Jethro Tull (agriculturist)
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Jethro Tull | |
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| Born | Henry Jethro William Tull 30 March 1674 Basildon, Berkshire, England |
| Died | 21 February 1741 (aged 66) Hungerford, Berkshire, England |
| Resting place | St Bartholomew's Church, Lower Basildon, Berkshire, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Known for | Agricultural reforms and inventions, such as the seed drill & horse-drawn hoe |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
Henry Jethro William Tull (30 March 1674 – 21 February 1741), known as Jethro Tull, was an English agricultural pioneer who helped bring about the British Agricultural Revolution. He perfected a horse-drawn seed drill in 1701 that economically sowed the seeds in neat rows, and later a horse-drawn hoe. Tull's methods were adopted by many large landowners, and they helped form the basis of modern agriculture.
Early life
Tull was born in Basildon, Berkshire [1][2][3][4], to Jethro Tull, Sr. and his wife Dorothy, née Buckeridge or Buckridge. He was baptised there on 30 March 1674. He grew up in Bradfield, Berkshire and matriculated at St John's College, Oxford at the age of 17, but appears not to have taken a degree. He was later educated at Gray's Inn.
He married Susannah Smith of Burton Dassett, Warwickshire. They settled on his father's farm at Howbery, near Crowmarsh Gifford, where they had a son and two daughters.
Tull became ill with a pulmonary disorder. He travelled Europe in search of a cure. In his travels, he found himself seeking more knowledge of agriculture. Influenced by the early Age of Enlightenment, he is considered to be one of the early proponents of a scientific (and especially empirical) approach to agriculture. He helped transform agricultural practices by inventing or improving numerous implements.
Inventions
Jethro Tull innovated with the seed drill, a device for sowing seeds effectively, in order to implement his ideas on how to sow sainfoin. Such a device had been suggested by John Worlidge, by 1699, but there is no evidence that he had built a drill. Tull's machine was probably used by 1701.[5]
Tull also advocated the use of horses instead of oxen and invented a horse-drawn hoe for clearing weeds, and made changes to the design of the plough which are still visible in modern versions. His interest in ploughing derived from his interest in weed control, and his belief that fertilizer was unnecessary, on the basis that nutrients locked up in soil could be released through pulverization. Although he was incorrect in his belief that plants obtained nourishment exclusively from such nutrients, he was aware that horse manure carried weed seeds, and hoped to avoid using it as fertilizer by pulverizing the soil to enhance the availability of plant nutrients.
Death
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Tull died at Prosperous Farm at Hungerford and is buried in the churchyard of St Bartholomew's Church, Lower Basildon, Berkshire - near to his birthplace.
References
- ^ Royal Berkshire History: Jethro Tull
- ^ BBC History: Jethro Tull (1674–1741)
- ^ Blue plaque to Jethro Tull in Crowmarsh Gifford
- ^ Ancestry of Jethro Tull by William Addams Reitwiesner
- ^ Mingay, G. A. "Tull, Jethro". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27812. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Further reading
- Hidden, N. (1989) Jethro Tull I, II, and III, Agric. Hist. Rev., 37 (1), p. 26–35
- Tull, Jethro (1731, 2010) Jethro Tull's Horse Hoeing Husbandry (free googlebooks download)
External links
- Template:Worldcat id
- Horse-hoeing husbandry 4th ed., (1762) from John Adams' library, Internet Archive
- Works by Jethro Tull in the Internet Archive