then run through the grooves in the press-head, S, and the rams, LL,
are allowed to descend ready for a baling cloth to be inserted through
the doors, EE, and for the box, N, to be refilled. At the same time
the head, G, comes down on to the bale and compresses it still
further, while the men are at work lashing it. When the material is in
hanks, like jute, the rams, LL, are lowered slowly, while a man
standing inside the box, at about the level of the floor, packs the
material neatly on the table.

These presses can be worked with great rapidity, the average output
during a day varying from 21 to 28 bales an hour. The consumption of
coal per bale is 9 lb. of Bengal coal, in value about 3/4d. The density
of the cotton bales produced is about 45 lb. per cubic foot, 400 lb.
measuring a little under 9 cubic feet for shipment. In the case of
jute or jute roots, the same weight occupies 10 cubic feet on an
average. But rapid as this press is in action, the necessities of
recent business in India have called for still more expeditious
working, and to meet this demand Mr. Watson produced his compound
press, in which the economy of time is carried to its utmost
development. By the addition of a second pair of long-stroke rams the
output of the press has been trebled, being raised to 80 bales per
hour. To effect this, there is one pair of powerful rams, as in the
press just described, but two pairs of the long-stroke rams. Further,
each pair of the small-diameter rams is fitted with two boxes, one of
which is always being filled while the other is being pressed. The
rams in rising compress the material into a small cell or box,
situated above the box in which raw cotton is thrown. On the top of
the ram head there is a loose lashing plate, which, at the finish of
the action of the rams, is locked in the cell by bolts actuated by a
suitable locking gear. While in this cell the bale has the lashing
ropes put round it, and then it is placed under the large rams for the
final squeeze, during which the ties or ropes are permanently secured.
Thus neither of the small presses has even to wait while its box is
being filled, or while the previously pressed bale is being lashed.
Even in the large press, when the ties are finally fastened, the time
occupied does not exceed three-quarters of a minute, and is often much
less.

[Illustration: COMPOUND HYDRAULIC PRESS. FIGS. 3 and 4.]

This press is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The small rams a