December 29, i88i.] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 593 
FRUIT. 
8. 
d. 
8. 
d. 
8. d. 
8. 
d. 
Apples. 
0to3 
c 
Cemons. 
2 
otolfi 
0 
Apricots. 
. doz. 0 
0 
0 
0 
Melons . 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Cherries. 
P lb. o 
0 
0 
0 
Nectarines.. .. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Chestnuts. 
. bushel 18 
0 
0 
0 
Oranges . 
*>• 100 
4 
0 
6 
0 
Currants, Black 
. £ sieve 0 
0 
0 
0 
Peaches . 
. dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
„ Bed.. 
. £ sieve 0 
0 
0 
0 
Pears, kitchen 
. dozen 
1 
0 
1 
6 
Figs. 
. dozen 0 
0 
0 
0 
dessert. 
. dozen 
1 
0 
3 
0 
Filberts. 
K>Ib. 0 
0 
0 
0 
Pine Apples .. 
p tb 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Cobs. 
. p 100 tb.7.'. 
0 
0 
0 
Strawberries .. 
.. per lb. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Gooseberries 
. £ sieve o 
0 
0 
0 
Walnuts . 
7 
0 
8 
0 
Grapes . 
Ml 4 
6 
4 
0 
POULTRY AND PIGEON CHRONICLE. 
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINERY. 
(Continued from page 575.) 
The next implement to which we shall allude is a hay press, 
and it is of some consequence to notice this, for we find it reported 
that hay has been recently imported into Glasgow from parts of 
the American continent, and in certain seasons when the hay crop 
is very deficient here the supply may be very considerable from 
abroad after being pressed in the smallest space. About two 
years ago we noticed a sample of hay in a corn exchange in a 
southern county ; it was evidently grown on cultivated land, and 
was composed chiefly of Timothy Grass. It was imported from 
Canada, and beautifully bright and well made, and the aroma 
from it was agreeable and perfect. This shows that under certain 
circumstances, when hay is scarce in this country, that we may be 
furnished from abroad with a superior article. But hay at the 
best is bulky, and always will be; but the bulk may be greatly 
reduced by pressure and packing, as may be seen by the hay 
stored on board the steamers. Anything which will compress 
hay into a less compass than usual must be of great importance, 
not only for storing in our own shipping, but especially when 
imported from other countries. 
The American implement makers are generally alive to any 
invention which may answer their purpose; in fact, numerous 
instances show that they are an inventive race, for we owe to 
their genius the first introduction into this country of articles of 
high repute and numerous agricultural implements and machines 
now in general use. The press to which we now allude is called 
the Perpetual Baling Press, and is an American invention, which 
was shown in its present identical form at Philadelphia in 1876. 
It was then described as Dederick’s Hay Press, from the name of 
the patentee. In the absence of illustrations we wish to convey, 
if we can, a correct idea of this machine. The hay is fed into a 
hopper by the attendant, and that at regular intervals when the 
traverser is withdrawn a fork or board descends and forces the 
loose hay into a chamber below the hopper, where it is subject to 
the compressing action of a reciprocating traverser. The hay, 
after it has been forced down by the fork or board preparatory to 
its being driven forward by the traverser, is subject to the com¬ 
bined action which causes each section of the bale to be folded 
up. The pressing is accomplished by the reciprocating traverser 
moving backwards and forwards underneath the hopper, which 
presses against the compact hay, and forcing beyond its traverse 
at each revolution all the hay pitched into the hopper. The 
chamber into which the hay is forced is provided with steel 
springs, which retain all the hay forced beyond them and prevent 
expansion backwards when the traverser is withdrawn. The size 
of the chamber is 12 by 15 inches, and this of course regulates the 
dimensions of the bale, which can be made of any convenient 
length, although the usual size is 3 feet, by the insertion in the 
hopper of wood followers with slots on their surface, through 
which the wires are passed for tying the bale as it passes through 
the chamber. The wires of proper length being first prepared, 
an attendant below passes the wires through the slots in the 
followers, and brings the ends together on one side of the truss 
with pincers. The liberation of the truss from the discharge end 
of the chamber, by allowing some lineal expansion, tightens the 
wires. The mouth is adjustable, so that by turning a nut the bale 
is released or held, thus forming light or heavy bales as required. 
Two men only are required to work the machine, the hay being 
supplied on to a platform which is level with or slightly above 
the top of the hopper. One feeds the machine whilst the other 
attends to the wiring of the trusses or bales. 
It will be understood from this description that the bale con¬ 
sists of a number of independent sections pressed closely together, 
so that when the ties are removed each section may be taken off 
without pulling the bale to pieces, and without that waste in¬ 
separable from the distribution of a homogeneous mass. This is a 
point of considerable importance. The sections can be piled up 
as so many blocks ready for use, or the bale can be placed on end 
and gradually reduced by the removal of consecutive sections. 
As these observations are taken from the report of the Judges at 
the Derby meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society, we find 
that they weighed a truss 12 by 15 by 36 inches, which scaled 
1 cwt. 1 qr. 16 lbs., being about 42 its. to the cubic foot, whereas 
the machine could if required compress 45 Its. to the cubic foot, 
which would allow 1 ton of hay to be packed within 1 ton 
measurement of 40 cubic feet. 
In a time test it was found that 3 feet 8 inches of hay was dis¬ 
charged in two minutes. As this weighed 191 Its., and the work 
is continuous, it follows that the machine can bale about 2j tons 
per hour ; whereas the Pilter Press, which makes a circular truss 
and which was awarded the silver medal at the Kilburn meeting 
of the Royal Society in 1879, bales only 1 ton per hour. The 
Judges considered that this machine has merit and utility for the 
following reasons :—The rapidity of execution, and the small cost 
of manual attendance : the peculiar way in which the hay is 
passed in sections : the simple action of the presser, minimising 
waste: and the advantage of the rectangular form of truss for 
stowage as compared with cylindrical trusses. The exhibitor 
claims that this machine can be applied to comparatively green 
hay in the fields, and that such compression would prevent fer¬ 
mentation, even if the hay were packed in a much greener state 
than that in which it is usually stacked, and this opinion was 
shared in by Mr. Scotson, one of the Judges, who is an extensive 
hay seller, and who held a strong opinion that through its agency 
hay might be secured from the field in a much greener and there¬ 
fore more valuable condition than when stacked and sweated as 
in ordinary practice. The fact of hay being so closely packed 
would, by excluding the air, prevent heating ; moreover, the bales 
could be so stacked in barns or sheds as to secure ventilation 
between them. One machine capable of pressing 2^ tons per 
hour could deal with the crop as rapidly as by ordinary stacking, 
and the hands employed less numerous. There are various points 
of great advantage which the home farmer as a practical man 
will see at a glance and the inexperienced may study with benefit 
in the foregoing statement, and for this reason we have made a 
more than usual copious extract from the Judges’ report. 
We must next refer to a new style of plough exhibited at the 
Derby meeting called a gang plough, introduced by a Mr. Cooke, 
and is quite a novelty when compared with the implements to which 
the home farmer has been accustomed, but they have been in use 
in America, constructed upon a similar principle, for some years. 
It appears to us that this plough, which is made to turn two or 
more furrows, will soon undergo great improvements ; we shall, 
therefore, only make a few observations on its construction. The 
plough consists of a strong main beam composed of angle iron 
and wood combined, and to this is attached by large screws 
another beam of iron carrying the front frame, which is ad¬ 
justable according to the width of the furrows that are desired. 
Between and above the beams in front the pole is attached, being 
carried on a plate about 2 feet from its lower end. The pole 
rocks loose on this plate. According to the present arrangements 
the pole is necessary in order to steer the plough, two or three 
or more horses may be yoked abreast. The driver has a seat fixed 
between and above the wheels slightly behind the axles, which 
balances the apparatus. The driver can regulate all matters re¬ 
lating to the depth of the work, the turning at the ends of the 
field, &c., without leaving his seat. Coulta’s forcefeed drill is a 
comparative new implement, and a departure from the ordinary 
formation of English drills. It is so arranged that whenever the 
feedcups are filled with seed, and the drill put in motion, a 
