English agriculturalist who improved and promoted a horse-drawn drill
Camillo Torello
Venetian who patented a seed drill in 1566
Plate 048
c. 1701
England; earlier in China, Mesopotamia and Italy
No photograph is shown for this exhibition. The museum displays an image only where it can show the object honestly.
About this date
Jethro Tull described his horse-drawn drill in England around 1701. Seed drills were used earlier in China and Mesopotamia, and Camillo Torello received a patent in Venice in 1566.
About credit
Seed drills existed earlier. Tull’s drill is notable for combining a drilling mechanism with horse-hoeing in rows, and his book Horse-Hoeing Husbandry (1733) spread the idea.
Chapter II
The world before
Life before the Seed Drill
Farmers broadcast seed by hand, wasting much of it and growing crops in crowded patches.
II
The human achievement
How it came about
Tull’s drill used a wooden hopper feeding seed into furrows cut by a plough-like coulter, with a harrow to cover it. It sowed straight rows spaced to allow hoeing.
III
Understanding the invention
How it works
The Seed Drill, explained in two steps.
01
Step 01 of 02
Metered seed
A mechanism drops seed at regular intervals into the furrow.
Metered seed
Rows allow hoeing
IV
The transformation
What changed for humanity
Farming
Higher yields from less seed.
Labour
Less sowing labour, more weeding by machine.
Drilling saves seed, raises yields and makes it possible to weed between rows. It was an important step in the British Agricultural Revolution.
V
Before and after
Life before and after The Seed Drill
Before
Walk and scatter by hand.
After
Draw a drill behind a horse.
On larger screens, drag the divider (or use the arrow keys) to give more room to the world before or after.
VI
Its legacy
What came after
MHI 048
The Seed Drill
Beyond the collection
Mechanised farming
Modern tractors and planters use precision drilling.
