2218. Management. When the house is finished, it should have time to dry before the ice is put into it; as when the walls are moist, the damp of them frequently dissolves the ice. At the bottom of the well, upon the wooden grate, some small faggots should be laid; and if upon these a layer of reeds be placed smooth for the ice to rest upon, it will be better than straw, which is commonly used. In the choice of the ice, the thinner it is, the better it may be broken to powder; as the smaller it is broken, the better it will unite when put into the well. In putting it in, it should be rammed close, and a space left between it and the wall of the well, by straw being placed for the purpose, so as to give passage to any moisture that may be collected by the dissolving of the ice on the top or otherwise. If snow be used instead of ice, it ought to be pressed very firmly together, so as to exclude air, and in fact approach in texture to ice. To aid in consolidating both ice and snow, a little water may be occasionally poured over it from the rose of a watering-pot. An experienced gardener, in filling his ice-house, after laying down the ice outside the door, pounds it into particles not larger than those of sand or salt. He then carries it into the house, and throws it into the ice-well, in which a man is placed with a rammer to beat and ram it closely; occasionally sprinkling it with a little water to consolidate the whole. When this water is impregnated with salt at the rate of 10 lbs. to 10 gallons, and poured on the ice in such quantities as to saturate it completely, the ice will become as firm as rock, and will keep three times as long as when common water is used. It will also be found to keep much longer when exposed to the air. The reason is to be found in the well-known chemical fact, that salt water, and consequently salted ice, has a less capacity for heat than fresh water or fresh ice. (Encyc. of Cott. Arch., ﾺ 737.)
