©fce RURAL NEW-YORKER 
115 
The Farmers’ Ice Supply 
Cutting and Storing a Chilly Crop 
F acilities for home convenience.— 
This is the season for securing the ice harvest 
in New York State. Dairy farmers especially find 
an adequate supply of ice a necessity, while all 
others fiqd it an economy in the preservation of food 
as well as a means of affording the family with many 
a cool treat on hot Summer days. There is no reason 
why city residents should have a monopoly of con¬ 
veniences and luxuries. This is one that is inex¬ 
pensive in materials, and the labor required to 
secure it comes at a time when the farmer has more 
t : me for extras. Most farms are located near some 
pond or creek, so that supply of pure water for 
freezing may be had with a little care. On the 
writer’s farm a small creek that is merely a trickle 
of water during dry weather is the supply for a 
number of neighbors. A cement foundation for a 
dam was built where a bridge crosses the stream. 
A few days before the ice is needed, when the 
weather is clear and cold, several two-inch foot 
pianks are placed in grooves prepared for them, so 
as to dam the stream. At 
this time of year the natural 
pond site or basin located just 
above will fill in 24 to 48 
hours. The water is clear and 
clean, and the bottom of the • 
pond is well grassed over, so 
the ice is safe for any sort of 
use later on. In a few days 
ice from six inches to a foot 
in depth will form, depending 
on the weather. A shallow 
pond like this will freeze very 
quickly, and if the harvest is 
secured promptly very little 
shoveling or scraping of snow 
is ever necessary. 
SECURING QUALITY. — 
On natural ponds, lakes or 
rivers the ice is slower in 
forming, and some attention 
has to be given to keep snow 
off the surface. Snow hinders 
freezing, and if successive 
snowfalls and thaws occur 
the quality of ice formed is 
very poor. It is best in such 
cases to clear the snow off 
from an area sufficient to fur¬ 
nish a supply as soon after it 
falls as possible. A homemade 
plank scraper is sufficient for 
the work, using a team of 
horses. Or if only one family 
supply is to be cut the snow 
can be shoveled off a small 
area, the ice cut when eight 
to 10 or 12 inches deep, and 
the water can be allowed to 
form another crop of ice if 
desired on the same area. 
STORAGE.—After the ice 
itself, the next consideration 
is a place to store it. This 
may be a very roughly constructed house or shack, 
if necessary. If located on a well-drained site pre¬ 
ferably in the shade of some big trees, and as near 
to the milk-house and kitchen as may be, for greater 
convenience, a structure may be made of rough or 
practically waste lumber that will keep ice well for 
a number of years. For 10 years or more the 
writer’s farm has had such a rough temporary 
structure, only 11x13 feet in size, with just a shed 
roof made of the same rough boards, and it has 
kept ice even better than a neighbor’s more care¬ 
fully and tightly built icehouse. In this case both 
gables were left entirely open for ventilation. In 
the more carefully built icehouses there is apt to 
be too little ventilation, and the ice melts rapidly 
If drainage is not good and water collects about the 
too it will waste very rapidly indeed. 
TACKING THE ICE.—In this house sawdust is 
used for packing, about a foot and a half on each 
outside wall. The ice blocks are cut very smooth 
and uniform in shape, so as to tit into a compact 
block in the center of the house. No rough or broken 
cakes of ice are used. The usual thickness of the 
ice used has been 12 to 1<‘> inches. The stock of ice 
in the house when packed ready for insulating 
should be as nearly cubical as possible. A certain 
amount of ice must be stored, regardless of the 
amount to be used, as small quantities will melt 
before the season is over. The larger the quantity 
stored the less in proportion is the loss by melting. 
AMOUNT REQUIRED.—The rules given by the 
Federal bulletin on icehouses, and it will tally fairly 
well with the custom here, is to store one to one 
and a half tons for each cow in the dairy, if milk 
('i* milk and cream is to be cooled, with an allowance 
of three to six tons for household use, and an allow¬ 
ance for melting equal to 43 per cent of the whole 
if a minimum amount is to be stored. Approximately 
19 tons will lie needed for a 15-cow dairy, with five 
tons for family use and 10% tons for melting. This 
will need a house 14x14 feet, with 14 foot posts, and 
will allow an ice stack of 12x12x12 feet. The cakes 
in a small house for farm use are taken out one at 
o time, in portions of about 100 pounds each, and 
lhe sawdust packing has to be opened each time, 
allowing heat to enter. The main loss from melting 
is caused in this way, particularly if there are any 
cracks between the cakes. Any cracks that develop 
in building the stack should be filled with crushed 
ice, avoiding all air spaces. The floor, winch may 
be a dirt one. should have a thick layer of sawdust 
and should slant towards the center somewhat, so 
all the cakes will have a tendency to press towards 
Convenient Method of Getting Ice Ready to Load. Fig. 26 
Scraping Snow Off the Ice Field. Fig 21 
the center. When the ice is to be used the outside 
must be kept well tramped down, attending to this 
at least once a week. 
CUTTING THE ICE.—In cutting very simple tools 
may be used. If the water is three or four feet 
deep under the ice merely a crosscut saw with one 
handle removed, a crowbar, an ax and a pair of 
tongs. If the ice is on very shallow water, or if 
several farms get supplies at the same place it will 
pay to have some of the modern ice-cutting tools. 
It is best to have one man do all the cutting, so as 
to secure better uniformity in the shape of the 
cakes. These may be of any size that is convenient 
to handle or to use later on. They may be packed 
on edge, but many prefer packing on the flat sur¬ 
face to prevent slipping of the cakes. When remov¬ 
ing ice from storage in warm weather always replace 
the packing material very carefully, firming it down 
well and using dry or moist sawdust in preference 
to wet whenever possible. The storage house may 
be erected at even this late date if necessary, build¬ 
ing the sides first, filling with ice, packing it in well 
and adding the sawdust and putting the roof on 
last. M. G. F. 
sheep for the past five years. Doubtless many 
owners of small flocks will not know where to sell 
their wool this year, and if they look to deal with 
the country hucksters will be measurably disap¬ 
pointed in the prices offered. 
My sheep are grade Hampshire Downs. For three 
years I sold the few pounds of wool to one of the 
many hucksters who purchase chickens, calves, pigs 
and cows from the unorganized farmers of Somerset 
County, N. J. Last year my clip amounted to 50 
pounds, and was offered at the farm 40c a pound 
for the wool. As I thought that a very poor price 
T refused to sell. The buyer told me that he could 
buy plenty at that price, but a few days l iter of¬ 
fered three cents a pound more. 
I thought I would do a little hunting on my own 
hook, figuring that these men who buy small lots 
must have some place to send it, and I found that 
they sold to a man in a town nearby at an advance 
of five or more cents per pound. The storekeeper 
later reships to a wool warehouse at another ad¬ 
vance of a few cents, but has the advantage of 
shipping several hundred pounds. I went to New 
York to look for a buyer, thinking that I would skip 
as many in-between men as 
possible. I went to the Wool 
Exchange Building and called 
on several brokers, who had 
a laugh at my expense when 
in answer to their inquiry I 
told them my shipment would 
be 50 pounds of wool. “That 
is but a sample, young man." 
they would say with a smile. 
“We handle shiploads at a 
time.” “Well. I want a broker 
or a dealer who handles job 
lots. You can help mo locate 
one,” was my reply. After 
spending a good part of a day 
I finally found one. He is a 
very cordial man, and I found 
that he was glad to receive 
small shipments. He gave me 
a few points as to grading a 
wool sack and some shipping 
tags, and I returned home 
feeling that I had learned 
something worth while so far 
as handling wool was oon- 
cerned. 
The wool was sent by ex¬ 
press. costing for expressage 
about one cent a pound. In 
a few days I received a check 
for 60 cents a pound for the 
wool. This year I sent a few 
pounds more, as my flock now 
number 15 ewes. I received 
the enclosed statement and a 
check for 72 cents a pound, 
$56.16 total. The buyers of¬ 
fered me on the farm 60 cents, 
so I was 12 cents, or allowing 
for the expressage, 11 cents 
per pound ahead, or for the 
78 pounds $8.58 to my advan¬ 
tage for not dealing with a 
local huckster. When I told the local man about it 
lie laughed and said: “Well, you are a little smarter 
than some of the men who keep sheep. I bought 
quite a large clip up in Hunterdon County the other 
day for 40 cents, or just what I paid last year.” 
Somerset Co.. N. ,T. tiE o. a post. 
Selling Small Lots of Wool 
HAVE been interested to read your subscribers’ 
experiences in selling their wool. I am offering 
my experience as one who has kept a small flock of 
Experience With An Auto Truck 
I X 1912 I purchased a one-ton auto truck. I had 
no experience in such matters, but figured I could 
run and keep the truck up on seven cents a mile. 
Experience proved these figures correct; this truck 
is still running. The average load carried was about 
3.000 pounds. The first of last September we pur¬ 
chased a one-ton truck of a popular make, worm 
drive. We have driven this 2,500 miles. We have 
used 240 gallons of gasoline, costing $62.40, 26 quarts 
oil costing $2.28; had to put on an electric tail lamp. 
$2.95; new timer. $1.50; fan belt. 50c; three lamp 
bulbs, $1.03. a total cost of $70.68, or a little less 
than three cents per mile. The average load car¬ 
ried was 2.700 pounds in going to market. Return¬ 
ing the load varied down to nothing. Part of this 
hauling was through six to 12 miles of mud. The 
truck is as good as the day it came out. Can anyone 
beat it? 
The labor cost will run four to six cents per mile 
according to the character of the hauling, varying 
