Mechanization in 1801, displacing the centuries-old hand method of making individual sheets of paper. One of the first mechanical devices used in agriculture was the seed drill invented by Jethro Tull around 1700. The seed drill allowed more uniform spacing of seed and planting depth than hand methods, increasing yields and saving valuable seed. Mechanized agriculture greatly increased in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries with horse drawn reapers and horse powered threshing machines. By the late nineteenth century steam power was applied to threshing and steam tractors appeared. Internal combustion began being used for tractors in the early twentieth
1701 Taunton by-election 1701 Taunton by-election The Taunton by-election of 1701 to the Parliament of England was held on 17 March 1701 in Taunton, Somerset, following the decision of the incumbent, Henry Portman, to sit in Wells. The by-election was contested by one of Portman's friends, Sir Francis Warre, 1st Baronet, and Thomas Baker, a Taunton merchant. Warre, a Tory, was elected, although Baker petitioned the result, claiming the Mayor was corrupt. In the general election held in January and February 1701, Taunton returned both of its standing Members of Parliament, Henry Portman, a Tory, and Edward Clarke, a Whig. Portman had also