88 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



twine were the four types of band with which experiments were 

 made. Some machines carried an attendant to do the binding; 

 others required an attendant to aid in this; others were auto- 

 matic, but the power had to be furnished ; while still others were 

 automatic and received their power from the machine. The 

 first effort to bind grain by machinery was made by John E. 

 Heath of Ohio. His patent (1850) was on a twine or cord 

 binder of the low-down type. Next (1850-1851) appeared the 

 first machine with men riding on it to bind the grain as it was 

 cut. It had a box for carrying the sheaves, the first forerunner 

 of the bundle-carrier. Other contrivances that now appeared 

 were: The cord knotter (1853); the wire twister (1856); the 

 straw braid twister (1857) ; the automatic trip regulating the 

 action of the binder and the canvas to elevate the grain over 

 the drive wheel (1858) ; and the knotting bill and revolving 

 cord holder (1864). 



The Marsh machine began its successful career on the mar- 

 ket in 1864, and from this date the "low-down" type of ma- 

 chine had a minor popularity. There is, however, still a suc- 

 cessful binder of this type on the market which is unique and 

 very popular for certain classes of grain harvesting on smaller 

 farms. The Lake wire binder (about 1873) was perhaps the 

 first commercially successful automatic binding machine 

 brought out. There were, however, serious objections to wire 

 binders, for pieces of wire were carried into threshing machines, 

 and even into flour mills, where they occasioned fires by coming 

 in contact with rapidly moving machinery. 



The name best known among persons interested in harvesting 

 machines is that of John F. Appleby. He had the genius to 

 combine the advantages of preceding inventions with some of 

 his own inventions in such a manner as to attain success. The 

 Appleby binder on the Marsh frame was an irresistible combi- 

 nation that outstripped all competitors, and at once sprang 

 into such popular favor that it swept over the world with over- 

 whelming rapidity. The problem, at the solution of which 

 many inventors had aimed in hundreds of patents during 30 

 years, was solved. 1 



1 Ardrey, Amer. Agr. Implements, pp. 64-77; Miller, Evolution 

 Reaping Machines, pp. 34-37. 



