Driven in part by the efficiency and ingenuity of binder twine machinery, Canada’s farming history is rich with mechanical innovation. Now, the Canadian Industrial Heritage Centre (CIHC) is working to highlight one of the era’s most significant devices: the Appleby knotter.
The CIHC hopes to secure either a complete knotter mechanism or a functional model to demonstrate how this groundbreaking device operated. The group is open to borrowing a unit for temporary display or purchasing one for its permanent collection.
The organization already oversees an extensive collection of Cockshutt equipment, housed at the Waterford Heritage & Agricultural Museum in Waterford, Ontario. Adding the binder twine story is a natural extension of the CIHC’s ongoing work interpreting and preserving Canada’s agricultural industrial heritage.
Anyone who owns an Appleby knotter—or knows of one in a private collection or museum—is encouraged to reach out with information or leads.
Contact:
Bill Darfler, Canadian Industrial Heritage Centre, Email: info@canadianindustrialheritage.com
Article written with with files supplied by Farms.com' Andrew Joseph.