Feed hopper and mechanism
Feed hopper and mechanism for demonstration model of seed box for Jethro Tull's drill
Demonstration model of seed box for Jethro Tull's drill.
Seed may be sown in one of four ways; it may be broadcast by hand or by seed fiddle, dibbled or drilled. The earliest method was to broadcast the seeds by hand although there is evidence that from 1700-1200 B.C. the Babylonians used a drill plough. Interest in drilling was practically non-existent in this century until it was stimulated primarily by the introduction of the turnip in the 17th century. In 1600 Sir Hugh Platt in his book "The setting of Corn" recommended a method for dibbling wheat, and in 1669 Worlidge suggested the drilling of wheat and outlined a machine for the purpose. The latter when constructed failed to work.
It was not until Jethro Tull produced his drill and horsehoe about 1700 and his book "Horsehorseing Husbandry" in 1733 that the first practical steps towards drilling were taken. Interest increased during the early 19th century and by 1860's, seed drills were of modern design in all essentials.
In 1701, Tull produced his first seed drill for sowing sainfoin and wheat; he described it as one that made channels, drilled the seed and covered it. He later made a number of variations of his drill but always retained the same type of seed dropper.
The drill cut furrows for the seeds and sowed them about 2 inches below if the surface, He used between 3/4 and 1 bushel of seed per acre, instead of 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 bushels used by the customary method: hand-broad-casting. These figures, in conjunction with the yields he claimed of 45 to 80 bushels per acre, compared with 20-40 bushels previously, imply an increase of efficiency of the order of 8 to 1 and indicate the measure of his achievement.
