and Miscellaneous Implements at Bristol. 105 
drawn. The Judges had, despite the unfavourable weather and 
the unsuitable crops, satisfied themselves and arrived at a unani- 
mous decision, which was made public during the same evening 
bj means of the following Report : — 
The Judges appointed bj the Royal Agricultural Society of 
England to try the machines entered to compete for the Gold 
Medal of the Society, offered for an efficient Sheaf-Binder 
Machine, are of opinion that the Machine No. 2879, exhibited 
by Burnell, Waite, Huggins, and Co. (McCormick's Sheaf- 
Binder), fulfils the conditions of the Society, and they award 
the Gold Medal to it accordingly. They also highly commend 
the Sheaf-Binder No. 2853, exhibited by Walter A. Wood. 
August Qth, 1878. John Coleman, ] 
Henry Cantrell, | Judges. 
J. W. KiMBER, j 
Whilst the Judges were occupied in watching the nature of 
the work, the Engineers and their assistants were busy applying 
those mechanical tests which are of such importance in aiding a 
conclusion. It so happened that the superiority of the work 
done by McCormick's machine fairly distanced competition ; 
but it is easy to imagine that two machines might be so nearly 
equally efficient, that small differences would have to be con- 
sidered, and then the results of the dynamometer would be most 
important. 
The first Table (p. 106) relative to the tension of the wire is 
novel and interesting. 
It is quite clear from this Table that the double knot of 
McCormick's binding reduces its strength, for the breaking strain 
with the knot up was less than half what it was when the knot 
was under, and in both positions it is much less strong than either 
Wood's or Johnston's. Another point of interest that requires 
to be noticed is the gieater strength of the straw binding, a fact 
that we were hardly prepared for ; but there is one point not shown 
in the Table, which is that, as a rule, the fastenings of the 
wire resist much more than the twist of the straw. Lastly, it 
would seem that my estimate of Is. per acre for the wire is much 
below the mark ; indeed, double the money is necessary. As 
was to be expected, McCormick, although the weight per foot 
is almost identical, uses most wire per acre, owing to the double 
twist, yet the difference is too slight to materially affect the cost. 
The Dynamometer tests were carried out on a level upstanding 
crop of wheat, very suitable for the purpose, only it was neces- 
sary to run in the same direction as the drills, consequently it 
was not easy to measure accurately. According to the Table, 
Mr. W. A. Wood's machine cut more space than any of the 
