The Real Jethro Tull

When I was doing some reading about dry farming yesterday, I saw the name Jethro Tull somewhere in the mix, which prompted me to take another look today.

The original Jethro was a farmer in the early 18th century. Not being satisfied with his crop yields due to the haphazard seed planting methods employed by his workmen, Tull decided to make a machine that would do it better. And he did. Inspired by the workings of an organ, (the musical kind you pervs) he rigged up a device he called a "seed drill," that could dig the holes, plant the seeds, and cover them up, three rows at a time. Not only did he waste less seeds this way, he also had less weeding to do since the seeds weren't cast about and growing everywhere. Like me, he must have hated weeding because he also refused to fertilize his crops with manure, figuring that horse shit would contain weed seeds.
Like a lot of inventors before their time, he took a lot of crap for his ideas. It took about a hundred years before the world caught on, and a lot of his seemingly neurotic farming notions can be seen today.

The folk (or whatever the hell you'd call that music) band Jethro Tull got their name from a booking agent, who was also a history buff. Back when they were just starting out, they must have sucked ass because they would often change their name just to get repeat gigs. When they actually got a call-back using the old farmers name, they decided to keep it.

Coincedentally, last night we caught something on TV, thanks to the cable we've yet to shut off, called, "The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus," which had JT as the opening song.
Luckily I missed that part. The seed drill I understand. Mick Jagger I understand. The music of Jethro Tull, I just don't get.