60 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



the best investment a farmer can make of his 

 labor, is, to devote it to the improvement of his 

 land, whereby, for the crop he would take from 

 it now, he will receive twofold hereafter, when 

 prices are better. 



If we have succeeded in extracting any com- 

 fort out of the present state of things, we con- 

 ceive we deserve at least as much credit as the 

 man, who 



"Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 

 Sermons in stones, and good in every thing." 



BABBIT'S ANTI-ATTRITION METAL. 



Mr. Choate, from the Committee on Naval 

 Affairs in the United States Senate, has reported 

 in favor of a bill authorizing the Secretary of 

 the Navy to purchase for the United States the 

 right to use Babbit's anti-attrition metal. The 

 metal is used in machinery — especially in steam 

 engines. The improvement which the inventor 



has secured by patent consists in the substitu- 

 tion of a soft, unctuous metal, for the hard brass 

 or composition heretofore used to sustain the 

 journals and other moving parts of machines. 

 This soft metal is enclosed in a new, improved 

 manner, in ribs or ledges of harder metal, to 

 prevent its being spread by the weight of the 

 shafting or by pressure. The Committee con- 

 sider that the improvement is one which the 

 government ought to possess the right to use. 

 It secures a great diminution of friction, and a 

 consequent saving of fuel, and saves one half 

 or more than one half the oil heretofore neces- 

 sary ; lessens the cost of the original construc- 

 tion of the brasses which receive the journals — 

 since they may be made much lighter than be- 

 fore ; lessens the expense of repairs, because the 

 soft metal wears longer than the hard, and the 

 ribs and ledges maybe relined at small cost: 

 communicates increased efficiency to the engines 

 by the diminution of friction, and prevents the 

 heating of the journals, crank-pins, and other 

 moving parts of the machinery. 



A CLOVER BOX, 



A, Leather strap. B, Clover box. 



In the engraving above is represented a box, 

 for sowing clover seed, no doubt familiar to many 

 of our readers. Indeed, we had supposed it too 

 well known to need description, else its ex- 

 cellence would long ago have commended it to 

 our notice; but within the last sixty days, we 

 have been so frequently asked if we knew any 

 implement which would sow clover seed evenly 

 and regularly, that, late in the season as it is, 

 we have concluded to describe this simple con- 

 trivance, that is by far the best and cheapest we 

 know for the purpose. 



The engraving is intended to represent a box 

 eight or ten feet long, about four inches wide, 

 divided into partitions six inches long. The box 



is lying on one of its sides, so that the interior 

 with a view of the bottom, is presented to the 

 spectator. In the bottom of each partition is 

 an opening of about three inches square, in 

 which is inserted a piece of tin or parchment, 

 or stiff paper, perforated with a number of holes 

 of sufficient size for the clover seed to pass 

 through. In each partition the seed is placed. 

 To the box is fixed a strap, which is passed 

 over the shoulders of the sower, and, carrying 

 the box before him, he walks over the field, agi- 

 tating the box by his hand if it requires more 

 movement than it receives from his walk. Small 

 slides may be made to cover the holes in the 

 bottom, to prevent the seed from dropping out 

 before the sowing commences. 



