Drill (agriculture)

In agriculture and gardening, a drill is a shallow furrow in which seeds or bulbs are placed during seeding. A drill is commonly created by dragging a hoe through the soil in a straight line, leaving a furrow of a centimeter or two for smaller seeds, or a deeper trench of several centimeters for flower bulbs and seed potatoes. It makes seeding faster than by individually burying seeds, and also facilitates the creation of straight rows. On a larger scale, for example, in planting potatoes, a tractor can pull a furrower implement that quickly creates drills that can be manually or mechanically seeded and covered.

In a farming context, drill may also refer to a seed drill, any of a number of mechanical devices used to precisely place seeds in rows.