
familiar substance. And, indeed, it may be necessary to 
explain its character and peculiarities for the reason that 
an expert, or at leabt one who should be expected to kno w 
something of what he deals in and uses every day of his 
life, has recently made some curiously wrong statements 
about it in the way of instructing the supposed Ignorant 
public as to how to store and use it. Every thing has some 
principle to which it is subject, and which may guide us 
in its use and management. And the nature of ice is such 
that when its character and behavior are known, it can be 
used with economy and effect where otherwise it may be 
largely wasted. 
Ice is water In a solid state. To understand It, there¬ 
fore, we must study water. This liquid has some curious 
properties. It exists in three conditions : as a gas or 
vapor In the form of steam as it is usually called ; as a 
liquid ; and as a solid. And the only difference between 
these different forms of it, is due solely to temperature. 
Ice has a temperature of 32 degrees, or less, according to 
the degree of ccld to which it is subjected; water has a 
temperature of 32 to 2L2 degrees; and steam has a varying 
temperature of from 212 degrees up to much more, in pro¬ 
portion to the pressure to which it may be subjected. As 
a gas it is subject to a law known as the Charles’ L iw, 
which Is, that the volume of a gas under a constant pres¬ 
sure varies as the temperature. Of course, the converse is 
true, and when steam Is Inclosed in a boiler and heated, 
it expands and the pressure is directly as the degree of 
heat. On this law depends the use of steam in engines as 
a motive force. 
Another peculiarity of water is that in its liquid and 
gaseous conditions it is able to take up various quantities 
of heat, and hold the heat in a condition in which it can¬ 
not be felt. This absorbed heat, as it may be called, (but 
latent, or specific heat is the scientific term used), is not 
apparent or sensible to the feeling. When water is put in 
a boiler and heated to 212 degrees, it boils, but it cannot be 
made any hotter than this, nor is the steam that comes 
from it any hotter, unless it is made under pressure. But 
while the water shows by a thermometer only 212 degrees 
while it is boiling, it is taking up no less than 930 degrees, 
or units of heat which are absorbed by the steam, and ren¬ 
dered latent, and yet all the while it shows only 212 de¬ 
grees by the thermometer. And we can find this heat 
in the steam again only when we use it to heat anything, 
as water, for instance; and then we find that if we put 5)^ 
pounds of water in the form of liquid at 32 degrees into one 
pound of steam,when the steam has condensed and become 
w ater again,the whole is of the temperature of boiling water, 
viz , 212 degrees. And as the 5>£ pounds of water have been 
raised 180 degrees, or from 32 to 212 degrees, and the 
whole heat is equal to 900 ; this is taken as the specific 
heat of steam. Water has a specific heat of 143 degrees, 
found in a similar way. This is proved in this way : if we 
take one pound of ice at 32 degrees and put It in one pound 
of water at 174 degrees, the ice will be melted and there 
will be two pounds of water at 32 degrees only. Thus 142 
degrees of heat will have disappeared, and this is absorbed 
by the water of the ice in melting. 
This Is the point of interest in the use of ice for cooling 
milk or water. But the Ice has no heat that it can give 
out to anything except it is colder than itself; so that ice 
has practically no specific heat at all, and when the ex¬ 
pert referred to says that the ice gives out heat which 
warms the ice house, and the covering over the ice In it, 
he makes a gross and misleading mistake. This fact should 
be understood when ice is packed away for summer use, 
and it is necessary to know the principles upon which the 
preservation of the ice is secured, for the successful keep- 
ing of it. 
The use of ice in the dairy, then, depends on this fact, 
that it absorbs 142 degrees of heat in melting ; by this is 
meant that 142 pounds of water or milk, or anything else, 
will be cooled one degree by the melting of one pound of 
ice. Or 14 pounds of milk will be cooled 10 degrees, or 10 
pounds will be cooled 14 degrees, and yet the ice will be 
still at a temperature of 32 degrees. Thus a further cool¬ 
ing effect is gained equal to the difference in the tempera¬ 
ture of the ice and the milk. For Instance, if the milk is, 
let us say, reduced to 50 degrees by the melting of the ice, 
a further effect is produced until the water of the ice, and 
the milk, are of equal temperature. It Is easy to calcu¬ 
late, then, exactly how much lei will be necessary to cool 
any given quantity of milk from 60 or 70 degrees to 45, which 
is the normal temperature in the cold deep setting of the 
milk. 
Now, as to the proper storage of ice for summer use, we 
have to consider only how to prevent the contact of the 
warm air of the summer; and the ice-house must be made 
and secured with regard to this protection. Anything 
that will prevent the cooling of any substance will equally 
prevent the warming of it, and what needs to be done is 
simply to take such precautions as will keep out the warm 
air, and prevent the warmth from penetrating the build¬ 
ing. This brings us to the proper construction of an ice¬ 
house. 
T t e requisites are few and very simple. First, the foun¬ 
dation must be free from water, which, from the foregoing 
remarks, it will be easily seen is a very effective agent for 
the melting of the ice. It must also be perfectly closed 
against the entrance of air. Second the walls must be air¬ 
tight, so that no air may reach the ice. They are rendered 
so by making them double with some porous flllirg, as 
sawdust, between them. The manner of building is, in 
fact, exactly the same as that of a silo. The inner wall 
should be made as tight as possible, and for the best t fleet, 
a layer of tarred roofing paper should be placed between 
the double boards of the inner wall. Third, as to the roof 
(and here we have to consider what has been said above In 
regard to the cooling effect of evaporation), every person 
knows how cool the hand or the body becomes when it is 
wet, even with warm water, when exposed to a draft of 
air. This cooling is due to the evaporation of the moisture 
from the skin, and the same effect Is produced In the ice¬ 
house when the dampness in the covering over the ice be¬ 
gins to evaporate when a current of air passes over it. 
Here I have to Qiffer, on the very best grounds, from the 
expert above refeired to, who says this is all wrong, and 
that the covering on the ice is warmed by the latent heat 
of the ice, and helps to melt it. Every person has seen a 
lot of snow remaining for a long time in the spring when 
it is covered by earth or leaves. Without the covering, it 
would have melted long before. This also applies to the 
covering of the Ice in the house and the manner of roofing 
the latter. The roof must be tight against the rain—that 
is all. It is better that gables should be, in good part, 
open to give play to all the air currents that may be over 
the covering on the ice, on account of the coolness thus 
produced by the evaporation of the moisture. This cover¬ 
ing may be of any porous material, as sawdust, tan bark, 
dry swamp muck, or finely broken charcoal; but It must 
not be so loose or open—like straw or hay—as to permit 
the air to pass through it; for as the air is very absorbent 
of heat, its contact with the ice would melt the latter very 
rapidly. In the construction of an ice-house, therefore, 
all that is necessary is to conform to these conditions and 
principles, and the details may be just such as may suit 
the taste or the convenience of the builder. I have seen 
Ice stacked just as hay Is, and covered with sawdust and 
then with straw, to shed the rain, and it has kept well all 
through the summer. 
These facta are of surpassing Interest, as showing how 
beautifully the laws of Nature are adapted to the stability 
of things. If it were not for this property of water in its 
various conditions, the world would be uninhabitable 
by our race; for in the winter when the water began to 
freeze a vast amount of heat is given out that tempers the 
climate, and In the spring when the Ice is melting, its si j w 
change into water prevents the complete destruction of 
everything by the Instant liberation of the vast floods 
that would be set free from the accumulated snow and 
ice. And without the slow absorption of heat in boiling 
water, the water would suddenly explode when it reached 
the boiling point and blow every thing to destruction. 
___HENRY STEWART. 
A VALUABLE NEW STOCK FOOD. 
Dried Brewers’ Grains at Last. 
One of the hitherto unsolved economic problems con¬ 
nected with the dairying side of agriculture, has been the 
discovery of a method of drying or desiccating brewers’ 
grains so that none of their feeding or nutritive value 
should be lost, while they could be cheaply shipped to any 
part of the country. The problem is of such importance 
that it has secured the attention of some of our brightest 
inventive talent. Several schemes have been tried during 
the last decade or two, with varying but generally only 
limited success. The processes have been too expensive, 
making the cost of the finished product too great, and 
many of them have been too variable In their operations, 
no two lots being the same. The Rural has always had a 
Jeep interest in these experiments. Wet brewers’ grains, 
while containing great nutritive value, are highly objec¬ 
tionable for various reasons. First, they are expensive to 
ship, three-fourths of their weight being water—in other 
words, four tons of wet grains, are when dried, reduced to 
one ton. In the next place, coming wet and warm from 
the brewers’ tubs, fermentation begins in a few hours and 
rapidly depreciates their nutritive value. The sugar in 
them is rapidly converted into alcohol, and owing to its 
diffused condition, it rapidly becomes oxydized and con¬ 
verted into acetic acid, thus souring the grains. Not only 
is the malt or grape sugar remaining in the grains thus 
destroyed, but the heat rapidly changes the starch left in 
them into sugar, and this in turn goes the same way—is 
converted from a food to a poison. When thus once 
changed, all the arts of all the chemists in the world can 
never reverse the process, and convert the later products 
back into wholesome food. The feeding value of all the 
fermented part is as absolutely destroyed as if it had been 
burned in a furnace. 
The great nutritive value of the sweet grains Is no longer 
to be questioned. The numerous analyses of late years 
have settled this beyond all dispute, while the experience 
of thousands of farmers who have fed them, fully confirms 
the judgment of the chemists. In round numbers, the 
dried brewers’ grains show a nutritive ration of three to 
one. or about one part of albuminoids to three of carbo¬ 
hydrates. As foods containing a surplus of albuminoids 
are generally the more expensive, the special value of the 
dried grains is thus seen. A balanced ration needs about 
five parts of carbohydrates to one of protein or album¬ 
inoids, hence we see that brewers’ grains, if procurable at 
modest prices, are especially valuable. Pound for pound, 
they excel in value any bran, middlings or other commer¬ 
cial feeds of the day. 
These remarks merely prelude the fact that a represen¬ 
tative of The Rural recently called on the newly estab¬ 
lished concern known as the Empire Dairy Feed Company, 
with offices at 170 Broadway, New York, and a plant in 
active operation at 645 and 651 West 46th Street. This 
company has control of an improved process, and is now, 
with Its initial plant, turning out 15 tons daily of dried 
grains. The Rural man was courteously shown through 
the establishment and every facility was given him for 
complete investigation. It is but justice to say that he 
wa* delighted with the process employed. The grains come 
warm and wet from the breweries and in a few hours are 
dry—In perfect condition for feeding, or they can be safely 
shipped around the world. The finished product is per¬ 
fectly uniform—never burned or even browned, The 
demand for these products is unlimited. At present prices 
these dried grains can be profitably shipped to Europe— 
one consignment of 100 tons recently went to Hamburg. 
But there will be no need of exporting so valuable a food 
when its qualities become better known. Ie believe this 
company has been and still is delivering the dried grains 
f. o b at $18 per ton, and at this rate they are the cheapest 
dairy food I know of in the market. 
The company has ample capital, as we learn from the 
courteous secretary, Mr. Wm. Bouldin Jr., and as fast as 
possible, it proposes to increase its business. It has al¬ 
ready secured a valuable lot of land in the upper part of 
the city where it will soon erect a large plant, and It is 
looking for another in Brooklyn. The Rural wishes it 
the greatest success. Its product is a highly valuable one, 
and we believe it will, in a few years, drive out the busi¬ 
ness of feeding wet grains. 
In this connection, it may be of interest to give the rela¬ 
tive feeding values of a few of the articles in common use, 
so that, by comparison, the thoughtful student may know 
what to buy. The values are taken from the tables in 
Prof. Stewart’s book, and are based on analyses made by 
Dr. Wolff of Germany, and, I believe, by Dr. Peter Col¬ 
lier, when Chemist of the Agricultural Department. 
comparative values. 
Product. 
Good clover hay. 
Extra clover hay. 
Medium meadow hay... 
Extra meadow hay. 
Coru m al . 
Weight—Lbs. 
. 100 
Value. 
{0.70 
O.bO 
0.64 
0.75 
Coarse wheut brau . 
Wneat middlings. 
Brewers’ grains, drl d. 
. 100 
1 01 
1.01 
1.20 
1.23 
Brewers’ grains, kiln dried. 
E. G. K. 
BARBED WIRE IN ENGL AND. 
Barbed-wire fencing is becoming quite common on some 
Euglish farms and, as a consequence, English farmers are 
discussing its merits in a way that would do credit to a 
rural debating society on the tariff. In parts of the coun¬ 
try where hunting is followed regularly and where the 
farmers breed and raise horses of the Hunter breed, there 
is great opposition to barbsd wire. Here is an account of 
a recent trial taken from the Hereford Times : “A claim 
was made by A, the occupier of a meadow, for injury to 
his horse occasioned by its having come into contact with 
barbed wire which B, the occupier of the adjoining 
meadow, had fixed against his (B’s) fence on the ditch 
side. The wire was on B’s bank and not on A’s land. A’s 
horse appears to have got against the wire and sustained 
Injury. The solicitor for A said that the law was that if a 
person erected anything on his own land, which could do 
injury to his neighbor, he did It at his own risk, and was 
liable for any injury his neighbor might sustain, and that 
consequently, although A’s horse got upon B’s bank, and 
was there hurt, B was liable, as the wire fence was placed 
there by B. To my astonishment, the judge said that that 
was the law of the land, and he wouldn’t hear a word 
against it. The result was that B had to pay $80 and the 
costs.” 
In commenting on the above another writer says: 
‘‘There was a case coming within my own knowledge 
where a man returning home at night to his cottage at¬ 
tempted a short cut across three fields. A deep snow had 
fallen. There was a barb wire in one of these fences, it 
caught the seat of his breeehes, and he fell over on his 
face in the snow, and being unable to extricate himself, 
was found the next morning suffocated and frozen to 
death. I wonder what the writer of the above letter 
would have thought of himself had that accident hap¬ 
pened in his field, when he considers he has a perfect right 
to do what he likes with his own.” 
Helping the Milkman. —A new French device for de¬ 
livering milk at retail is illustrated at Fig. 318. A hole 
shaped like a speaking tube, is made in the door or near 
it. Inside there is a little shelf on which the can or other 
receiving vessel can rest. The milkman comes with a lit¬ 
tle funnel, shaped as shown in the plctuie, and easily 
pours his milk through it into the can, which is inside 
where it will not be stolen. Many of the families in the 
larger towns and cities have bread, milk and other articles 
Fig. 3 1 8. 
of food left, in the early morning, on the steps or In the 
halls. A good deal of it is stolen by tramps and thieves, 
while wandering dogs frequently make an early breakfast 
at the expense of the household. This arrangement would 
certainly put an end to such loss, but the milkman would 
lose one valued privilege. It would be Impossible for him 
to “ kiss the cook” with any satisfaction through his fun¬ 
nel or through the hole in the wall 1 
