[Illustration: Fig. 28.--NYCE'S FRUIT PRESERVING HOUSE. (LONGITUDINAL SECTION.)] (_A_) Foundation walls. The ground floor is leveled off, and made solid, and even with the foundation walls. (_B_) A covering of _tar_ and _pitch_, one-half inch thick, put over the ground and foundation walls, to prevent the entrance of moisture. The tar and pitch should be mixed so as to be only moderately hardened by the temperature of the ground. (_D_) The filling between the walls is composed of short dry shavings, chaff, or other poor conductors, 3-½ feet thick, on the bottom and sides. (_C_) Joist for plank floor, 3-½ feet above the ground. The floor is made level throughout. (_F_) Chloride of calcium, or _dried waste-bittern_, from salt works, spread on every part of the floor of the preserving room, to absorb moisture. (_I I_) Air-tight casings, made of common sheet-iron, No. 26; the edges thickly painted, and nailed to upright studding. The outer casing in some houses is made of brick. The inside of the brick wall is covered with roofing cement, or pitch, or some other air-tight coating. (_K K_) doors 6 or 8 inches thick, filled with chaff or shavings, and fitted tightly to the door-frames, by listing or cloth nailed over thin layers of cotton. (_X_) The ice-chamber. (_L_) Joists to support the ice floor, resting 2 inches on the posts at _Q_. (_N_) Iron bars, 1-¼ inches wide, and ¼ inch thick, gained ½ inch into the joists, and placed crosswise to them. A bar must always be put directly under the seams and rivets. Three bars are enough to be under a sheet 30 inches wide. (_M_) The galvanized-iron ice floor, No. 18 or 20; the edges joined with rivets not more than 1 inch apart, and very carefully soldered. The ice floor is put on the edges of the iron bars so as to expose every part of its surface, on which ice directly rests, to the air of the room below. (_S_) Sides of ice room made of upright planks. Better have it lined with zinc or galvanized-iron, inside of the plank. Scantling, 2 by 6 inches, are placed on the ice, 4 feet apart, made even with the ice. Wide plank (_P_) are placed loose across the scanting, the edges as close as may be put together, to prevent the filling falling on the ice. Saw-dust, 6 inches thick, is placed on the plank (_P_). Shavings are not compact enough on the top to keep the air from the ice. (_O_) A discharge pipe to conduct the water from the ice. (_W_) An ante-room with an ice-water trough, (_Y_), in which canned fruit is kept, in large stone crocks, for retailing by small measure. [Illustration: Fig. 29.--NYCE'S FRUIT PRESERVING HOUSE. (GROUND PLAN.)] The following estimates are given by the inventor, for a house, with room 15 ft. square, 8 ft. high, 22 ft. square on outside, with capacity for holding 500 bushels. The cost would be about as follows: