Implements and Machines

Seed Drill

Citation Formats

General Reference

Agriculture and Farming Atlas. "Seed Drill." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://agriculture.interactiveatlas.org/implements/seed-drill.

APA Style

Agriculture and Farming Atlas. (n.d.). Seed Drill. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://agriculture.interactiveatlas.org/implements/seed-drill

BibTeX

@misc{agricultureandfarmingatlas-seed-drill,
  author = {Agriculture and Farming Atlas},
  title = {Seed Drill},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://agriculture.interactiveatlas.org/implements/seed-drill},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

A machine that places seed in rows at a set depth and spacing instead of scattering it by hand, so far less seed grows far more grain and the rows can be hoed. Ancient China and Mesopotamia had early forms; Jethro Tull's 1701 drill made it an emblem of the British Agricultural Revolution.

Facts

Introduced Year

1701 1

Origin

Multi-tube seed drills used in Han China; Jethro Tull's drill of 1701 popularized the machine in Europe 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

Developed By

Jethro Tull

Tull's 1701 drill; earlier multi-tube drills existed in Han China

Source Seed Drill (Wikipedia)

Sources

1. Seed Drill (Wikipedia)

Wikimedia FoundationView the Source

Jethro Tull, Agriculturist (Wikipedia)

Wikimedia FoundationWork section (drill mechanism)

Quote, Work section (drill mechanism)

He developed a horse-drawn seed drill in 1701 that economically sowed the seeds in neat rows.

View the Source

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