42 



THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



casts a box of iron provided with a number of ribs on its interior, between and upon which 

 hemp, cotton-waste, leather, shavings, or other fibrous materials, previously well saturated with 

 tallow and sulphur, are tightly driven with a caulking-iron. In short, while the use of hemp 

 has been discontinued as packing for pistons in steam-cylinders, and its place supplied by 

 metallic rings, Mr. Goodman has discovered that in other situations, where friction alone is 

 to be encountered, without the existence of a Tiigh temperature, the reverse may obtain, and 

 hemp may be substituted to advantage in place of metallic surfaces. Boxes of this charac- 

 ter in use upon the New York and Erie Railroad have required oiling but twice in two 

 months. There is a cavity on the top of the box of sufficient size to contain about three- 

 fourths of a pint of oil or tallow, protected from d'rt by a suitable hinged cover, while the 

 bottom of the box is filled with well-oiled waste, in the usual manner. The use of leathers 

 at the ends of the bearings is entirely dispensed with, and thin slabs of cast iron are substi- 

 tuted, these slabs being made adjustable, to compensate for wear. The weight of the box, 

 complete, is about sixty-three pounds, that of the ordinary box being usually about sixty ; 

 and the expense of fitting up being very nearly equal, it results that the hemp-packed box 

 is cheaper than the ordinary brass-lined one, by nearly the whole cost of the brasses. The 

 brass used in each box generally weighs about seven pounds, and is worth something like 

 two dollars, arhile the hemp to supply its place Costs only about fourteen cents. 



Improvement in the Construction of Hogpens. 



THE accompanying figures represent in perspective and in section, an improvement in the 

 construction and arrangement of hogpens, recently invented and patented by R. M. Abbe, 

 of Thompsonville, Connecticut : 



The improvement relates to the construction of the trough guards. A pen is first built of 

 the requisite size for a certain number of hogs, and on the front part of it the improvement 

 is placed. The arrangements will be clearly understood by reference to the engravings. 



Fig. 1. 



A B are swinging fronts intended to swing inwards on F F when cleaning out the troughs 

 or feeding, (as shown with front A at E,) and thus prevent the hogs interfering with any of 



