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Keeping Fruits And Vegetables

In cutting ice, as soon as it is of sufficient thickness and before much warm weather, select a still day, with the thermometer as near zero as may be. Ice handles much more comfortably and easily when it is so cold that it immediately freezes dry, thus preventing the wet clothes and mittens, which are the sole cause of any suffering in handling it; and ice put up in sharp, cold weather, before it has been subjected to any thaw, will keep much better and be much more useful in the hot days of summer than if its packing had been delayed until late winter or early spring, and then the ice put up half melted and wet. The best simple contrivance for removing blocks of ice from the water is a plank with a cleat nailed across one end, which is to be slipped under the block, which slides against the cleat, and may then be easily drawn out with the plank, without lifting. Cut the ice in large blocks of equal size, pack as closely as possible in layers, leaving about a foot space between the outside and the wall, and filling all crevices between the blocks with pounded ice or sawdust. Under the first layer there should be placed sawdust a foot thick, and arrangements should be made for thorough drainage, as water in contact with the ice will melt it rapidly. As the layers are put in place, pack sawdust closely between the mass of ice and the wall; and when all is stored, cover with a foot, at least, of sawdust. In using ice, be careful to cover all crevices with sawdust, as the ice will melt rapidly if exposed to the air. The less ventilation and the more completely an ice-house is kept closed, the better the ice will keep. The cold air which surrounds the ice, if undisturbed by currents, has little effect on it; but if there are openings, currents are formed and the warm air is brought in to replace the cold. This is especially the case if the openings are low, as the cold air, being the heavier, passes out below most readily. For this reason great care must be taken to fill in fresh saw-dust between the walls and the mass of ice, as it settles down by its own weight, and the melting of the ice. There is no advantage in having an ice-house wholly or partly under ground, if it is constructed as directed above. Fine chaff, or straw cut fine, may be substituted for sawdust when the latter is difficult to obtain. Of course, the building may be constructed separately, in which case the cost need not be more than twenty-five to fifty-dollars.

CRANBERRIES-will keep all winter in a keg of water.

CELERY-keeps well buried in dry sand.

ONIONS-keep best when spread over the floor.