218     ICE  ;  ITS  COLLECTION,  STORAGE  AND  DISTRIBUTION. 
the  form  of  the  slits  dividing  the  teeth  from  each  other.  These 
slits  are  curved,  with  the  concavity  looking  forwards,  so  that  the 
teeth  are  actually  sharper  than  those  of  the  hand  plow,  as  the 
angles  between  the  lower  edge  and  each  slit  are  much  more 
acute.    The  same  operation  is  repeated  now  at  right  angles  to 
the  former  grooves,  and  the  cakes  are  ready  for  separation  from 
each  other.    The  mode  of  effecting  this  is  probably  not  uniform. 
In  this  city,  the  largest  dealer  commences  by  sawing  out  one 
outside  row  of  the  blocks,  and  another  adjacent  and  at  right  an- 
gles to  the  first.    The  rows  thus  cut  are  slightly  bevelled,  nar- 
rower below  than  at  the  top.    Before  doing  this,  however,  it  is 
necessary  to  take  measures  to  prevent  the  water  from  entering 
the  grooves  and  freezing  therein,  thus  filling  them  up.    This  is 
done  by  caulking  them  with  snow,  and  this  is  done  with  an  in- 
strument called  the  caulking  bar,  a  bar  with  a  broad  chisel-like 
end,  and  so  made  as  to  enter  the  grooves,  and  drive  the  snow  to 
the  very  bottom.    The  two  outside  rows  having  been  sawed  out, 
the  blocks  lifted  upon  the  adjacent  ice,  and  the  grooves  behind 
the  next  row  of  blocks  having  been  caulked  as  before,  a  bar 
called  the  breaking  bar  is  used,  generally  in  pairs,  to  pry  the 
blocks  apart,  giving  double  the  purchase  attainable  with  a  single 
one.    The  caulking  process  must  be  used  behind  every  row  of 
blocks  to  be  separated,  else  the  plowing  would,  on  one  of  our 
freezing  days,  prove  a  Sysiphsean  labor,  having  to  be  repeated 
again  and  again  ad  infinitum.  The  blocks  are  now  floated,  through 
a  channel  cut  in  the  ice,  to  the  ice  house,  which  brings  us  to 
3.  Storing  and  Packing. — The  blocks  once  arrived  at  the 
house,  which  is,  whenever  it  is  possible,  built  so  that  the  ice  can 
be  floated  up  to  it,  is  then  seized  by  a  huge  pair  of  tongs  made 
specially  for  the  purpose,  as  the  cakes  are  heavy,  weighing  three  or 
four  hundred  pounds  apiece,  and  hoisted  up  at  once  where  they 
are  wanted.  The  ice  is  disposed  in  regular  tiers,  the  blocks  be- 
ing placed  as  closely  together  as  possible,  though  no  particular 
pains  is  taken  to  fill  up  the  interstices.  This  proceeds  until  the 
house  is  filled.  One  of  the  most  important  particulars  relates  to 
the  covering  over  all.  The  material  preferred  before  all  others 
is  the  long  pine  shavings  of  the  carpenters.  These  are  cleanly, 
durable,  and  not  subject  to  decay,  are  easily  handled  with  a  com- 
