I have only to add, that by way of superabundant
precaution against bottom wet, it will be well to make a sort of _gutter_,
to receive the drip from the roof, and to carry it away as soon as it
falls.

253. Now, after expressing a hope that I shall have made myself clearly
understood by every reader, it is necessary that I remind him, that I do
not pretend to pledge myself for the complete success, nor for any success
at all, of this mode of making ice-houses. But, at the same time, I
express my firm belief, that complete success would attend it; because it
not only corresponds with what I have seen of such matters; but I had the
details from a gentleman who had ample experience to guide him, and who
was a man on whose word and judgment I placed a perfect reliance. He
advised me to erect an ice-house; but not caring enough about _fresh meat_
and _fish_ in summer, or at least not setting them enough above "_prime
pork_" to induce me to take any trouble to secure the former, I never
built an ice-house. Thus, then, I only communicate that in which I
believe; there is, however, in all cases, this comfort, that if the thing
fail as an ice-house, it will serve all generations to come as a model for
a pig-bed.

ADDITION.

_Kensington, Nov. 14th, 1831._

MANGEL WURZEL.

254. This last summer, I have proved that, as keep for cows, MANGEL WURZEL
is preferable to SWEDISH TURNIPS, whether as to quantity or quality. But
there needs no other alteration in the book, than merely to read _mangel
wurzel_ wherever you find _Swedish turnip_; the time of sowing, the mode
and time of transplanting, the distances, and the cultivation, all being
the same; and the only difference being in the _application of the
leaves_, and in _the time of harvesting_ the roots.

255. The leaves of the MANGEL WURZEL are of great value, especially in dry
summers. You begin, about the third week in August, to take off by a
_downward pull_, the leaves of the plants; and they are excellent food for
pigs and cows; only observe this, that, if given to cows, there must be,
for each cow, _six pounds of hay a day_, which is not necessary in the
case of the Swedish turnips. These leaves last till the crop is taken up,
which ought to be in the _first week of November_. The taking off of the
leaves does good to the plants: new leaves succeed higher up; and the
plant becomes _longer_ than it otherwise would be, and, of course,
_heavier_. But, in taking off the le