Food & agriculture · 1701
Seed drill
A horse-drawn drill planted seeds in even rows at the right depth instead of scattering them.
Jethro Tull perfected his drill in 1701 in Berkshire, England. Row planting wasted far less seed and allowed horse-hoeing between rows, a key tool of the British Agricultural Revolution.
What it built on 2
What it led to 1
Related measurements
The dashed line marks when it first worked.
Cereal yields in England/UK since 1275 Latest: Wheat: 7.28 t/ha (2024) Source: Our World in Data
Cereal yield Latest: 4.21 t/ha (2024) Source: Our World in Data