Before the 19th century, hay was cut by hand and most typically stored in haystacks. In the 1860s mechanical cutting devices were developed; from these came the modern devices including mechanical mowers and balers. In 1872 a reaper that used a knotter device to bundle and bind hay was invented by Charles Withington; this was commercialized in 1874 by Cyrus McCormick.[1] In 1936, Innes invented an automatic baler that tied bales with twine using Appleby-type knotters from a John Deere grain binder; an improved version patented by Ed Nolt in 1939 was more reliable and became commonly used.[