Jethro Tull and the Seed Drill

Michael Tarabula

11-3-2005

Jethro Tull's Seed Drill

Jethro was born in Basildon, Berkshire in 1674. He is widely known for his invention of the seed drill that improved agricultural ways greatly. The seed drill prevented farmhands from broadcasting the seed, which is just throwing the seed out in no form, and made it where the seeds were put in orderly rows.

The seed drill allowed the farmers to make rows of seeds instead of broadcasting. This made it easier for farmers to weed in between the rows without disturbing the seed itself. Also, the machine allowed the seed to be planted in a hole made by the drill or spike. This permitted the seed to germinate properly without being disturbed by birds or any other animal that might eat the seeds. The control of planting seeds wit the seed drill was greatly improved that it saved seeds and allowed most of the plants to germinate at the same rate. This created increased crops and profits for the farmer.

The results of the seed drill were greatly welcomed by most people. The growing population of the country sparked a new need for food and farmers. The trade between Europe's main land and England were very limited because of the Napoleonic wars. This caused the farmers to grow much of their own food, but since the country's population increase from 6 million in 1700 to 11 million in 1801, the farmers needed to start growing much more for the overall population in England.

Tull first thought of the drill when he was on his way home from his trip touring the country. He had seen many different farming techniques from all over the Italian and French countrysides and new that a machine similar to his idea was much needed. He remembered how an organ worked from when he had dropped out of college and studied music, for which he devised a plan to use a similar design with the pedals and up down motion similar to that of an organ.

Jethro had ideas on how a plant actually worked and incorporated the ideas into his machine. The ideas can be compared very closely to an animal and the body parts like the stomach, lungs, and mouth. He believed that the plants had openings, which were similar to mouths, for eating minerals in the ground. Also, he thought the roots were similar to an animal's stomach and the leaves were the lungs and the sap was the blood of the plant. Although his ideas proved to be wrong, the machine was still able to display better farming methods.

The first ideas of the seed drill were not adopted very quickly throughout England until the ideas were spread to northern England where the idea was quickly taken for use. Although Tull's farm was cutting costs and producing more crops, his neighbors would not take the invention into consideration for their farm. The many years and generations of traditional farming by the landowners caused this.

The seed drill alone allowed the seeds to be planted at the proper