Show HOW FARMER MAY THE ICE CROP I 1 a aa G I 1 o appy wh 97 G eye Z heo y icv opol jacra JAC rg r 06 1 TA G Z c n eai es hec y coot of 0 W G booc fi th ceat coy coot of ceboll lId fth dv aam q ol rodj 11 01 I 1 ij ice 8 I ch jaro to pig fig I 1 diagram showing the insulation of an ice U ae e for storing ice without sawdust or shavings 2 an ice plow with a gutche gauge prepared by the united states department of 0 agriculture in harvesting ice very different methods are required for that which Is not over four inches thick and ice from six to fifteen inches in thickness the thin ice fee generally will be broken into fairly regular cakes which will be loaded as best they may into sleds sleda or wagons and hauled to the storehouse here idere they should be arranged in layers and adjusted as closely as aa possible the spaces between bos bes the cakes cake S sh should b be 0 fl filled with crushed ice or snow to cause the whole mass to freeze into a block of ice as solid as it Is possible to make it Is more difficult to store and keep ice of this character than that harvested in regular cakes thin ice Is characteristic of the southern limits of the storage of natural ice the supply Is more or less uncertain and the storage period Is long the irregular form of the cakes makes it difficult to pack the ice so AS as to prevent air spaces which may form air passages and cause rapid loss irregular blocks and cakes are less leab easily insulated than cakes of uniform size and thickness if the mass is stored in a building without packing material about it insulation must be provided in the construction of the house the walls must be thick well packed with mill shavings or dry sawdust and tightly boarded on both sides of the g material A space of 15 inches between the walls tightly packed with good insulating su material la Is none too much an added safeguard would bo be to double both the outside and inside walls the type of wall construction suggested in fig I 1 would be suitable for a house Intend intended bd for the storage of ice of this character harvesting ice from six to fifteen inches in thickness permits the uso use of tools and implements that hat find no place in harvesting thin ice the field may be laid oft off so as to cut the cakes to standard dimensions of 22 by 22 inches or 22 by 32 inches oblong cakes have hava some advantages over square ones as they can be lapped to break joints as they are stored thus reducing the possibility of the formation of air passages in the ice heap in order to obtain cakes square or rectangular in form a square made from light strips ot of boards with straight edges may be used A square with sides twelve to sixteen feet long will serve the purpose nicely draw a line across the ice field parallel with each side of the square and with a hand marker or with a saw accurately follow this line hy by the use of a plow with a gauge attached such as Is shown in fig 2 the held ilela can be cut into parallel bands or ribbons it the harvest la Is an extensive one and tho the water Is of considerable sid erable depth afeei the field Is plowed at right angles to the first plowing the fee may be barred oft 0 ff I 1 in n largo masses or strips and floated to the shore or loading place where it can easily bo be broken by an ice spud or bar into cakes of the dimensions outlined by the plow the use of a plow Is not confined to large fields or to ice that will bear the weight of a horse on thin ice fields a 0 plow can be used by at it to a light wire cable or rope pulled by a horse on the bank floe ice under certain conditions the only practicable way of obtaining a supply of natural ice Is to catch it aa it la Is going out in the spring when the snow melts and the spring rains come the ice at the headwaters of streams breaks up and Is carried down in largo large masses which can bo be caught at considerable distances from the localities cali ties where it was formed in this way ice aco can be obtained at small cost in the early days many plantations along the potomac harvested an annual supply of ice of this character and stored it for the most part in ili pits those fortunate enough to live near large streams may often obtain their lea ice supply in this way |