CHAPTER VI.
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.
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.