SELF-CLOSING DOOR FOR PIGPEN.
Neither winter snows nor the spring and summer rains should be allowed to beat into a pigpen. But the difficulty is to have a door that will shut itself and can be opened by the animals whenever they desire. The engraving, Fig. [3], shows a door of this kind that can be applied to any pen, at least any to which a door can be affixed at all. It is hung on hooks and staples to the lintel of the doorway, and swinging either way allows the inmates of the pen to go out or in, as they please,—closing automatically. If the door is intended to fit closely, leather strips two inches wide should be nailed around the frame of the doorway, then as the door closes it presses tightly against these strips.
FIG. 3. AUTOMATIC DOOR.
A HOG-FEEDING CONVENIENCE.
The usual hog’s trough and the usual method of getting food into it are conducive to a perturbed state of mind on the part of the feeder, because the hog is accustomed to get bodily into the trough, where he is likely to receive a goodly portion of his breakfast or dinner upon the top of his head. The ordinary trough too, is difficult to clean out for a similar reason—the pig usually standing in it. The diagram shown herewith, Fig. [4] gives a suggestion for a trough that overcomes some of the difficulties mentioned, as it is easily accessible from the outside, both for pouring in food and for removing any dirt or litter that may be in it. The accompanying sketch so plainly shows the construction that detailed description does not appear to be necessary.
FIG. 4. PROTECTED TROUGH.