Although the ice house image and description are nice, the second paragraph is intriguing. Ice piled on the ground, covered with a layer of firewood, then a layer of straw, then thatch as the outer layer. It should be on "dry ground (the north side of a hill being preferable), in a conical form, of a considerable size, in winter during a hard frost..."
Arrangements about an Ice-House—Economical Contrivance.
It is said that ice may be kept for a whole year in the open air by making a pile of it on dry ground (the north side of a hill being preferable), in a conical form, of a considerable size, in winter during a hard frost, and covering it a foot thick with a layer of fagot-wood, then with a layer of straw, and lastly one of thatch. It should be placed on elevated dry ground, and in a shaded place if possible.
Trall, Russell Thacher. The New Hydropathic Cook-book: With Recipes for Cooking on Hygienic Principles. NY: 1854
Arrangements about an Ice-House—Economical Contrivance.
Ice-houses.—These are so intimately connected with the subject of
preserving food, that some general plan of constructing them seems appropriate
in this place. Fig. 81 is an outline of the method commonly adopted. A well is
sunk in the form of an inverted cone, a, b, which is lined with cement or
brick-work, of a brick and a half in thickness, and arched over. The ice is put
in through the opening, at top, and
taken out at the side door, c; a drain, d, e, at the bottom carries off the
water of the melted ice. The conical form of the well is for the purpose of
having the ice keep compact by sliding down as it melts. The walls of the cone
should be built with good hard mortar or Roman cement. At the bottom the ice
should be supported on a thin wooden grating, or an old cart-wheel, as
represented in the cut. Where the situation will not admit of a drain, the
bottom of the ice-well may terminate in a small well sunk still deeper, and
this emptied by a pump. The passage to the ice-house should be divided by two
or more doors, so as to keep a current of external air from reaching the ice.
It is said that ice may be kept for a whole year in the open air by making a pile of it on dry ground (the north side of a hill being preferable), in a conical form, of a considerable size, in winter during a hard frost, and covering it a foot thick with a layer of fagot-wood, then with a layer of straw, and lastly one of thatch. It should be placed on elevated dry ground, and in a shaded place if possible.
Trall, Russell Thacher. The New Hydropathic Cook-book: With Recipes for Cooking on Hygienic Principles. NY: 1854
Blog posts on ice - harvesting, ice in refrigerators, ice cream HERE
ICE HARVESTING TAPED TALKS HERE
UPCOMING TALKS deleted
CALENDAR OF VIRTUAL FOOD HISTORY TALKS HERE
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