Hay and Straiv Presses at Nottingham. 
585 
machine was finally thrown out on other grounds. A compres- 
sion-box appears to be indispensable (except in the case of the 
so-called continuous machines) to the proper baling of straw. 
When no such box is used, the bales must be trimmed by the 
knife in order to ensure such uniformity in size as will permit 
of their being advantageously stowed in the railway truck, while 
cutting the straw itself makes waste, and takes value from the 
baled stuff. The case is similar, but not so important, in baling 
hay. Here, the loss by trimming is of less consequence, while, 
as a matter of fact, almost all the hay pressed in this country 
is cut direct from the stack, and better manipulated without 
a box than with one. 
A further point must be noted in connection with these trials. 
In laying down condition No. 0, which specifies that 50 cwt. of 
pressed material must be loaded into a railway truck of 25 cubic 
yards capacity, the Society inadvertently demanded a needless 
amount of compression, unobtainable by hand, except at the cost 
of more time than could be afforded for its economical production. 
As a matter of fact, the moderate densities which were obtained 
by the best hand-presses proved sufficient to permit of 50 cwt. 
of straw bales being loaded into a railway truck. The railway 
companies allow hay and straw to project 6 inches on all sides of 
the truck, while they also top up the bales in a roof-like form. 
Actual inquiry of the Midland Railway Company's officials at 
Nottingham disclosed the fact that one of their trucks measures, 
for the purpose of hay and straw transport, 32 instead of 25 cubic 
yards. 
Under these circumstances, and bearing in mind that the 
Society's object would be thereby fully obtained, prizes were 
awarded in this class to machines which obtained a density less 
than that actually specified, but not until after it had been ascer- 
tained, in the case of the First Prize machine, that straw boltings 
such as are delivered by the trusser of a thrashing-machine 
could be compressed by it to the specified density of 8-3 lbs. per 
cubic foot. This, however, was a mere experiment, conducted 
independently of the trials, and having no influence upon the 
awards. 
Mayos' machine (No. 5G0) fulfilled the specified condition as 
to density, but it took nearly half an hour to make a single bale, 
whether of hay or straw — an expenditure of time which is, of 
course, out of the question. It may here be remarked that 
Mayos' machine did not receive a second trial on account of an 
informality in entry, and it is not known, therefore, what this 
machine could accomplish when aiming at lower densities. 
