| OCR Text |
Show I DAIRY I FACTS I HARVESTING SUPPLY OF ICE Few Tools Are Required on Average Farm and It Is One of Real Paying Crops. (Prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture.) Cooling milk on the farm will reduce milk losses- All that Is required 1b a supply of Ice and a little care. Natural Ice can be harvested on farms where io per cent of our milk Is produced, mid It Is one of the real paying crops of the farm. Few tools are required, and for the average farm two saws, two pairs of tongs, two Ice hooks, ono pointed bar and one straight board for narking, should be sufficient. The first thing to do Is to provide 1 place to store the Ice. If Ice Is scarce and hard to put up, it would probably be well to build an Ice house, plans for which mny be obtained from the dairy division, United States Department of Agriculture. When Ice Is abundant aud easily harvested It may be cheaper to disregard the shrinkage factor ami store it- In a pit, cellar, shed or other place, and insulate It with sawdust or shavings. If this Is done 20 to 50 per cent additional Ice should be provided to allow for shrinkage. Where cream only Is to be cooled allow at least one-half ton of Ice per cow. For cooling milk, allow 1 tons per cow. These quantities should be enough to leave a margin for household house-hold use; but It Is better to have too much than too little. Whenever practicable prac-ticable build the Ice house In the form of a cube, allowing 45 cubic feet of space for each ton of tee. The pond or stream selected for cutting cut-ting ice should, of course, be free from dirt or contamination from barnyards, privies or refuse heaps. The Ice should be kept clear of snow, as snow retards freezing. When It has frozen to a sufficient suf-ficient depth mark off the surface Into cakes of the desired size, making sure that the lines form rectangles. Cut out a strip of Ice (with the saw) the width of the enke desired, and force this strip under the Ice, thus forming a channel to the landing and loading place. Large strips may then be sawed ofT and floated float-ed to the landing, where they may be cut up Into cakes. These cakes are then hauled to the storage place and packed In os close together as possible, and all cracks and air spaces filled In with sawdust. Cakes that are , cut squarely and are uniform In size and i shape pack together with less air space and are convenient to handle. The cost of Ice Is small, and the work generally comes during a slack season. There Is little reason, there- Almost Any Old Barn or Shed Can Be Converted Into a 8ultble Icehouse. fore, why every fanner in the natural-Ice natural-Ice section should not have ice with which to cool his dairy products, and to make such delicacies as ice cream, iced tea, iced buttermilk, iced fruit and vegetables, etc., possible on the farm. |
