The Evolution of Agricultural Imgjlements. G9 
power, its modem examples are provided with steel teeth whose 
form has been carefully designed to collect large loads while 
giving a loose, light discharge. These teeth are, further, made 
adjustable so as to lightly skim or closely rake the ground at 
will. By the adoption of a balanced rocking frame, locked 
when at work, and free when being raised, the effort required 
for lifting the rake teeth has been reduced to a minimum, while 
the delivery can be made automatic at the pleasure of the 
driver. 
Stacking-machines are now almost universally employed in 
rick-making, and consist of an elevator having endless chains 
furnished with carrying forks placed at intervals of a few feet 
apart, and driven by a pony or horse gear. The stacker rises 
from a four-wheeled carriage provided with a large hopper, into 
which the hay or sheaves are thrown from off the harvest 
waggon, and whence they are carried to the top of the stack by 
the action of the endless chains, the elevator itself being raised, 
like a fire escape, as the rick grows in height. 
Hay and straw compressors are modern machines which, 
while as yet finding their chief use in the compression of hay 
and straw for the sake of cheapening transport, will probably 
be hereafter recognised as more valuable storing agents than 
the hay stack or straw rick. 
The “ Dederick Perpetual Power Press,” shown for the first 
time in England in 1881, is an American invention consisting 
of, first, a rectangular compression chamber into which the hay 
is forced against the predetermined resistance of a sliding end 
plate ; and, second, of a reciprocating ha)'-piston, playing into 
the mouth of this chamber. Bectangular bales of any con- 
venient length are formed in this press, and are very handy, 
whether for stowage or transport. The Dederick machine can 
compress a ton of hay into a ton of measurement. 
Hay, it may be remarked, always comes to market in the 
Middle and Western states of America in a compressed form, 
partly because the dry climate allows of the crop being pressed 
almost as soon as it is cut, but chiefly because the Yankee 
farmer has a very keen eye for such economical advantages as 
the baling system presents, whether for storing or transport, 
over that of stacking and trussing. 
The “Pilter” power press, shown for the first time at Paris 
in 1878, consists of a cylinder into which hay is forced after 
having been twisted into bands by the action of two conical 
rollers. The end of the cylinder opposite these rollers is closed 
by a plate which resists the exit of the hay with a pressure 
proportipped to the d-ensity required jn the bale, and against 
