Tom Jaszewski
www.livesoil.com
702-595-7012
-----Original Message-----
From: Halstead [mailto:halstead@mail.telepac.pt]
Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2003 10:48 AM
To: compost
Subject: [compost_tea] Min. Till/No Till
Poor old Jethro Tull.
Tull, Jethro
Born : 1674
Died :1741
Nationality : English
Occupation : Agriculturist
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, t hat 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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