[Illustration: AN ICE HARVESTING SCENE.]




  THE ICE CROP

  How to Harvest, Store, Ship and Use Ice

  A COMPLETE PRACTICAL TREATISE

  FOR

  FARMERS, DAIRYMEN, ICE DEALERS, PRODUCE SHIPPERS, MEAT
  PACKERS, COLD STORERS, AND ALL INTERESTED IN ICE
  HOUSES, COLD STORAGE AND THE HANDLING
  OR USE OF ICE IN ANY WAY

  INCLUDING

  Many Recipes for Iced Dishes and Beverages


  BY THERON L. HILES


  NEW YORK
  ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
  1893




  COPYRIGHT, 1892,
  BY ORANGE JUDD COMPANY




PREFACE.


An attempt is made, in this volume, to record some of the more
prominent features regarding Ice as it affects the health, convenience
and industry of the people.

The development of the ice industry during the last forty years has
been phenomenal; there are, however, but few records by which its
progress can be accurately gauged.

No pretentions, other than those of a practical character, are made
in behalf of this book. But it is hoped that the information here
collected will meet with the favor and approval of those who are
interested in this commodity.

                                                    THERON L. HILES.

CHICAGO, ILL., WINTER, 1892.




TABLE OF CONTENTS.


                                                                   Page.
  Frontispiece[A]                                                      2

  Title Page                                                           3

  Preface                                                              5

  Chapter I, An Historical Sketch                                   7–11

  Chapter II, Legal and Sanitary Methods                           11–14

  Chapter III, Cutting and Storing Ice                             14–42

  Chapter IV, Construction of Commercial Ice Houses                42–55

  Chapter V, The Care, Handling and Marketing of Ice               56–62

  Chapter VI, The Use of Ice in Refrigeration--Refrigerator
      Ice House for Use in Farming, Cutting Ice in Small
      Quantities for Farm and Family Use, Co-operation with
      the Ice Crop                                                 62–83

  Chapter VII, Artificial Ice and Cold Air Machines                84–91

  Chapter VIII, Ice in Transportation                              91–96

  Chapter IX, Retarding Houses Without Ice--Miscellaneous
      Hints                                                       96–101

  Chapter X, Recipes for Iced Food and Beverages                 101–114

  List of Illustrations                                          115–116

  Index                                                          117–122

[A] The Frontispiece is from the ice harvest of the Knickerbocker Ice
Co. of Chicago.




THE ICE CROP.




CHAPTER I.

AN HISTORICAL SKETCH.

  The Origin of the Ice Business in the United States--Its Wonderful
    Development Commercially and in the Manifold Uses of Ice--A Pen
    Picture of a Modern Ice Harvest.


Prior to 1805, there was no regularly conducted traffic in ice, in
this country. In the winter of 1805–6, a supply was secured at Boston,
Mass., and the following summer a cargo was despatched to the West
Indies, where yellow fever was then raging.

DOMESTIC AND EXPORT TRADE were both of very slow growth, and, in 1825,
the ice consumed in the United States and exported to foreign ports
was probably less than fifty thousand tons. During the thirty years
following, the consumption of ice increased more rapidly, and the
enterprise of the shippers carried the fame of Boston ice all around
the world. Cargoes were consigned to London, to the East Indies, and
the West Indies, Rio de Janeiro, Calcutta, China, Japan, and Australia.

THE EXPORT TRADE reached its height about this time. Frederick Tudor,
of Boston, Mass., who shipped the first cargo to the West Indies in
1806, and whose enterprise had carried his ships to all the ports
mentioned, was titled the “Ice King.” Not many years after this,
ice and refrigerator machines began to supply the demand for ice in
tropical climes, and the importations of the natural product soon
ceased. Two million tons is a liberal estimate of the amount of ice
stored at this date, 1855, in the United States, with six or seven
million dollars of invested capital.

MANY NEW USES for ice have exerted a marked influence on the demand
during the succeeding years. During the war of the Rebellion, the
Government was a large purchaser, on account of the hospital service.
The brewers, who in earlier days, had suspended operations during the
heat of the summer, now pursued their avocation continuously, with the
aid of ice. Meat packers found in ice an agent for immensely augmenting
their product, while the fisheries consumed many thousand tons.

The demand for ice creams and cooled drinks, together with the
growing taste for luxuries, in our cities and towns, has stimulated
the retailing of ice until, at this time, there is hardly a town
or village, where ice privileges exist, that does not support a
representative of the ice trade, and there are few large towns in the
South which are not furnished with one or more artificial ice factories.

THE USE OF ICE.--It is safe to say that, at this time, the users of
ice, directly or indirectly, now include nearly the entire population
of the United States.

DEVELOPMENT OF METHODS.--The progress made in the methods and
conveniences for securing the natural ice crop, and in the construction
of storage houses, has kept pace with the growth of the demand.
Originally, axes and saws comprised the dealers’ outfit. Now, a modern
plant is replete with tools and appliances, whose manufacture is a
distinct calling, and may comprise vessels, cars, wagons, immense
storage houses, where upward of one hundred thousand tons of ice are
gathered under one roof, also city supply depots and wharfs, all of
which are equipped with special regard to handling this product.

EXTENT OF THE ICE INDUSTRY.--The annual consumption of natural and
manufactured ice is very great. By adding to this the equivalent, in
tons of ice, of the work performed by refrigerator machines, in the
various industries in which they are used, the grand total is estimated
to exceed twenty million tons of ice used each year.

The capital invested in carrying on this business is not less than
twenty-eight million dollars. Employment, constant and temporary,
is afforded by the ice trade to about ninety thousand persons and
twenty-five thousand horses.

It is probable that more than half of the world’s annual ice supply
is procured and consumed in this country, which is the home of this
industry.

THE PRESERVING OR ANTISEPTIC POWERS OF ICE have long been made use of
to keep food from decay. The best illustration of its powers in this
direction is found in the accounts which travelers in Northern Europe
and Asia have given us of the discoveries of huge mammoths frozen
within large blocks of ice. This species of animal has been extinct
for ages, and so perfectly have they been preserved that some of the
native tribes occasionally make use of these supplies of flesh for
food. Fish, meat and eggs are now frozen and kept during many months,
and the transportation of fresh beef and mutton for thousands of miles
over land and sea is an established custom. Fresh fish are frozen in
the center of cakes of ice, and, shipped in this way, present a very
handsome appearance.

This property of ice for domestic and commercial purposes has been of
an incalculable benefit to the human family. Many eminent physicians
have laid the seal of their approval upon the use of ice as a remedial
agent, and also for the alleviation of suffering among the sick. So
highly did they esteem it that, prior to the general introduction of
the trade in ice, many doctors and managers of hospitals had private
stores of ice for use among their patients. The directors of the
Pennsylvania hospital at Philadelphia may be credited with being the
pioneer ice dealers of that city, as in the early years of the century
they disposed of their surplus stores of ice by sale in that community.
Many localities which are now important centers in the ice trade were
at one time dependent upon the medical fraternity for ice for hygienic
purposes.

PEN PICTURE OF A MODERN ICE HARVEST. (See Frontispiece.)--Viewed
from an eminence on the shore, a pretty and engaging scene is often
presented at an ice house in the country, during the harvest. The clear
sunlight flooding the quiet landscape discloses here and there a snug
farmhouse sheltered among the hills, and surrounded with trees and
shrubs, rivaling, in their soft downy draperies of spotless white and
brilliant pearls, their vernal beauty when joyous spring has clothed
their boughs with fragrant blossoms and emerald leaves. The broad
stream or lake, ice-locked and still, stretches away to the distance,
a level and unbroken plain; its farther shore dwindling away until
lost to view, presents a delicately traced outline of forest and field
against the horizon. The near by shore stands out clear cut and bold
of outline, but quiet and deserted. Nothing in the aspect of nature
denotes activity or invites the attack of man by a display of treasure.

Stepping to the brink of the hill near the shore, a new scene breaks
upon the view. At the foot of the hill stands a huge ice house, its
shore side serried with galleries along the entire front, with inclined
ways extending from the water to the top of the house, and a connecting
bridge or runway between each gallery and the incline. Alongside of
the incline is discovered a power-house and tool-room, and at a little
distance large barns and dwellings. From the foot of the incline
leading out into the lake is seen a dark line, which branches out and
becomes a large blot on the clear white surface. A closer inspection
reveals an animated scene, of men armed with strange weapons attacking,
with great vigor, fields of ice, which they detach from the main
surface, and on which they navigate the open water, already stripped
of its frozen crystals. All around are seen teams and horses drawing
huge loads of snow to the distant shores, plows and markers, crossing
and recrossing the cleared surface, and long lines of ice blocks, which
are being floated along the channels to the incline, where the puffing
engine imparts motion to swiftly gliding, endless chains, which catch
up the waiting cakes and whisk them away up the incline and into the
ice house, looking as though they were endowed with life-motion and
were traveling of their own volition.




CHAPTER II.

LEGAL AND SANITARY MATTERS.

  Ice Privileges and Legal Points--Artificial Ice Ponds and Sanitary
    Care of Ice Ponds and Fields.


Attention is now being given to the sanitary condition of the sources
from whence supplies of natural ice are obtained. Ice sold for domestic
uses and cut from canal water, must, in New York, be so labeled.

Agitation in this direction has led to the prohibition of ice cutting
on specified polluted waters, by some boards of health, for any other
than cooling purposes. In several States the ice crop is protected by
the enactment of laws which make it a misdemeanor to destroy or injure
ice in the field where it is to be cut.

No doubt the preservation of the purity of our streams and lakes will
receive more care in the future, as sanitary knowledge becomes more
widely diffused.

LAKES FED BY SPRINGS, and having clean beds, have naturally risen in
value for ice cutting purposes. Running streams, especially those with
a rapid current, purify their waters very rapidly. Exposure to light
and air, the influence of oxygen, and the motion of the water, all
assist in this good office. Foreign substances are expelled from the
ice in the process of freezing, and streams of this character, not
polluted by the presence of sewerage, waste products from factories,
packing houses, gas works, etc., produce ice of great purity.

THE OWNERSHIP OF ICE FIELDS has been a bone of contention in many
instances, where a knowledge of the legal rights involved would have
saved expensive litigation. In a general way, ice cutting rights
are divided into two classes. Ice on navigable waters is under the
authority of the national government. “Navigable,” in this instance,
being used to denote tide water, the proprietary rights of owners of
the abutting property are limited to the water line at high tides.
On all such waters, navigation being closed, the ice is free and
is secured by pre-emption, the first one to stake out claims being
entitled to cut the ice. In contentions over boundaries of ice fields,
where the issue is in doubt, the ice dealer whose property forms the
water front is given the preference.

Rivers, small lakes and navigable streams above tide water are termed
public. The boundary line of abutting property is held to extend under
the water to the center of the channel, and includes the ownership
of the ice formed above it. Public convenience for navigation and
commerce, however, take precedence. The rights to this ice are thus
subject to contract and sale. The submerged land may also be sold, and
all deeds to water front property should clearly set forth the boundary
line and all the rights that are guarded and reserved.

WHERE DAMS ARE BUILT across streams and the water line is raised on
property beyond the limits of that held by the owner of the dam,
consent must be obtained from the holders of property thus affected.

There are numerous creeks and brooks which are fed by springs, or have
their source in spring lakes, which make excellent ice fields, with
very little labor or expense. Advantage may be taken of low lands in
the vicinity of such streams. Gravel forms the best bed for ice ponds,
as it is free from weeds. In some of our lakes, occurring in districts
abounding in gravel, the water is pure and sweet and the gravelly bed
can be seen at great depths. Springs are usually numerous in such
localities.

The following methods of preparing dams can be employed in some
situations. The depth of the pond and the force of the current of the
stream are to be taken into account in fixing upon the proportions and
construction of dams. Also the quantity of water usually running into
the pond and the largest amount likely to be received during a season
of flood. If the soil is a light loam, or a seam of gravel is near the
surface, dig a trench down to a hard bottom, and on the pond side drive
in a row of stout boards, breaking joints and sloping them toward the
dam. Behind this paling fill in with clay rammed down. A crib formed of
logs notched and bolted together, and lined or faced with plank on pond
side, should be set at the rear of the sub-paling. This crib is filled
with stones and clay or sand. The front is banked up with earth and
covered with rip-rap.

The center of the dam is provided with a sluiceway large enough to
carry off flood waters, and, at the bottom, a pipe or a box well bedded
in cement gives a current on the bottom which carries off sediment. It
is also useful in taking off air and gases, which, arising from the
bottom, form air bubbles in the ice. Some water should always pass over
the upper sluiceway.

Dams may be formed entirely of an embankment of earth and stone. Their
base should not be less than their height, with increased thickness
where pressure from a current has to be resisted. Shallow dams may be
formed by driving two rows of plank across the line of the dam, and
filling in the inclosed space with rammed clay. Break joints in the
planking, and bolt stringers along the top edges to bind them firmly
together.

IN CHANGING THE COURSE OF STREAMS, cut the new channel deeper than the
old one, to insure the current following it. Straightening or changing
the course of a stream will often improve the topography of a farm and
drain wet or marsh land.

Food fish, which can readily be raised in these ponds, forms a welcome
addition to the family larder.

THE PURITY OF BROOKS which feed ice and fish ponds should be preserved.
No filth should be dumped into them or on their banks. Stables and
cesspools should not be situated where they will drain into them.
Vegetable refuse and litter, which may be brought down with the
current, should be caught by screens and removed from time to time, or
they will accumulate in the pond and injure it.




CHAPTER III.

CUTTING AND STORING ICE.

  The Science of Ice Formation--Preparing the Ice Field for the
    Harvest--Getting Rid of Snow--Sudden Thaws and How to Remedy
    Their Damage--Tools and Implements Used--Thickness of Ice--Care
    of Ice Tools--Filling the Ice House--Closing it up and Caring for
    It--Shipping Ice from the Field.


With the advent of a sharp freeze, attention is directed to the ice
field, from which a harvest is hoped for at no distant day. The
purification of the water has been given attention before this time,
together with all preliminaries relating to the plant in its various
and complex features. The weather now determines the lot of the ice
dealer. As the cold breezes whistle over the water, stirring it into
ripples, and breaking its surface into waves, a wonderful change is
rapidly transforming its liquid pearls into flinty diamonds. Gradually
the heat in the water is radiated into the air. As fast as the surface
water is cooled, it is condensed, and sinks to the bottom, its place
being taken by the warmer and lighter water from beneath. Gradually
the entire mass reaches the point of maximum density, at 39½° F. Below
this temperature, until it reaches 31° F., water expands as it is
cooled. Now the surface water no longer sinks as it grows colder, being
rendered lighter by expansion than the water beneath. Upon reaching
32°, convection, or freezing, takes place, and the surface assumes the
solid form.

CARE OF THE ICE FIELD.--From this time until the crop is stored in the
ice house, the ice dealer devotes his energies to the care of the ice
field. Special situations develop special duties and requirements,
which the alert dealer studies with care. If the ice is on a running
stream, the possible pollution of its higher levels will be carefully
guarded against, and also all rubbish removed from the surface of the
field. Sticks and stones bedded in the ice hinder the work and damage
the keen edges of the cutting tools. Motion in the water is necessary
to promote the growth of the ice, and, when the ice is sufficiently
heavy, traveling over the surface, or other jarring, is beneficial.
It has been found that where a roadway has been opened across an ice
field, and the travel over it considerable, the ice was thicker along
the roadway than at other places on the field.

On inclosed lakes or mill ponds, a gentle current induced in the water
promotes the growth of the ice materially. The air is expelled from the
water during freezing, if opportunity is found for it to do so. Unless
this is done, the ice is cloudy. Agitation of the water assists the
escape of the air; hence it is that ice from running streams is usually
clearer and more brilliant than pond or lake ice. An outlet afforded to
the land-locked ponds and lakes is often beneficial during ice-making
weather. Too rapid a current, however, will retard growth, and a gentle
motion diffused over the entire field produces the best results.

The growth should be carefully noted under different conditions,
attention being given to the atmospheric influences and other general
effects, and the regulation of the motion, based on ascertained results
at the locality where applied. As the ice thickens, its growth is
slower at the same, or even a lower, temperature than that which at
first made ice very rapidly. The earth at the bottom and sides of the
ice field radiate heat into the water. The heat rays of the sun pass
through the ice, if it is clear, into the water below, with very
little effect upon the ice itself. The ice, being a poor conductor of
heat, is, under these conditions, an obstacle to its own growth. It
shuts in the water from contact with the cooler air, prevents agitation
of its surface by passing breezes, and retards the escape of air and
heat.

On running streams, these conditions are much modified. In passing
over shallows or rapids, where the current is swift, the water remains
open and exposed to the air. At these points in its course it parts
with its accumulated air and heat very rapidly, a thin vapor or mist
being often perceptible in the air at such places, owing to the rapid
radiation. The tumbling and turning of the water at rapid shoals
materially assists the growth of ice at points below where the current
grows gentle. Streams of this character, whose beds are free from
accumulations of vegetable mold, or other sources which generate gases,
produce clear and sparkling ice of greater thickness than is found on
still ponds or lakes in the same vicinity, and exposed to the same
temperature.

THE USEFULNESS OF SNOW.--Snow, as it is well known, is a great
impediment to the inroads of frost into anything enveloped by it. A
covering of snow on an ice field is a great impediment to the escape
of heat from the water, as well as protecting the ice from the direct
action of the cold air, and greatly retards the growth of the ice. It
is essential to remove this snow as early as practicable, as the ice
harvester has always in view a possible thaw or rain, and endeavors to
secure his crop at the earliest practicable moment.

Snow, however, in the event of soft or warm weather, is an aid to the
ice by protecting it from the direct heat of the sun, and the force
of a rain is largely expended in melting the snow. The water and snow
on the top of the ice freezes into snow ice as soon as the weather
turns cold again. This snow ice is white, being very porous and filled
with air, and detracts from the quality of the crop, its thickness
depending on the depth of snow on the field, amount of water, and the
temperature. At the top of this snow ice, where it merges into the
snow, will be found a stiff, crusty layer, more or less firmly united
to the ice below, which adds to the difficulty of removing the snow on
top. An inch or two of snow ice will lessen the loss by breakage of
cakes, in stowing, and the ice also comes out of the house in better
shape, and will stand shipping better. It is not so brittle as clear
ice, and is homogeneous in its structure, not being readily split in
any direction.

REMOVAL OF SNOW.--Various methods and appliances are in use for the
expeditious and economical removal of snow. As soon as the field will
bear the weight of a horse, scrapers of various designs are placed at
work. If the ice is too thin to support a horse safely, flooding is
resorted to. At intervals of six feet, more or less, according to the
freedom with which the water rises through the openings, holes are cut
through the ice, and the water saturates the lower part of the snow.

[Illustration: FIG. 1. CLEARING OFF SCRAPER.]

This helps to thicken the ice rapidly, and, if the weather is cold, it
will very soon be heavy enough to support a horse. As soon as this is
the case, the scrapers are placed at work. The snow ice thus formed
is afterward gotten rid of by planing, if more than an inch or two in
thickness. If the snow is light, and not too deep, it is scraped into
windrows, by scrapers similar to those in Figs. 2, 3 and 4.

[Illustration: FIG. 2.]

[Illustration: FIG. 3.]

[Illustration: FIG. 4.

SNOW SCOOP SCRAPERS.]

These windrows are distributed over the field, not being made large
enough to sink the ice at any point. Scoop scrapers are now employed,
which gather up the windrows and carry the snow off to the shore, or
to a distance from where the ice is to be cut. If the field is very
large, and the snow deep, dumping points are selected on the field. The
weight of the snow will sink the ice at these points, and cracks will
soon loosen the dump from the main body of ice. A deep groove plowed
alongside of the dump will assist in loosening the dump, and keeps the
water off the field. Some of these scoop scrapers are constructed with
great care, and nicely adapted to the needs of the ice harvester.

A SUDDEN THAW during the winter, while the ice crop is forming, is an
annoyance to the ice dealer, and, if accompanied by rain, the field
will often suffer by being flooded with water from the surrounding
hills. Sand and earth may be washed on to the ice, making it dirty and
injuring its quality. Water standing on top of the field will soon comb
and rot the ice. If only an inch or two of water is on the field and
the weather turns cold, it can be left to freeze and then be planed off.

If it is deep it can be readily handled, by cutting holes through
the ice, or tapping the ice field in a number of places; the water,
being heavier than the ice, will sink and raise the ice, if it has
opportunity of so doing. Tapping should have prompt attention, and the
water removed without delay. Even if the water freezes on top, the ice
is not of good quality and is not part of the ice below. It forms a
layer which is attached to the old ice, but yet is not solidly a part
of it, and gives trouble by splitting out in barring off. Ice expels
the air while freezing principally toward the bottom, and as it has no
chance for escape through the ice beneath, the top layer will show a
white streak.

For tapping the field the auger and the tapping axe are used. If the
water is accumulating rapidly and despatch is wanted, the axe will
be found the more rapid-working tool. The auger, however, makes
neater work, and leaves the field in better shape--often an important
desideratum.

THE OUTFIT FOR HARVESTING.--Time is of great value in handling ice
in any of the various operations gone through with on the field or
in the house. Delays during harvesting greatly increase the cost of
getting ice prepared for the market. Great care and much study have
been devoted to perfecting the paraphernalia by which the ice crop is
handled, as will appear as the reader follows the round of duties of
the ice harvester. In some emergencies the crop is only saved from
partial or complete loss by the despatch which modern development of
tools and machinery has placed at the command of the enterprising ice
dealer. The advent of warm weather during the harvest demands the
utmost celerity in all departments, if the crop is secured.

[Illustration: FIG. 5. ICE AUGER.]

[Illustration: FIG. 6. MEASURE.]

[Illustration: FIG. 7. TAPPING AXE.]

More credit than is generally supposed to be warranted is due to the
splendid energy and managerial ability of the ice harvester, during
seasons when the home ice crop is a partial or entire failure. No one,
not practically familiar with the business, can readily understand
the extra strain and burden imposed on the ice dealer who succeeds in
securing supplies sufficient to meet the requirements of his customers,
by going to the far north for this most beneficent and useful product
of nature. Enterprise pays in this, as in any business.

Having removed the snow the field is carefully inspected, and quality
and thickness of the ice ascertained in all parts. The field is bored
with the ice auger, and the measure indicates the thickness. The auger
is withdrawn and the appearance of the ice noted before the auger
reaches the bottom and water fills the hole. If the snow ice is too
heavy it must be removed.

[Illustration: FIG. 8. FIELD PLANER.]

Two methods for doing this are available. It can be cut loose and
broken into chips with the snow ice planer on the field, the chips
being afterwards cleared with scrapers and scoops; or it can be left
on the ice and cut away by the elevator ice planer as the ice cakes
pass up the endless chain ice elevator incline, on their way into the
ice house. The first method is in use wherever the endless chain ice
elevator is not employed. When it is to be removed by the field planer,
the ice field is first laid out and plowed to the depth of the snow or
sap ice to be removed. The snow ice planer follows the plowed grooves,
cutting off the refuse ice.

THICKNESS OF ICE.--Generally speaking, the ice is desired at an average
thickness of fourteen inches; this being convenient for subsequent
handling. In practice, the thickness of the ice, as it is stored or
shipped from the water, varies with the exigencies of the season and
the average thickness formed at the locality.

In the latitude of Central and Southern Ohio six-inch ice is often
stored; in the vicinity of Chicago and Omaha, ten inch; in Maine,
sixteen inch, and in Minnesota, twenty inch. Ice, thirty inches thick,
has been cut and stored on Lake Superior, in Northern Wisconsin, where
ice forms equal in purity and brilliancy to any found in this country.
The ordinary printing on the pages of a Chicago newspaper has been
easily read through a block of Lake Superior ice twenty-nine inches
thick. At Winnipeg, Manitoba, ice is cut forty inches in thickness.
Such thick ice keeps the year through.

[Illustration: FIG. 9. MARKER, WITH SWING GUIDE.]

[Illustration: FIG. 10. FIELD PLOW.]

[Illustration: FIG. 11. SWING GUIDE PLOWS.]

LAYING OUT THE ICE FIELD.--As the ice field is inspected and mapped
out for plowing, all unsound places, air holes, or shallow places
where rocks or sand bars approach near to the surface, are marked for
avoidance. A convenient method is to bore holes at such places, and
plant pieces of brush in them. Thin ice, formed where the ice has been
removed during cutting, is also marked in this manner, to give warning
of the danger of venturing upon it.

Like a good general, the ice harvester takes note of the physical
advantages of his position. If he can so lay out the field that the
current and prevailing winds are in his favor and assist to float the
ice toward the house, his strategy is not without reward. Room for
refuse ice is needed where it will not impede the ice floating toward
the house. The lay of the shore line must not be overlooked, on streams
where the current is strong, in calculating for support for the shore
ice. The best ice in the field will always be secured as a prime
consideration.

Quality should always be of the first importance, and, in these days
of close competition, pure ice is necessary for success in the ice
business. Ice, for any purpose, should never be cut from impure or
contaminated water. Too much care can not be given to securing clean,
pure, healthful ice for all uses, directly or remotely allied to
preserving or curing food products. Natural ice from pure crystal water
is one of nature’s purest productions.

Having gone over the field and determined the plan of operation,
the first task is to lay out the base lines from which the marking
and plowing are gauged. Stakes are planted at either end of the
line, and a heavy cord drawn taut between them. The hand plow is now
passed alongside the line, making a score in the ice from end to end.
Sometimes a long board with sights is used for laying out the first
line, and a line marker is a cheap substitute for the hand plow. The
teeth of the horse marker are now set in the hand plow groove; the
guide is unlatched and runs along on top of the ice. Care is taken to
keep the marker upright, by firmly supporting the handles. This cuts a
groove three inches deep. The blade of the guide is now placed in this
groove, and the marker cuts a new groove parallel with the first one.

[Illustration: FIG. 12. HAND PLOW.]

[Illustration: FIG. 13. PLOW ROPE.]

[Illustration: FIG. 14. LINE MARKER.]

This operation is continued until the field is grooved in parallel
lines over its surface in one direction. Plows are now started in the
marker grooves, and are run back and forth until the grooves have been
cut about two-thirds through the ice, care being taken to leave not
less than four inches of solid ice below the bottom of the groove.

Meanwhile the marker is at work scoring the field in lines at right
angles to those first laid out. A large wooden square with legs about
fifteen feet long is used to square from, and the field is marked and
plowed in both directions.

When the snow ice plane is to be used, the field is marked out in one
direction only. The depth cut is regulated by a planer gauge, attached
to the marker, to the thickness of the snow ice to be removed. The
runners of the plane set in the grooves and are guided by them.

CHANNELS AND CANALS.--The marking and plowing being well under way, the
channels and canals require attention. Where the current is gentle,
and on ponds and lakes, the opening of the channel and canals is not
attended with much difficulty. Where the current is swift, as on the
large rivers, practical skill is required in opening up the field. The
pressure of the current makes it difficult to open the channel and
canals, and the shore ice is in danger of giving way. Stays and braces
are sometimes employed to anchor the shore ice, and to prevent the
channels from closing.

In some instances it has been found advisable to have the channel
permanently fixed by piles driven into the bottom of the river on
either side. In others, braces are set in the ice, at short intervals,
before the channel is opened, as shown in the illustration. The posts
should be heavy, and the cross struts may be ten or twelve inches
square. The post holes, if cut oblong, will allow short boards to be
spiked to the sides of the posts at their lower ends. When inserted
through the ice, a quarter turn of the post will bring the projecting
ears under the ice, and no trouble will be given by the post raising
out of its place. The cross strut should just allow the ice to float
beneath, and be well secured to the posts, which require inclined
braces, joining the posts opposite the ends of the struts, with their
feet planted in recesses cut into the ice. Water should be poured
around the braces, and when the braces and posts are frozen in place a
very strong support is secured against the current, as the following
cut shows.

[Illustration: FIG. 15. BRACES FOR CHANNEL WITH SWIFT CURRENT.]

Where the current is not so strong, square frames may be employed. They
are placed in the channel where the ice cake will float through freely;
their sides should fill mortices in the sides of the channel, and not
project into the path of the cakes, as shown in Fig. 16.

Various methods of dealing with cracks in the ice have been tried.
A good one is to take long planks and extend them across the cracks
laying flat on the surface. By boring through the planks into the ice,
and inserting wooden pins, the loosened portion is firmly held, and the
cracks will freeze up. If the pins are inclined in opposite directions
a firm hold is secured on the ice.

When the channel has been located, if convenient, a deep groove is
plowed at either side, and the remaining ice is cut away with the pond
ice saws. Splitting chisels are now brought into play, and the ice in
the channel is split up into cakes, which are sunk and floated under
the ice. Canals through the plowed field are similarly opened. The
field is now in readiness to furnish a supply of ice cakes for stowing
in the house.

[Illustration: FIG. 16. BRACE FOR SLOW CURRENT.]

A section is selected, and the grooves carefully double calked
with chips, from the plowing, to prevent the water running in. For
this purpose a calking bar is used. Ice saws are now brought into
requisition, and the grooves at the ends of the section are sawed
through to the back. The groove at the back is now struck into at
several points with one or another of the barring off tools provided
for this work. A section called a float, and containing one hundred
to one thousand or more cakes, is readily split off. The tools used
for this work vary with the thickness of the ice and the size of the
floats. The fork bars are the most often used, the two-prong bar being
the favorite on heavy ice. If the first cuts with the saws are so made
that the ice cut away is a little wider on the bottom than on the top,
and the sides parallel, it will facilitate getting out the first float
cut away. By sinking the float a little all pinching or binding at the
sides is prevented.

[Illustration: FIG. 17. BEST CAST STEEL ICE SAWS.]

[Illustration: FIG. 18. TWO-PRONG FORK BAR.]

[Illustration: FIG. 19. THREE-PRONG FORK BAR.]

[Illustration: FIG. 20. FOUR-PRONG FORK BAR.]

[Illustration: FIG. 21. CALKING BAR.]

[Illustration: FIG. 22. BREAKING BAR.]

The floats are split into rows of single or double cakes, as they are
floated near to the channel leading to the incline. As the long rows
are moved into the channel, a man, standing on a bridge a few inches
above the ice, strikes a needle or splitting chisel into the plowed
grooves as they are passed beneath his feet. One or two dexterous
thrusts will cleave the ice to the bottom. In frosty weather, with the
ice hard, it can be split true and square, in most instances. Cakes not
smoothly split must be trimmed before they reach the incline, and the
bunches removed.

The work on the field is directed to secure a supply of ice cakes at
the foot of the incline, in advance of the requirements of those whose
duty is found in placing the cakes in position within the ice house. No
more than will be run into the house, and also leave the channel full,
with some floats near at hand at quitting time, should be detached from
the field.

Ice floats left too long before being broken up into single cakes, are
in danger of having the grooves flooded, and wholly or partially frozen
up. In this condition they are either worthless or split up with much
labor and great irregularity. The single cakes left in the channel over
night serve to prevent it being closed with ice in the morning, and the
delay incident to opening it up is avoided.

Some early work, however, is always needed on the channels. The single
cakes will have a connecting web of new ice, which must be broken up
and trimmed from the sides of the channel and the cakes. The broken
ice and damaged cakes which are not wanted must be kept clear of the
channel at all times. The larger pieces may be sunk under the ice,
and the smaller ones be removed by the scoop nets or sieve shovels. A
snowstorm during the harvest is attended with much discomfort to the
ice harvesters. The channels are filled with slush, which packs around
the floats and cakes, making their progress slow and laborious. It
eludes the scoop net and is very hard to deal with. The field is soon
buried out of sight, and must be cleared and scraped with as little
delay as practicable.

HOUSING THE ICE.--There is room for large latitude for variations in
the methods employed on the ice field. The situations are so different
that the dealer is called upon to exercise judgment and ingenuity,
in determining what is best to be done. On swift running streams the
ice, after first forming, may be broken by storms, and with a return
of settled weather, will freeze in rough and confused masses of broken
ice in places. At other points no floating ice has found lodgment, and
the second freezing is regular and of good quality. In order to secure
the ice from these favored spots, the harvester may be obliged to open
a channel several miles in length, and float the ice down to where his
storage houses are located.

At the foot of the incline at which the ice cakes are taken from
the water, and along the channel directly leading to it, the ice is
subject to much wear. The work necessarily done on the cakes as they
are floated through this channel, requires the presence of a number of
trimmers and bar men at this point, as well as those who are feeding
the cakes into the elevator, or placing them in position for the
grapple. The tools used at the foot of the incline and near by channel
are illustrated on Pages 00–00.

[Illustration: FIG. 23. ICE HOOKS.]

[Illustration: FIG. 24. ELEVATOR FEEDING FORK.]

[Illustration: FIG. 25. CHAIN SCOOP NET.]

[Illustration: FIG. 26. SIEVE SHOVEL.]

[Illustration: FIG. 27. RING HANDLE SPLITTING CHISEL.]

[Illustration: FIG. 28. CHANNEL HOOK CHISEL.]

[Illustration: FIG. 29. NEEDLE BAR.]

There is often an accumulation of refuse ice taken from the channel
and thrown on the ice not far away. Ice cakes sometimes slip from the
grapples on their way up the incline, and slide down, striking with
great force at the foot of the incline. All these, and other sources of
wear, on the ice, make it important to provide some protection to the
sides of the channel, and, as the edges soon dip below the surface of
the water, a footing or walk for the channel men. Where elevating by
means of grapples, it will be found a convenience, and often the means
of avoiding delays, to have a water box or trough sunk in the channel,
at a depth to admit the cakes passing freely on to the lower end, and
yet near enough the surface to prevent the cakes ducking, or dodging
under, when pressed forward from the rear. The jackman, as the slack
is taken out of the line and the pull is felt, bears a firm grip on
the handle of his grapple, and, at the same time, bears down heavily,
and ducks the heel of the cake, engaged by the grapple, under the
water. The men who are placing the cakes for the jacks, if the ice is
heavy, bear down on the cake with their pike poles at the same time,
to prevent the last cake from being ended over. The water box is
necessary, at these times, to steady the cake below, and prevent it
sinking too deep. Several cakes are usually run up at one trip. A sharp
lookout is necessary on the part of the jackman, and some experience
is required to become an adept at handling the grapple. Serious
accidents have resulted from careless or ignorant methods, and caution
should be observed by all who are employed about the field, incline,
or ice house. The construction of the water box varies with the depth
of water and amount of ice run over it. Usually it is of a temporary
character, and renewed each year. Order and a thorough system should be
carefully adapted to the work on the field and in the house, by every
ice harvester. Details, fully worked out, and the plan once in force,
it should be strictly observed by the proprietor, and exact compliance
insisted upon from all employes. Unless discipline is maintained,
especially on large fields, much loss of time and money will result,
and life and limb be jeopardized.

CARE OF ICE TOOLS.--Provision for preserving the cutting qualities of
tools is of great importance. An inferior tool, or one out of repair,
will detract from the efficiency of the labor employed to use it. The
amount depends on the particular kind of work under consideration, and
the comparative condition of the tool with which it is done. Attention
to this matter is often neglected, from a failure to properly estimate
its importance, or from a mistaken idea of the ease with which an
incompetent or ignorant man can spoil the best implement which can be
made. Ice saws, of the best type, will, when new, cut rapidly and true;
one or two dressings, done in the wrong way, will detract from their
cutting efficiency one-fourth or more, and it will be impossible to cut
true with them.

[Illustration: FIG. 30. TOOTHED TRIMMER BARS, IRON HANDLE.]

[Illustration: FIG. 31. TOOTHED TRIMMER BARS, _D_ HANDLE.]

[Illustration: FIG. 32. JACK GRAPPLE.]

[Illustration: FIG. 33. HANDLE GRAPPLE.]

[Illustration: FIG. 34. CHANNEL GRAPPLE.]

One man should be trained to correctly dress the saws, and then be held
responsible for their work. When the teeth are worn short, or the saws
are sprung, send them to the ice tool manufacturer, to have the teeth
gummed out to their correct size and shape, and the blades straightened
and stiffened. Ice plows are frequently rendered useless by improper
dressing or careless handling. The range and proportion of the teeth,
as they are when new, must be kept up, and the cutting points sharp
and keen. The heels and bottoms must be dressed down regularly with
the points,--no more, no less. Only a man of known ability should be
allowed, under any pretext, to dress the ice plows.

Any delay in plowing may involve the loss of part of the crop, and any
detention of the work of those detaching the cakes from the field, from
a lack of plowed surface to work upon, may prove to be the cause of an
hour or more time lost or frittered away by nine-tenths of the entire
force employed, both on the field and in the house. Nine-tenths of the
entire wages, for an hour or more, is thus lost to the owner, and an
incompetent workman is the apparent cause. The lack of management and
system is, more likely, the source of this waste.

Plows which have been worn so they cut hard, need gumming out, or
reforging, or both. Plows and markers are the chief cutting implements
of the ice harvester. Too much care cannot be taken to make a proper
selection, originally. The best plows are now made with steel beams and
steel bolts. They are superior to the old style iron plows. The guides
used on plows and markers should have no lost motion, at any point,
when the guide handle is latched in place. The latest improvements are
in the trussed form of guide, which is perfectly rigid, and the double
hinge and swivel method of securing the handle to the guide, combined
with the pin and mortice latch. This construction produces a plow and
guide which has no looseness in any joint, and is so braced that the
plow cannot depart from a vertical position unless the guide is raised
out of its groove.

All ice cutters who have had their fields marked in curved, instead
of straight, lines, with the resulting wrenching or breaking of plow
teeth, will appreciate and welcome this improvement. Bars, tongs,
and hooks should be kept sharp, and, when out of repair, sent to the
maker, to be brought back to a condition of efficiency. The close of
the cutting season is the best time to select and ship to the ice-tool
maker all implements which require overhauling.

A tool room should be provided, of sufficient size to store all cutting
tools, scoops, scrapers, and extras of all kinds that are liable to
breakage or rapid wear. Space should be reserved for a filing bench,
having a large north light, and a grindstone--driven by power when
practicable--for sharpening bars, hooks, and tongs. Where the ice
houses are large, and in isolated positions, the tool house, if well
fitted up, is of great assistance, affording the means for making
repairs of an urgent character. A good set of millwright tools,
together with a well-chosen supply of seasoned timber, of such sizes as
are used in the various runs and connections, will often repay their
cost in a single season. Large boarding houses are often found included
in the ice harvester’s inventory. This is a necessity where the storage
houses are situated any distance from towns or cities. Several hundred
men are sometimes thus accommodated.

FILLING THE HOUSE.--Ice should be housed during freezing weather, if
possible, as the cakes will then enter the ice house dry and hard. In
soft weather the ice is soft, and contains some water; the cakes, being
chilled in the house, are frozen together, causing an increase of labor
and breakage in getting the ice out for shipment during the summer.
When the ice is heavy, of best quality, and stowed, during freezing
weather, in a well-constructed ice house, it can be kept for two or
three seasons, and then be taken out in good condition, with but little
extra loss by breakage. It should have attention at all times, however,
and be kept in perfect order.

The various methods which are in use for elevating the ice cake from
the water into the ice house, or on to the platform, will be noticed in
detail, under a special chapter devoted to this important branch of the
mechanics of the natural ice trade.

[Illustration: FIG. 35. WOODEN SKID. NO. 1.]

[Illustration: FIG. 36. WOODEN SKID. NO. 2.]

[Illustration: FIG. 37. WAGON AND LOADING TONGS.]

[Illustration: FIG. 38. PACKING CHISEL.]

[Illustration: FIG. 39. PACKING CHISEL.]

The ice cake, as it enters the ice house, does so on a skid, or run,
which is placed at an inclination, the end nearest the entrance higher
than the end leading in toward the center of the room. At its lower end
the skid is connected with another having the same general inclination,
and thus a continuous line of runs is formed, extending from the
entrance to the farther part of the room. The inclination of these runs
is determined by the distance the ice is to travel on them, and the
height of the galleries on the front of the ice house.

The runs are usually arranged with a rapid descent near the entrance,
and the further end, on a level with the intermediate portion,
graduated between these extremes. When the inclination imparts too high
a speed to the cakes, a break is set into the runs. It usually consists
of a board, in which a number of large nails are driven, with their
heads left projecting above the surface. This board is set in the line
of the runs, or attached to one of them, so the under surface of the
ice scratches on the nail heads. The number of nails and the depth of
the scratches is easily varied to suit the velocity required.

As the ice cakes are run into the ice house, they are stored at the
farther end first, and are gradually filled in toward the front.
Through the back and center of the room, stowing is most rapidly
performed. Filling the front end, and under the runs, require more time
and care. The ice cakes are moved into place with ice hooks and tongs.
As the cakes pass along the runs, they are caught with the ice hook and
guided off the run, at either side, as desired. The runs are made flat,
with no projecting sides or rails. Two lines of the V-shaped run iron
are placed on the runs, and the ice will follow them, but is readily
slipped off when wanted. The accompanying cuts show the common patterns
of runs, and the tools used in the house during packing.

The hooks, tongs, and runs are used in directing the cakes to their
final positions. The bars, chisels, and adze are used to trim any
inequalities off from the cakes, and, in some cases, to level off each
layer of ice as it is stored. This is not so often done, when ice is
stored for shipment from the house, as in cooling rooms, when it is
desired to pack as much ice as possible.

[Illustration: FIG. 40. HOISTING TONGS.]

[Illustration: FIG. 41. DRAG TONGS.]

[Illustration: FIG. 42. EDGING TONGS.]

[Illustration: FIG. 43. ICE ADZE.]

PACKING ICE IN THE HOUSE.--The method employed in arranging the ice
cakes varies in different parts of the country. The important thing
to keep in mind is the amount of good, merchantable ice possible to
be gotten out of the house, as it is shipped away during the warm
season. This does not depend upon how much can be crowded in, but upon
the packing and arranging of the cakes. Two things are to be observed
in this, prevention of waste by melting, and ease in loosening or
detaching the cakes, as they are taken out. The following method may be
taken as an example, and varied as good cause is found for so doing.

If the ice is thin, place the two first courses on edge, and pack as
closely together as practicable. The succeeding courses place in flat,
or in the same position they occupy on the water. Arrange the cakes one
directly above the other, and leave a space of two inches on all four
sides or edges. In every five or six courses, joints are broken. The
last four or five courses on top are placed, each one, to break joints,
and closely placed at edges. The reasons for this arrangement are, that
the ice on the floor of the house wastes rapidly, and, by placing the
cakes on edge, the minimum loss is obtained, and the succeeding cakes,
placed one above the other, and free on the edges, having only the top
and bottom surfaces in contact, the minimum breakage and labor, in
loosening cakes, is obtained; also, by breaking the joints every few
courses, the circulation of air currents, which is very destructive to
the ice, is shut off, and, finally, the top courses close in the mass
thoroughly, and prevent the top covering from sifting down into the
body of the ice.

The chapters on loss of ice by wastage in the house, and the
construction of ice houses, will present more fully some of the
considerations bearing upon the methods of stowing the ice.

In some localities the ice cakes are all placed upon edge. Among the
advantages claimed for this method are, ease in loosening and taking
out the cakes, and the closer packing secures more ice, where storage
room is limited. There is a risk of damage to the ice house, by the
pressure of the ice against the side walls, when packed in this manner.
The edges, being uneven, tend to throw the ice out of plumb, or to give
the whole mass an inclination in one direction. In stowing, care is
required to keep the spaces between the cakes free from chips or broken
ice.

No more trimming than is necessary should be done in the house, and the
crowding of cakes together on the runs, and in sliding them to their
places, should be avoided. Broken cakes should not be allowed to come
into the house, and, if cakes are broken in placing, they should be
thrown out of the house.

Experience and practice, in the handling of runs and managing the
progress of the stowing of the ice cakes, attest the value of system
in this department. To do the necessary work with as much despatch as
possible requires close attention to details, and watchfulness, that
the labor and efforts of the men are properly directed and distributed.

The runs outside the house are permanent, and arranged in galleries,
about five feet apart, with connecting runs from each gallery to
the incline. The top run is placed well up to the plate. At each
intersection of the incline and runs to the galleries, there is a gate,
which may be removed from the face of the incline, thus affording
access from the incline to the runs. The gate at the lower run being
open, the ice cakes all pass on to the first run, and enter the house
at this height. When the house has been filled with ice to the height
of the first run, or one or two courses higher, the level of the house
is then too high to handle the ice over the lower run. The incline gate
is now placed in position, shutting off the first run, and the ice is
raised upon the incline to the height of the second run, and passes
into the house at this level.

It is now necessary to rearrange the runs within the ice house. They
must be uncoupled from the first gallery, and raised up and secured
at the height of the second gallery. The under blocking and bracing
is removed, and the runs set to one side. Before they are disturbed,
a number of ice cakes are run in, and left near the entrance, to be
stowed in the space the runs and staging occupied, directly in front
of the entrance. Unless care is taken, this filling in will be done
with irregularity, and more or less broken ice will be left among the
good cakes, causing loss by wastage and breakage, when the house is
opened up. This filling in under the runs suspends the ordinary work of
stowing, and is attended with some loss of time.

After the cakes are all in place, the house runs are raised up, blocked
and braced in position, the connecting runs coupled on, and a new line
of runs conducts the ice from the second gallery to the further part of
the room.

A system of winding drums, placed in the roof timbers, with ropes
attached to the runs, at either end, saves time and labor, in adjusting
the house runs to the levels of the different galleries; also, in
shifting them, as they are raised to the level of the courses, as the
cakes are placed.

CLOSING AND CARING FOR THE HOUSE.--When the room has been filled to
the level of the wall plate, the ice is covered with dry planing-mill
shavings or sawdust, ten or twelve inches deep. The entrance opening is
closed, and filled in with sawdust, or other packing.

The harvest being secured, the ice house carefully closed, and all
chance for circulation prevented by a top dressing, it requires regular
attendance once a day, to trim the top covering, if any part of it
should sink into the crevices between the ice cakes.

As the warmer days and spring rains set in, the proper ventilation of
the ice house is important. All steam or vapor arising from the ice
should be gotten rid of as soon as possible. The various plans which
are in use to attain this end, will be found in the chapter on wastage
and care of ice in the house.

As soon as the tools for harvesting are no longer required for use,
they should be promptly gathered together, and inspected. All that
have been broken, or damaged, should be bundled up and consigned to
the manufacturer, to be put in thorough cutting order, and returned to
the ice house, in the early fall. All other tools should be carefully
cleaned, and all bright or polished steel coated with oil, to preserve
from rust, cases strapped to plows and saws, and all neatly packed away
in tool house, which should be dry. Snow scoops and scrapers are better
for an occasional coat of paint, and, if stored in a dry, cool place,
sheltered from the weather, will last much longer. It is a good plan to
have all the tools inventoried directly after the cutting season, and
they should be marked with the owner’s name or initials.

The elevator machinery should also be inspected, and any defects noted,
for early repair, the apron raised from the water, and the water shaft
and fittings cleaned, and thoroughly oiled. The ice chain, if given a
coat of slushing oil, will take no harm. All machinery which is exposed
to the weather should be thoroughly coated with slushing oil. The
engine should have attention, and all working parts be preserved from
rust. All the brass trimmings on engines or boiler should be taken
down, boxed, and stored in a secure place.

SHIPPING ICE FROM THE FIELD.--While the ice house is being filled,
winter shipments of ice may be made to points where supply stations
are maintained distant from any cutting privilege. Large shipments are
often made to points south of the frost line, or where the crop is
deficient. To accommodate this traffic, loading platforms are built
with connecting runs from the lower incline run. A switch is arranged
by which the ice cakes can be directed, either on to the loading
platform or into the ice house. Long trains of cars can be filled
daily. At a single platform, ten to fifteen cars are loaded at one
time, while a double platform will accommodate double the number.

If the side tracks are placed at both sides of the platform, no time
will be lost while cars are being switched, a train loaded on one track
being switched out, and the track filled with empty cars, while loading
proceeds in the cars on the other track. Diagrams of these platforms
are shown at Fig. 52. Endless chains, with bars at short spaces, pass
along the top of the platform, and carry a cake, at a regular speed,
before each bar. (See Fig. 51.) A short doorway slide is placed between
the car and platform, and a man, stationed at the car door with an ice
hook, slides the cakes into the car as fast as the stowers can place
them.




CHAPTER IV.

CONSTRUCTION OF COMMERCIAL ICE HOUSES.

  The Earliest Forms of Ice Storage--Development of the Modern
    Ice House--The Site and Its Requirements--Placing the
    House--Survey--Foundations--Size of an Ice House--Details of
    Construction for a House Embodying all Modern Improvements.


The earliest reference to the use of snow for cooling purposes occurs
in Holy Writ, and carries us back about three thousand years. History
records the custom which prevailed among the Romans, of storing snow
upon the mountains during the winter, which was made use of in the
summer for cooling beverages. Vaults, or pits, of circular form at the
top, and tapering to a point at the bottom, were scooped out in the
ground. The sides were lined, and the top thickly thatched with straw,
after being filled with snow, which was tightly packed. The doorway was
through the top. A modernized Roman snow cellar is shown in Figs. 44
and 45, which is taken from a cellar in use in Virginia. Its successor
in the transition to more modern designs is seen in Figs. 46 and 47.

Before ice was cut and stored for commercial uses in this country it
was secured, in many instances, by those who used it in their business.
Brewers, dairymen, butchers, and some physicians, had ice vaults, or
cellars, constructed on the Roman method. The first commercial ice
houses were built below the surface of the ground. Gradually they
emerged into the light and air, being only partly below the surface.
Brick, stone and wood were in use for building materials. Gradually,
experience leading the way, the ice dealer has evolved the modern ice
house.

THE MODERN ICE HOUSE represents many years of development, and has a
scientific, as well as a practical, value. Improvements may be expected
in this as in other branches of the ice business. The discoveries and
inquiries which scientific and practical men are continually making
in this direction are rapidly adding to our store of knowledge. Ice
houses, as now built and furnished, give few suggestions of their
original prototype.

[Illustration: Fig. 44. INTERIOR VIEW OF OLD STYLE ICE CELLAR.]

[Illustration: Fig. 45. ROOF OF SAME.]

[Illustration: Fig. 46. MODERN ICE PIT.]

[Illustration: Fig. 47. ITS CONSTRUCTION.]

THE SITE.--Many features are combined in a really good site for a
commercial or large ice house. Good ice in ample quantity, a porous
soil, easy accessibility both from the water and land, proximity to
market; also cheap and efficient transportation. Observance of the
first and last of these points is imperative. Where natural drainage is
lacking, the deficiency can be supplied, and access effected, in most
instances, if the other features warrant the expense.

In selecting a site, when the lay of the land will permit, place the
length of the house north and south, and arrange the incline and runs
with as few turns as practicable. The ice cakes require assistance
to keep them in motion on a crooked runway, and are constantly being
jammed and spalled. On a direct run of proper pitch the cakes will
travel without attention in freezing weather. On warm, sloppy days,
when the ice is soft, it will require assistance. The platforms for
winter shipments _via_ rail come in for attention in placing the
incline, which should be conveniently disposed for supplying them with
ice cakes as fast as they can be handled. System and dispatch are the
watchwords of the ice dealer while ice cutting is on.

SURVEY AND FOUNDATION.--The location and size of the house being
determined, a survey is made and all lines staked out. It is important
to have the foundations square and of the exact size, so that dimension
lumber and roof trusses will fit as designed. Levels, also, call for
attention, and the entire site should be brought to grade.

In the construction of foundations practice varies. They are partly
dependent upon local conditions and climatic influences. For large
houses, where the wastage is readily drained off and the sills are
comparatively dry, they are about as durable as the balance of the
building when placed directly on the ground.

The life of an ice house varies from so many causes, that no limit can
be given applicable to all cases. When the lumber is well selected and
the construction thorough, fifteen years of constant service will tell
plainly on the building. If repairs are made as often as required, its
term of usefulness is extended.

In warm climates, also for smaller houses, and for city supply depots,
foundations of stone or brick are employed to advantage. They should
be put in below frost, and extend about two feet above the surface.

[Illustration: FIG. 48. PLATE _A_. GROUND PLAN.]

DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION.--In the building illustrated in plates _A_,
_B_, the sills are placed upon the ground. The house is divided into
four rooms, each forty feet wide in the clear, two hundred and fifty
feet deep, and forty feet high from sill to plate. The dimensions of
lumber required may be:

For outside sills, 8 × 10 inches, of such lengths as can most readily
be obtained.

Inside sills, 6 × 10.

Outside posts, 4 × 10 inches × 40 feet, set 12 feet apart.

Studding, 3 × 10 inches × 40 feet, with three feet centers.

Inside posts, 4 × 8 inches × 40 feet. Studding, 3 × 8 inches × 40 feet.

For outer circulating air space, the studding should be 2 × 8 inches ×
40 feet, with three feet centers.

For inner dead air spaces, 2 × 6 inches × 40 feet studding are placed
upright 12 feet apart, and horizontal cross studs 2 × 6 inches × 12
feet and three feet apart, are filled in between. This makes spaces 3 ×
12 feet on the inside of all the outer walls.

Plates on the outer walls are 3 × 10, and on inner walls 3 × 8 inches.

The main studding is lined on both sides with moisture-proof sheathing,
and boarded up with matched lumber. The inclosed space is filled with
non-conducting substance, usually sawdust or spent tan bark. The
filling must be dry and packed tightly.

The inner 2 × 6 studding is lined with sheathing, and then boarded up
with matched lumber. The joints of this studding should be made with
care and the lumber selected, no crooked stock being used. Sealing
up these joints with pitch adds to their efficiency, and also to the
durability of the lumber.

The outer studding is covered with weather boarding or ship siding.
Twelve inches at the bottom are left open and hinged covers swung over
them, which can be opened or closed as ventilation requires.

[Illustration: FIG. 49. PLATE _B_. CROSS SECTION.]

The interior walls have 4 × 8 inch × 40 feet posts, and 3 × 8 studding,
which are boarded on either side with matched lumber and filled.

The lower section of these walls, to a height of ten to fifteen feet,
is often left without filling, as it is more exposed to the ill effects
of moisture, and requires renewal before the upper portion. This is
more conveniently done where no filling is in the wall.

In the center of each room, on the end at which the ice cakes enter,
an opening is left extending from the sills to the plate. As the house
is filled with ice these openings are closed up. Boards are provided,
when building, which will fit into place and make the walls at these
openings, as near as practicable, the same as in other places. The
middle section being filled and planked by the inner and outer air
spaces.

At the opposite end of the rooms a similar opening is provided. For
closing it a slightly different plan is adopted. The outer section is
divided into doors five or six feet high, swung on hinges; these take
the place of the weather boarding. The interior wall is then arranged
the same as the one at the opposite end of the room. These doors can be
opened as the ice is coming out, and remain closed at other times.

Interior partition walls are sometimes of value. It is thought they add
to the durability of the house, and also effect a saving in wastage. In
the majority of houses they are dispensed with.

The construction of the roof will be found convenient and substantial,
if the plans shown in Plate _B_ are followed. Light-colored roofing
composition should be used, avoiding tar and gravel, or tin, as these
both attract and absorb the heat. Gable roofs, with good shingles laid
four or five inches to the weather, are the best roofs for ice houses.
They are cooler and more durable than most composition coverings.

The posts in Diagram _B_ can be extended and additional bracing put in.
The increased area and weight will require a proportional addition to
the strength of roof timbers. In the sizes of timbers for ice house
construction, noted in this chapter, consideration has been given to
durability, and while lighter material is employed, in some instances,
the houses are sooner racked and sprung out of place.

[Illustration: FIG. 50. PLATE _C_. SECTION OF ELEVATOR INCLINE AND
PLATFORM CONVEYORS.]

The ventilator on top is about twenty feet square and two feet high,
with slats on all sides. It will not be required on high gable roofs,
an opening in each gable end being sufficient to carry off the moisture
and heated air. The gable ends should be well braced against the wind.

At the center of roof trusses a floor is laid through the building,
dividing the space above the ice. Trap doors are cut through this
floor about seventy-five feet apart, four to six feet in size; these
doors are for ventilating the space between the ice and the floor, and
for dumping the sawdust through on top of the ice. It also affords a
convenient place in which the sawdust can be stored and dried, when the
houses are cleaned in the fall.

The outer circulating air-spaces are continued to the level of the loft
floor, discharging the air into the loft, where it finds vent through
the ventilator.

The eaves project about two feet, and are provided with ample gutters,
which are furnished with large conductor pipes every fifty feet. On the
side of the house where galleries are placed, the roof is extended to
cover them, or, if at a gable end, a special roof is provided.

Lightning rods are especially required on ice houses. Being often the
most prominent object in their locality, the electric fluid finds
its readiest path through them, and the escaping vapor and much
of the material used in their construction add to their exposure.
Copper strips, terminating in forked points, raised above the cone of
the roof, fifty or seventy-five feet apart each way, provide ample
protection. A line of points across the house should be connected, and
the copper strips extended, without any break or interruption, into
the ground. They should be buried several feet below the surface, and
if they terminate in a drain or other damp place, their efficiency is
increased.

[Illustration: FIG. 51. ELEVATION OF PLATFORM ALONG TRACKS FOR LOADING
CARS.]

[Illustration: FIG. 52. PLATE _D_. SECTION OF LOADING PLATFORMS.]

The floor of each room is graded slightly toward the center, and a
trench dug through the center from end to end. It should have a grade
toward the front of the house of about two inches in a rod. At the rear
of the house it may be nine inches square, gradually increasing to
double this size at the front of the house. Lateral drains, alternating
on either side, are desirable. If the surface drainage sets toward the
house, it should be intercepted and conducted away. After the trenches
are made they are filled with broken stone or cobbles about nine inches
deep at the start, and double the depth at the front of the house. The
side trenches may be six or eight inches wide, and filled about the
same depth.

On top of the stones, shavings, straw, reeds, or other porous filling,
is placed, to the level of the floor. The entire floor is now covered
with a layer of charcoal, or with coal ashes placed several inches
deep. On top are laid boards, not too closely placed, with length
toward the main drain. The spaces between the boards form channels to
conduct the waste water to the drains. Where the drains emerge from
the house they are trapped, to prevent any air currents from entering
through them, and collected into one or more main channels.

Plate _A_ illustrates the drainage plan, and a section view is
presented in Plate _B_. In porous soils, which can be depended on to
carry off the wastage, drains are not so necessary. For very large
houses, however, they should not be entirely neglected. In warm
climates and for city supply houses, cement floors are the best.

For loading cars for winter shipments, the platforms illustrated in
plates _A_, _C_ and _D_ are used for handling large quantities. The
ice cakes are elevated on the incline to runways (see _R_, in Plates
_A_, _C_ and _D_), and slide by gravity until landing on the platform.
An endless chain with cross-bars passes over the top of this platform,
carrying a cake before each bar. Where a railroad siding is placed
on both sides of the platform the work is expedited, as no delay is
occasioned by waiting for cars, a loaded train being pulled out and
empty cars run in on one track, while loading continues on the other.

[Illustration: FIG. 53. PLATE _E_. HOISTING GIGS AND REVERSING ENGINE.]

THE INCLINED WAYS shown in Plate _C_ are rigged with endless chains,
which carry cross-bars. In filling the house, the ice cakes are floated
to the foot of the incline, and fed on to it, one or two cakes at a
time in front of each bar, and thus is made to travel up the incline.
The cakes are passed through gates on to the runways at the various
levels desired, and pass over these, by gravity, into the ice house.

There are two methods of arranging the chains--called the over-shot
and the under-shot. The first named is mostly used, and is the one
shown in Plate _C_. The power required varies with the length of the
incline and with the style of the elevators, which are arranged for one
or two cakes on a bar. The smaller rigs are operated with an eight or
ten horse power engine, and the larger plants up to one hundred horse
power, where several elevators and platform conveyors are coupled on
to one engine. For filling smaller houses there are several methods in
use, a choice depending on the surroundings and size of the room or
house.

Next in importance to the endless chain system, are the jack grapples
by which large quantities of ice are annually stored. An incline is
used which is similar to the one shown on Plate _C_, but of lighter
build. These grapples are operated with horses, or with steam power,
when winding drums are employed. By using friction-winding drums, the
jack grapples readily accomplish the work of a single elevator, and are
less expensive. This plan is shown in Plate _E_. An ordinary threshing
engine furnishes ample power, and this method is rapidly growing in
favor. Where the ice house is placed at the edge of the water and there
is no room in which to place an incline, the gigs are very convenient.
When they are operated by means of a winding drum run by a reversing
engine, and large enough to handle four cakes at a time, they are very
efficient. Economy of power, simplicity and ease of management, are all
in their favor.

Small houses and cooling rooms are filled with the aid of hoisting
tongs.




CHAPTER V.

CARE, HANDLING AND MARKETING OF ICE.

  Care of Ice in the House--Leaking and Waste, How Prevented--Getting
    out Ice--Lowering Machines--Ice Shipments--Marketing Ice--Ice
    Wagons and Outfits.


After a house is filled with ice and put in order, it is placed in the
care of an attendant. The top dressing requires frequent inspection
to keep it intact. Keep the circulating air-chambers in the walls
in operation, except when the air is humid; at such times the lower
openings are closed. The loft is ventilated directly into the cupola on
top of the roof, which also carries off the warm air currents rising
through walls.

THE WASTING OF ICE.--Ice in the house is attacked by water, moisture,
vapor, warm air and evaporation. Pressure of the mass upon the lower
courses assists in their destruction, and heat from the earth is
also radiated into them. Evaporation goes on, to some extent, at all
temperatures; its immediate effect is cooling, as it carries off heat.
Water rots and wastes ice more rapidly than warm air. Water permeates
the mass and destroys the ice, while warm air affects only the exposed
surface. Vapor is wasteful when it settles down on the ice and is
condensed. Air currents, if they are strong, cut away the ice very
rapidly, and will sometimes comb the ice.

Keeping the room as air-tight as possible tends to preserve the ice.
Whenever the house is opened the warm air enters, and vapor will
collect above the ice. This should be given an opportunity to escape,
by opening the ventilator doors in the loft floor.

[Illustration: FIG. 54. HOUSE ICE SAW.]

[Illustration: FIG. 55. RAISING CHISEL BAR.]

[Illustration: FIG. 56. STRIKING-UNDER BAR.]

[Illustration: FIG. 57. DUNNAGE SHOVEL.]

As the ice is taken from the house, the covering of sawdust should be
kept in place over the ice as far as possible. If the space over the
ice is sealed up, the air, being above the freezing point, becomes
saturated with moisture, which settles upon the ice, softening and
melting it. When the outside air is cooler than that over the ice or
in the loft, the moist air is driven out, if the ventilators are open.
Hence, in clear weather, the ventilators should be opened at night. In
foggy or damp weather, ventilators should be kept closed.

IN TAKING OUT ICE from the house, it is a good plan to take out three
tiers across the house at once. The upper tier is worked a little in
advance of the second, which is in advance of the lower, or third,
course. This gives a sloping front, on which ice from the top can be
lowered without breaking, and work can progress on the three courses at
the same time. The covering can also be readily handled.

The tools employed are the house ice saw, raising-chisel bar and
striking-under bar. The saw has a narrow point, with a double row of
teeth for cutting down into the crevices around the cakes, and a handle
arranged to place pressure on the point of the saw. The raising-chisel
bar is used for cutting around the sides. The striking-under bar
is struck under the bottom of the cake, to loosen it from the cake
beneath. Where ice has been packed in double cakes the hand ice plow is
sometimes employed to open the grooves, and the splitting chisel for
separating the cakes. The ice is run out to the door on the house runs,
or skids. The house tools not illustrated elsewhere are shown below.

LOWERING THE ICE.--There are several methods employed for dropping
the ice down from the top of the ice to the level of the cars or
wagons below. Gravity is the force usually employed. Ice-gigs, with a
counterweight to return the empty gig to the level of the ice, are, in
one form or another, mostly in use. They can be mounted on a wheeled
platform, and moved from door to door, as desired.

PACKING FOR SHIPMENT.--When ice is loaded into cars it is covered with
marsh hay; any crevices at doors or windows are carefully packed with
hay, to keep out the air. Shavings and sawdust are also employed.
When shipped to a distance, the floors and sides of the cars are lined,
and in the South each cake is packed in sawdust and done up in burlap.

[Illustration: FIG. 58. LOWERING GIG AND TRACK.]

When shipments are made in vessels, runs are set up from the ice
house, to discharge over the vessel’s rail. As the distance is often
considerable, the elevation of the runway is high near the house,
and if the ice is taken from the bottom courses it is necessary, in
some cases, to elevate the ice on to the vessel runway. The ice can
be lowered into the hold with tongs. A gig, to take on two cakes at a
time, handles the ice with great celerity, a counterweight returning
the gig to the deck after the ice is discharged. Ice cakes are packed
closely in the hold, being trimmed to shape, when required. Six or
eight inches of sawdust are placed at the sides of the vessel, and,
perhaps, ten inches of short shavings on top. Hay can be used, but
sawdust is the best. Hatches are thoroughly caulked, and the hold is
not opened until the end of the trip. The pumps must be sounded every
day.

IN MARKETING ICE, painstaking supervision of details is constantly
required. Resources should always be in efficient working order when
required. A sudden hot spell often doubles the demand for ice, and the
utmost exertions will hardly keep pace with it. Enterprise in extending
trade should not be overlooked, and the efficiency of the service
rendered is of special value in this direction. System and supervision
should be extended through every department.

In retailing ice, as conducted in the large cities of the North, no
detail of management is deemed trifling. Many ice dealers take pride
in having neat and convenient wagons for their retail business. As a
handsome wagon and a fine team are the means of attracting favorable
attention, so there is nothing which causes more unfavorable comment
than ill-kept stock and untidy wagons.

The quality of ice used for domestic purposes is now closely
scrutinized, and cleanliness on the part of those handling this
commodity, is expected. Ice wagons are usually furnished with an ice
scale, an ice axe, several pairs of ice tongs, an ice shave, a bucket,
and sometimes a broom. The ice cakes are cut as required, cleaned,
weighed, and placed within the customer’s refrigerator or ice box.

[Illustration: FIG. 59. A POPULAR ICE WAGON.]

[Illustration: FIG. 60. ANOTHER ICE WAGON.]

The use of coupon tickets is a great convenience. The customer is
furnished with a book at the beginning of the season, and for each
delivery of ice he receives, a ticket is given back to the ice dealer.
These tickets, having the name and quantity indorsed on them, avoid
errors and disputes.

STRENGTH OF ICE.--Two inches in thickness of ice will usually bear up
a man, four inches in thickness a horse, and ice five inches thick is
generally safe for a team of horses and a loaded wagon weighing two
tons.

Eight inches in thickness will bear up 150 pounds per square foot of
surface, if distributed over an entire field.

Ten inches in thickness will support 250 pounds per square foot of
surface. It is usual to estimate that ice eighteen inches thick will
support a railway train.

WEIGHT OF ICE.--One cubic foot of ordinary ice will, on the average,
weigh fifty-seven and one-quarter pounds, while a cubic foot of water
weighs sixty-two and one-half pounds.

Thirty-six cubic feet of ice weigh 2,000 pounds. But as stored in the
house, it is reckoned that forty-two to fifty cubic feet of space is
required per ton of ice, depending upon the thickness of the ice and
the care with which it has been cut and stored.




CHAPTER VI.

THE USE OF ICE IN REFRIGERATION.

  Cold Storage Ice Houses--Their Value for Handling Meats, Fruits
    and Vegetables--What They Will Do--Principles of Construction
    and Operation--How to Build Them--The Dairy and Cold Storage
    Houses--Convenience and Economy of Combining Them--Combined Ice
    House and Dairy--Very Cheap Ice Houses--How to Cut Ice in Small
    Quantities--Co-operation among Farmers to Secure Advantages of
    Ice Supplies.


THE USES OF REFRIGERATION are numerous in these days of invention and
economy. The health, comfort and convenience of the civilized world
are so intimately interwoven with results directly dependent upon the
command, at will, of low temperature, that it is now of paramount
importance to everyone.

Refrigeration in the commercial world is largely secured by mechanical
means, and this method will receive notice in a later chapter. Cold
storage, secured by ice, is in use all over this country, for domestic
and trade purposes in preserving food products. The benefits of cold
storage could be much more widely diffused, than at present, throughout
all the farming communities, where ice forms naturally during the
winter, adding materially to their profits and convenience, and an
attempt is here made to show, in a practical way, how it can be secured.

THE CONSTRUCTION of a cold storage ice house, and the tools and methods
employed for cutting and housing the ice, as well as the benefits to be
secured, will be considered. Only such facts as have stood the test of
practical experience, and which are within the limits usually attained
by those who have good cold storage in use from year to year, will be
presented. These results are only attainable by properly constructed
storage houses, sufficient supply of ice, correct condition of articles
when placed in cool room, length of time they are kept there and
cleanliness. Cold storage houses, not built on correct principles, or
improperly used, will prove of little account, and disappointment will
follow their use.

[Illustration: FIG. 61. A SIMPLE DELIVERY ICE WAGON.]

Cold storage may be used to advantage in prolonging the market for many
products. The entire crop, of fruit in particular, need not be shipped
at once, but by proper picking and storing shipping can be extended
over several months.

Fresh meat can be enjoyed at will, and the lengthening of the season
during which many varieties of vegetables and fruits can be kept fresh
for the home table will not only add to the health and enjoyment of the
family, but it is in the line of economy as well. Good health is the
best doctor, and the more generous living which cold storage brings
within reach is a precursor of health. In sickness a supply of ice
and cooled viands is often beyond price. The suffering its judicious
use may alleviate, and the numerous instances in which recovery is
impossible without it, commend a supply of so beneficent a commodity
to all. Ice is a necessity to health and comfort, and, as it can be
readily secured in nearly all communities within the frost belt, very
few farmers should be without it.

HOW LONG COLD STORAGE WILL PRESERVE.--No rules as to the length of time
during which various articles can be kept in cold storage to the best
advantage, can be given, which will apply invariably to all cases. In
stating what is often done in this way it is intended to show what
it has been found profitable to do, and what will be likely to prove
of practical value to those who are starting in to make use of cold
storage for themselves. Poultry and fresh meats can be kept sweet
for two or three weeks. Beef is improved in quality by keeping this
length of time. Butter, eggs and lard may be stored for three to eight
months. Apples, according to variety and condition, from five to ten
months. Pears, pulled when they will just come away from the stem, and
carefully handled, will keep two or three months. It is best to ship
them in two or three weeks, not waiting for color to mature, as this
will be perfected by the time they reach the consumer.

Concord grapes will keep two to four months in cold storage, and
Catawba grapes will keep longer.

Strawberries, blackberries and cherries will keep two to four weeks.

Watermelons, three to six weeks.

Muskmelons, two to three weeks.

Peaches, four to six weeks.

Oranges, lemons, figs, bananas and raisins, two to three months.

Green corn, two to four weeks.

Squash, four to eight weeks.

Cabbage and turnips, eight to nine months.

Potatoes may be kept a long time; they have been kept, on a trial,
several years, with no apparent loss of quality. Canned fruits will
keep well, and ice cream can be conveniently stored.

[Illustration: FIG. 62. WAGON SCALE.]

[Illustration: FIG. 63. ICE SHAVE.]

[Illustration: FIG. 64. WAGON AXE.]

[Illustration: FIG. 65. WAGON SAW.]

[Illustration: FIG. 66. WAGON ICE TONGS.]

THE TEMPERATURE at which these results have been secured varied from
34° to 38° F. Bananas, oranges, lemons, peaches, figs and raisins
do better at 40°. Peaches, pears, berries, plums and all the more
delicately flavored fruits keep in good form and appearance, but lose
their delicate flavor if kept too long.

Fruits which are picked green, or before ripening, mature or ripen
while stored. The tendency to decay in ripe fruits is arrested by
refrigeration. Upon exposure to heat and air the usual process goes
on more rapidly than in foods which have not been refrigerated. Food
should enter into consumption with little delay when taken out of cold
storage. The length of time during which it is desirable to keep goods
in cold storage may be best determined practically with reference to
the ends sought to be attained in any particular case.

THE PRINCIPLES OF COLD STORAGE.--Refrigeration depends upon the
circulation of pure, dry cold air. It is based upon natural laws, which
are well known and readily observed. Air exposed to heat is expanded
in volume; it is thus made lighter and will rise, being forced upward
by the surrounding cooler air. Air exposed to cold is condensed and
made heavier; it will then gravitate to lower levels. The capacity of
air for absorbing and retaining moisture varies with its temperature.
Warm air will sustain a considerable amount of vapor, which will be
condensed and precipitated if the air is cooled. As water is cooled
and brought to the freezing point it expels a large part of the heat
gathered at a higher temperature. As ice is melted to water this
process is reversed, and heat and air are reabsorbed.

The operation of these natural laws is taken advantage of in
refrigeration.

As usually constructed, cold storage ice houses are built with two
stories; the first floor for storing goods, the second filled with
ice. The floor between is arranged with openings, through which the
air, chilled by contact with the ice, descends into the store room.
A flue is provided to conduct the warm air to the upper part of the
ice chamber, when it is dried and purified by contact with the ice as
it descends on being chilled. Drains and traps are required to carry
off the meltage water, and to secure the water condensed from the warm
air. Dampers in the cold and warm air flues assist in controlling the
circulation, and ventilators placed in the roof keep the loft free from
dampness.

The walls, ground floor and ceiling are constructed as nearly
non-conducting of heat and cold as practicable. No cracks or any
channels are permissible by which air can enter. Drains which take out
the water are securely trapped, to keep out the air. Vestibules with
perfectly fitting doors are placed at all entrances. Windows are fitted
with three or four sashes and air spaces between.

Dryness in the storage room is secured by a sheet metal floor under the
ice, usually galvanized iron, which forms a large pan or vessel, in
which all meltage water is collected. Water is very destructive to the
ice, and the warm air is kept away from the top of the ice to prevent
the moisture from being condensed there and settling on the ice. When
the ice is low in the ice chamber, vapor may accumulate in the space
above the ice. A ventilator in the top of the room is of service in
conducting this away from the ice and keeping it dry. The water from
the melted ice will absorb air and gases so it is spread out over as
large a surface as practicable, and the air is conducted over it to be
purified.

[Illustration: FIG. 67. GROUND FLOOR.]

There are several plans by which these general features are observed,
in the construction of cold storage houses, some of which have
been made the subject matter of patents. The plans shown in the
illustrations embrace the essential features of good cold storage
construction. These plans do not conflict with any patented devices,
and will prove adequate for all practical purposes.

[Illustration: FIG. 68. SECTION OF HOUSE.

FIG. 69. SECTION OF WALL.

PRINCIPLES OF COLD STORAGE CONSTRUCTION.]

THE GENERAL ARRANGEMENT OF COLD STORAGE HOUSES may be, as shown in the
illustrations, Figures 67–70, for any size. Large houses require a
girder and posts under the center of the ice floor, and the air flues
are best made double; one set at each side, with a drain on each side
of the girder along the center of the room. The construction of the
walls vary. Walls filled with sawdust, charcoal, tan bark or other
non-conducting materials, have been in use for many years. Carefully
conducted tests, however, have conclusively proved that a wall of this
description is inferior to a wall which contains dead air spaces, felt
or paper linings, a section packed with mineral wool and an outer
circulating air space.

[Illustration: FIG. 70. EXTERIOR VIEW OF COLD STORAGE HOUSE.]

[Illustration: FIG. 71. SECTION VIEW OF COMBINED ICE HOUSE AND DAIRY.]

The wall shown in Fig. 69 gives good satisfaction. It comprises air
spaces, _A_, which are open to the outer air at the sill, and at the
top open into the loft under the roof. Dampers _D_, in Fig. 68, are
placed at the bottom, so they can be closed when desired. The next
section, _B_, Fig. 69, is of dry sawdust, packed in place between
walls of matched boards; the outer surface of these walls is lined
with prepared water proof paper. The inner section, _E_, contains dead
air spaces, which are about twelve inches square. The inner wall is of
matched lumber and the outer one is of weather boards.

This construction keeps the sawdust dry, and the walls are free from
dampness. The circulation of air through the outer air spaces carries
off the heat imparted to the weather boards by the direct heat of
the sun. When the air is humid, or charged with moisture, these air
channels are tightly closed. The thickness of the walls may be varied
with the capacity of the building. Additional sections of filling and
dead air are required for large houses where large quantities of goods
are refrigerated. Fig. 67 shows the ground floor.

The cold storage house shown in the illustration (Fig. 70) will hold
forty tons of ice, and do all the work required for dairy, fruit and
domestic service on a large farm with one filling of ice. By regulating
the dampers, _D D_, Fig. 68, the circulation can be adjusted to meet
all conditions. When these dampers are closed the ice wastes very
slowly. The waste water, from meltage, is useful for cooling milk, and
the milk room and cooling vats can be placed alongside the storage
house or made a part of the same building to advantage.

A CREAMERY ICE HOUSE.--A very conveniently arranged and completely
appointed creamery is shown in illustrations No. 72 and 73. Fig. 72 is
a perspective view, and Fig. 73 the plan of a combined creamery, ice
house and water tower. The tank _B_ is placed in the second story of
the tower; _C_ is the ice house, _D_ the creamery. At _I I_ are set
creamers, which are supplied with water from the tank by pipes passing
through the ice house to cool the water. At _G_ is a churn, which may
be run by power located in the annex _E_. At _H_ is a butter molder,
and _J_ is the veranda.

[Illustration: FIG. 72. PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF CREAMERY.]

[Illustration: FIG. 73. GROUND PLAN OF CREAMERY.]

By raising the ice chamber, a cold store room can be secured below it.
If the structure is placed on an elevation, water from the tank can be
piped through the dwelling house.

COMBINED DAIRY, COLD STORAGE AND ICE HOUSE.--Such an arrangement is
shown in illustrations, Figs. 74 and 76. There is no communication
between the dairy and storage room. For securing ice for the tank,
double doors, made to fit very tight, are set in back of the ice
chamber in the loft over the dairy. As leaving this door ajar would
rapidly waste the ice, it should be under the care of a competent
person and properly secured.

Where the ice house and dairy are required without the cold storage
room, the plan shown in Fig. 71 is a good one. If a location on a
sidehill is not conveniently at hand, the milk room floor may be
excavated sufficiently to secure proper fall for drain. The floor of
the ice house should be laid with hydraulic cement, and slope toward
the end nearest the milk room. A cheaper floor is made from spent
moulders’ sand or coal ashes, mixed with enough lime to give a hard
finish when dry. This makes a hard, durable floor. The water in the
tank must be kept above the supply pipe from the ice house, to prevent
any ingress of warm air. A trap placed in this pipe is a still better
method. At _L_, Fig. 71, is a double door, through which ice can be
taken out for the tank if required.

The size of these rooms can be taken at convenience. The ice house
should not be less than twelve feet square and twelve feet high. Any
smaller quantity than this wastes the ice much more rapidly. A house
sixteen feet square and twelve feet high is a safe size for a dairy
which is served by forty cows or less. The lumber for walls is better
if matched, and the studding lined with paper. They are, however, often
built from rough lumber, with no air spaces. The packed section should
be ten inches in such cases.

A FREEZING HOUSE.--In some instances it is required to have a freezing
temperature in the cold storage room. Poultry, dressed and frozen, and
shipped in tight cases, has given good returns. This low temperature
is secured by means of galvanized sheet iron tanks, Figs. 75, 77, 78,
which are packed with broken ice and salt. From the surface of these
tanks the cold is radiated directly into the room; hence, the larger
the surface of the tanks for a given capacity of ice and salt, the
better, because of the large radiating surface.

[Illustration: FIG. 74. COLD STORAGE HOUSE COMBINED WITH DAIRY.]

The best form for the tanks is that of a hollow parallelogram. The
lower edge should set about eighteen inches above the floor, to allow a
circulation of air through the center of the tank. The tank should be a
little wider at the bottom than at the top. This prevents the ice and
salt from lodging. A tank six feet high, sixteen feet long, and three
feet wide, placed at one side of the storage room shown in Fig. 68,
and regularly supplied with ice and salt, will reduce the temperature
of the room nearly to O° F. As long as the supply of ice and salt is
maintained, this low temperature can be held. The tanks are furnished
with a trap to carry off the water, placed at the lowest end, and hand
holds are arranged through which the salt which accumulates at the
bottom may be removed. A drip pan is set beneath the tanks to catch all
drippings of condensation; these pans are of wood, lined with metal,
and provided with a pipe to carry off the water.

[Illustration: FIG. 75. SECTION OF REFRIGERATING TANK.]

Frost and ice accumulate on the surface of these cooling tanks, and
their usefulness is thereby impaired. Duplicate tanks should be
arranged, so that they may be used in turn, and the ice removed. The
ice coat prevents the radiation of the cold into the room, and its
force is spent in adding to the ice upon the sides of the tank, a
useless waste.

In some instances the cold storage houses are divided into two or
more rooms, so that various temperatures can be maintained to meet the
requirements of a varied stock.

[Illustration: FIG. 76. SECTION VIEW OF COLD STORAGE HOUSE AND DAIRY.]

[Illustration: FIG. 77. GROUND PLAN OF FREEZING TANK AND BENCH.]

[Illustration: FIG. 78. END VIEW OF FREEZING TANK.]

A VERY CHEAP ICE HOUSE, but constructed on the same principles as those
laid down in Chapter IV for commercial ice houses, may take the form
suggested by Figs. 79, 80, 81, or any desired modification thereof.

A STILL SIMPLER DEVICE.--Where the expense of an ice house is not
warranted by the small use to which it may be put for cold storage, on
some farms, a supply of ice sufficient for household purposes can be
placed in any convenient corner of a barn or other building. A room
partitioned off with rough lumber, and walls, as well as floor, well
insulated with non-conducting filling, will answer, and repay its cost
many times over during the summer. In Fig. 82 is a view of an ice room
built into a corner of a barn in this manner.

An above-ground silo, if built of wood, with double walls and air
spaces, will make a most excellent ice house, if provided with double
doors. The underground, or masonry silo, should be boarded up, with
joists between walls, and boards to form an air space, if used for ice.

A LITTLE ORGANIZED CO-OPERATION in any farming community where
ice-cutting privileges exist, will secure an abundant supply of ice for
all purposes for the entire section or neighborhood. It is customary
to do the threshing in turn, and all participate in the use of the
threshing machine and power, where only very extensive farmers find it
profitable to have an outfit for their own exclusive use.

[Illustration: FIG. 79.]

[Illustration: FIG. 80.]

[Illustration: FIG. 81.

SUGGESTIONS FOR CHEAP ICE HOUSES.]

In a similar manner the benefits of cold storage can be obtained. The
houses can be owned by individuals, or by a few families who may be
living near enough together to conveniently use one in common. The
tools and outfit for cutting and handling the ice can be owned by a few
enterprising young men, who can fill a large number of houses yearly
by contract; or the appliances can be the joint property of all those
having cold storage houses, who may combine to secure them, and also
combine their labor in securing the ice crop. This work is done when
the ordinary duties of the farm are light, and other interests would
not be interfered with.

[Illustration: FIG. 82. BARN-CORNER ICE HOUSE.]

The practical advantages of this plan will readily present themselves
to observing minds. An outfit of tools necessary to harvest, in
good shape, one hundred tons of ice, will just as well harvest ten
or fifteen times this quantity, and would really secure the larger
quantity to better advantage than the smaller one. But, allowing that
the labor in getting out one hundred tons of ice is the same per ton
that it is for one thousand tons, the cost of the tools per ton of ice
harvested is only one tenth as much in the latter case. The tools are
durable, and will last many years. Ice plows which have been in use for
fifteen or twenty years are still doing good service.

As the cold storage houses would be situated at several places, a
brief outline of the methods in use for handling ice under similar
circumstances, will be of interest. The ice is transported from the
water to the houses by wagons or sleds. A platform is built near the
edge of the water, in an easily accessible place, of a height a little
above the bed of wagon boxes when they are backed up to the platform.
The end of this platform is toward the water, and the teams are backed
in on both sides. From the water end an inclined way or run is built
down into the water. Upon this run the ice cakes are rapidly run up on
the platform, quickly loaded on the wagons, and started on their way to
the storage houses. Arriving at its destination, the load of ice may
be deposited on the ground at the entrance of the house, and the team
returned for another load. Meanwhile two men, with the assistance of a
horse, can stow the first load in place in the ice chamber.

For such work the tools required on the ice field comprise:

  One ice plow with guide.
  One ice saw.
  One ice chisel.
  One ice floating hook, twelve to twenty feet long.
  Three ice hooks, short lengths.
  One jack grapple.
  Two pairs of loading tongs.

At the ice house are required:

  One pair hoisting tongs.
  One pair drag tongs.
  One pair edging tongs.

At this time the cash value of these tools is about sixty-five dollars
for first-class goods, which are always the cheapest.

COST OF ICE IN THE HOUSE.--Regarding the cost of ice when stowed in
place in the ice chamber, it would be difficult to quote an amount
which would cover all cases. Locality and tact have much to do with
determining this cost. Ice, twelve to sixteen inches thick, cut in
small quantities and placed in the ice chamber, would cost, on an
average, for labor, about fifty cents per ton. Where cut on a large
scale the cost for labor in cutting and stowing is less than half of
this amount.

[Illustration: FIG. 83. A LOADING PLATFORM.]

[Illustration: FIG. 84. EMBANKMENT PLATFORM.]

[Illustration: FIG. 85.

FIG. 86.

LIFTS FOR LOADING ICE INTO SLEDS.]

A LOADING PLATFORM is illustrated in Fig. 83, which shows the method of
running the ice cakes up with a jack grapple. The size of the platform
is determined by the quantity of ice to be handled over it. One horse
and grapple will readily serve several teams if a supply of ice cakes
is maintained at the foot of the incline. Where many teams are to be
served and the ice must be handled rapidly, two grapplers, one right
and one left hand, can be used on the incline. By having the rope
continuous and a pulling post at each end of the horse walk, the horse
will pull a load each way, and several hundred tons of ice can be
landed upon the platform in a day’s run. Where the incline is long a
team can be used to advantage on the grapple rope.

[Illustration: FIG. 87. A CHEAP ICE SCRAPER.]

A sweep such as shown in Fig. 85 is a convenience in handling ice cakes
directly from the water to sleds or wagons where only a small quantity
is wanted, and where the ice platform is not required. A similar
device, which has the advantage of being more readily moved, is shown
at Fig. 86. Where an artificial pond is made with an embankment, a
loading platform may be constructed, as shown in Fig. 84.

IN PACKING THE ICE into the ice chamber, attention is required to
prevent any dirt from adhering to the ice and being packed into the ice
chamber, where it will accumulate in the drains and on the floors as
the ice melts.

At _S_, in Fig. 68, will be found an opening over the drip pan; through
these openings, placed at convenience along the back of the floor, the
floor can be flushed with water and washed clean.

Time, labor and convenience are all conserved by the use of such
necessary tools as are listed on previous pages. More can be added as
the amount of ice cut is increased.

THE ICE FIELD should be kept free from snow by scraping from time to
time. For clearing the small surface from which a harvest of forty tons
can be secured, a simple scraper, cheaper than those used on large
fields, will answer the purpose. An oak plank one and one-half inches
thick, ten inches wide and six feet long, with two holes four inches
from the bottom edge, and four feet apart, and a foot board mortised
through the center, will do tolerable work. An iron shoe on the lower
edge adds materially to its efficiency. Fig. 80 illustrates a scraper
of this pattern.

Thirty-six cubic feet of ice weigh a ton. Hence, a surface six feet
square on an ice field, where the ice is a foot thick, represent a ton
of ice. At this rate a surface thirty-eight feet square would represent
forty tons of ice. Owing to loss by breakage, and irregular cutting, it
is usual to allow a considerable margin, greater in small than in large
quantities, and a surface fifty feet square would readily harvest forty
tons of twelve-inch ice. Where the ice is thinner a correspondingly
larger surface is required to secure the same weight of ice.

The surface being cleared of snow, the ice plow is set upon the ice
alongside a line drawn taut in the direction in which the plowing is
to be done. The ice plow, drawn by hand and guided to run parallel
with the line, gives the base groove. The blade of the guide is placed
in this groove, and the field is now grooved in uniform spaces in one
direction. The plow makes only one cut in each groove, while the guide
is attached to it. By repeating this method grooves are made crossing
those first made at right angles. The guide is now removed from the
plow, and by plowing back and forth the ice is grooved to the depth
desired, about seven or eight inches for twelve-inch ice and two inches
for six-inch ice.

A channel is now opened at the foot of the incline, and a few hours
work for four men, and a boy driving the horse to run the grapple, will
land the ice cakes on the platform.




CHAPTER VII.

ARTIFICIAL ICE AND COLD AIR MACHINES.

  Historical Sketch--The First Ice Machine--Its Subsequent
    Development--Progress in the Use of Machines--The Principles
    Involved in their Construction--Diversity of Application--Recent
    Discoveries.


The artificial production of cold has engaged attention from remote
ages. The application of spontaneous evaporation in Eastern countries
was the earliest method employed to produce ice.

America has the honor of being the home of the inventors who first
achieved success in making artificial ice by modern methods. Jacob
Perkins, in 1834, and Professor Twinning, of New Haven, Conn., in 1850,
each procured British patents. The former did not procure a patent in
this country, but Professor Twinning secured one in 1853. Two years
later, he had a machine in operation at Cleveland, Ohio, which produced
1,600 pounds of ice in twenty-four hours’ run. This was a favorable
result from a pioneer machine of an estimated capacity of 2,000 pounds
in this time.

Much credit is due these early inventors, who introduced a type
of machine which is now extensively employed, and is known as the
compression system.

In 1851, Dr. John Gorrie, of New Orleans, La., patented a machine
for producing ice, by compressing and expanding atmospheric air.
This machine was also the pioneer of its class. It gave rise to what
are known as air machines, used in England and on the Continent, and
extensively employed for facilitating the transportation of fresh beef
and mutton on the ocean.

In 1848, Ferdinand Carré, of France, contrived an original process for
employing aqua ammonia. In 1865 he patented an ice machine, and at the
French International Exposition, in 1867, daily produced six tons of
ice. This has proved to be a notable invention, the present absorption
system being based upon it and extensively used.

Efforts have been directed to expediting the spontaneous evaporation of
water; a reduction of pressure being effected by a vacuum pump, and the
vapors removed by a suitable absorbing medium. The utilization of cold
obtained by the evaporation of other liquids, more volatile than water,
have received attention.

There have been discovered a number of freezing mixtures, some of which
produce wonderfully low temperatures. The addition of salt to broken
ice is the best known of these; it is commonly employed in making ice
creams and ices, and is of great commercial importance as applied to
refrigerator cars and cold storage houses.

Of all these methods the compression, absorption and air machines, and
the freezing mixture of ice and salt, have entered into commercial
uses in this country. The details of the latter method are referred
to in Chapter VI. Regarding the others, some account of the principal
operations involved, and of the natural phenomena upon which they are
based, will be given.

PRINCIPLES OF ICE MACHINES.--It has been observed of gases, that by
compressing them to a fraction of their original volume, heat was
produced. If the compression was great, most gases were liquified by
it. A few gases were found which would not liquify, and were designated
as permanent. By relieving the pressure, gases will resume their
original bulk, and the heat of compression is gathered up or reabsorbed
by them.

There is, naturally, a constant tendency toward the preservation of
an equilibrium of temperature among the atoms of any body, and also
between different bodies. This exchange is carried on upon a grand
scale, in the economy of nature. Where the difference in degree is
small the exchange is effected slowly, but where it is great the
initial transfers proceed rapidly and with vigor.

By means of efficient insulation we can cut off, in a great measure, a
room, or a part of a room, from the influence of the outer, or general
exchanges of temperature. By this means we are able to bring this
natural law into service, by controlling the exchanges of temperature
of the objects we place in such rooms.

By the union of heat with a fluid, the latter is converted into a
vapor, and the abstraction of heat from a gas converts it into a
liquid. When a fluid or a gas is at the temperature at which a change
in its condition is effected, the continued application or withdrawal
of heat does not increase or diminish this temperature. This heat is
termed latent, or hidden. The temperature at which ebullition takes
place varies greatly with different liquids. Water boils at 212° F.,
while ammonia boils at 32° F. Some substances act as absorbents. Water
will absorb about seven hundred times its bulk of ammonia gas when they
are brought in contact.

In manufacturing low temperatures, by the Compression and Absorption
systems, a liquifiable gas is used as the vehicle by which to
impart cold to, and carry off heat from, the body to be cooled.
Anhydrous-ammonia (ammonia from which all water has been removed) is
usually employed. In the Compression machines, this gas is subjected to
a pressure, averaging one hundred and fifty pounds per square inch, in
a compression cylinder against a piston, which is operated by a steam
engine. The heated gas is carried to a set of condenser coils, which
are cooled by a water bath; here the gas is liquified by the reduction
of temperature and the pressure. By this process it is made to part
with the heat of compression, and its latent heat of vaporization, as
well. The liquid ammonia is collected in a storage tank, and is then
ready for refrigeration duty.

From this point the Compression and Absorption systems are practically
identical. The liquid ammonia is allowed to escape through a valve with
a minute opening, into what are termed the expansion coils. As the
ammonia enters it is freed from about three-fourths of the pressure at
which it has been held, and begins to boil and vaporize. As heat is
necessary to accomplish this, everything within reach of its influence
is placed under tribute. As the gas parted with about five hundred and
seventy heat units per pound at the condenser, its capacity for heat is
now very large.

The expansion coils may be placed in a loft of a cold storage room
in the same position in which ice is placed for this duty. If they
are submerged in a brine solution, the brine is cooled, and may be
circulated in galvanized iron gutters suspended from the ceiling of the
storage rooms.

After circulating through the expansion coils, the gas is drawn out and
forced again into the compression cylinder by a pump which renders the
system a continuous one.

IN MAKING ARTIFICIAL ICE, the expansion tubes may be submerged directly
in the water which is to be frozen; the ice forms in huge cakes on the
tubes, and is sawed into small cakes by a circular saw, when removed.
This is termed the plate system.

In the can plan, a large tank holds the expansion tubes, and, suspended
from its upper side, are numerous iron cans; a brine solution
completely fills the tank, and, being chilled by the tubes, it
gradually freezes the water which has been placed in the cans for this
purpose.

IN THE ABSORPTION SYSTEM, aqua ammonia is placed in a retort containing
a coil of steam pipes. A mixed vapor of water and ammonia is driven
off, until sufficient pressure is developed in the retort to force the
vapor through a small pipe into a condensing tank. Here the gas is
cooled and liquified, and also rectified, or freed from water, making
it anhydrous. The liquid passes into a receiving tank, and is then used
for refrigerator work.

This duty is performed in the same manner as described for the
compression machine. From the expansion coils the gas is returned to a
tank called the absorber, where the water left behind at the condenser
has also been sent; here they are reunited, and then pumped again into
the retort, to begin the round anew.

IN THE AIR MACHINES, this gas is compressed in a cylinder against
a piston, which is driven by a steam engine. The compressed air is
cooled by water jets sprayed in the compression cylinder, and also in a
cooling tank which has a water bath passed over it at the same time.

The condensed moisture is deposited in the cooling tank and in drying
tubes, which are exposed to the spent air which has done refrigeration
duty, and is still cool enough to further lower the temperature of the
compressed air. After being dried, the air is expanded, producing an
intense cold. This air can be circulated in tubes, or used for cooling
brine, as in the methods already mentioned, or the air can be expanded
directly into the storage rooms or ice tanks.

A LARGE PLANT FOR THE STORAGE OF FRUIT is situated at Waldo, Fla.,
and is controlled by the American ice and cold storage company. It is
illustrated in Fig. 88. A perfectly dry, cool atmosphere is maintained,
and a temperature so uniform as to demand only one degree of variation.
The temperature at which the rooms have to be kept varies from 33°
to 45° F., depending on the character of the fruit which is to be
stored. The higher temperatures are preferable, if sufficiently low to
preserve the fruit. Retarding houses for keeping oranges or the more
delicate fruits, can usually be more successfully managed by the use
of refrigerating machinery, as it is not always possible to maintain a
sufficiently even and low temperature by means of ice.

[Illustration: FIG. 88. A FRUIT RETARDING HOUSE IN FLORIDA, WHICH USES
REFRIGERATING MACHINERY.]

THE LATEST INVENTIONS.--All these ice-making and cold air machines
are more or less expensive and complicated. It is natural, therefore,
that inventors should be constantly seeking some plan, idea or method,
for securing a low temperature at less cost for the plant involved.
The expense of the existing systems also prevents their use, except
on a large scale; hence inventors are striving to find not only a
method of producing cold at low cost, but one that can be adapted for
use in houses, offices, stores, shops, cars, etc., on a more or less
limited scale. Several devices for this purpose have already been
patented. Some of them promise good results, though at this writing
none seem to be thoroughly perfected. One of these devices employs a
gas jet, or lamp light, the heat from which, acting on a kettle filled
with chemical compound, produces a low temperature for a small house
refrigerator, while the same principle is claimed to be applicable on a
larger scale.

THE USES OF ARTIFICIAL REFRIGERATION are numerous. For cooling and
ventilating buildings, aiding in some lines of manufactures, and in
chemical works, it has proved its usefulness. In all hot climates it is
extensively employed for making ice. In breweries it is applied very
extensively, and is practically indispensable.

The handling of fresh meat, in the modern method, is directly dependent
upon artificial refrigeration, and in no other direction are its
benefits more marked or widespread. The cattle on our Western plains
have become the daily food of those living at the antipodes. In ten
years, from 1880 to 1891, the imports of fresh beef and mutton into
Great Britain increased from 400 to nearly 3,300,000 carcasses. During
the same period the exports of beef alone from the United States
advanced from 50,500 tons to 101,500 tons.

Not only are meats carried in refrigerator vessels from America and
the antipodes to England, but within a year Australian milk has been
shipped in frozen blocks in such quantities as to be retailed in the
streets of London for four cents per quart. Butter, cheese, eggs,
fruits and other perishable products, are likewise transported enormous
distances by rail or water, without injury to the quality, and at a low
cost for freight.

It is also worthy of mention that refrigeration is now employed by
the engineer, in substructure work in soils abounding in quicksands.
A solid wall of earth is frozen and maintained in such soils, within
which excavating and construction can proceed with ease and safety.

That many other uses for refrigeration will be developed goes without
question. The students and inventors who are engaged on the problems
involved in the production of artificial cold, claim that before many
years all modern houses will be supplied with a refrigerating outfit
in the garret to supply cold air to any of the rooms in summer, by
gravity, as hot air is carried by flues from the furnace in winter.
The universal application of a practical device for this purpose, will
yield a rich reward for the successful inventor.




CHAPTER VIII.

ICE IN TRANSPORTATION.

  Refrigerator Cars and Vessels--Value of Ice in Transporting and
    Marketing Perishable Produce--Ice and the Fisheries.


On all the important lines of railroads a regular refrigerator car
service is maintained, for transporting perishable goods of all kinds.
Butter, poultry, eggs, cheese, fruit, fresh meat, vegetables, and other
articles, are despatched by this service. The shipping of packing-house
products is an important branch of this department of railroad service,
and a description of it will show the general features common to all
branches of the business.

REFRIGERATOR CARS.--A cursory view of the cars in any freight yard
discloses a decided difference in the appearance and thoroughness of
construction among them. Those styled refrigerator cars fare very much
better than their companions. A critical examination shows that these
cars are models in all details of construction, and their finish casts
the ordinary freight cars far in the shade.

The main features of these cars are found, first, in their walls,
including floors and ceilings, which are variously made of combinations
of filled and air sections, with paper and felt linings; second, an
ice tank placed, sometimes at one, or both ends, and in others in
the roof of the car; third, in the regulation of the air supply, or
ventilation. Some very elaborate designs have been made, covering the
features necessary to the successful working of these cars. Most of
them are patented. The floor, ceiling and walls have several sections,
the outer being usually an air space, or a space filled with thick hair
felt. Following is a compartment filled with pulverized charcoal, or
other non-conducting filling. This compartment is faced with carefully
matched lumber lined with paper. The walls are about six inches thick
all together.

The doors are the same thickness as the walls, with beveled edges,
which wedge into the frame as the door is closed. A fastening is used
that is so made that a strong pressure is brought against the door,
forcing it into its seat, and an extra precaution taken by inserting a
strip of cotton flannel between the door and frame, which thoroughly
excludes air and dust.

In the best constructed cars there is no chance for direct contact of
the cooled air with the ice. This of special is importance in cars in
which fresh meat, butter, and other articles, are carried, which are
absorbents.

Where the ice tank is located in the roof of the car, the circulation
of air is secured by gravity, and is changed by admission of air
through an opening so arranged that a draft is created by the motion of
the car. Very fine brass wire cloth is doubled over these openings, to
exclude the dust; as the air enters, it is discharged against a water
surface, which catches the fine dust carried through the screens. The
waste water is discharged through a trap, which effectually shuts off
the entrance of air.

When the ice tanks are placed at the ends of the car gravity will not
maintain a circulation of air. As the ice melts, the upper strata of
air remains warm. To avoid this feature, resource is had in a forced
draft. The air in the upper part of the car is collected by a fan and
forced through tubes extending through the ice tanks and opening on to
the floor of the car. In connection with the fan is an inlet and outlet
tube, by which a gradual change of air is effected.

VENTILATING REFRIGERATOR CARS.--In some cars there is no provision for
renewal of the air; the object is, no doubt, economy of ice, and for
very low temperature, or for short trips, it is an advantage which does
not have any ill effects on the contents of the car. For long trips and
moderate temperatures, a change of air is beneficial, in most instances.

In some cars, ventilation is so arranged that the air can be changed or
not, as desired. The fans are run by motion taken from one of the car
axles, and are arranged to be run by hand when the car is not in motion.

ICING REFRIGERATOR CARS.--When a train is to be loaded with beef or
mutton, it is set in on a track alongside of the icing platform. By
means of double tracks on either side, as many as fifty cars can be
iced at short notice. Ice cakes are delivered on a staging above the
platform by elevator, suited to the location, and run into the hopper
of a large power ice breaker. Barrows, of a capacity of five hundred
pounds of broken ice, are set below the breaker, and, by withdrawing
the damper, are filled with ice. From two to four shovelfuls of salt
are added, and the barrow is dumped into the mouth of a chute which
runs along the edge of the platform, delivering the ice directly into
the door above the ice tank. About four tons of ice are placed in each
car. By an extension spout the cars are filled in the same manner on
the farther tracks. After icing, the cars are loaded, and at intervals
on their journey the ice is replenished.

In shipping other goods, which are not wanted below the freezing point,
ice is used without salt. Even with such goods, the more frequent use
of ice would often be advisable.

VALUE OF ICE IN TRANSPORTATION.--It is difficult to imagine the state
of affairs which would ensue upon a withdrawal of all refrigerator
service upon our railways. The amount of privation and actual suffering
which would follow would be felt directly in every community in the
land. To most people the blessings which follow in the wake of the
refrigerator car are of a kind which are accepted without question,
as a matter of course. It would be a long list, to enumerate all the
advantages which are now mutually divided between the producer and the
consumer of the products of our farms, gardens, vineyards, dairies and
fisheries, dependent, in whole or in part, upon this service.

It is but a short time since hundreds of bushels of fruit were left to
decay on the ground in California orchards, while many other sections
were destitute of fruit. Now a refrigerator car service delivers these
fruits at all the Atlantic coast cities, as well as points between.
Trial shipments have been despatched to London, with gratifying
results, and it is more than probable that large quantities of the
products of these famous orchards will delight our cousins across the
sea.

REFRIGERATOR VESSELS.--On board the fastest steamships plying between
our Atlantic ports and Europe, are found extensive refrigerator
compartments. Dressed beef and mutton are exported in large quantities,
as well as fruits, vegetables, dairy products and oysters. The
temperature, for meat, is maintained a few degrees below the freezing
point. Air machines are principally used on the ocean, the brisk
circulation of air which they maintain being an advantage. The enormous
quantities of dressed meat transported from the United States,
Argentine, New Zealand and Australia, to Europe, requires a large fleet
of steamers, some of which are equipped, at considerable expense,
for this special service. In connection with these vessels, at both
shipping and receiving wharfs, are large storehouses, where the frozen
meat is held, awaiting shipment, or received after its voyage.

IN TRANSPORTING FRUIT ON THE OCEAN, a large fleet find employment; in
it are found steamers built with insulated hulls formed by lining the
outer steel hull with wood and packing the inclosed space with powdered
charcoal. Refrigerator service is essential to success in transporting
the more delicate fruits such as pears, peaches, cherries and plums
which have been landed in London from California and South Africa in
excellent condition in this way.

Ventilation, in connection with insulated hulls, is depended on in
handling most of the tropical fruits imported into this country.
Bananas from Central and South American and West India ports form the
staple commodity, giving employment to an extensive fleet of very
excellent boats. From Southern Europe large quantities of fruit are
exported, oranges, lemons, grapes and nuts forming the bulk of the
shipments which are carried in steamers in well ventilated compartments.

The development of the fruit traffic from different districts is
attaining huge proportions with the control of the proper conditions
for transit which shippers now have within their reach. Fruit shipments
are now made to England from Florida and California, Southern Europe,
South Africa and Australia. The shipments from one land forming the
complement of those from others, a continual supply of the finest fresh
fruits is available.

ICE IN THE FISHERIES.--It is now long ago that fresh fish were to be
enjoyed only at places near by the fishing grounds. Now they are in
the market the year round. During the season when fish may be caught,
those not entering into immediate consumption are placed in cold
storage rooms and frozen, to be taken out at any later time as they are
wanted. Such storage houses are found in connection with all important
fishing stations on the New England coast, along the great lakes, and
among the salmon fisheries of the Northern Pacific. When the fishing
boats start on a cruise they are loaded with ice, with which the fish
are preserved, and the fishermen are not obliged to return home with a
small catch to prevent its spoiling.

In shipping fish to inland places, a beautiful sight is often observed
in a slab of crystal ice about three feet square and eight inches
thick, within which a dozen or more fish have been frozen. They are as
beautiful in appearance as when seen in their native element, while
no occasion exists for commenting upon the utility of this method of
transporting them. Altogether ice is a prime necessity in this business
in all departments--the fisherman, the shipper and dealer, and the
consumer.

It would not do to close this chapter without referring to the oyster.
The association of oysters and ice are so intimate that they are
usually seen together. The trays of oysters and ice may be seen in
every direction during the season, on their way from the oyster beds to
delight the palates of their admirers who are found everywhere.




CHAPTER IX.

RETARDING CELLARS AND HOUSES.

  Cold Storage in Modified Form, Without Ice--Ventilated Storage and
    Packing Houses for Fruit and other Produce.


It is well known that cellars which are dry, cool and well ventilated
are of great service in preserving fruit and vegetables. In Sicily,
where oranges have long been produced in great quantities, they are
kept in cool caves, which are numerous among the mountains of that
island. Its volcanic origin no doubt has particularly favored their
formation, and the porous nature of the rock insures ventilation
combined with a dry cool air.

CAVES FOR STORAGE.--There is much of the natural phenomena of caves
which is interesting, and definite determination of their philosophy
would be of value. There are caves in which ice is formed during the
hottest weather, and in which it disappears during the winter.

Shafts sunk in mining have exhibited the same peculiarity. The even
temperature and dryness of the air in many caves is remarkable. While
the facts are yet to be determined scientifically regarding these
natural formations, some of their characteristics may be secured by
artificially constructed cellars.

STORAGE CELLARS WITHOUT ICE have been in use for years, with profit
and convenience to their owners. A convenient place is to locate them
in the side of a slight hill, as shown in Fig. 89. A cross section is
shown in Fig. 90. An excavation the width of the cellar is made, the
earth being thrown up against the outside of the stone wall, which is
built on the lower hillside. The opposite wall is formed by the cut
face of the hill. The rear end is constructed in the same manner as the
lower hillside. The front wall and doors are made of a double thickness
of boards, with six inches inclosed space filled with sawdust.

[Illustration: FIG. 89. PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF FRUIT CELLAR.]

The doors swing inward, and are large enough to admit a single
horsecart. The sides and rear end are lined with inch boards. The side
walls are four feet high in the clear. To form the roof, boards are cut
of a length which will raise the center seven feet above the floor and
give easy passage for a horse.

Midway between the center and either wall a 2 × 4 post is set upon a
footing of brick, and above it under the roof boards a 1 × 4 strip is
run the length of the cellar. On top of the first roof boards a layer
of straw is placed, which will be a foot in thickness when pressed
down.

On top of this straw a second set of roof boards is placed, covered
with another layer of straw; on top is now placed a tight cover of
matched boards, and two thicknesses of tarred paper over the whole.
Battens are placed over the joints in the matched boards to hold down
the tarred paper and prevent any water passing through. The outer edges
of the roof are set firmly against the ground at the top of the walls.

On the upper hillside tiling should be placed, or other draining to
carry off the surface water. A porous, gravelly side should be selected
whenever available. In the front two windows are placed and one large
one at the rear, double sashes being fitted during the coldest weather.

[Illustration: FIG. 90. CROSS SECTION OF FRUIT CELLAR.]

THE CHEAPNESS AND CAPACITY OF SUCH A CELLAR.--For a cellar one hundred
feet deep the estimated cost is $100, no skilled labor being required.
Rough lumber is used except for the last roof boards. Large storage
room is provided in such a cellar, fifty thousand celery plants have
been accommodated in one; hundreds of bushels of vegetables, apples and
other fruits have been held in it during the fall and winter.

A COLD PACKING HOUSE.--On large fruit farms a building designed to
properly care for the fruit during shipping and packing, and as a store
house for temporary use, is desirable. The illustrations below (Figs.
91 and 92) are taken from a ventilated fruit house with insulated
walls, which has operated very successfully in Ontario County, N. Y.
A perspective view is shown in Fig. 91. The main building is 24 × 36
feet, built into a slight hill. The basement is built with stone walls
eighteen inches thick, extending two feet below the surface and rising
six feet above it.

The floor is made of eight inches of clean coarse gravel, with a coat
of hydraulic cement grouted in a finishing coat on top, thus making a
dry, hard floor.

[Illustration: FIG. 91. PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF FRUIT HOUSE.]

The basement is divided into convenient apartments. The entrance is
from the front and north sides, the floor being almost level with
the outside surface. Both the doors and windows are double, the
latter being provided with screens to keep out insects when open for
ventilation. This basement is ceiled with inch boards, on top of which,
between the joists, is placed an inch and one-half of mortar.

The upper building is fourteen feet to the eaves, the main story being
eight feet in the clear. The studding is five inches wide, and on the
outside are two thicknesses of damp-proof paper, over which weather
boards are placed. On the inside of the studding are two layers of
paper, then a two-inch wide studding on which the paper is again
doubled; over this comes matched inch lumber, making two dead air
spaces to insure against the changes of outside temperature affecting
that on the inside.

The ceiling of this room is formed by putting one thickness of paper
on the joists, covered with matched lumber. The floor is of matched
two-inch plank, thus making dead air spaces between the cellars and the
upper room, and also rendering it impervious to rats and mice. (Fig.
92.)

This floor is occupied by an office and stairway in one end, and these
leave a clear floor space of 24 × 24 feet, for storing and packing
purposes. Shelves, thirty-two inches deep, are placed all around the
wall of this room, and are capable of holding about seven tons of
grapes or other fruits, leaving the center for such as are in barrels.

From the east side of this room a door opens into the raised portion
of the shed. Through this door the fruit can be unloaded from the
wagon without any lifting. This shed runs the whole length of the
building and is sixteen feet wide, with a ground floor. It is ample to
accommodate packing, also several loads of fruit over night or through
a shower.

[Illustration: FIG. 92. SECTION OF FLOOR AND CEILING.]

The top story is eight feet high in the center. The floor is one-inch
matched stuff, laid on paper. The sides and ceiling are lathed and
plastered. It makes a cool room, pleasant to work in or to store grapes
and other fruits in baskets, as the veranda on the west side has a flat
roof with a door opening on it, which renders it very convenient for
loading or unloading. The veranda is six feet wide on the two sides.

A galvanized iron ventilating tube, two feet in diameter, runs from the
fruit to above the roof, to carry off the heated air. Other ventilating
doors should be close to the floor and left open at night, thus making
a cool draft all night through the fruit room. The doors are to be
closed air-tight early in the morning; the room above can be ventilated
through the shaft all day, drawing off the heat from the roof.

Pure air and plenty of it being required in a house of this
description, its location should be well chosen. The prevailing winds
and surrounding buildings or other features can be noticed in selecting
a site.

IN REMOVING FRUIT from storage room, it is always desirable to let
the temperature gradually rise to that of the external atmosphere.
Otherwise the fruit, being removed at once from a cool room, being
cooler than the external atmosphere, condenses moisture on its surface
which, unless removed, may cause decay after the fruit is packed for
shipment or sale.




CHAPTER X.

ICED FOODS AND BEVERAGES.

  Recipes for Iced Foods and Drinks--Ice Creams of every Sort and
    Description--Fruit Mashes, Sherbets and the like--Other Iced
    Dishes.


There are few who do not thoroughly enjoy a dish of well made ice cream
or a glass of some refreshing iced beverage.

The addition of an ice house to the farm equipment is the connecting
link which will supply these luxuries. Few entertainments are complete
with ice cream omitted, and as it falls to the lot of the charming
wives and daughters to dispense the cordial hospitality for which
American farmers are famous, a few choice recipes are presented here
for their consideration. The ice crusher illustrated in Fig. 93 is very
convenient for breaking ice for the freezer or for iced drinks. It is
an improvement over the common method of breaking the ice in a bag
with a mallet.

Recipes for ices are not numerous, because many dainties are compounded
by secret formulas for which confectioners sometimes have to pay
dearly. Again, one who knows how to make good, plain, old-fashioned ice
cream, generally knows how to add the different fruits and flavors. But
the following have been compiled with great care, many of them are new
or heretofore secret, and they are sufficient in number to give the
housewife, caterer or confectioner every possible delicacy in the way
of ices, exclusive of intoxicating drinks.

ICE CREAMS AND ICES.--Pour the mixture to be frozen into the tin can;
put beater in this and put on cover. Place in the tub, being careful
to have the point on the bottom fit into the socket in the tub. Put on
the cross piece, and turn the crank, to see that everything is right.
Next comes the packing. Ice should be broken in large pieces, put
into a canvas bag and pounded fine with a mallet, or put in a tub and
shaved fine with the ice shaver. Put a thick layer of it into the tub,
then a good layer of coarse salt; continue this till the tub is full;
pack down solid with paddle or common stick. After turning the crank
a few times add more salt and ice, and pack down again, till the tub
is full. For a gallon can three pints of salt and, perhaps, ten quarts
of fine ice, will be required. The water must not be let off, as it is
one of the strongest elements to help the freezing. If more salt than
the quantity given is used the cream will freeze sooner, but will not
be so smooth and rich as when less is used. Turn the crank for twenty
minutes, not so fast at first, but very rapidly the last ten minutes.
It will be hard to turn when the mixture is frozen. Let off the water
carefully, turn back the cross piece, wipe the salt and water from the
cover, take off cover, not displacing the can itself. Remove the beater
and scrape the cream from it. Work a large spoon up and down until the
cream is light, and the space left by the beater is filled. Cover the
can, cork up the hole from which the handle of the beater was taken,
add more salt and ice till the can is well covered; set in a cool place
(covered with a bit of old carpet), until time for serving. It is
better for standing a couple of hours. When ready to serve, dip the can
for a few seconds in hot water, wipe it, and turn on a platter. Rest it
for a moment, and lift a little. If the cream is to be served from a
mould, remove it when you do the beater; fill the mould, and work the
cream up and down with a spoon. This will press the cream into every
part and lighten it. Cover the top of the mould with a thick white
paper, put on tin cover, and bury in fresh salt and ice.

HOW TO SERVE CREAMS AND ICES.--Much pride is taken by good cooks in the
way they serve their dainties to their friends. Creams and ices look
prettier served on pretty plates. If these are lacking, lay a flower
on each plate, or in some way beautify it. A quaint way of serving
cream was noticed not long since. Calla lilies had been robbed of their
stamens and their cups filled with the cream.


ICE CREAMS.

VANILLA ICE CREAM.--One quart of rich cream, one cup of milk, one cup
of sugar, one and one-half teaspoonfuls of vanilla. This recipe nearly
doubles itself if the cream is very rich.

STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM.--One quart of strawberries, one pint of sugar,
one-half pint of milk, one and one-half pints of cream. Mash the
berries and sugar together through a fine strainer into the freezer,
after the rest of the mixture has been freezing about eight minutes.

BROWN BREAD ICE CREAM.--Dry the crust of brown bread in a warm oven.
Roll fine and sift. Add one pint of the crumbs to the preparation for
vanilla ice cream. The vanilla and one-fourth of the sugar must be
omitted.

COCOANUT ICE CREAM.--One quart of cream, one pint of milk, three eggs,
one and one-half cupfuls of sugar, one cupful of prepared cocoanut, the
rind and juice of one lemon. Beat together the eggs and grated rind
and put with the milk in a double vessel. Stir till the mixture begins
to thicken. Add the cocoanut and put away to cool. When cold add sugar,
lemon juice and cream. Freeze.

FIG ICE CREAM.--One quart of milk, two tablespoonfuls of corn starch,
one of gelatine, one pint of cream, a cupful and a half of sugar, three
eggs, two cupfuls of figs cut fine, one tablespoonful of vanilla.
Put the milk in a double boiler, reserving half a cupful. When it is
boiling pour in the corn starch, which has been mixed with the cold
milk. Cook ten minutes. Beat the eggs and sugar together; pour the
cooked mixture on this, stirring all the time. Return to the fire, add
the gelatine, which has been soaking in four tablespoonfuls of cold
water, and cook three minutes. Set away to cool. When cold add the
cream and vanilla, and freeze. When the cream has been freezing ten
minutes, take off cover and stir in the figs. Cover again and finish
freezing.

CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM.--One quart of cream, one pint of milk, one even
pint of powdered sugar, one tablespoonful of vanilla, six eggs, one
teacup grated chocolate. Mix sugar, chocolate, cream and milk, and
bring to the boiling point in a porcelain kettle; then draw the kettle
to the back of the stove, and stir in the mixture, six yolks and four
whites, which have been beaten separately and together. Draw the kettle
forward again, stir constantly till the mixture looks like thick cream,
then take it from the stove and add the remaining whites, which have
been well beaten. When slightly cooled add vanilla. When cold pour
in freezer and freeze. This quantity is enough for twelve persons.
Chocolate must be dissolved in a little boiling water.

NEW YORK ICE CREAM.--One full quart of cream, one coffee cup of
powdered sugar, four eggs, three teaspoonfuls of vanilla. Beat the
yolks and whites separately, then put together and stir in one pint
of cream. When it reaches the boiling point draw cream to back of
stove until the whole is well mixed, then draw forward, stir until it
thickens, about three minutes. Cool, add the other pint of cream, then
the vanilla. Freeze.

NEAPOLITAN CREAM.--Make a vanilla, a chocolate and a strawberry cream;
freeze in separate freezers, and fill a mould the form of a brick in
three smooth layers of equal size.

COFFEE ICE CREAM.--Make the same as vanilla, with the addition of
coffee, of which take a cupful ground moderately fine, put over it just
enough water to keep it simmering until strong, then pour through a bit
of cheesecloth, and when cool into the cream ready for freezing.

WALNUT ICE CREAM.--One pint of the meat of walnuts (American are the
best), pounded fine in a mortar, one pint of milk, one quart of cream,
two small cupfuls of sugar, four eggs and a quarter of a teaspoonful of
salt. Beat eggs with one cupful of sugar; put them and the milk into
double boiler and stir constantly until the mixture begins to thicken.
Then add salt and put away to cool. When cold add the rest of the
sugar, cream and nut meats, and freeze.

[Illustration: FIG. 93. ICE CRUSHING MACHINE.]

TEA ICE CREAM.--One and one-half pints of rich cream, one pint of
sugar, one cup of good strong green tea, yolks of eight eggs. Mix in
inner vessel until it thickens. Strain through sieve and freeze.

ORANGE ICE CREAM.--One and one-half pints of milk or cream. One pint
of sugar. The rind of two oranges rubbed on loaf sugar. The juice
of six large oranges. Yolks of eight eggs. A pinch of salt. Mix the
ingredients in an inner vessel. Stir well until the mixture thickens.
Pass through fine sieve. Freeze.

CINNAMON ICE CREAM.--One and one-half pints of rich cream. One pint of
sugar. Yolks of eight eggs. A good sized stick of cinnamon, bruised.
Cook in inner vessel until mixture thickens. Strain, cool and freeze.

VANILLA ICE CREAM.--One and one-half pints cream. One pint of sugar.
One vanilla bean. Yolks of seven eggs, and a pinch of salt. Break up
the bean in the mixture, and proceed as in Cinnamon Cream.

ALMOND CREAM.--One pint of cream. One cup of sugar. One-quarter pound
of blanched almonds, well chopped. Stir over fire, and add well beaten
yolks of four eggs. Flavor with extract of rose. Pour into dish and
pile on meringue. Place on ice until time to serve.

TAPIOCA CREAM.--Soak two tablespoonfuls of tapioca over night in just
enough water to cover it. In the morning boil one quart of milk with
the soaked tapioca by placing it in a tin can or pail set in water to
boil. Add two-thirds of a cup of granulated sugar and a pinch of salt.
Beat the yolks of three eggs. When the milk has boiled eight minutes
stir in the yolks. Remove from the fire and stir rapidly for five
minutes, so that it will not curdle. Flavor with vanilla. Pour into
pudding dish. Beat whites well. Pour over the top of cream. Sift with a
little powdered sugar, brown a minute or two in oven. Serve ice cold.

SWANS’ DOWN CREAM.--Whip stiff one put of rich cream. Beat to a froth
the whites of three eggs; sweeten with a small cup of sugar and flavor
with vanilla. Beat all together. Pour into a glass dish and set into a
bowl of crushed ice to send to table. Eat with sponge cake.

PEACH ICE CREAM.--One quart of cream. One cup of milk sweetened. Whites
of three eggs. One pint of sliced peaches. As soon as the cream begins
to freeze well add the sweetened peaches which have been run through a
sieve. Freeze seven minutes and add the beaten whites. Freeze well.


ICED DISHES.

LEMON ICE.--Eight lemons, two quarts of water, one and one-half pounds
of sugar, whites of four eggs. This makes three quarts to freeze.

TUTTI FRUTTI.--When rich vanilla cream is partly frozen add English
currants, chopped citron, chopped raisins and candied cherries. The
rule is generally the same quantity of fruit as cream. Mould and place
in pounded ice and salt until ready to serve. A sufficient time must be
allowed for the cream to harden. Blanched almonds chopped fine makes a
nice addition.

FROZEN PUDDING.--One generous pint of milk, two cupfuls of granulated
sugar, a scant half cupful of flour, two eggs, two tablespoonfuls of
gelatine, one quart of cream, one pound of French candied fruit (half
a pound will do), four tablespoonfuls of wine. Let the milk come to a
boil, beat the flour, one cupful of sugar and the eggs, and stir into
the boiling milk. Cook twenty minutes, and add the gelatine, which has
been soaking an hour in enough water to cover it. Set away to cool.
When cold, add wine, sugar and cream. Freeze ten minutes, then add the
candied fruit and finish freezing. When ready to serve dip tin in warm
water, turn out the cream and serve with whipped cream heaped around.

NESSELRODE PUDDING.--One pint of shelled almonds, one pint and a half
of shelled chestnuts, one pint of cream, a pint can of pineapple,
the yolks of ten eggs, half a pound of French candied fruit, one
tablespoonful of vanilla, four of wine, one pint of water, one of
sugar. Boil the chestnuts half an hour, then rub off the black skins
and pound in a mortar until a paste. Blanch the almonds and pound in
same manner. Boil the sugar, water and juice from the pineapple for
twenty minutes in a saucepan. Beat the yolks of the eggs and stir
them into the syrup. Put the saucepan in another of boiling water,
and beat the mixture with an egg beater until it thickens. Take off,
place in basin of cold water, and beat ten minutes. Mix the almonds and
chestnuts with the cream, and rub all through a sieve. Add the candied
fruit and pineapple cut fine; mix this with cooked mixture; add the
flavor and half a teaspoonful of salt. Freeze the same as ice cream.

LEMON SHERBET.--The juice of five lemons, one pint of water, one
tablespoonful of gelatine. Soak the gelatine in a little water. Boil
one cup of water and dissolve the gelatine in it. Mix together the
sugar, water, gelatine and lemon juice. Turn into can and freeze. This
is light and creamy.

LEMON SHERBET.--One pint and a half of sugar, three pints of water,
the juice of ten lemons. Boil the sugar and water together twenty-five
minutes. Add the lemon-juice, strain and freeze. This makes a smooth,
rich sherbet.

ORANGE SHERBET.--Make the same as lemon sherbet, but use the juice of
twenty oranges instead of ten lemons. Boil the syrup for this dish
thirty minutes.

PINEAPPLE SHERBET.--A pint and a half can of pineapple, or, if fresh
fruit is used, one large pineapple, a scant pint of sugar, a pint of
water, one tablespoonful of gelatine. Soak the gelatine an hour in
enough cold water to cover it. Cut the hearts and eyes from the fruit,
chop it fine and add to it the sugar and juice from the can. Have half
the water hot and dissolve the gelatine in it. Stir this and the cold
water into the pineapple. Freeze. This sherbet will be white and creamy.

STRAWBERRY SHERBET.--Two quarts of strawberries, one pint of sugar,
one pint and a half of water, one tablespoonful of gelatine. Mash the
berries and sugar together, and let them stand two hours. Soak the
gelatine in cold water to cover. Add one pint of water to the berries,
and strain. Dissolve the gelatine in half a pint of boiling water; add
this to the strained mixture, and freeze.

STRAWBERRY SHERBET NO. 2.--One pint and a half of strawberry juice,
one pint of sugar, one pint and a half of water, the juice of two
lemons. Boil the water and sugar together for twenty minutes, add the
lemon and strawberry juice. Strain and freeze.

RASPBERRY SHERBET.--This sherbet is made the same as the strawberry.
When raspberries are not in season, use the canned or preserved fruit
and a smaller quantity of sugar. The juice of a lemon or two is always
an improvement. This sherbet can also be made by following the second
rule for strawberry sherbet.

CURRANT SHERBET.--One pint of currant juice, one pint and a half of
water, the juice of one lemon, one pint of sugar, one tablespoonful of
gelatine. Have the gelatine soaked in cold water and dissolve it in
half a pint of boiling water. Mix it with the pint of cold water, the
sugar, lemon and currant juice, and freeze.

FROZEN STRAWBERRIES.--Two quarts of fresh berries, one pint of sugar,
one quart of water. Boil the water and sugar together half an hour,
then add the berries, and cook fifteen minutes longer. Let this cool,
and freeze. When beater is taken out add one pint of whipped cream.
Preserved fruit may be used in this case, to each quart of fruit one
quart of water, and freeze.

FROZEN RASPBERRIES.--Prepare raspberries the same as strawberries. When
cold add the juice of three lemons, and freeze.

FROZEN APRICOTS.--One can of apricots, a generous pint of sugar, a
quart of water, a pint of whipped cream--measured after being whipped.
Cut apricots in small pieces, add sugar and water, freeze.

FROZEN PEACHES.--One can of peaches, one heaping pint of granulated
sugar, one quart of water, two cupfuls of whipped cream. Boil sugar and
water together for twenty minutes, then add peaches, and cook twenty
minutes longer. Rub through a sieve, and when cool, freeze. When the
beater is taken out stir in the whipped cream with a spoon.

BISCUIT GLACE.--One pint of cream whipped to a froth, a dozen and a
half macaroons, three eggs, half a cupful of water, two-thirds of a
cupful of sugar, a teaspoonful of vanilla. Boil the sugar and water
together for half an hour, beat the eggs and stir into the boiling
syrup. Place the saucepan containing the mixture in another of boiling
water, and beat for eight minutes. Take from the fire, place the
saucepan in a pan of cold water, and beat mixture until cold. Then add
flavor and whipped cream. Stir well and fill paper cases. Have the
macaroons rolled fine and browned. Put a layer of crumbs on the cream
in the cases. Place these in an ice cream mould, cover well and bury in
ice and salt for at least two hours. Serve on fancy plates.

GLACE MERINGUE.--One quart of cream, one large cupful of granulated
sugar and six tablespoonfuls of powdered, one tablespoonful of vanilla,
the whites of six eggs, one cupful of milk, one tablespoonful of
gelatine, soaked an hour in four of cold water. Let the milk come to
a boil, and stir the gelatine into it. Strain into the cream, add the
vanilla and granulated sugar; turn into the tin and freeze. When the
mixture is frozen (it will usually require twenty minutes), take out
the beater and pack the cream smoothly, being careful to have the top
perfectly smooth. Set away until serving time. It should stand, at
least, an hour. When ready to serve, beat the whites of the eggs to a
stiff froth, and gradually beat into this the powdered sugar. Turn the
cream out, and cover every part of it with the meringue. Brown in a hot
oven and serve immediately. If the dish is flat put a board under it;
this keeps the heat from the bottom. Glace meringue is a beautiful dish.

BOMBE GLACE.--One quart of strawberry or raspberry sherbet, one pint
of sugar, one pint and a half of water, the yolks of eighteen eggs,
one large tablespoonful of vanilla. Boil the sugar and water together
twenty minutes, beat the yolks of the eggs very light. Place the
saucepan with the syrup in another pan of boiling water; stir the eggs
into this syrup and beat with a whisk for ten minutes. Take from the
fire, place the basin in a pan of cold water, and continue beating
for ten or fifteen minutes. Pack an ice cream mould in ice and salt.
Take the sherbet from the freezer and spread on the sides and bottom
of the mould. When it is hard put the cooked mixture in the center,
being careful not to disturb the sherbet. Cover with a piece of thick
white paper. Put on the cover, and cover the top of the mould with salt
and ice. Bombe glace can be made with any kind of sherbet, having the
center part flavored to correspond with the sherbet. The handsomest
dishes are, of course, made with the brightest colored sherbets.

[Illustration: FIG. 94. A POWER ICE CRUSHER.]

PLAIN BLANC MANGE.--To one quart of boiling milk add two tablespoonfuls
of corn starch dissolved in a little cold milk. Sweeten and let it boil
long enough to thicken. Pour into cups, and when cold serve in glass
dishes with a sweet jelly and rich cream. This makes a very simple and
wholesome dish. Always cook custards in inner vessels, as they are not
so apt to scorch. A frozen custard is a delight in hot weather.

PINEAPPLE WATER ICE.--One pound of pineapple, peeled, sliced and
reduced to a pulp by pounding. Rub through a fine sieve. Wash the dregs
with half pint of cold water. Add one pint of syrup (made by boiling
one pint of water with quarter of a pound of sugar) and juice of one
lemon. Freeze.

RASPBERRY ICE.--One and one-half pints of raspberry juice, made by
pressing the fruit through a sieve. One pint of syrup. One glass of
currant juice, or juice of half a lemon. Freeze.

CHERRY ICE.--Two pounds of cherries picked, pounded and boiled with a
gill of water in a porcelain vessel. Rub through a sieve. Add one pint
of thick syrup, one pint of cream, and a few drops of essence of the
kernels. Mix. Freeze twenty minutes.

BLACKBERRY ICE.--Put as many blackberries as you wish to stew, and
sweeten to taste. When done put in a bag and strain. When cold, freeze.

MACARONI CUSTARD.--Take one quart of milk, set it on to boil. Mix
one-half tablespoonful of butter and three of flour, and stir into the
boiling milk. Beat the yolks of six eggs with one-half cup of sugar.
Stir into the milk, and take from fire to cool. Flavor with vanilla,
then crumble one dozen fresh macaroons over the top and pile on the
meringue. Serve ice cold.

BOILED CUSTARD.--One quart of milk, two eggs, one tablespoonful of corn
starch, one teacup of sugar. Flavor with vanilla. Boil milk and sugar,
then add starch and eggs well beaten together. Place on ice before
serving.

FLOATING ISLAND.--One quart of milk, four eggs--whites and yolks beaten
separately--four tablespoonfuls of sugar, two teaspoonfuls vanilla,
one-half cup of currant jelly. Heat the milk to scalding, but not
boiling. Beat the yolks, stir into them the sugar and pour upon them
gradually, mixing well a cup of hot milk. Return to saucepan and boil
until it begins to thicken. Pour into glass dish. Heap upon the top
meringue of whites whipped very stiff, into which you have beaten the
jelly, a teaspoonful at a time. Serve ice cold.

BLANC MANGE.--Sweeten one quart of cream and flavor to suit the taste.
Dissolve one tablespoon of gelatine in hot water and pour into the
cream. Set on ice and serve with whipped cream.

CORN STARCH BLANC MANGE.--Dissolve three tablespoonfuls of corn starch
in one pint of milk. Add three teaspoonfuls of sugar and three beaten
eggs. Put this mixture into a pint of boiling milk. Flavor to taste.
Pour into cup. Serve with jelly and whipped cream.

VELVET BLANC MANGE.--Two cups of sweet cream. One-half cup of gelatine
dissolved in hot water. One-half cup of powdered sugar. One small
glass of white wine. Flavor with almond extract. Boil cream, sugar and
gelatine until it is smooth, then take it from the fire and flavor by
adding the wine last. Stir well and put in fancy mould on ice. Serve
with cream.

LEMON JELLY.--To a package of gelatine add one pint of cold water and
the juice of four lemons. In an hour it will be sufficiently dissolved
to add a pint of boiling water and three scant cups of sugar. Let it
just come to a boil. Strain through cheese cloth into fancy moulds. Set
on ice, and serve with rich cream.

STRAWBERRY ICE.--Crush three quarts of strawberries with two and
one-half pounds of sugar. Let them stand an hour. Squeeze through a
straining bag. Add an equal amount of water to the juice, and when half
frozen add the beaten whites of three eggs. Any juicy fruit may be
prepared in the same manner, currants and raspberries being especially
good.

SNOW PUDDING.--Dissolve in one pint of boiling water half a box of good
gelatine. When cold add juice of one lemon and small cup of sugar.
Strain well and add the well beaten whites of three eggs. Mix well and
pour into mould. When ice-cold serve with a custard made of the yolks
of eggs and a pint of cream or milk. Sweeten and flavor to taste.


ICED BEVERAGES.

ICED COFFEE.--One quart of strong coffee, one quart of cream, one and
three-fourths of a pint of granulated sugar. Freeze.

ICED TEAS are now served to considerable extent during warm weather.
They are used without milk, and the addition of sugar serves only
to destroy the finer tea flavor. It may be prepared early in the
day, taking care to make it stronger than when served hot. Place
in refrigerator, and when ready to serve, have crushed ice in the
tumblers, which are nicer for the purpose than cups, as the tea looks
pretty poured through the ice.

LEMONADE.--Juice of half a lemon to each goblet of water. Sweeten to
taste and pour over crushed ice.

JELLY WATER.--Sour jellies dissolved in water make delicious drinks for
fever patients. Best always to boil the jelly in water, then cool. In
this way the jelly does not become lumpy.

A COOLING DRINK.--Pour three quarts of water on an ounce of cream of
tartar. Stir in it the juice of a fresh lemon and the peel cut in
very thin strips without a particle of pulp. Sweeten to taste. Let
stand till cold and clear. Pour off without disturbing sediment at the
bottom. A tumblerful iced is a pleasant and healthful beverage for a
warm day.

EGG LEMONADE.--White of an egg, juice of one lemon, one tablespoonful
sugar, one tumbler of water. Beat well together. Serve cold.

GUM ARABIC WATER.--One teaspoonful gum arabic. One tumbler cold water.
Allow it to stand long enough to dissolve. Flavor with jelly, lemon, or
any fruit syrup.

SAGO MILK.--Three tablespoonfuls sago, soaked in a cup of cold water
one hour. Add three cups of boiling milk. Sweeten and flavor to suit
taste. Simmer slowly half an hour. Eat warm. Tapioca milk is prepared
in the same manner.




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.


  Fig.                                                             Page.
   1. Clearing-off scraper                                            17

   2,3,4. Snow scoop scrapers                                         18

   5. Ice auger                                                       20

   6. Measure                                                         20

   7. Tapping axe                                                     20

   8. Field planer                                                    21

   9. Marker, with swing guide                                        22

  10. Field plow                                                      22

  11. Swing guide plows                                               22

  12. Hand plow                                                       24

  13. Plow rope                                                       24

  14. Line marker                                                     24

  15. Braces for channel with swift current                           26

  16. Brace for slow current                                          27

  17. Best cast steel ice saws                                        28

  18. Two-prong fork bar                                              28

  19. Three-prong fork bar                                            28

  20. Four-prong bar                                                  28

  21. Calking bar                                                     28

  22. Breaking bar                                                    28

  23. Ice hooks                                                       31

  24. Elevator feeding fork                                           31

  25. Chain scoop net                                                 31

  26. Sieve shovel                                                    31

  27. Ring handle splitting chisel                                    31

  28. Channel hook chisel                                             31

  29. Needle bar                                                      31

  30. Toothed trimmer bars, iron handle                               33

  31. Toothed trimmer bars                                            33

  32. Jack grapple                                                    33

  33. Handle grapple                                                  33

  34. Channel grapple                                                 33

  35. Wooden skid, No. 1                                              36

  36. Wooden skid, No. 2                                              36

  37. Wagon and loading tongs                                         36

  38. Packing chisel                                                  36

  39. Packing chisel                                                  36

  40. Hoisting tongs                                                  38

  41. Drag tongs                                                      38

  42. Edging tongs                                                    38

  43. Ice adze                                                        38

  44, 45. Interior view of old style ice cellar                       44

  46–49. Modern ice pit                                       44, 46, 48

  50. Section of elevator incline and platform conveyors              50

  51. Elevation of platform along tracks for loading cars             52

  52. Section of loading platforms                                    52

  53. Hoisting gigs and reversing engines                             54

  54. House ice saw                                                   57

  55. Raising chisel bar                                              57

  56. Striking-under bar                                              57

  57. Dunnage shovel                                                  57

  58. Lowering gig and track                                          59

  59. A popular ice wagon                                             61

  60. Another ice wagon                                               61

  61. Sample delivery ice wagon                                       64

  62. Wagon scale                                                     66

  63. Ice shave                                                       66

  64. Wagon axe                                                       66

  65. Wagon saw                                                       66

  66. Wagon ice tongs                                                 66

  67. Ground floor                                                    68

  68. Section of house                                                69

  69. Section of wall                                                 69

  70. Exterior view of cold storage house                             70

  71. Section view of combined ice house and dairy                    70

  72. Perspective view of creamery                                    72

  73. Ground plan of creamery                                         72

  74. Cold storage house combined with dairy                          74

  75. Section of refrigerating tank                                   75

  76. Section view of cold storage house and dairy                    76

  77. Ground plan of freezing tank and bench                          77

  78. End view of freezing tank                                       77

  79–81. Suggestions for cheap ice houses                             78

  82. Barn-corner ice house                                           79

  83. A loading platform                                              81

  84. Embankment platform                                             81

  85, 86. Lifts for loading ice into sleds                            81

  87. A cheap ice scraper                                             82

  88. A fruit retarding house in Florida, which uses refrigerating
        machinery                                                     89

  89. Perspective view of fruit cellar                                97

  90. Cross section of fruit cellar                                   98

  91. Perspective view of fruit house                                 99

  92. Section of floor and ceiling                                   100

  93. Ice crushing machine                                           105

  94. A power ice crusher                                            111




INDEX.


  Artificial ice and cold air machines                             48–91
    Air machines                                                      88
    Extent of artificial refrigeration                                90
    Fruit storage plant at Waldo, Fla.                                88
    Historical sketch                                             84, 85
    Latest inventions, the                                            88
    Principles of ice machines                                    85, 86
    Systems employed                                              86, 87
    Uses of                                                       90, 91

  Care, handling and marketing of crop                             56–63
    Care of ice in houses                                             56
    Coupon tickets, use of                                            62
    Lowering ice from house                                           58
    Marketing                                                         60
    Packing ice for shipment                                      58, 60
    Taking out ice from house                                         58
    Ventilators, how to use                                   41, 56, 58
    Wasting of ice, causes and preventatives                          56

  Cold storage                                                     63–86
    Construction of house for                                         63
    Co-operation, benefits of                                         78
    Extent and benefits of                                        63, 64
    Preservative power for various articles, extent of                65
    Principles of                                                     67
    Temperature, variation of                                         65
    Use of                                                        64, 67

  Cold storage ice house (see also “Retarding house,” and
        “Storage cellars,” and “Packing house”):
    Barn corner ice house                                             79
    Cheap ice house                                                   77
    Combined dairy, cold storage and ice house                    72, 73
    Construction of                                           63, 67, 68
    Cost of ice in house                                              80
    Creamery ice house                                            71, 72
    Floor, best construction of                                       73
    Freezing room                                                     73
    General arrangement of                                            69
    Loading platform                                                  80
    Milk room                                                         73
    Principles employed                                               67
    Sample house described                                            71
    Size of rooms                                                     73
    Silo as an ice house                                              77
    Tanks                                                             75
    Temperature considered in removing fruit from                    101
    Tools required in stowing ice                                     80
    Ventilators                                                       68
    Walls considered, various                                     68, 69

  Construction of commercial ice houses                            43–55
    Construction, details of                                       47–54
    Development of the modern ice house                           43, 44
    Earliest forms of ice storage                                     43
    Site for                                                      44, 45
    Survey and foundation                                          45–47

  Construction of ice house, details of                            47–54
    Air spaces                                                        47
    Chains, over-shot and under-shot                                  55
    Engine                                                            55
    Floor                                                             53
    Lightning rods, use of                                            51
    Lumber required, dimensions of                                    47
    Platforms for loading cars                                        53
    Posts, inside and out                                         47, 49
    Roof, a good construction for                                     49
    Sills, inside and out                                             47
    Studding, main outer and inner                                    47
    Ventilators                                                   51, 68
    Walls and partitions                                              49

  Contents, table of                                                 115

  Co-operation, how best practiced                                    79

  Co-operation in ice-cutting and cold storage                        78

  Creamery ice house                                              71, 72

  Cutting and storing ice                                      14–42, 83
    Calking bar, use of the                                           27
    Care of ice fields                                            15, 83
    Care of tools                                                  32–35
    Channels and canals                                           25, 83
    Channels, early work on the                                       29
    Closing and caring for the house                              41, 42
    Condition of field at quitting time                               29
    Cracks in the ice                                                 26
    Danger signals                                                    23
    Floats, how to handle                                             27
    Flooding, use of                                                  17
    Harvesting, danger of delay in                                    20
    Harvesting outfit                                              20–23
    Housing the crop                                        29–32, 35–38
    Inspection of field                                           20, 23
    Laying out ice field                                              23
    Marking and plowing                                            23–25
    Opening up the field                                              26
    Packing ice in the house                                       37–41
    Plowing, results of delay in                                      34
    Plowing, process of                                               83
    Refuse ice                                                        23
    Science of ice formation                                      14, 15
    Shipping from the field                                           42
    Snow, removal of                                              17, 21
    Snow scrapers                                                 17, 18
    Tapping the field during a thaw                                   19
    Thickness of ice                                                  21
    Tool room and fittings                                            35
    Windrows, how best distributed                                    19

  Dairy, cold storage and ice house, combined                     72, 73

  Freezing house, a                                                   73

  Harvesting (see cutting and storing)

  Historical sketch, an                                             7–11
    Domestic and export trade                                          7
    Export trade, height of                                            7
    Extent of ice industry                                             9
    Home of the industry                                               9
    Methods for securing, development of                               8
    Modern ice harvest, pen picture of                                10
    Origin of business in United States                                7
    Preserving or antiseptic powers of ice                             9
    Uses of ice, growing                                               8

  House, closing and caring for the                                41–42
    Sawdust or mill shavings, how used                                41
    Tools, inspection of                                           41–42
    Ventilation                                               41, 56, 58

  Housing the ice                                                  29–32
    Discipline on the field, value of                                 32
    Methods employed, various                                     29, 35
    Preferable time for, the                                          35
    Protection at sides of channel, necessity for                     30
    Runs, or skids, how arranged                                  37, 40
    Serious accidents, how prevented                                  32
    Stowing, process of                                           37, 39
    Water box, use of                                                 30

  Iced beverages: Coffee, cooling drink, gum arabic water, jelly
        water, lemonade, sago milk, tea                              114

  Ice creams and ices                                            102–107
    Almond                                                           106
    Brown bread                                                      103
    Chocolate                                                        104
    Cinnamon                                                         106
    Coffee                                                           105
    Cocoanut                                                         103
    Fig                                                              104
    General directions for making                                    102
    Neapolitan                                                       105
    New York                                                         104
    Orange                                                           106
    Peach                                                            106
    Strawberry                                                       103
    Swan’s down                                                      106
    Tapioca                                                          106
    Tea                                                              105
    Vanilla                                                     103, 106
    Walnut                                                           105

  Iced dishes                                                    107–114
    Biscuit glace                                                    110
    Blackberry ice                                                   112
    Blanc mange                                                  111–113
    Bombe glace                                                      110
    Cherry ice                                                       112
    Currant sherbet                                                  109
    Custards                                                         112
    Frozen apricots                                                  109
    Frozen peaches                                                   109
    Frozen pudding                                                   107
    Frozen raspberries                                               109
    Frozen strawberries                                              109
    Glace meringue                                                   110
    Lemon ice                                                        107
    Lemon jelly                                                      113
    Lemon sherbet                                                    108
    Macaroni custard                                                 112
    Nesselrode pudding                                               107
    Orange sherbet                                                   108
    Pineapple sherbet                                                108
    Pineapple water ice                                              112
    Raspberry ice                                                    112
    Raspberry sherbet                                                109
    Snow pudding                                                     113
    Strawberry ice                                                   113
    Strawberry sherbet                                               108
    Tutti frutti                                                     107

  Iced food and beverages                                        101–114
    Iced beverages                                                   114
    Ice creams and ices                                          102–107
    Iced dishes                                                  107–114

  Ice field, care of                                              15, 83

  Ice houses, barn corner                                             79
    Cheap                                                             77
    Cold storage                              63, 67, 68, 69, 71, 72, 73
    Commercial                                                     43–55
    Creamery                                                      71, 72
    Dairy and cold storage combined                               72, 73
    Silo                                                              77

  Ice in transportation                                            91–96
    Fisheries, ice in the                                             95
    Ocean transportation                                           94–95
    Refrigerator cars                                             91, 92
    Refrigerator vessels                                              94
    Value of                                                          94

  Ice machines, Principles of                                      85–86

  Industry, the ice                                                 7–10
    Extent of                                                       7, 9
    Home of                                                            9
    Origin of in United States                                         7

  Laws for protection of crop                                         11
    Regarding prohibition of cutting on polluted streams              11
    Public _vs._ private ownership of ice fields                      12

  Legal and sanitary matters                                       11–14
    Gravel as a bed for ice ponds, use of                             12
    Laws for protection of crop                                       11
    Preservation of purity of streams and lakes                       11
    Purity of crop, how maintained                                    11

  Marketing ice                                                       60

  Ownership of ice fields, public _vs._ private                       12

  Packing house, a cold                                           98–101
    Construction of                                               99–101
    Temperature considered in removing fruit from                    101
    Use for on large farms                                        98, 99

  Packing ice for shipment                                            58

  Packing in the house                                             37–41
    Methods employed, various                                         38
    Method, a good                                                38, 39
    Quantity packed dependent on arrangement                          38
    Runs, arrangement of outside and in                            37–40

  Preface                                                              5

  Purity, conditions of                                           11, 23

  Shipping ice from field                                             42

  Refrigerator cars                                                91–94
    Construction                                                   91–93
    Icing                                                             93
    Ventilating                                                       93

  Refrigerator vessels                                            94, 95
    Extent of traffic through                                     94, 95
    Temperature, how regulated                                        94
    Ventilation of                                                    95

  Retarding cellars and houses                                    96–101
    Caves for storage                                                 96
    Cellars without ice                                               97

  Site for constructing ice house (see also “Cold storage
        ice house”)                                               44, 45
    Accessibility from water and land                                 44
    Arrangement of house determined by lay of land                    45
    Good site dependent on what                                       45
    How to select                                                     45
    Transportation facilities considered                              45

  Snow, usefulness of                                                 16

  Sources of ice supply                                            11–14
    Artificial                                                 13, 84–91
    Lakes fed by streams                                              11
    Purity of compared                                            11, 12
    Running streams                                                   11

  Storage cellars, construction of                                97, 98

  Streams, changing the course of                                     13

  Strength of ice                                                     62

  Survey and foundation for house                                  45–47
    Drainage, the value of                                            45
    Foundations, extent of                                            45
    Importance of survey                                              45
    Inclined ways, use and construction of                            54
    Life of house, how extended                                       45

  Tool room and fittings                                              35

  Tools, care of                                            32–35, 41–42
    Elevator machinery repairing                                      41
    Engine and its parts                                              42
    Good _vs._ inferior tools                                         32
    Inspection of after use                                           41
    Plows, how often rendered useless                                 34
    Plows, the best                                                   34
    Repairing, the best time for                                      34
    Repairing tools required                                          34
    Saws, how to care for                                             32
    Storing room                                                      35

  Uses of ice in refrigeration (see also “Cold storage”)
    Cold storage, extent and benefits of                              63
    Decay of fruits prevented                                         67
    Fruits, meats and vegetables, preservation of                 65, 67
    Poultry, how best preserved                                       73

  Uses of ice, the growing                                         8, 64

  Ventilators, construction of                                    51, 68
    Use of                                                41, 56, 58, 68

  Wasting of ice in house, causes and preventives                     56

  Weight of ice                                                       62




Transcriber’s Notes


Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a
predominant preference was found in the original book or the change did
not affect the meaning of the text.

Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation
marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left
unbalanced.

Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs
and outside quotations. In versions of this eBook that support
hyperlinks, the page references in the List of Illustrations lead to
the corresponding illustrations.

Page 30: “Pages 00–00” was printed that way.

The index was not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page
references.

Some page references and sequence errors in the List of Illustration
were corrected by Transcriber.