In the late 1870's at Mazomanie, John F. Appleby perfected the knotter, a mechanical device still used on binders and balers to bind grain into compact bundles with twine. Born in New York State, he spent his boyhood in Walworth County, Wis., and as a youth was intrigued by his mother's nimble fingers tying knots as she worked at a spinning wheel. Inspired by this, he carved from wood his first "bird-bill" knotting device. After service in the Civil War, Appleby moved to Mazomanie, where he perfected the knotter in his brother-in-law's machine shop and tested and proved his invention in a grain field adjacent to the village. At the time, Mazomanie was a prosperous farm trade center with a knitting mill, brewery, foundry, machine shop, and flour mill. Appleby's knotter became a major landmark in the mechanization of agriculture, speeding the development of America's western wheat empire and the farm implement dynasties that made American agriculture the world's most productive.