Inventions
Jethro Tull improved the seed drill, a device for sowing seeds effectively, in order to implement his ideas on how to sow sainfoin. Such a device had been suggested by John Worlidge, by 1699, but there is no evidence that he had built a drill. Tull's machine was probably used by 1701. With it he won several competitions.
Tull also advocated the use of horses instead of oxen and invented a horse-drawn hoe for clearing weeds, and made changes to the design of the plough which are still visible in modern versions. His interest in ploughing derived from his interest in weed control, and his belief that fertilizer was unnecessary, on the basis that nutrients locked up in soil could be released through pulverization. Although he was incorrect in his belief that plants obtained nourishment exclusively from such nutrients, he was aware that horse manure carried weed seeds, and hoped to avoid using it as fertilizer by pulverizing the soil to enhance the availability of plant nutrients.
Read more about this topic: Jethro Tull (agriculturist)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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