and on Miscellaneous Inventions at the Birmingham Show. 287 
chanical motions and contrivances receives the swathe purposely 
raised upon a table, grasps enough for a sheaf-bunch, thoroughly 
separates the bunch from the loose swathe following, pinches the 
bunch tightly, passes round it a band of small but strong wire 
continuously run off from a reel with a constant and proper 
tension and taking up of the slack, couples the wire by a suf- 
ficient twisting, cuts it off, and delivers the completed firmly- 
bound sheaf. The Judges at Birmingham had no opportunity 
of seeing this apparatus at actual work in the field; neither did 
it appear at Leamington to compete for the Gold Medal of the 
Society which stands on offer " for an efficient sheaf-binding 
machine, either attached to a reaper or otherwise." 
The " Suffolk " Patent Seed and Grain Cleaner and Separator 
of Mr. William Bone, of Framlingham (No. 675) was tried. 
The seed or grain operated upon runs in a thin stream down an 
inclined ascending woollen web, light seeds or grain adhering and 
riding up the web, while the round or heavy ones roll to the 
bottom, scrapers being provided to clean off adhering matters 
from the back ply of the web. It is adapted for separating wheat 
from tares, docks and plantain from clover, and for separating 
all kinds of seed corn ; but failed to satisfy the Judges that its 
action is thorough and reliable. 
The " East of England " Seed and Grain Cleaner and Sepa- 
rator of Mr. T. F. Stidolph, of Woodbridge (No. 2742), is a 
marvel of simplicity, seeing that it has no working parts what- 
ever — neither wheel, axle, bearing, crank, roller, screen, or blower 
— beyond the adjustments necessary for opening and closing the 
mouth of the hopper. The grain or seed runs down a ladder of 
fixed louvre boards with spaces between ; the principle being 
that while some grains or seeds bounce from board to board and 
others overleap the spaces by the impetus due to their weight,, 
the lighter seeds and grains fall through ; and wild oats and 
such seeds as have a hairy skin are caught and retained upon 
the boards, which are coated with cloth. Self-acting, simple, 
durable, and cheap, this separator did not, however, prove, in a 
trial with small seeds, that it is perfectly unerring in operation. 
The " Acme " Silk Flour-dressing machine, of Mr. Richard 
G. Handley, of New Street, Birmingham, manufactured by 
Messrs. Lampitt and Son, of Warwick (No. 3532), has no 
central axis ; but the rings of the cylinder run upon friction- 
wheels, and the longitudinal bars or ribs upon which the silk 
is distended are perforated, so that the flour is kept on the face 
of the silk instead of being carried partially round upon the 
ribs to fall upon the silk in heaps. The Stewards decided that 
this was not eligible for a medal, as not being properly an agri- 
cultural machine. 
