642 Report on the Trials of Implements at Reading. 
The bale may be made of any convenient length. Between 
the different bales a wooden slide or follotcer is inserted at the 
hopper end of the chamber. As the bale travels onward, wires 
are passed through the sides of the chamber and along the 
grooves of the followers. The ends of these are brought together, 
and a twist with a pair of pincers secures them. When the 
truss is liberated, a slight expansion of the material tightens the 
wires and gives them sufficient hold of the truss. 
As the prize was offered for an implement to be worked " in 
conjunction icith a threshing-machine^^ arrangements were made 
for passing straw through a threshing-machine, and from it to 
the perpetual press. 
An 8-horse-power engine having been attached to the press, 
1 ton of straw was fed into the threshing-machine, and after 
passing over the shakers it was pitched up on to a platform, 
where the attendant who supplied the hopper of the press stood. 
Care was taken to feed the machine at about the same rate as if 
it had been required to thresh the corn, and the press took the 
straw nearly as fast as it was delivered. In 59 minutes the 
whole of the straw had been baled ; but of this time about 8 
minutes had been lost by the strap slipping off, and other 
hindrances. Twenty-seven bales, averaging about 22^ inches 
X 19 inches X 32 inches, were made, and their total weight 
was 18 cwts. 8 J lbs.* This gives an average weight of 75 lbs. 
per bale, or about 91 lbs. per cubic foot, or 9 yards to the ton. 
The average size of a bale was 8'164 cubic feet, average weight 
75 lbs., weight per cubic foot 9*186 lbs. The bales were 
weighed in lots of three each. The heaviest lot weighed 
272 lbs., the lightest lot weighed 172 lbs. 
The density of these bales was nothing like what was 
expected, and what the exhibitors professed that they could 
accomplish. They complained that the straw was damp, which 
was true, and certainly their feeder used no great exertion, for 
he never took his coat off. But it seemed that in order to keep 
pace with the threshing-machine it was necessary to open the 
mouth of the press-chamber, and thus to reduce the compression. 
Mr. A. Carey, Assistant-Engineer, superintended the working 
of the steam-engine attached to the press, and he reported that 
fully 8-horse-power had been employed. 
The Judges reported to the Stewards their opinion that no 
prize should be awarded, inasmuch as — 
1. The prize is offered for a machine which is to be " worked in conjunction 
with a threshing-machine," and the exhibitors had made no arrangements 
for adapting their imi^lement to that pm-pose. 
* As a brisk wind was blowing all the time of the trial, and the straw was 
considerably broken, a good deal of it blew out of reach. 
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