THE USE OF ICE IN REFRIGERATION.
Cold Storage Ice Houses--Their Value for Handling Meats, Fruits
and Vegetables--What They Will Do--Principles of Construction
and Operation--How to Build Them--The Dairy and Cold Storage
Houses--Convenience and Economy of Combining Them--Combined Ice
House and Dairy--Very Cheap Ice Houses--How to Cut Ice in Small
Quantities--Co-operation among Farmers to Secure Advantages of
Ice Supplies.
THE USES OF REFRIGERATION are numerous in these days of invention and
economy. The health, comfort and convenience of the civilized world
are so intimately interwoven with results directly dependent upon the
command, at will, of low temperature, that it is now of paramount
importance to everyone.
Refrigeration in the commercial world is largely secured by mechanical
means, and this method will receive notice in a later chapter. Cold
storage, secured by ice, is in use all over this country, for domestic
and trade purposes in preserving food products. The benefits of cold
storage could be much more widely diffused, than at present, throughout
all the farming communities, where ice forms naturally during the
winter, adding materially to their profits and convenience, and an
attempt is here made to show, in a practical way, how it can be secured.
THE CONSTRUCTION of a cold storage ice house, and the tools and methods
employed for cutting and housing the ice, as well as the benefits to be
secured, will be considered. Only such facts as have stood the test of
practical experience, and which are within the limits usually attained
by those who have good cold storage in use from year to year, will be
presented. These results are only attainable by properly constructed
storage houses, sufficient supply of ice, correct condition of articles
when placed in cool room, length of time they are kept there and
cleanliness. Cold storage houses, not built on correct principles, or
improperly used, will prove of little account, and disappointment will
follow their use.
[Illustration: FIG. 61. A SIMPLE DELIVERY ICE WAGON.]
Cold storage may be used to advantage in prolonging the market for many
products. The entire crop, of fruit in particular, need not be shipped
at once, but by proper picking and storing shipping can be extended
over several months.
Fresh meat can be enjoyed at will, and the lengthening of the season
during which many varieties of vegetables and fruits can be kept fresh
for the home table will not only add to the health and enjoyment of the
family, but it is in the line of economy as well. Good health is the
best doctor, and the more generous living which cold storage brings
within reach is a precursor of health. In sickness a supply of ice
and cooled viands is often beyond price. The suffering its judicious
use may alleviate, and the numerous instances in which recovery is
impossible without it, commend a supply of so beneficent a commodity
to all. Ice is a necessity to health and comfort, and, as it can be
readily secured in nearly all communities within the frost belt, very
few farmers should be without it.
HOW LONG COLD STORAGE WILL PRESERVE.--No rules as to the length of time
during which various articles can be kept in cold storage to the best
advantage, can be given, which will apply invariably to all cases. In
stating what is often done in this way it is intended to show what
it has been found profitable to do, and what will be likely to prove
of practical value to those who are starting in to make use of cold
storage for themselves. Poultry and fresh meats can be kept sweet
for two or three weeks. Beef is improved in quality by keeping this
length of time. Butter, eggs and lard may be stored for three to eight
months. Apples, according to variety and condition, from five to ten
months. Pears, pulled when they will just come away from the stem, and
carefully handled, will keep two or three months. It is best to ship
them in two or three weeks, not waiting for color to mature, as this
will be perfected by the time they reach the consumer.
Concord grapes will keep two to four months in cold storage, and
Catawba grapes will keep longer.
Strawberries, blackberries and cherries will keep two to four weeks.
Watermelons, three to six weeks.
Muskmelons, two to three weeks.
Peaches, four to six weeks.
Oranges, lemons, figs, bananas and raisins, two to three months.
Green corn, two to four weeks.
Squash, four to eight weeks.
Cabbage and turnips, eight to nine months.
Potatoes may be kept a long time; they have been kept, on a trial,
several years, with no apparent loss of quality. Canned fruits will
keep well, and ice cream can be conveniently stored.
[Illustration: FIG. 62. WAGON SCALE.]
[Illustration: FIG. 63. ICE SHAVE.]
[Illustration: FIG. 64. WAGON AXE.]
[Illustration: FIG. 65. WAGON SAW.]
[Illustration: FIG. 66. WAGON ICE TONGS.]
THE TEMPERATURE at which these results have been secured varied from
34° to 38° F. Bananas, oranges, lemons, peaches, figs and raisins
do better at 40°. Peaches, pears, berries, plums and all the more
delicately flavored fruits keep in good form and appearance, but lose
their delicate flavor if kept too long.
Fruits which are picked green, or before ripening, mature or ripen
while stored. The tendency to decay in ripe fruits is arrested by
refrigeration. Upon exposure to heat and air the usual process goes
on more rapidly than in foods which have not been refrigerated. Food
should enter into consumption with little delay when taken out of cold
storage. The length of time during which it is desirable to keep goods
in cold storage may be best determined practically with reference to
the ends sought to be attained in any particular case.
THE PRINCIPLES OF COLD STORAGE.--Refrigeration depends upon the
circulation of pure, dry cold air. It is based upon natural laws, which
are well known and readily observed. Air exposed to heat is expanded
in volume; it is thus made lighter and will rise, being forced upward
by the surrounding cooler air. Air exposed to cold is condensed and
made heavier; it will then gravitate to lower levels. The capacity of
air for absorbing and retaining moisture varies with its temperature.
Warm air will sustain a considerable amount of vapor, which will be
condensed and precipitated if the air is cooled. As water is cooled
and brought to the freezing point it expels a large part of the heat
gathered at a higher temperature. As ice is melted to water this
process is reversed, and heat and air are reabsorbed.
The operation of these natural laws is taken advantage of in
refrigeration.
As usually constructed, cold storage ice houses are built with two
stories; the first floor for storing goods, the second filled with
ice. The floor between is arranged with openings, through which the
air, chilled by contact with the ice, descends into the store room.
A flue is provided to conduct the warm air to the upper part of the
ice chamber, when it is dried and purified by contact with the ice as
it descends on being chilled. Drains and traps are required to carry
off the meltage water, and to secure the water condensed from the warm
air. Dampers in the cold and warm air flues assist in controlling the
circulation, and ventilators placed in the roof keep the loft free from
dampness.
The walls, ground floor and ceiling are constructed as nearly
non-conducting of heat and cold as practicable. No cracks or any
channels are permissible by which air can enter. Drains which take out
the water are securely trapped, to keep out the air. Vestibules with
perfectly fitting doors are placed at all entrances. Windows are fitted
with three or four sashes and air spaces between.
Dryness in the storage room is secured by a sheet metal floor under the
ice, usually galvanized iron, which forms a large pan or vessel, in
which all meltage water is collected. Water is very destructive to the
ice, and the warm air is kept away from the top of the ice to prevent
the moisture from being condensed there and settling on the ice. When
the ice is low in the ice chamber, vapor may accumulate in the space
above the ice. A ventilator in the top of the room is of service in
conducting this away from the ice and keeping it dry. The water from
the melted ice will absorb air and gases so it is spread out over as
large a surface as practicable, and the air is conducted over it to be
purified.
[Illustration: FIG. 67. GROUND FLOOR.]
There are several plans by which these general features are observed,
in the construction of cold storage houses, some of which have
been made the subject matter of patents. The plans shown in the
illustrations embrace the essential features of good cold storage
construction. These plans do not conflict with any patented devices,
and will prove adequate for all practical purposes.
[Illustration: FIG. 68. SECTION OF HOUSE.
FIG. 69. SECTION OF WALL.
PRINCIPLES OF COLD STORAGE CONSTRUCTION.]
THE GENERAL ARRANGEMENT OF COLD STORAGE HOUSES may be, as shown in the
illustrations, Figures 67–70, for any size. Large houses require a
girder and posts under the center of the ice floor, and the air flues
are best made double; one set at each side, with a drain on each side
of the girder along the center of the room. The construction of the
walls vary. Walls filled with sawdust, charcoal, tan bark or other
non-conducting materials, have been in use for many years. Carefully
conducted tests, however, have conclusively proved that a wall of this
description is inferior to a wall which contains dead air spaces, felt
or paper linings, a section packed with mineral wool and an outer
circulating air space.
[Illustration: FIG. 70. EXTERIOR VIEW OF COLD STORAGE HOUSE.]
[Illustration: FIG. 71. SECTION VIEW OF COMBINED ICE HOUSE AND DAIRY.]
The wall shown in Fig. 69 gives good satisfaction. It comprises air
spaces, _A_, which are open to the outer air at the sill, and at the
top open into the loft under the roof. Dampers _D_, in Fig. 68, are
placed at the bottom, so they can be closed when desired. The next
section, _B_, Fig. 69, is of dry sawdust, packed in place between
walls of matched boards; the outer surface of these walls is lined
with prepared water proof paper. The inner section, _E_, contains dead
air spaces, which are about twelve inches square. The inner wall is of
matched lumber and the outer one is of weather boards.
This construction keeps the sawdust dry, and the walls are free from
dampness. The circulation of air through the outer air spaces carries
off the heat imparted to the weather boards by the direct heat of
the sun. When the air is humid, or charged with moisture, these air
channels are tightly closed. The thickness of the walls may be varied
with the capacity of the building. Additional sections of filling and
dead air are required for large houses where large quantities of goods
are refrigerated. Fig. 67 shows the ground floor.
The cold storage house shown in the illustration (Fig. 70) will hold
forty tons of ice, and do all the work required for dairy, fruit and
domestic service on a large farm with one filling of ice. By regulating
the dampers, _D D_, Fig. 68, the circulation can be adjusted to meet
all conditions. When these dampers are closed the ice wastes very
slowly. The waste water, from meltage, is useful for cooling milk, and
the milk room and cooling vats can be placed alongside the storage
house or made a part of the same building to advantage.
A CREAMERY ICE HOUSE.--A very conveniently arranged and completely
appointed creamery is shown in illustrations No. 72 and 73. Fig. 72 is
a perspective view, and Fig. 73 the plan of a combined creamery, ice
house and water tower. The tank _B_ is placed in the second story of
the tower; _C_ is the ice house, _D_ the creamery. At _I I_ are set
creamers, which are supplied with water from the tank by pipes passing
through the ice house to cool the water. At _G_ is a churn, which may
be run by power located in the annex _E_. At _H_ is a butter molder,
and _J_ is the veranda.
[Illustration: FIG. 72. PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF CREAMERY.]
[Illustration: FIG. 73. GROUND PLAN OF CREAMERY.]
By raising the ice chamber, a cold store room can be secured below it.
If the structure is placed on an elevation, water from the tank can be
piped through the dwelling house.
COMBINED DAIRY, COLD STORAGE AND ICE HOUSE.--Such an arrangement is
shown in illustrations, Figs. 74 and 76. There is no communication
between the dairy and storage room. For securing ice for the tank,
double doors, made to fit very tight, are set in back of the ice
chamber in the loft over the dairy. As leaving this door ajar would
rapidly waste the ice, it should be under the care of a competent
person and properly secured.
Where the ice house and dairy are required without the cold storage
room, the plan shown in Fig. 71 is a good one. If a location on a
sidehill is not conveniently at hand, the milk room floor may be
excavated sufficiently to secure proper fall for drain. The floor of
the ice house should be laid with hydraulic cement, and slope toward
the end nearest the milk room. A cheaper floor is made from spent
moulders’ sand or coal ashes, mixed with enough lime to give a hard
finish when dry. This makes a hard, durable floor. The water in the
tank must be kept above the supply pipe from the ice house, to prevent
any ingress of warm air. A trap placed in this pipe is a still better
method. At _L_, Fig. 71, is a double door, through which ice can be
taken out for the tank if required.
The size of these rooms can be taken at convenience. The ice house
should not be less than twelve feet square and twelve feet high. Any
smaller quantity than this wastes the ice much more rapidly. A house
sixteen feet square and twelve feet high is a safe size for a dairy
which is served by forty cows or less. The lumber for walls is better
if matched, and the studding lined with paper. They are, however, often
built from rough lumber, with no air spaces. The packed section should
be ten inches in such cases.
A FREEZING HOUSE.--In some instances it is required to have a freezing
temperature in the cold storage room. Poultry, dressed and frozen, and
shipped in tight cases, has given good returns. This low temperature
is secured by means of galvanized sheet iron tanks, Figs. 75, 77, 78,
which are packed with broken ice and salt. From the surface of these
tanks the cold is radiated directly into the room; hence, the larger
the surface of the tanks for a given capacity of ice and salt, the
better, because of the large radiating surface.
[Illustration: FIG. 74. COLD STORAGE HOUSE COMBINED WITH DAIRY.]
The best form for the tanks is that of a hollow parallelogram. The
lower edge should set about eighteen inches above the floor, to allow a
circulation of air through the center of the tank. The tank should be a
little wider at the bottom than at the top. This prevents the ice and
salt from lodging. A tank six feet high, sixteen feet long, and three
feet wide, placed at one side of the storage room shown in Fig. 68,
and regularly supplied with ice and salt, will reduce the temperature
of the room nearly to O° F. As long as the supply of ice and salt is
maintained, this low temperature can be held. The tanks are furnished
with a trap to carry off the water, placed at the lowest end, and hand
holds are arranged through which the salt which accumulates at the
bottom may be removed. A drip pan is set beneath the tanks to catch all
drippings of condensation; these pans are of wood, lined with metal,
and provided with a pipe to carry off the water.
[Illustration: FIG. 75. SECTION OF REFRIGERATING TANK.]
Frost and ice accumulate on the surface of these cooling tanks, and
their usefulness is thereby impaired. Duplicate tanks should be
arranged, so that they may be used in turn, and the ice removed. The
ice coat prevents the radiation of the cold into the room, and its
force is spent in adding to the ice upon the sides of the tank, a
useless waste.
In some instances the cold storage houses are divided into two or
more rooms, so that various temperatures can be maintained to meet the
requirements of a varied stock.
[Illustration: FIG. 76. SECTION VIEW OF COLD STORAGE HOUSE AND DAIRY.]
[Illustration: FIG. 77. GROUND PLAN OF FREEZING TANK AND BENCH.]
[Illustration: FIG. 78. END VIEW OF FREEZING TANK.]
A VERY CHEAP ICE HOUSE, but constructed on the same principles as those
laid down in Chapter IV for commercial ice houses, may take the form
suggested by Figs. 79, 80, 81, or any desired modification thereof.
A STILL SIMPLER DEVICE.--Where the expense of an ice house is not
warranted by the small use to which it may be put for cold storage, on
some farms, a supply of ice sufficient for household purposes can be
placed in any convenient corner of a barn or other building. A room
partitioned off with rough lumber, and walls, as well as floor, well
insulated with non-conducting filling, will answer, and repay its cost
many times over during the summer. In Fig. 82 is a view of an ice room
built into a corner of a barn in this manner.
An above-ground silo, if built of wood, with double walls and air
spaces, will make a most excellent ice house, if provided with double
doors. The underground, or masonry silo, should be boarded up, with
joists between walls, and boards to form an air space, if used for ice.
A LITTLE ORGANIZED CO-OPERATION in any farming community where
ice-cutting privileges exist, will secure an abundant supply of ice for
all purposes for the entire section or neighborhood. It is customary
to do the threshing in turn, and all participate in the use of the
threshing machine and power, where only very extensive farmers find it
profitable to have an outfit for their own exclusive use.
[Illustration: FIG. 79.]
[Illustration: FIG. 80.]
[Illustration: FIG. 81.
SUGGESTIONS FOR CHEAP ICE HOUSES.]
In a similar manner the benefits of cold storage can be obtained. The
houses can be owned by individuals, or by a few families who may be
living near enough together to conveniently use one in common. The
tools and outfit for cutting and handling the ice can be owned by a few
enterprising young men, who can fill a large number of houses yearly
by contract; or the appliances can be the joint property of all those
having cold storage houses, who may combine to secure them, and also
combine their labor in securing the ice crop. This work is done when
the ordinary duties of the farm are light, and other interests would
not be interfered with.
[Illustration: FIG. 82. BARN-CORNER ICE HOUSE.]
The practical advantages of this plan will readily present themselves
to observing minds. An outfit of tools necessary to harvest, in
good shape, one hundred tons of ice, will just as well harvest ten
or fifteen times this quantity, and would really secure the larger
quantity to better advantage than the smaller one. But, allowing that
the labor in getting out one hundred tons of ice is the same per ton
that it is for one thousand tons, the cost of the tools per ton of ice
harvested is only one tenth as much in the latter case. The tools are
durable, and will last many years. Ice plows which have been in use for
fifteen or twenty years are still doing good service.
As the cold storage houses would be situated at several places, a
brief outline of the methods in use for handling ice under similar
circumstances, will be of interest. The ice is transported from the
water to the houses by wagons or sleds. A platform is built near the
edge of the water, in an easily accessible place, of a height a little
above the bed of wagon boxes when they are backed up to the platform.
The end of this platform is toward the water, and the teams are backed
in on both sides. From the water end an inclined way or run is built
down into the water. Upon this run the ice cakes are rapidly run up on
the platform, quickly loaded on the wagons, and started on their way to
the storage houses. Arriving at its destination, the load of ice may
be deposited on the ground at the entrance of the house, and the team
returned for another load. Meanwhile two men, with the assistance of a
horse, can stow the first load in place in the ice chamber.
For such work the tools required on the ice field comprise:
One ice plow with guide.
One ice saw.
One ice chisel.
One ice floating hook, twelve to twenty feet long.
Three ice hooks, short lengths.
One jack grapple.
Two pairs of loading tongs.
At the ice house are required:
One pair hoisting tongs.
One pair drag tongs.
One pair edging tongs.
At this time the cash value of these tools is about sixty-five dollars
for first-class goods, which are always the cheapest.
COST OF ICE IN THE HOUSE.--Regarding the cost of ice when stowed in
place in the ice chamber, it would be difficult to quote an amount
which would cover all cases. Locality and tact have much to do with
determining this cost. Ice, twelve to sixteen inches thick, cut in
small quantities and placed in the ice chamber, would cost, on an
average, for labor, about fifty cents per ton. Where cut on a large
scale the cost for labor in cutting and stowing is less than half of
this amount.
[Illustration: FIG. 83. A LOADING PLATFORM.]
[Illustration: FIG. 84. EMBANKMENT PLATFORM.]
[Illustration: FIG. 85.
FIG. 86.
LIFTS FOR LOADING ICE INTO SLEDS.]
A LOADING PLATFORM is illustrated in Fig. 83, which shows the method of
running the ice cakes up with a jack grapple. The size of the platform
is determined by the quantity of ice to be handled over it. One horse
and grapple will readily serve several teams if a supply of ice cakes
is maintained at the foot of the incline. Where many teams are to be
served and the ice must be handled rapidly, two grapplers, one right
and one left hand, can be used on the incline. By having the rope
continuous and a pulling post at each end of the horse walk, the horse
will pull a load each way, and several hundred tons of ice can be
landed upon the platform in a day’s run. Where the incline is long a
team can be used to advantage on the grapple rope.
[Illustration: FIG. 87. A CHEAP ICE SCRAPER.]
A sweep such as shown in Fig. 85 is a convenience in handling ice cakes
directly from the water to sleds or wagons where only a small quantity
is wanted, and where the ice platform is not required. A similar
device, which has the advantage of being more readily moved, is shown
at Fig. 86. Where an artificial pond is made with an embankment, a
loading platform may be constructed, as shown in Fig. 84.
IN PACKING THE ICE into the ice chamber, attention is required to
prevent any dirt from adhering to the ice and being packed into the ice
chamber, where it will accumulate in the drains and on the floors as
the ice melts.
At _S_, in Fig. 68, will be found an opening over the drip pan; through
these openings, placed at convenience along the back of the floor, the
floor can be flushed with water and washed clean.
Time, labor and convenience are all conserved by the use of such
necessary tools as are listed on previous pages. More can be added as
the amount of ice cut is increased.
THE ICE FIELD should be kept free from snow by scraping from time to
time. For clearing the small surface from which a harvest of forty tons
can be secured, a simple scraper, cheaper than those used on large
fields, will answer the purpose. An oak plank one and one-half inches
thick, ten inches wide and six feet long, with two holes four inches
from the bottom edge, and four feet apart, and a foot board mortised
through the center, will do tolerable work. An iron shoe on the lower
edge adds materially to its efficiency. Fig. 80 illustrates a scraper
of this pattern.
Thirty-six cubic feet of ice weigh a ton. Hence, a surface six feet
square on an ice field, where the ice is a foot thick, represent a ton
of ice. At this rate a surface thirty-eight feet square would represent
forty tons of ice. Owing to loss by breakage, and irregular cutting, it
is usual to allow a considerable margin, greater in small than in large
quantities, and a surface fifty feet square would readily harvest forty
tons of twelve-inch ice. Where the ice is thinner a correspondingly
larger surface is required to secure the same weight of ice.
The surface being cleared of snow, the ice plow is set upon the ice
alongside a line drawn taut in the direction in which the plowing is
to be done. The ice plow, drawn by hand and guided to run parallel
with the line, gives the base groove. The blade of the guide is placed
in this groove, and the field is now grooved in uniform spaces in one
direction. The plow makes only one cut in each groove, while the guide
is attached to it. By repeating this method grooves are made crossing
those first made at right angles. The guide is now removed from the
plow, and by plowing back and forth the ice is grooved to the depth
desired, about seven or eight inches for twelve-inch ice and two inches
for six-inch ice.
A channel is now opened at the foot of the incline, and a few hours
work for four men, and a boy driving the horse to run the grapple, will
land the ice cakes on the platform.