Abstract: An apparatus for automatically packing discrete articles into a kraft paper bale bag includes a magazine for holding a plurality of closed flat-folded bale bags in stacked relationships, a bale picker carrying vacuum-operated suction cups for attaching to a front sidewall of a bag positioned within an exit opening of the magazine upon the picker being moved adjacent to the opening and for opening the mouth of the bag upon the picker being moved in the opposite direction, duckbills adapted to be inserted into the mouth of the bag and cooperable with clamps for clamping the sidewalls of the bag therebetween, a reciprocating pusher for executing a series of short forward strokes to assemble into a group a predetermined number of articles that are successively positioned in front of the pusher, a counter for counting the forward strokes of the pusher to count the number of articles assembled and for causing the pusher to execute a long forward stroke upon a predetermined number of articles being assembled so as t