Tull, Jethro

Tull, Jethro (1674-1741), farmer, b. Basildon, Berkshire, England.

Jethro Tull was a gentleman farmer and he had many ideas for improving farming.

He set them down in an important book published in 1733, The Horse Hoeing Husbandry, and to make his ideas practical, invented several machines.

The most important of his inventions was the seed drill.

Before Tull's time, seed was sown broadcast; that is, the farmer threw out a handful of seed, took perhaps two paces, and then threw out another handful. This meant that sometimes the crop grew in clusters with patches of bare ground in between. Tull's machine sowed the seed in straight rows, keeping the same space between seeds all the time. This made it possible for a farmer to prevent weeds from harming his crops. He was able to hoe between the plants.