Snow, however, in the event of soft or warm weather, is an aid to the ice by protecting it from the direct heat of the sun, and the force of a rain is largely expended in melting the snow. The water and snow on the top of the ice freezes into snow ice as soon as the weather turns cold again. This snow ice is white, being very porous and filled with air, and detracts from the quality of the crop, its thickness depending on the depth of snow on the field, amount of water, and the temperature. At the top of this snow ice, where it merges into the snow, will be found a stiff, crusty layer, more or less firmly united to the ice below, which adds to the difficulty of removing the snow on top. An inch or two of snow ice will lessen the loss by breakage of cakes, in stowing, and the ice also comes out of the house in better shape, and will stand shipping better. It is not so brittle as clear ice, and is homogeneous in its structure, not being readily split in any direction. REMOVAL OF SNOW.--Various methods and appliances are in use for the expeditious and economical removal of snow. As soon as the field will bear the weight of a horse, scrapers of various designs are placed at work. If the ice is too thin to support a horse safely, flooding is resorted to. At intervals of six feet, more or less, according to the freedom with which the water rises through the openings, holes are cut through the ice, and the water saturates the lower part of the snow. [Illustration: FIG. 1. CLEARING OFF SCRAPER.] This helps to thicken the ice rapidly, and, if the weather is cold, it will very soon be heavy enough to support a horse. As soon as this is the case, the scrapers are placed at work. The snow ice thus formed is afterward gotten rid of by planing, if more than an inch or two in thickness. If the snow is light, and not too deep, it is scraped into windrows, by scrapers similar to those in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. [Illustration: FIG. 2.] [Illustration: FIG. 3.] [Illustration: FIG. 4. SNOW SCOOP SCRAPERS.] These windrows are distributed over the field, not being made large enough to sink the ice at any point. Scoop scrapers are now employed, which gather up the windrows and carry the snow off to the shore, or to a distance from where the ice is to be cut. If the field is very large, and the snow deep, dumping points are selected on the field. The weight of the snow will sink the ice at these points, and cracks will soon loosen the dump from the main body of ice. A deep groove plowed alongside of the dump will assist in loosening the dump, and keeps the water off the field. Some of these scoop scrapers are constructed with great care, and nicely adapted to the needs of the ice harvester.