Tull’s Drill

1. Tull’s Drill By Chris, Mollie, Indea, Sanji, and Marcus.

2. Description Jethro Tull’s seed drill was a human pushed or horse-drawn seed drill that could plant three rows of seed at a time. A hole would be drilled for seeds to be dropped in, the hole covered and the drill moved forward to the next planting position. It is estimated that this invention produced a five times bigger crop for the same area of land than had been achieved using the old methods.

3. Pluses Invented in 1700, the seed drill is an agricultural contraption used to quickly and evenly distribute seeds into precise rows. The seed drill does two jobs at once – it digs precise rows with its frontal ploughs and sprays seeds behind it with its harrow. Before the seed drill was invented, farmers had to insert seeds in to furrows, by hand. Not only was this method time-consuming, but it also resulted in major wastage (by birds eating the seeds or the wind blowing the seeds away). Tull’s invention changed this. The seed drill dug three precise rows in front and evenly dusted seeds behind. This was a huge advancement in agriculture. Farmers could rapidly sow seeds. Less people were required for the job, and one horse could be used instead of multiple oxen. Seeds were not wasted as much, and neither was time. Although his design has changed majorly, traces of them are found in today’s farming machines. Without his seed drill, we might not be where we are today. For these reasons, JethroTull is considered as one of the fathers of agriculture.

4. Old Seed Drill

5. Modern Seed Drill

6. Minuses A negative impact is when Tull’s drill was invented it meant that people would rapidly lose their jobs. This is because these workers were the ones who were putting the seeds in the ground and doing the job by hand. When the drill was invented and people were using them more and more, the local people were losing their jobs.

7. Interesting Facts • JethroTull invented the seed drill in 1701, the hoe was horse drawn. JethroTull was born in 1674 and died in 1741. JethroTull was part of a group of farmers who founded the Norfolk system. It was a early attempt to apply science in to farming. • His seed drill would sow seed in rows and cover up the seed in the rows. Up to that point, sowing seeds was done by hand by scattering seeds on the ground. Tull considered this method wasteful since many seeds did grow or were eaten by birds. The first prototype seed drill was built from the foot pedals of JethroTull's local church organ.