207 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, January 3, 1860. 
water accumulate at the bottom of the well, the evaporation from 
it will raise such a fog in summer as will rapidly melt the ice. 
Such houses are generally made in the shape of an inverted cone, 
or an egg with the largest end uppermost, and a medium-sized 
house might be 8 feet in diameter at bottom, 11 feet at the widest 
part, and 14 or 15 feet deep from the bottom to the top. When 
bricks are used there is no difficulty in thus having it round ; but 
I have no prejudice at all in favour of such a round house; but for 
all purposes would as soon have a square building, whether built 
of stone or wood, or any other material. 
In most of these old-fashioned egg-shaped houses there is a 
long passage leading to the well, with two or three doors, and, in ’ 
many cases, the ice must be all carried in and out through that 
passage. With two padded doors the long passage may, in all 
cases, be dispensed with; and although the ice should be removed ! 
through these doors, it will always be an advantage to have an 
opening at the top for throwing the well-broken ice into the well. 
I have known several cases of severe illness as the result of men 
being kept for several hours in these long passages shovelling the ! 
broken ice past them. 
Where dryness may be secured, there need be no objection to 
sinking the well wholly below the ground. In soils retentive of 
moisture, care should be taken to prevent the outside moisture 
penetrating through the walls, by building them in cement, or 
raising them partly, or nearly wholly, out of the ground. It is 
quite a mistake to suppose that to keep ice well you have merely 
to get it into a hole beneath the surface of the ground. On an 
average the earth will be warmer all the year round at the depth j 
at the bottom of the well than at the surface. All moisture | 
getting to the wall w r ould melt the ice; the moisture that would 
ooze out from a w r all above the ground w'ould actually cool the 
interior by evaporation. 
I have not had any iee-houses entirely above ground under my 
own charge ; but I have noticed how well the ice kept in several, 
though, as far as I recollect, half as large again as the size 
mentioned as small ones above. One I recollect was built of 
brick-wmlls nine inches thick, double walls separated a foot or so 
from each other, and a door in each wall, top densely thatched, 
and overhanging the outside wall by a couple of feet or so, a 
stair to go up to the doorway, and a stone stair inside to the 
bottom of the house. The ice was pitched in from the carts and 
broken inside, and kept remarkably well. The great secrets in 
this case were the double wall and the enclosed space for air 
between them. Of all non-conductors of heat, enclosed isolated 
air is the best. Neither what we call heat, nor what we call 
cold, ha3 the power to any great degree to pass through it. 
I recollect once noticing in the end of June the thermometer in 
the shade, against the outer well of such a house, indicating 77°, 
and another thermometer on the wall inside the ice-well ranging 
from 32° to 34°, but wo shut the doors behind us. In sunk 
wells this double wall is just of equal importance. The outer 
one prevents the heat of the soil affecting the ice. I met with a 
nice example of this some time ago. An old-fashioned ice-well 
had been so built, and answered remarkably well. In course of 
time, three or four ice-tubs had to be supplied at the mansion 
instead of one,—everything in summer had to be cooled with ice, 
—and the supply from the house, being opened so often, was not 
equal to the demand. The supposed genius of the establishment 
counselled the removal of the inner wall, which would at once 
make the house about three feet wider from top to bottom, and 
set at liberty so many thousand bricks for other purposes. What 
could seem more feasible ? and accordingly it was done, and the ( 
house well filled the next winter; but the enlarged house was 
emptied fully six weeks earlier than it used to be before. Since 
then the wagon-loads of straw' packed against the walls inside 
and the trouble would soon cost more than the double wall, 
and, after all, with far inferior results. Eew things are better 
non-conductors than straw, especially if not much bruised by the 
flail or threshing-machine, as every space between the joints is, so ^ 
far, a sealed-up air-tube ; but let that straw get thoroughly soaked 
inside a house, and its non-conducting powers would not only be 
gone, but the vapour always rising from it would keep a damp 
fog always resting upon and melting away the ice. I have no 
faith, therefore, in straw as a non-conductor inside a house, 
unless it be kept dry. I have a largo house which, when filled, 
generally secui'es pretty well a two-year’s supply; that, too, had 
been built, I believe, with hollow walls, and the inner one was 
removed before I knew it, to increase the size; but I soon gave 
up using packings of straw, having come to the conclusion that, 
on the whole, from getting damp it did more harm than good. 
When either a stone, brick, or a wood-house is raised partly or 
wholly above the ground-level, coveriug the single w r all, whatever 
it is, with from six to nine inches of straw neatly fastened 
on the outside, and with the eaves of the roof projecting far 
enough to keep that straw dry, will be the best substitute for a 
double wall; and if the ears of wheat are all removed so as not 
to entice birds or mice, the straw will last a number of years. 
Thus by using hollow walls, or a non-conducting of heat 
medium, it will be seen that regular ice-houscs may be as well 
partly or wholly above ground as below it; and in the cir¬ 
cumstances of soils retentive of moisture, much better above 
than below. When so built and near the mansion, they could 
be turned to many useful purposes, with more economy as to ice, 
than when the ice has to be brought in pails and barrow-loads to 
the house. 
One correspondent proposes building an ice-well near his house 
on Cobbet’s plan, but substituting close, thick boards, and less 
space between the walls than Gobbet recommends. We have no 
doubt of its answering even better. It may be just as well to 
notice Cobbet’s plan, which answers well when well managed. 
He recommends choosing a circular space of ground, placing a 
post 10 inches in diameter, and 15 feet in height above the ground 
level, perpendicular in the centre. In a circle 10 feet from the 
centre post, place fifteen posts, 9 feet high, and the centre of one 
2 feet from the centre of the other. In another circle, 14 feet 
from the centre, are placed fifty-four posts, 5 feet in height, and 
also two feet from centre to centre. These posts have the tops 
levelled, so that the w'all-plates placed on them enable the rafters 
to be straight, and to extend considerably beyond the walls or 
outer posts. The space between the posts is densely and closely 
packed with straw, four feet or so in width, and the roof will be 
equally thick. A passage through this straw wall, and two doors 
rendered close by a covering of woollen cloths, or anything of 
that kind, finish the whole. The chief objection to the plan 
is the likelihood of vermin having such free access to the straw', 
and burrowing and making holes in it, and thus allowing air to 
get in pretty freely. These holes onco made would retain their 
positions from the very compactness of the straw. Our friend 
complains of the scarcity of straw, and would rather have his 
wood walls close on each side, and 15 inches between the two 
walls. He proposes placing from one-iuch-and-a-half to two- 
inch boards close together, and then fastening three-inch pieces 
across the joinings, so that, whether the wood swell or contract, 
there shall be no opening. If he makes the intermediate space 
about air-tight, w'e care little what he puts in the space. The air 
alone will do if isolated; if not thoroughly so, use straw, fern, 
or sawdust, or any non-conductor most easily accessible, and so 
dry that it will not heat. 
So much for the place: now for the filling. The chief thing is 
to get ico from good clear water, and pound it w r ell before leaving 
it. If the water is not clean, the ice will be unfit for preserving 
many things where fine flavour is an extra consideration. Every 
space of air enclosed between pieces of ice will hasten the decay 
of the ice whenever, these spaces can gain access to the air above 
them. When filling in frosty weather, it is a good plan to use a 
little water for filling up the crevices, which soon freezes the 
wdiole into a compact mass. All ice with leaves and pieces of 
wood in it is to be rejected if better can be got, as they will make 
a sort of free space round themselves long before the summer is 
passed. In packing it is advisable to keep the centre the lowest, 
and the outsides the highest; so that the moisture contained may 
find its way to the centre, and there be frozen, instead of passing 
through the ice at the outside and escaping. This same rule 
should also be attended to in taking the ice out of the ice¬ 
house. It is impossible to break the ice too fine—the more 
like sleet and snow the better, and the firmer packed the 
better. This is even more necessary when the house for keeping 
it is small. 
As to keeping ice when obtained, the great object is to prevent 
it being surrounded with a moist stagnant atmosphere. A dry 
air, though warm, will exert much less influence in melting the 
ice than a damp air though cold. Two facts tended to alter my 
views on ice-keeping. First: So long as the ice was above the 
dooi’way, or even somewhat above the ground level, it kept very 
well indeed; because, I imagine, there was so much less moist 
air in the house, or air of any kind; and until it had sunk some¬ 
what lower it came less under the influence of the increasing heat 
of the summer acting on the ground surrounding the ice. The 
second fact was, that in opening such a house in summer after 
the ice had sunk considerably, a stream of foggy air issued 
