<P> The first known European seed drill was attributed to Camillo Torello and patented by the Venetian Senate in 1566 . A seed drill was described in detail by Tadeo Cavalina of Bologna in 1602 . In England, the seed drill was further refined by Jethro Tull in 1701 in the Agricultural Revolution . However, seed drills of this and successive types were both expensive and unreliable, as well as fragile . Seed drills would not come into widespread use in Europe until the mid to late 19th century, when manufacturing advances such as machine tools, die forging and metal stamping allowed large scale precision manufacturing of metal parts . </P> <P> Early drills were small enough to be pulled by a single horse, and many of these remained in use into the 1930s . The availability of steam, and later gasoline tractors, however, saw the development of larger and more efficient drills that allowed farmers to seed ever larger tracts in a single day . </P> <P> Recent improvements to drills allow seed - drilling without prior tilling . This means that soils subject to erosion or moisture loss are protected until the seed germinates and grows enough to keep the soil in place . This also helps prevent soil loss by avoiding erosion after tilling . The development of the press drill was one of the major innovations in pre-1900 farming technology . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards . The specific problem is: This section has multiple grammar errors, including punctuation mistakes and inconsistent point - of - view Please help improve this section if you can . (February 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table>

How much did a seed drill cost in 1701