Tull, Jethro

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Tull, Jethro (1674–1741). Once considered a pioneer of the agricultural revolution through his invention of the seed drill c.1700 when he was farming near Wallingford. The ‘invention’ was made famous by his book The Horse-Hoing Husbandry published in 1733, but today his role appears less influential. The seed drill (which we now know he did not originate) came into widespread use only from the 1820s. Seed drills and horse-drawn hoes were originally invented in the late 17th cent., but were adopted only slowly until improvements were made to Tull's designs in the 1780s.

John Beckett

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