A tuft carrier loading apparatus for load individual tufts into tuft retention sites spaced along an elongate tuft carrier, the apparatus including: guide means for guiding longitudinal movement of the tuft carrier (9) along a path of travel; a plurality of individually selectively operable tuft forming means (50) spaced along said path of travel; each tuft forming means being operable when selected to feed an individual tuft to a tuft retention site on said carrier; drive means (70) drivingly connected to the carrier (9) for moving the carrier along said path of travel, the drive means being operable to intermittently move the carrier through a series of successive positions whereat predefined tuft retention sites (9a) are moved temporarily into registry with each tuft forming means (50); and control means (60) for controlling selection of the tuft forming means, the control means being operable to actuate selected tuft forming means to feed tufts to those sites in registry with the selected tuft forming means whilst the carrier is located at each successive position.
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