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Considered one of the founding fathers of
modern agriculture, Jethro Tull was responsible for developing a variety of
agricultural machinery. Tull’s inventions helped spark the agricultural
revolution, considerably changing farming methods by allowing farmers to work
more efficiently and more productively in the field. His methods were not
immediately accepted by his fellow farmers but were later adopted into
general use.
Baptized on March 30, 1674, Tull was born at
Basildon, in Berkshire, England. Tull’s father owned a farm in Oxfordshire,
which Tull later inherited. He attended St. John’s College, Oxford, then
entered Gray’s Inn in London to pursue a career in law. Though he was called
to the bar in 1699, he chose to return to the country to run his father’s
farm. Tull’s career change was due in part to poor health, from which he had
suffered for much of his life.
Tull’s first contribution to modern
agriculture was the seed drill, which he developed in 1701. The drill
mechanized and simplified the process of sowing seeds, which traditionally
were broadcast by hand. The drill was capable of performing three functions,
which had previously been handled separately: drilling, sowing, and covering
the seeds with soil. The seed drill, which was designed to be pulled by a
horse, was made up of two hoppers, funnel-shaped vessels into which seed was
placed before being dispensed. The openings of the hoppers were controlled by
a spring-loaded mechanism. As the seed drill was pulled forward, a wooden
gear turned, thereby allowing the seed to drop out at regular intervals. A
plow and harrow, a sharp instrument used to break up the ground, were also
part of the machine, employed to cut the groove, or drill, in the soil for
the seed and to turn the soil to cover the seed. Tull’s mechanical seed drill
sowed in rows, a revolutionary practice at the time, and was capable of
sowing three rows of seed at one time.
After creating the seed drill, Tull moved on
to develop machinery to facilitate plowing. Recognizing the existence of
different types of soil and the need for equipment specialized for particular
types of soil, he first created a two-wheeled plow designed for lighter soils
such as those that could be found in southern England and in Midland areas.
The plow was capable of cutting to a depth of about seven inches. Tull also
developed a swing plow more appropriate for heavy clay soils. These soils
were typically found in the eastern regions of England. Another breakthrough
instrument created by Tull was a horse-drawn hoe. At the time farmers were
often forced to resort to using a breast plow to cut through top layers of
grass and weeds before the primary plowing could take place. Tull was able to
develop a hoe using four coulters, blades that created vertical cuts in the
soil, that were arranged in such a manner as to pull up the grass and weeds
and permit them to dry on the surface.
In 1709, Tull moved to Berkshire, where he
purchased his own farm. In 1733, after more than three decades working in
agriculture, Tull published a book on farming, The New Horse Hoeing Husbandry: Or an Essay on the Principles of
Tillage and Vegetation. The French philosopher Voltaire practiced
Tull’s farming methods on his estate, but in general, many farmers were
skeptical of Tull’s principles and were slow to adopt them. Despite his
initial struggle for acceptance of his agricultural techniques, Tull greatly
influenced farming for centuries to follow, and his inventions helped to
increase farm productivity. Tull died at Prosperous Farm in Berkshire in
1741.
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