Show M More than 2000 years ago a Roman agricultural writer described haymaking as throwing hay loosely together for Cor n a few Cew days to heat and concoct Itself be before fore Core putting utting Into the mow And through the ages aRes hay haymaking making and hay harvesting harvesting harvest ing have been important but time consuming time consuming activities activities ties for Cor farmers Carmels throughout the world There was a II time when peo people le cut hay with witha a scythe forked Corked it into piles several times hefted it into a wagon by fork then unloaded it by hand into This long and tedious process persisted well into into in in- to the nineteenth century when mowers rakes and were invented By 1880 hay had become the nations nation's most valuable agricultural product and by 1895 the business had developed devel developed so rapidly that the National Hay Association was formed in Cleveland But despite some progress progress ress baling hay was still a difficult process and the railroads refused to transport transport trans trans- port loose hay Bales weighing weighing weigh weigh- weighIng ing from to pounds were made from hay that was hand fed into presses in the field At about the turn of the century a horse horse- powered baler was invented invent invent- ed that picked up hay Today a full range of modern farm machines cut and condition hay tie the bales hales scoop them up and automatically stack them on ona ona a wagon bed At the storage area the operator simply flips nips a lever on the automatic automatic auto auto- matic bale wagon to place an entire load of bales exactly ex where he wants it Haymaking and hay baling have come a long way since Roman times but most of this progress has taken place during the last th thirty years The story of hay baling is afine afine a afine fine example of American success through ingenuity from windrows as it moved through the field But men had to tie hand-tie the bales bales- even a after fter tractors replaced horses Then in 1940 the hay baling breakthrough of the centuries was made A farmer in Lancaster County Pennsylvania Penn Pennsylvania Pennsylvania sylvania invented the mechanical mechanical mechanical me me- knotter knoller and relieved re reo relieved farmers forever of the tedious process of hand ty ing bales The New Holland Machine Company which is now New Holland a division division divi divi- sion sian of Sperry Rand Corporation Corporation Corpo Corpo- ration was quick to appreciate appreciate ap appreciate ap- ap the new machine and began to produce it itin itin itin in quantity for Cor farmers and ranchers throughout the world |