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. Barn plans and outbuildings . are put on the floor. The ice is packedsolidly on this, but a space of six or eight inches is left onall sides, which is packed in with sawdust. Any spacesor cracks between the cakes of ice are also filled withsawdust. Short pieces of horizontal loose boards supportthe sawdust inside the door. These are put in as thefilling proceeds, and taken out as the ice is removed fromtime to time. The ice is filled in some distance abovethe plates, and finally covered over with a foot or soof sawdust. This suffices to keep out the sun and air. UKDElRGROUND ICE HOUSES 249 h
. Barn plans and outbuildings . are put on the floor. The ice is packedsolidly on this, but a space of six or eight inches is left onall sides, which is packed in with sawdust. Any spacesor cracks between the cakes of ice are also filled withsawdust. Short pieces of horizontal loose boards supportthe sawdust inside the door. These are put in as thefilling proceeds, and taken out as the ice is removed fromtime to time. The ice is filled in some distance abovethe plates, and finally covered over with a foot or soof sawdust. This suffices to keep out the sun and air. UKDElRGROUND ICE HOUSES 249 heat. Experience proves that this surrounding of sawduston all sides will keep the ice well during the entire summerseason. Those not having access to lakes or ponds can easilymake an artificial pond in a prairie slough, or otherdepression of ground, large enough to furnish ice forfilling a small house like the above. In this house thereis a mass of ice say nine feet square, or about two andone-third tons for each foot in 247 SMALL ICE HOUSE COMPLETE UNDERGROUND ICE HOUSES Figure 248 shows an ice house built partly under-ground. Where the soil is gravelly and porous, it may bebuilt more cheaply than one wholly above ground. Theexcavation may be made as deep as desirable, perhaps sixor eight feet will be sufficient. There must, however, beperfect freedom from surface water, or the house will bea failure. The bottom may be made of a layer of largestones, two feet deep. Upon this smaller stones should belaid, to fill all the inequalities and form a level surface,and there should be placed upon these a layer of coarse 250 BARN PLANS AND OUTBUILDINGS gravel. This may form the floor of the house. Thewalls, up to a foot above the surface, may be built of stonelaid in mortar or cement, and the sill of the upper frameshould be bedded in the stone work and cement. Theposts and studs, ten inches wide and two inches thick,should be framed into the sill, as in Figure 249—a beingthe
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectarchitecturedomestic