of String Binders at Derby. 
281 
wheel. These forks also act as ejectors when the sheaf is tied. 
As Bamlett's machine was not sent for trial, no opportunity 
occurred for testing the relative merit of these two systems, but 
King's arrangement worked admirably, as the sheaf was firmly 
packed, fairly uniform as to size, and the tying rarely missed. 
In Messrs. J. and F. Howard^s Binder, No. 4412, the tying 
mechanism is attached to a Marsh Harvester. The motion is 
controllable by means of a clutch lever-gear from the driver's foot. 
This is a useful arrangement, as allowing the sheaf to be carried 
round corners ; but the action is otherwise automatic, and 
capable of regulation to deliver sheaves 10 feet, 12 feet, or 
14 feet apart. This is done by change-pinions on the binder 
intermediate shaft. One cog gives 2 feet additional advance 
per sheaf. A chain-strap from one of these change-pinions drives 
the binder-shaft, which is placed just under the binding-table 
at its rear end. The other end of the binder-shaft carries the 
pinion, which works an endless toothed rack — an ingenious 
arrangement for securing a to-and-fro motion to the binder- 
frame, as well as the necessary intermittent movement to the 
binder-arm. Our readers will recognise the affinity of this 
mechanism to that in McCormick's wire-binder. This endless 
rack, which is radial and segmental, is pivoted on the travelling- 
table, the radial portion giving a to-and-fro travel of 18 inches, 
the segmental ends giving the necessary pause at the end of the 
travel to the binder-frame, and the radial motion to the binding- 
arm through a wooden connecting-rod attached to the rack. 
The binding-arm and tying apparatus are all mounted on the 
travelling-frame. The rotary motion to the knotter is obtained 
by a pinion on the knotter-shaft rotating on a fixed rack under- 
neath the table. This rack has a break in its teeth, which 
stops the rotary motion whilst the knot is being drawn from the 
knotter-tube, the necessary sliding motions of the knotter-tube 
being obtained by levers actuated by a fixed cam-groove 
attached to the frame immediately under the binder-table. The 
whole of the moving frame consists of one wrought- iron con- 
tinuous plate, sliding in two grooves on the table, with a fric- 
tion-roller underneath the outer groove. The plate-bed is bent 
downwards in a channel form (embracing the cam-plate) to 
carry the knotting device. The process of binding is as 
follows : — As the binder-arm travels back to take more string, a 
knot-feeder, actuated by a spring, and regulated by a roller 
working against a cam-face, takes up a portion of the single 
string, as the binder-arm descends to inclose the sheaf. The 
second string is now engaged in the outer hook-tube, which is 
slightly drawn in and begins to revolve, twisting the string over 
the cam-face of the hollow hook. Now the inner hook is 
pushed forward, passing through the centre of the loop, and, as 
