290 
Report on the Exhibition and Trials 
and cutter. The gripper being double only requires one move- 
ment to perform its double office, and is very simple and in- 
genious. The knife, being open at both ends, is not liable 
to choke. Great power is secured for the packing-arms by a 
clever arrangement of double cranks. The packer is pivoted 
to the first, whilst the back crank, acting in a slot, gives the 
necessary leverage. The action of binding is as follows : — On 
the lower end of the knotter-shaft is a double finger with a barb 
on one end, and one single finger with a rounded base. The 
string is led over the top of the barbed finger and held securely 
by the gripper. The knotter revolving two-thirds of a revolu- 
tion forms the loop. At this point a stop, engaging in a catch, 
arrests the lower finger, whilst the upper one is completing its 
motion, thus causing an opening between the two fingers, in 
which opening the string becomes engaged. Just at this point 
the direction of the motion of the knotter is reversed. It returns 
to its original position, and the string is drawn through the 
loop, completing the knot. The action of the compressor in 
influencing the whole of the motions is very admirable. It will 
be gathered from the above that the knotting device is a modi- 
fication of the Appleby knotter used in Messrs. Johnston's 
combined machine. 
The last of the Independent Gleaners and Binders which 
was in a sufficiently advanced stage of invention to justify a 
short notice was that shown by Geo. Spencer, No. 4546 in the 
Catalogue — described as a Sheaf-binder, patented by the ex- 
hibitor, manufactured by Messrs. Abell, of Brook Street Works, 
Derby ; — adapted to gather and bind with string after any 
ordinary reaper. The apparatus is very small, only 5 feet in 
width, and 4 feet 8 inches in depth. The specialty consists 
in the fact that the string, in place of being tied, is twisted and 
rubbed into a close condition which, when the machine was 
operated in the Showyard, made a sufficient joint to hold the 
sheaf; but how far this would be the case when the machine 
travelled, cannot be decided. 
The platform is covered with sheet-iron, with one central 
jointed fork. A travelling rake, with two forks, under the driver's 
control, brings the corn to the inclined platform, on which are 
two light pieces of spring steel, to prevent it falling back. 
The same leverage, Avhen reversed, throws a clutch-coupling 
in gear with a large mutilated wheel, with cam-paths on its side ; 
this throws the twisting-gear into action, and when the twist is 
made, the gear is automatically' stopped, by means of a projec- 
tion which disengages the clutch. The twister consists of a 
mushroom-shaped disc, with slots on opposite sides to receive 
the strings, and revolves underneath the rubbers. The twisting 
