Jethro Tull and the Invention of the Seed Drill

Vocabulary flashcards covering the life, career, and agricultural innovations of Jethro Tull based on the reading passage.

Jethro Tull

An English gentleman farmer born in Berkshire in 1674 who became a major pioneer in the modernisation of agriculture and invented the seed drill.

Broadcasting

A traditional sowing method where seeds were thrown across a field by hand in a haphazard, random manner, which was wasteful of both seed and labour.

Inns of Court

The London institution where Jethro Tull studied in preparation for a legal or political career after his education at Oxford University.

Howberry Farm

The farm located in Oxfordshire where Jethro Tull married and began farming with his father, conducting agricultural experiments to increase crop yield.

Barrister

The legal qualification Jethro Tull obtained in 1699 before ill health and breathing problems forced him to postpone his planned career.

Seed drill

An agricultural machine invented by Jethro Tull equipped with blades to cut channels in earth and a container for seeds to sow them at precise, low densities.