on it which the fancy of its builder may choose to spare.

AN ICE-HOUSE.

Among the useful and convenient appendages to the farm and country
family establishment, is the ice-house. Different from the general
opinion which prevailed in our country before ice became so important an
article of commerce, and of home consumption, the building which
contains it should stand above-ground, instead of below it. And the
plainer and more simple it can be constructed, the better.

The position of the ice-house may be that which is most convenient to
the dwelling, or to the wants of those who use it. If it can be placed
beneath the shade of trees, it will so far be relieved from the
influence of the sun; but it should be so constructed that sunshine will
not affect the ice within it, even if it stand unsheltered; and as it
has, by the ice-merchants of our eastern cities, who put up large
quantities for exportation abroad, and others in the interior, who
furnish ice in quantity for home consumption, been proved to be
altogether the better plan to build the ice-house entirely above ground,
we shall present no other mode of construction than this. It may be
added, that five years' experience with one of our own building, has
confirmed our opinion of the superiority of this over any other plan
which may be adopted.

The design here presented is of the most economical kind, yet
sufficiently ornamental to make it an agreeable appendage to any family
establishment. The size may be 12 feet square--less than that would be
too small for keeping ice well--and from that up to any required extent.
The idea here given is simply the _principle_ of construction. The posts
should be full eight feet high above the ground, to where the plate of
the roof is attached, and built thus:

[Illustration: ICE-HOUSE.]

Mark out your ground the size you require for the house; then,
commencing at one corner, dig, opposite each other, a double set of
holes, one foot deep, and two and a half feet apart, on each side of the
intended building, say three feet equidistant, so that when the posts
stand up they will present a double set, one and a half feet apart. Then
set in your posts, which should be of oak, chestnut, or some lasting
wood, and pack the earth firmly around them. If the posts are sawed,
they may be 4x6 inches in size, set edgeways toward each other. If not
sawed, they may be round sticks cut from the woods, or split from the
body of a