m@ THE AGRICULTURAL
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S. GEORGE WASHINGTON
WALTER €D'NIN BROOKE

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STUDIES IN
AMERICAN HISTORY

BEAUMARCHAIS, AND THE WAR OF
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. Two vol-
umes. Illustrated. By Elizabeth 8.
Kite.

Tue Pouttican History ofr THE PUB-
tic Lanps, From 1840 to 1862. From
PRE-EMPTION TO MHomesteap. By
George M. Stephenson.

GEORGIA AS A PROPRIETARY PROVINCE
—Tue Execution or a Trust, By
James Ross McCain.

Lincoty, THE Poxitician. By T.
Aaron Levy.

Tue AGRICULTURAL PAPERS OF GEORGE
Wasuineton. Edited by Walter
Edwin Brooke,

Tue Story or THE Santa FE. By
Glenn D, Bradley.

RICHARD G. BADGER, PUBLISHER, BOSTON

THE AGRICULTURAL PAPERS
OF GEORGE WASHINGTON

EDITED BY

WALTER EDWIN BROOKE, Ph.B.

Late Assistant Professor of Economics and Sociology,
Agricultural College of Utah, Logan, Utah

BOSTON

RICHARD G. BADGER
THE GORHAM PRESS

COPYRIGHT, 1919, By RicHarp G. BADGER

All Rights Reserved

Made in the United States of America

The Gorham Press, Boston, U.S.A.

MAR 10 ISIS ‘i
- ©01.A512550 gy /-9

S% tes? y

This little collection of agricultural letters is dedi-
cated to all those Farmers who admire the great
industry, the unfailing modesty, and the sin-
cerity of purpose that characterized every

word and action of our national hero,

GrorGE WASHINGTON.

FOREWORD BY THE PUBLISHER

We regret exceedingly to be obliged to announce the death
of Professor Walter Edmund Brooke which took place on
October 2, 1918, while his book was in the process of pub-
lication. The compilation of this volume, however, was en-
tirely his own work and was, in fact, the last thing he did,
for the sole purpose of elevating and dignifying agriculture
by showing the intelligent interest and application of what
were in George Washington’s time only the crude principles
of what is now modern and scientific agriculture.

We feel sure that the readers of this volume will be inter-
ested in the following brief biography. Any one who had the
pleasure of knowing Professor Brooke will need no eulogy
of his splendid achievements.

Walter Edwin Brooke was born April 16, 1885, at Ply-
mouth, Indiana, where he spent his boyhood days. Coming
to Salt Lake with his parents, he entered upon his educa-
tional career in the Salt Lake public schools and graduated
from the high school in 1904.

After two years spent at Armour Institute of Technology
at Chicago, he entered Yale. It was here that his widely
known interest in young men and their problems was culti-
vated. During his five years at Yale he became very deeply
interested in the welfare of his companions. Realizing that
there lacked much to interest and hold young men when not at
study or recitation, he made bold to approach certain of the
faculty on the subject and asked to be permitted to try out
a scheme to hold them under the influence of good teachers

and companions.
vii

Vlil Foreword

He spent much of his time and energy collecting money
with which to make the fine Y. M. C. A. building known as
Byers Hall, a homelike place for the students to gather. The
furnishings, lights and pictures were details which did not
escape his careful planning. But the main attraction was
the wonderful fireplaces with their bright and cheerful log
fires. Here he gathered around him his first group of
staunch student friends, many of whom remained his regular
correspondents to the day of his death. So engrossing was
this work for young men that he remained to complete two
years of post-graduate study, during which time he special-
ized in sociology and economics.

In 1913 he returned to Salt Lake and the following year
entered upon his life work of teaching, as an instructor at the
Agricultural College at Logan. In this he was eminently
successful and his promotion in the faculty of economics was
rapid. His loss to that department will be a severe one.

But the great contribution which Walter Brooke made
to the life of the institution was in his personal relations with
the students, especially the boys at the Agricultural College.
As chairman of the committee on student affairs, he early as-
sumed a prominent place in promoting the student activities,
helping to plan and carry through the numerous entertain-
ments and social affairs which have so large a place in the
college life. He represented the faculty’s interest in the life
of the student body in a most substantial manner. In the
development of the athletic activity of the A. C. he also took
an enthusiastic part. No one, not even excepting the
coaches, contributed more to the recent splendid advance in
athletics in Logan. He gave freely of his time to encourage
the members of the teams, and by his personal touch with
them one by one helped to put a fine new spirit into them,
which the records of the past three years plainly attest.

Foreword 1x

He was also secretary of the committee on attendance and
scholarship and had much to do with the order and discipline
of the students; but what he might have managed by the au-
thority of his position, he preferred to do and do more tell-
ingly by the influence of his personal friendship for the men.
It was his friendly talks and his sympathetic understanding
of them that helped the students realize and keep their re-
sponsibility toward the college and its rules.

Most of all will Walter Brooke be remembered by the
scores and hundreds whom he has helped in many ways.
Many a boy could not have finished his course had Prof.
Brooke not interceded at home; many a boy would have given
up his college life in discouragement, if Prof. Brooke had
not encouraged him to continue and showed him the way to
succeed; many of the young men had no one to whom they
could take their problems and difficulties for advice except
Walter E. Brooke. It called for long and tiring days and
evenings, but to him the work was well worth while. And he
made a unique place for himself in the life of the Agricultural
College as the students’ unfailing friend — a place which will
be difficult to refill. His aim in life was not to make dollars
but to make friends.

PREFACE

In the preparation of this collection of Washington’s let-
ters, the editor wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to
Miss Johanna Sprague, Librarian of the Salt Lake Public
Library, for valuable assistance in making much important
material easier of access than is common with public libra-
ries. ‘To Mrs. Gail North Parks, the editor is indebted for
the very thorough and careful work in copying the text of
these letters, and for several suggestions as to their arrange-
ment.

Mr. Walter Cook has placed the editor under obligation
for his painstaking work in copying the map of the Mount
Vernon Estate from a very faded and discolored print. The
editor is also grateful to Mr. Lowry Nelson for much valu-
able criticism of the editorial work; and to Mr. Allen Mar-
tineau and Mr. Sidney Spencer for careful assistance in re-
reading the manuscripts and proofs.

W. E. B.

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CONTENTS

PAGE
Extract FROM WASHINGTON’s AGRICULTURAL

“LT Rai eae TUR Be Maat UC UOT ay SRE OPE NGO MR Nes MT 4)
To ArrHur Younc (or Enctanp) . . . . &l
To Anruur Youne (or Enetanp) . . +. .« 26
DEO TR VOMEAR Tr 5k IO Sa ee ae NOS, es ee
Ee CLEMENT BIOBLE 0 oe se OR Wed bE ee ee
Or. HRODORIC) PRL .0 STai ih ee ay bial tii wee
To Artuur Youne (or Enerann) . . . . 87
TG WUICHTARD PRTRES Rr hey ee as gat ae
MN NEO AEM Se Sa tats ages lal ath
To Grouce A. WASHINGTON (50065 ee) a OE
SpEcIMEN STATEMENTS OF Crops. . . . . 62
SpEcIMEN Reports oF THE Manacer . . . 68
Vo Anruony WHriNne 60. Oe a ee
To Artuur Youne (or Enetanp) . . . . 81
GL MGMAS JEEPERSON! 25 ke Ri A Oa eae
a ame MoHENBY Out eaty EOL et ee
To WiiiraMm STRICKLAND, IN Enctann . . . 98

To James ANDERSON, MANAGER OF THE Farms . 106
Four Tanurs or Crop Rotation . . . ... 128

Extract rrom Wasuineton’s Diary... .. 141

INTRODUCTION

During the past four years, the pursuits of peace are
made to stand out in sharp contrast with the Great War
that is now being waged in Europe. The fields, that until
four years ago produced crops of waving grain, and served
to support the great population of men in industry, are
now furrowed with trenches. These furrows are not plowed
for planting, but dug by men so that they might the more
efficiently massacre each other. Nor are these furrows filled
by the decayed vegetable matter with which the thrifty Eu-
ropean farmer was in the habit of enriching his fields. They
are now fertilized by rows and rows of the nameless who
have fallen where they fought, to die unrecognized, fit only
to replenish the soil that their sons may reap greater crops
of grain.

Standing in sharp contrast to this gruesome picture are
those peaceful pursuits of the countries not yet devastated
by this terrible conflict. The agricultural activities of the
American Farmer seem just now to attract with twice the
force the interest of the peace-loving citizen. Especially
has this been true since we are realizing how important a
factor food is in winning a war. Today every sinew of this
nation is being tightened up to the successful accomplish-
ment of our part in the great world drama being staged
upon the battlefields of Europe, in order that we may safe-
guard the principle of democracy so dear to the American
people. And we know that to produce food enough for our-

XV

?

XV1 Introduction

selves and our suffering friends overseas is now as vital an
undertaking as the manufacture of munitions, or the train-
ing of men. ;

Then, too, a greater interest in farming had already begun
to manifest itself among the American people before this
war. It, no doubt, came as a reaction to the excessive de-
votion of the people to the industrial life of the city. This
fact, together with the responsibilities which the war has
placed upon the farmer, led the present editor of these
papers to think it especially timely and fitting to present to
the public this selection from the choicest collection of let-
ters on agriculture that the literature of this nation pos-
sesses.

Our school histories have told us that George Washington
was “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of
his countrymen.” However we may try to vary the expres-
sion of this thought, the idea still remains fixed in our minds.
It has been generally accepted as a statement of fact. Now,
it seems perfectly clear that George Washington was “ first
in war ”’; that, though he did not rush his countrymen into
conflict, he was nevertheless ready to lead them in their fight
against oppression. It is also quite evident that he is “ first
in the hearts of his countrymen.”

But is it entirely clear just how Washington was “ first
in peace”? ‘True, he set to work willingly and at great
sacrifice to help frame the constitution, and later, to con-
struct a government upon it that should stand as a new
nation, capable of self-government, and capable of defending
its integrity against stronger and older nations. But be-
sides the absorbing interest which he seems to have had in
the civil affairs of the country, is it generally known that
he possessed an interest in agriculture, which easily rivalled
his great devotion to military and governmental affairs?

Introduction XVii

Is it just as evident that he was one of the first scientific
farmers of the country?

I confess that until I began the simple research that this
volume represents, I did not know that Washington took
more than a passing interest in agricultural activities, and
I submit that I am an average reader. Moreover, I have
frequently inquired of others who are far more widely read;
and have found that they, too, knew little of the keen and
intelligent interest which George Washington had in agri-
culture itself. ‘They do not know that he was one of the |
half dozen best informed men in England and America on |
crop-rotation, and soil fertilizers. He, with Thomas Jef-—
ferson, and Arthur Young of England stood foremost in
writing and experimentation in agriculture. These three
men were in correspondence with each other for a long time;
they took pains to try out new ideas, and to exchange their
experiences.

Besides being the careful observer, that he was, of men
and their ways, he also watched very closely the weather
and crop conditions. Every day, he carefully recorded in
his diary the temperature, the state of the weather, and the
forecast of the barometer.

He also kept accounts and knew very accurately, for those
days, whether or not a certain field or farm was paying, or
losing. It will surprise the average reader to see with what
care he managed his business of farming.

So it is with the intention of presenting this new aspect of
George Washington’s life to a nation, whose fundamental
interests are agricultural and industrial, that I have selected
the following letters. They take us back a century and a
quarter. We are immediately impressed with the great
similarity between many of the problems encountered then
and those being met today. And, at the same time, we are

XVill Introduction

struck by the contrasts in methods adopted to solve those
problems, then, and now.

In this collection of Washington’s letters, an effort has
been made to include only those that exhibit some interesting
phase of his farming activities. Viewing them from a bio-
graphical standpoint, it may be well to point out that the
only accurate way to study the personality of any historical
character is to read his letters. ‘They do not suffer from
the varnish of biographical treatment. They stand at their
face value, and reveal more intimately than any other writ-
ings can, the real man, as he lived and thought.

It is the editor’s hope that the reader will lose himself
in the fascinating letters of our first true American, and
forget that they have been edited. The comments are in-
tended to be mere guide-posts to a few of the interesting
features of the letters that may appeal to the American
reader.

It may be fitting to suggest further that Woodrow Wil-
son’s * Life of George Washington ”! will give an excellent
biographical background for these letters, standing out from
the large number of such biographies because of President
Wilson’s very human, and almost intimate portrayal of
Washington’s life.

: Water Epwin Brooke.

Logan, Utah, June 23rd, 1918.

1 Harpers, New York.

THE AGRICULTURAL PAPERS
OF GEORGE WASHINGTON

THE AGRICULTURAL PAPERS OF
GEORGE WASHINGTON |

1

EXTRACT FROM WASHINGTON’S DIARY
APRIL, 7TH—15TH, 1785

This extract from Washington’s diary gives us an excellent
example of the care he took to record his agricultural activi-
ties, and of the thoughtful attitude he seems to have had to-
ward his occupation as a farnier.

It may be interesting to note here, too, that these entries
were made in his diary about two years after the close of the
Revolutionary War.

EXTRACT FROM WASHINGTON’S AGRICULTURAL
DIARY

April 7th, 1785.— Cut two or three rows of the wheat
(Cape wheat) within six inches of the ground, it being near
eighteen inches high, that which was first sown, and the
blades of the whole singed with the frost.

8th.— Sowed oats today in drills at Muddy Hole with
my barrel plough.’ Ground much too wet; some of it had
been manured, but had been twice ploughed, then listed, then
twice harrowed before sowing; which, had it not been for the
frequent rains, would have put the ground in fine tilth.
Ploughed up the turnip patch at home for orchard grass.

1See page 1, Selection No. 34 for a more complete account of this im-

plement.
17

18 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

10th.— Began bricklaying today. Completed sowing,
with twenty-four quarts of oats, thirty-eight rows at Muddy
Hole ten feet apart, in the ground intended for corn.

11th.— Sowed twenty-six rows of barley in the same field
at Muddy Hole in the same manner, with the drill plough,
and with precisely the same workings the oats had adjoining
thereto. ‘This was done with twelve quarts of seed. After
three ploughings and three harrowings, sowed millet in
eleven rows three feet apart, opposite to the overseer’s house
in the Neck. Perceived the last sowed oats at Dogue Run,
and those sown in the Neck, were coming up.

12th.— Sowed sixteen acres of Siberian wheat, with eight-
een quarts, in rows between corn, eight feet apart. This
ground had been prepared in the following manner. 1. A
single furrow; 2. another in the same to deepen it; 3. four
furrows to throw the earth back into the two first, which
made ridges of five furrows. These, being done some time
ago, and the sowing retarded by frequent rains, had got hard;
therefore, 4. before the seed was sown, these ridges were
split again by running twice in the middle of them, both
times in the same furrow; 5. after which the ridges were
harrowed ; and, 6. where the ground was lumpy, run a spiked
roller with a harrow at the tail of it, which was found very
efficacious in breaking the clods and pulverizing the earth,
and would have done it perfectly, if there had not been too
much moisture remaining from the late rains. After this,
harrowing and rolling where necessary, the wheat was sown
with the drill plough on the reduced ridges eight feet apart,
as above mentioned, and harrowed in with the small harrow
belonging to the plough. But it should have been observed,
that, after the ridges were split by the middle double fur-
rows, and before they were closed again by the harrow, a
little manure was sprinkled in them.

——<

|
(

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 19

At Dogue Run, listing the ground intended for Siberian
wheat, barley, &c., a second time.

At Muddy Hole sowed with the drill plough two rows of
the Albany pease between the corn rows, to see whether they
would come to any thing for want of the support which
they give one another when sown broad-cast. 'The same man-
agement given the ground as for oats and barley at this
place.

13th.— Sowed oats in drills ten feet apart, between corn
rows in the Neck, twenty-four rows, in the following manner.
1. A single furrow; 2. another and deep furrow in this; 3.
four bouts to these; 4. ploughed again in the same manner; 5.
a single furrow in the middle of these; 6. manure sprinkled
in this furrow; 7. the great harrow over all these; and, 8.
the seed sowed after the harrow with the drill or barrel
plough, and harrowed in with the harrow at the tail of it.
Note.— It should have been observed, that the field intended
for experiments at this plantation is divided into three
parts, by bouting rows running crosswise; and that manure,
and the last single furrow, are (at least for the present) be-
stowed on the most westerly of those nearest the Barn.

14th.— Harrowed the ground at Muddy Hole, which had
been twice ploughed, for Albany pease in broad-cast. At
Dogue Run began to sow the remainder of the Siberian
wheat, about fourteen quarts, which had been left at the
Ferry; run deep furrows in the middle, and made five-feet
ridges. Did the same for carrots in the same field on the
west side next the meadow. Ordered a piece of ground, two
acres, to be ploughed at the Ferry around the old corn-
house, to be drilled with corn and potatoes between, each
ten feet apart, row from row of the same kind. Sowed in
the Neck, or rather planted, next to the eleven rows of
millet, thirty-five rows of rib-grass seeds, three feet apart,

20 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

and one foot asunder in the rows.

15th.— Sowed six bushels of the Albany pease broad-cast
at Muddy Hole, on about an acre and a half of ground, which
was harrowed yesterday as mentioned above.

Sowed in the Neck along side of the rib-grass fifty rows
of burnet seed, exactly as the last was put in; that is, in
three feet rows, and one foot in the row.

2
ARTHUR YOUNG ? (of England) August 6, 1786.

This is an excellent letter to show Washington’s great in-
terest and enthusiasm in agriculture. In the third para-
graph, he makes some rather pointed criticisms of the atti-
tude then commonly held toward anything new in agriculture,
and the reasons which may account for it.

The twentieth century farmer will be interested in the list
of seeds which Washington orders from England to try out
on his land.

TO ARTHUR YOUNG (OF ENGLAND)

Mount Vernon, 6 August, 1786.
Sir,

I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 7th of
January from Bradfield Hall in Suffolk, and thank you
for opening a correspondence, the advantages of which will
be so much in my favor.

Agriculture has ever been among the most favored of my
amusements, though I never have possessed much skill in
the art, and nine years’ total inattention to it has added
nothing to a knowledge, which is best understood from prac-
tice; but, with the means you have been so obliging as to

1 Arthur Young was the first Secretary of the National Board of Agri-
culture, established in England, 1793. He was one of the greatest Eng-
lish writers on agriculture, and carried into that field the spirit which we
generally associate with the great revolution of manufacture. He was
indefatigable in observation, inquiries, researches, and experiments, His
works on agriculture have been translated into French, German, and

Russian.
21

22 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

furnish me, I shall return to it, though rather late in the.
day, with more alacrity than ever.

The system of agriculture, if it deserves the epithet of
system, which is in use in this part of the United States, is
as unproductive to the practitioners, as it is ruinous to the
landholders. Yet it is pertinaciously adhered to. To for-
sake it; to pursue a course of husbandry, which is alto-
gether different, and new to the gazing multitude, ever
averse to novelty in matters of this sort, and much attached
to the customs of their forefathers, requires resolution, and,
without a good practical guide, may be dangerous; because,
of the many volumes which have been written on this subject,
few have been founded on experimental knowledge; are ver-
bose, contradictory, and bewildering. Your “ Annals,” there-
fore, shall be this guide. The plan on which they are pub-
lished gives them a reputation, which inspires confidence; and
for the favor of sending them to me, I pray you to accept
my very best acknowledgments. To continue them will add
much to the obligation.

To evince with what avidity and with how little reserve I
embrace the polite and friendly offer you have made, of
supplying me with “men, cattle, tools, seeds, or any thing
else that may add to my rural amusements,” I will give you the
trouble, Sir, of providing, and sending to the care of Wakelin
Welch, of London, merchant, the following articles.

» Two of the simplest and best constructed ploughs for
land, which is neither very heavy nor sandy; to be drawn by
two horses; to have spare shares and coulters; and a mould,
on which to form new irons, when the old ones are worn out,
or will require repairing. I will take the liberty to observe,
that some years ago, from a description or recommendation
thereof, which I had somewhere met with, I sent to Eng-
land for what was then called the Rotherham or patent

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 23

plough; and, till it began to wear and was ruined by a
bungling country smith, that no plough could have done
better work, or appeared to have gone easier with two horses ;
but for want of a mould, which I neglected to order with
the plough, it became useless, after the irons, which came
with it, were much worn.

A little of the best kind of cabbage seed for field culture.

Twenty pounds of the best turnip seed.

Ten bushels of sainfoin seed.?

Hight bushels of the winter vetches.

Two bushels of rye-grass seed.

Fifty pounds of hop-clover seed.

And if it is decided (for much has been said for and against
it), that burnet, as an early food, is valuable, I should be
glad of one bushel of this seed also. Red clover seed is to
be had on easy terms in this country; but if there are any
other kinds of grass seeds, not included in the above, that
you may think valuable, especially for early seeding or cut-
ting, you would oblige me by adding a small quantity of the
seeds, to put me in stock. Early grasses, unless a species
can be found that will stand a hot sun, and oftentimes
severe droughts in the summer months, without much ex-
pense of cultivation, would suit our climate best.

You see, Sir, that, with very little ceremony, I avail my-

1Sainfoin or Asperset. “A leguminous plant (Onobrychis Sativa)
originating in the Mediterranean Countries, but which has been culti-
vated for centuries. The stem is about two feet high, with pinnate leaves,
composed of small Jeaflets; the pea-like flowers are rather large and of
a showy pink color, and are disposed in short spikes, on long axillary
peduncles. It is a nutritious fodder, well-liked by livestock, especially
sheep, makes good hay, and will grow on light, warm, chalky soils where
other pasturage does not thrive. The roots are long-lived and are use-
ful for binding light soils, while the foliage not only shades the pastures,
but makes a good crop for plowing under. It is also recommended as a

honey-producing plant for bee pastures.”
— “The American Encyclopedia,” Last Ed., 1904-1906.

24 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

self of your kind offer; but, should you find, in the course of
our correspondence, that I am likely to become troublesome,
you can easily check me. Enclosed I give you an order upon
Wakelin Welch for the cost of such things as you may have
the goodness to send me. I do not, at this time, ask for
any other implements of husbandry than the plough; but
when I have read your “ Annals ” (for they are but just come
to hand), I may request more. In the meantime, permit me
to ask what a good ploughman may be had for at annual
wages; to be found (being a single man) in board, lodging,
and washing? ‘The writers upon husbandry estimate the hire
of laborers so differently in England, that it is not easy to
discover from them, whether one of the class I am speaking
of would cost eight or eighteen pounds a year. A good
ploughman at low wages would come very opportunely with
the plough I have requested.

By means of the application to my friend, Mr. Fairfax
of Bath, and through the medium of Mr. Rack, a bailiff is
sent to me, who, if he is acquainted with the best courses of
cropping, will answer my purposes as a director or superin-
tendent of my farms. He has the appearance of a plain hon-
est farmer; is industrious, and from the character given
him by a Mr. Peacy, with whom he has lived many years, is
understanding in the management of stock, and of most
matters for which he is employed. How far his abilities
may be equal to a pretty extensive concern, is questionable.
And, what is still worse, he has come over with improper
ideas ; for, instead of preparing his mind for a ruinous course
of cropping, exhausted lands, and numberless inconveniences
into which we had been thrown by an eight years’ war, he
seems to have expected, that he was coming to well-organized
farms, and that he was to meet ploughs, harrows, and all
the different implements of husbandry, in as high a state as

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 25

the best farming counties in England could have exhibited
them. How far his fortitude will enable him to encounter
these disappointments, or his patience and perseverance will
carry him towards effecting a reform, remains to be decided.
With great esteem, I have the honor to be, Sir, &c.

3
ARTHUR YOUNG (of England) November 15, 1786.

This letter stands as an appendix to the previous one. It
possesses particular interest to us because of the description
it contains of the soil about Mount Vernon.

Washington also makes a request for a “ plan of the most
complete and useful farm-yard, for farms of about five hun-
dred acres.”

TO ARTHUR YOUNG (OF ENGLAND)

Mount Vernon, 15 November, 1786.
Sir,

The enclosed is a duplicate of the letter I had the honor
of writing to you the 6th of August. The evil genius of the
vessel by which it was sent, which had detained her many
weeks in this country after the letters intended to go by her
were ready agreeably to the owner’s appointment, pursued
her to sea, and obliged the captain, when many days out, by
the leaky condition in which she appeared, to return to an
American port. The uncertainty of his conduct, with re-
spect to the letters, is the apology I offer for giving you
the trouble of the enclosed.

Since the date of it, I have had much satisfaction in perus-
ing the * Annals of Agriculture,” which you did me the
honor to send me. If the testimony of my approbation,
Sir, of your disinterested conduct and perseverance in pub-

lishing so useful and beneficial a work (than which nothing
26

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 27

_ in my opinion can be more conducive to the welfare of your
country) will add aught to the satisfaction you must feel
from the conscious discharge of this interesting duty to it, I
give it with equal willingness and sincerity.

In addition to the articles, which my last requested the
favor of you to procure me, I pray you to have the goodness
of forwarding what follows;

Eight bushels of what you call velvet wheat, of which I per-
ceive you are an admirer.

Four bushels of beans, of the kind you most approve for
the purposes of a farm.

Hight bushels of the best kind of spring barley.

Eight bushels of the best kind of oats.

And eight bushels of sainfoin seed. All to be in good
sacks.

My soil will come under the description of loam; with
a hard clay, or (if it had as much of the properties as the
appearance, it might be denominated) marl, from eighteen
inches to three feet below the surface. The heaviest soil I
have, would hardly be called a stiff or binding clay in Eng-
land; and none of it is a blowing sand. The sort, which
approaches nearest the former, is a light grey; and that to
the latter, of a yellow red. In a word, the staple has
been good, but, by use and abuse, it is brought into bad
condition. 7

I have added this information, Sir, that you may be bet-
ter able to decide on the kind of seed most proper for my
farm.

Permit me to ask one thing more. It is to favor me
with your opinion, and a plan, of the most complete and
useful farm-yard, for farms of about five hundred acres.
In this I mean to comprehend the barn, and every appur-
tenance which ought to be annexed to the yard. The sim-

08 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

plest and most economical plan would be preferred, pro-
vided the requisites are all included. Mr. Welch will an-
swer your draft for the cost of these articles, as before. He
is advised of it. I have the honor to be, Sir, &c.

4
THOMAS PETERS (of Baltimore) December 4, 1786.

In this letter, Washington makes urgent request of a mer-
chant in Baltimore for some good spring barley seed. He
tells of its scarcity around Mount Vernon, and of his anxiety
to get some. He also makes some inquiries regarding clover
seed, objecting to the imported kind.

TO THOMAS PETERS (OF BALTIMORE)

Mount Vernon, 4 December, 1786.
Sir,

Your letter of the 18th ultimo came duly to hand. From
the number of fruitless inquiries I had made after spring
barley before I applied to you, and the intervention, between
the date of my letter and your answer, being considerable,
I despaired of obtaining any of this grain; and therefore
seeded the ground, which was at first designated for this
crop, with wheat and rye.

I have also since heard, that many gentlemen, who have
tried it (especially some on West River, where I know the
lands are very fine, and such as I thought well adapted to
this grain), do not find it answerable to their expectation.
Nevertheless, as I wish to divide my seed-time, and am de-
sirous of sowing clover and other grasses with barley, in
preference to other grain, I would gladly take fifty bushels of
it, and will depend absolutely upon you for this quantity,
which I pray may be sent to me, as soon as it can be ob-

tained, by the packet. With respect to the latter I am
29

30 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

anxious, because, having the seed in my possession, I can pre-
pare accordingly, and not postpone my oat season in expec-
tation of a barley one, and be disappointed at last, as was
the case last year.

If I find this essay likely to answer my expectation, I shall
be better able to talk with you on a contract, The barley
may be accompanied by the machine you speak of, as eli-
gible for cleaning it, and I shall thank you for sending one.
Let me know decidedly, if you please, whether I may depend
upon the above quantity, in the manner mentioned. I have
it now in my power (for it is offered to me) to get what I
want. from a brewer in Philadelphia, but I may even fail there,
if your answer is delayed.

Can good clover seed (not imported seed, for that rarely is
so), be bought at Baltimore? In what quantity, and at what
price? There is not, I believe, a bushel of barley, of any
kind, in this neighbourhood for sale. A Mr. Wales, who
brews in Alexandria, gets all of this he can. I am, Sir, &c.

5
CLEMENT BIDDLE (of Philadelphia) December 5, 1786

The day after his letter to Peters, this was written to a
merchant of Philadelphia. These two letters were included
principally to show two traits of Washington’s character
which must account in great measure for his success in life;
namely, his persistence and his great fore-sight. He is still
in search of spring barley and clover seed. It is very evident
that he was not the man to “ put all of his eggs into one
basket.” He was going to take no chances by depending on
oneman. ‘Therefore, in order to be on the safe side, he makes
another order for seed from Biddle.

TO CLEMENT BIDDLE (OF PHILADELPHIA)

Mount Vernon, 5 December, 1786.
Dear Sir, |

For your trouble in negotiating my certificate I thank you.
If it is necessary, in order that you may receive the half-
yearly interest thereon, I would wish you to keep it; if you
can draw this without, it may be returned to me. In the
mean time, inform me, if you please, if this certificate can be
converted into cash, and upon what terms; that, if I should
have occasion to make any purchases in Philadelphia, I may
know the amount of this fund. The indents, to the amount
of eighty-four dollars, I have received, and note the credit
given me for the year and half interest.

The curtain stuff and nails are at hand safe, and will an-

swer very well. The uncertainty of getting good spring
31

32 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

barley (for I had made many fruitless inquiries in this State,
and the parts of Maryland bordering on it, before I wrote
to you), induced me to put the ground, which I had first al-
lotted for this grain, into wheat and rye; but, if you could
secure and send to me, by one of the first vessels bound
from your port to Alexandria, fifty bushels, I will yet find
as much ground as will receive this quantity of seed; or,
if you have engaged one hundred bushels of this grain from
Reuben Haines, as the expression of your letter seems to
import, I will readily take it, but would not choose to be
under any promise of supplying him with the produce of it;
first, because being uncertain of the yield, and inclining
to go pretty largely upon it if I find it likely to answer my
purpose, I shall want a good deal for seed; and, secondly,
because the freight around, it is to be feared, would sink
too deep in the scales to render me any profit upon a small
quantity.

The clover seed, as I conceived this had been a productive
year of it, is high; yet I would beg you to send me three
hundred weight. As soon as I know the precise cost of
this, and the barley, the money shall be remitted; or, if you
have any dealings in Alexandria, and an order on me will
answer your purposes equally as well, it shall be immediately
paid.

If it is the same thing to Mr. Haines, whether I take
fifty or a hundred bushels, I shall, under the circumstances
already mentioned, prefer the former quantity. It is so
essential to every farmer to have his seeds by him in time,
that I would urge in strong terms, that these now acquired
be sent to me by the first good water conveyance. The
uncertainties and disappointments of last spring will always
make me anxious to obtain all my seeds long before the sea-
son for sowing them shall have arrived. At any rate, let

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 33

me know by post what it is I have to expect. Best wishes
attend Mrs. Biddle. I am, dear Sir, &c.

P.S. Is the Jerusalem artichoke to be had in the neigh-
borhood of Philadelphia? Could as much of the root, or
the seed, be got as would stock an acre? I want to bring
it in with my other experiments for the benefit of stock.

THEODORIC BLAND December 28, 1786.

We have here an interesting account of a “ drill-plow ”
over which Washington was very enthusiastic. Apparently
it was a very early form of our modern drill for planting

grains.
In his Agricultural Diary for April 8th, 1'785, he refers to
this same implement as a “ barrel-plough.” (See p. 17.)

TO THEODORIC BLAND

Mount Vernon, 28 December, 1786.
Dear Sir,

I am now about ta fulfil my promise with respect to the
drill plough and timothy seed. Both accompany this letter
to Norfolk, to the care of Mr. Newton. The latter I pre-
sume is good, as I had it from a gentleman on whom I can de-
pend. ‘The former, it is scarcely necessary to inform you,
will not work to good effect in land that is very full either
of stumps, stones, or large clods; but, where the ground is
tolerably free from these and in good tilth, and particularly
in light land, I am certain you will find it equal to your most
sanguine expectation, for Indian corn, wheat, barley, pease,

or any other tolerably round grain, that you may wish to -

sow, or plant inthis manner. I have sown oats very well with
it, which is among the most inconvenient and unfit grains for
this machine.

To give you a just idea of the use and management of it,

I must observe, that the barrel at present has only one set
34

i ge ee ee x

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 35

of holes, and those adapted for the planting of Indian corn,
only eight inches apart in the row; but, by corking these, the
same barrel may receive others, of a size fitted for any other
grain. To make the holes, observe this rule; begin small
and increase the size, till they admit the number of grains,
or thereabouts, you would choose to deposit in a place. They
should be burnt, and done by a gauge, that all may be of a
size, and made widest on the outside, to prevent the seeds
choking them. You may, in a degree, emit more or less
through the same holes, by increasing or lessening the quan-
tity of seed in the barrel. The less there is in it, the faster it
issues. ‘The compressure is increased by the quantity, and
the discharge is retarded thereby. The use of the band is
to prevent the seeds issuing out of more holes than one at a
time. It may be slackened or braced according to the influ-
ence the atmosphere has on the leather. The tighter it is,
provided the wheel revolves easily, the better. By decreas-
ing or multiplying the holes in the barrel, you may plant at
any distance you please. The circumference of the wheels
being six feet, or seventy-two inches, divide the latter by the
number of inches you intend your plants shall be asunder, and
it gives the number of holes required in the barrel.

By the sparse situation of the teeth in the harrow, it is
designed that the ground may be raked without the harrow be-
ing clogged, if the ground should be cloddy or grassy. The
string, when this happens to be the case, will raise and clear
it with great ease, and is of service in turning at the ends of
rows; at which time the wheels, by means of handles, are
raised off the ground, as well as the harrow, to prevent the
waste of seed. A small bag, containing about a peck of the
seed you are sowing, is hung to the nails on the right handle,
and with a small tin cup the barrel is replenished with con-
venience, whenever it is necessary, without loss of time, or

36 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

waiting to come up with the seed-bag at the end of the row.
I had almost forgot to tell you, that, if the hole in the
leather band, through which the seed is to pass, when it comes
in contact with the hole in the barrel, should incline to gape,
or the lips of it turn out, so as to admit the seed between
the band and barrel, it must be remedied by riveting a piece
of sheet tin, copper, or brass, the width of the band, and
about four inches long, with a hole through it, the size of the
one in the leather. I found this effectual. I am, dear Sir,
&e.

ARTHUR YOUNG November 1, 1787.

Another trait of Washington’s character,— one which en-
deared him to many of his countrymen at that time, is illus-
trated in the following letter. He had been away from home
for four months presiding over the famous Constitutional
Convention of 1787, which had been in session from May
14th, until September 17th. To have presided over the fa-
mous Convention which was to give our country a fresh start
upon a firmer footing was one of the greatest honors that
could have come to an American citizen at that time; and yet,
with his unfailing modesty, Washington merely says: ‘“ An
absence of more than four months from home, will be the best
apology I can make for my silence till this time.” How many
men could have desisted from making some reference, however
indirectly, to an undertaking which obviously had been very
vital to the country’s welfare, and which was destined to give
him more honor than he already had received. Such is the
measure of a truly great man.

This letter also contains a concise statement of the system
of crop rotation used by the farmers along the Potomac at
that time, and a report of the current prices received for farm
products in Mount Vernon.

With his usual open-mindness, Washington wants to try
out a new kind of ‘ mill for separating the grain from the
heads of corn” (wheat).’ It was one of the earliest forms of
threshers devised in England.

1 When Washington means what we now call corn he refers to it as
“ maize,” or “Indian corn.”

37

38 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

TO ARTHUR YOUNG

Mount Vernon, 1 November, 1787.
Sir,

Your favor of the 1st of February came to hand about
the middle of May last. An absence of more than four
months from home, will be the best apology I can make for
my silence till this time.

The grain, grass seeds, ploughs, &c., arrived at the same
time, agreeably to the list; but some of the former were in-
jured, as will always be the case, by being put into the hold
of the vessel; however, upon the whole, they were in much
better order than those things are generally found to be,
when brought across the Atlantic.

I am at a loss, Sir, how to express the sense which I have
of your particular attention to my commissions, and the
very obliging manner in which you offer me your services
in any matters relating to agriculture, that I may have to
transact in England. If my warmest thanks will in any mea-
sure compensate for these favors, I must beg you to accept
of them. I shall always be exceedingly happy to hear from
you, and shall very readily and cheerfully give you any
information relative to the state of agriculture in this
country, that I am able.

I did myself the honor to hand the set of “ Annals ”’ to the
Agricultural Society in Philadelphia, which you sent to that
body through me. The president wrote a letter to you,
expressive of the sense they entertained of the favor which
you did them; and mentioned therein the effects of some ex-
periments which had been made with plaster of Paris as a
manure. I intended to have given you an account of it my-
self, as I find the subject is touched upon in your “ Annals,”
but this letter has precluded the necessity of it.

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 39

The fifth volume of the “ Annals,” which was committed
to the care of Mr. Athawes for me, did not come to hand till
some time after I had received the sixth.

The quantity of sainfoin, which you sent me, was fully suf-
ficient to answer my purpose; I have sown part of it, but
find that it comes up very thin; which is likewise the case
with the winter wheat, and some other seeds which I have
sown. |

I have a high opinion of beans, as a preparation for wheat,
and shall enter as largely upon the cultivation of them next
year, as the quantity of seed I can procure will admit.

I am very glad that you did not engage a ploughman for
me at the high wages which you mention; for I agree with
you, that that single circumstance, exclusive of the others
which you enumerate, is sufficiently objectionable. I have ©
tried the ploughs which you sent me, and find that they an-
swer the description which you gave me of them; this is con-
trary to the opinion of almost every one, who saw them be-
fore they were used; for it was thought their great weight
would be an insuperable objection to their being drawn by
two horses. ~~

I am now preparing materials to build a barn precisely
agreeable to your plan, which I think an excellent one. Be-
fore I undertake to give the information you request, re-
specting the arrangements of farms in this neighborhood, I
must observe, that there is, perhaps, scarcely any part of
America, where farming has been less attended to than in
this State. The cultivation of tobacco has been almost the
sole object with men of landed property, and consequently a
regular course of crops has never been in view.’ The gen-
eral custom has been, first to raise a crop of Indian corn
(maize), which, according to the mode of cultivation, is a
, good preparation for wheat; then a crop of wheat; after

40 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

which the ground is respited (except from weeds, and every
trash that can contribute to its foulness), for about eighteen
months; and so on, alternately, without any dressing, till
the land is exhausted; when it is turned out, without being
sown with grass-seeds, or any method taken to restore it;
and another piece is ruined in the same manner.“ No more
cattle are raised, than can be supported by lowland meadows,
swamps, &c., and the tops and blades of Indian corn; as
very few persons have attended to sowing grasses, and con-
necting cattle with their crops. The Indian corn is the chief
support of the laborers and horses. Our lands, as I men-
tioned in my first letter to you, were originally very good;
but use and abuse have made them quite otherwise.

The above is the mode of cultivation which has been gen-
erally pursued here; but the system of husbandry, which has
been found so beneficial in England, and which must be greatly
promoted by your valuable “ Annals,” is now gaining ground.
There are several, among whom I may class myself, who are
endeavouring to get into your regular and systematic course
of cropping, as fast as the nature of the business will admit;
so that I hope in the course of a few years we shall make a
more respectable figure as farmers, than we have hitherto
done. ) |

I will, agreeably to your desire, give you the prices of our
products, as nearly as I am able; but you will readily con-
ceive from the foregoing account, that they cannot be given
with any precision. Wheat for the last four years will aver-
age about 4s. sterling per bushel, of eight gallons. Rye,
about 2s. 4d. Oats, 1s. 6d. Beans, pease, &c., have not
been sold in any quantities. Barley is not made here, from
a prevailing opinion that the climate is not adapted to it. I,
however, in opposition to prejudice, sowed about fifty bushels
last spring, and found that it yielded a proportionate quan-

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 41

tity with any other kind of grain which I sowed; I might
add, more. Cows may be bought at about £3 sterling per

head. Cattle for slaughter vary from 21d. to 414d. sterling » (—

per pound, the former being the current price in summer, the
latter in the winter or spring. Sheep at 12s. sterling per
head; and wool at about Is. sterling per pound. I am not
able to give you the price of labor, as the land is cultivated
here wholly by slaves, and the price of labor in the towns is
fluctuating, and governed altogether by circumstances.

Give me leave to repeat my thanks for your attention to
me, and your polite offer to execute any business relating to
husbandry, which I may have in England; and to assure you,
that I shall not fail to apply to you for whatever I may have
occasion for in that line. I am, Sir, with very great esteem,
&c.

P.S. I observe in the sixth volume of your “‘ Annals,” there
is a plate and description of Mr. Winlaw’s mill, for separat-
ing the grain from the heads of corn. Its utility or inutil-
ity has, undoubtedly, been reduced to a certainty before this
time; if it possesses all the properties and advantages men-
tioned in the description, and you can, from your own knowl-
| edge, or such information as you entirely rely on, recom-
mend it as a useful machine, where laborers are scarce, I
should be much obliged to you to procure one for me, to be
paid for and forwarded by Mr. Welch, provided it is so
simple in its construction, as to be worked by ignorant per-
sons, without danger of being spoiled (for such only will
manage it here), and the price of it does not exceed £15, as
| mentioned in the “ Annals,” or thereabouts.

‘ —
>

RICHARD PETERS | March 4, 1788.

The following letter indicates with what a keen observation
Washington went about the country, and how he was always
ready to try new methods of cultivation, or new machinery
that might in any way increase the yield of his farms.

TO RICHARD PETERS

Mount Vernon, 4 March, 1788.
Sir,

- When I had the pleasure to be at your house last summer,
you showed me a triangular harrow with trowel tines, for the
purpose of cultivating your dell crops. The appearance
was prepossessing. But I forgot whether you spoke of its
merits. from theoretical or practical knowledge. If the lat-
ter, will you permit me to request the favor of you to direct
your workmen, to furnish me with one complete in all its
parts, accompanied with tines, or trowels, sufficient for four
more. Colonel Biddle will pay the cost upon demand. |

That you may be enabled to judge of the proper sizes, I
will inform you for what particular uses they are intended.

From the experience of two years, one the wettest, the
other the driest, that ever was felt in this neighborhood, I

am persuaded, that as much Indian corn can be raised in rows ©

as in any manner which has yet been tried, in such middling
land, and with such management as is usually allowed for
this grain, and that, by drilling potatoes between, the quan-

tity of the latter will, at least, quadruple that of the former.
42

AGERE Tye CRC Ri Saigo ee

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 43

Whether potatoes, in addition to the corn, will bear too hard
upon the soil, is a question that has received an affirmative
and negative answer, and both, it is said, from the experi-
ence of husbandry. I mean, therefore, to learn that which
seems most profitable, and I am already making the experi-
ment. These harrows, then, are to work the intervals be-
tween the corn and potatoes; which being four feet only, the
dimensions of them must be proportioned to the space they
are to operate in. But, notwithstanding the levelness of
my land, and the straightness and equidistance of my rows,
it would seem, nevertheless, dangerous to depend upon a
single bout of this implement, because, if perchance the
width between the rows should exceed four feet, the ground
will not be broken, and, if it falls short, the plants will be
cut up. ‘Twice, therefore, in each row, seems necessary for
safe and proper tillage. I mention it for your consideration
only ; my own opinion of the matter, I must confess, is (but it
yields to experience), that two feet from centre to centre of
the hindmost tines would be a proper medium. This, with
the outer tines of the trowel, will stir near or quite two feet
and a half of earth; and under certain ¢ircumstances may be
sufficient, without going twice in the same row, for cultiva-
tion of the plants; at all events, two bouts will give part
of it a double stirring.
I am, &c.

JOHN FAIRFAX March 31, 1789.

As Washington was about to leave Mount Vernon for
Philadelphia to take up the duties of President of the United
States, he wrote this letter of instructions to John Fairfax
whom he had placed in charge of certain plantations. It is
a remarkable letter because of the kind yet very firm admoni-
tions to young Fairfax which it contains. It gives a good
insight into Washington’s methods of handling men.

The latter half of the second paragraph is a notable com-
mentary upon business management, with special application
to the farm, which every business man and every up-to-date
farmer will do well to read carefully and thoughtfully.

TO JOHN FAIRFAX

Mount Vernon, 31 March, 1789.
Sir,
As I am now in the act of bidding adieu to my home, for
a longer time perhaps than I wish, I will inform you that it is
my intention, if your exertions shall appear to deserve it,
to make the wages of the year you are now engaged for, fifty
pounds instead of forty, although I consider myself under
no obligation to do so; my own motives for it being to en-
courage you to use every endeavour in your power to pro-

mote my interest under the orders and directions of my ~

nephew, who will be intrusted with the general management of
all my concerns during my absence.
I have a very good opinion of your honesty, sobriety, and

industry, and now is the time to give me proofs of your ca-
44

Gi QGP BPI GS re Ks

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 45

pacity and skill. The former, though of essential im-
portance, are not sufficient without the latter. For, as I have
often remarked to you, contrivance in business, and a judi-
cious arrangement of it, should be the leading trait in the
character of a manager. Indeed, they are of such infinite
consequence, that no estate can be well conducted without
them. Unless the different kinds of business, which occupy
the laborerers of every plantation or farm, can be brought
into one view and seen at a distance, they will for ever be
interfering with and treading on the heels of each other. By
foresight, arrangement, and the execution of a due propor-
tion of work, this jumble is to be avoided.

It is with pain J receive the Saturday-night reports, for
no week passes away without a diminution of my stock. Nor
is it less painful to me to see the condition of my work-
horses; some dying, and others scarcely able to walk, unin-
cumbered with a plough. And I might add, as a matter of
no less concern, that it is vain and idle for me to attempt to
stall-feed any kind of meats, when I have only my expense
for my pains, without a morsel of meat fit to appear at my
table or for market. But I will rest in hopes, that these
things will undergo a change for the better.

I am not inclined to your keeping a horse. ‘There is no
occasion for it. My own are adequate to all the services,
that my business will require, and more would add expense
without profit; as I need not tell you that there must be
no more running about, whilst I am absent, than if I were
on the spot. Indeed, I have too good an opinion of you to
suppose it necessary to remind you of this.

As I have already given you plans of those plantations,
which are committed to your care, and have detailed the
business of each in the best manner my time and judgment
_ would enable me to do, I shall add nothing more on this

46 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

head, than briefly to observe to you, that it is from my
nephew, with whom J shall correspond, that you will receive
further directions, with respect to such matters as have not
been detailed, or concerning any alterations in those which
have.

If you have any matrimonial scheme in view, I do not wish
to be any let or bar to the accomplishment of it, or to your
bringing a wife into the family, who may fare as you do
in it.

I am, Sir, &c.

|
if

10
GEORGE A. WASHINGTON March 31, 1789.

This letter was written by Washington to his nephew who
was to “be trusted with the general management of all my
concerns during my absence.” It is a long letter, and full of
explicit instructions as to the future management of his busi-
ness affairs. One is amazed at Washington’s complete mas-
tery of detail as suggested by this letter. Yet he was not
without the capacity of viewing things at a distance, and get-
ting them into their proper proportion. This must have
been one of his secrets of success as a general, and later as a
president.

A very good insight into his farming methods is obtained
by a careful reading of the following letter.

TO GEORGE A. WASHINGTON

Directions for George A. Washington, respecting the Man-
agement of the Plantation and other affairs at Mount
Vernon.

31 March, 1789.
Having given very full and ample details of the intended

| crops, and my ideas of the modes of managing them at the

several plantations, little, if these are observed, needs be
added on this subject. But as the profit of every farm is
greater or less, in proportion to the quantity of manure,

| which is made thereon, or can be obtained by keeping the
\ fields in good conditions, these two important requisites ought

never to be lost sight of.
To effect the former, besides the ordinary means of farm-

yards, cow-pens, sheep-folds, stables, &c., 1t would be of
47

48 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

essential use, if a certain proportion of the force of each
plantation could be appropriated, in the summer or early
part of autumn, to the purpose of getting up mud to be
ameliorated by the frosts of winter for the spring crops,
which are to follow. And to accomplish the latter, the gullies
in these fields, previous to their being sown with grain and
grass-seeds, ought invariably to be filled up. By so doing,
and a small sprinkling of manure thereon, they will acquire
a green sward, and strength of soil sufficient to preserve
them. ‘These are the only means I know of, by which ex-
hausted lands can be recovered, and an estate rescued from
destruction.

Although a precise number of tobacco hills is by my gen-
eral directions allotted to each plantation, yet my real in-
tention is, that no more ground shall be appropriated to this
crop, than what is either naturally very good (for which
purpose small spots may be chosen), or what can be made
strong by manure of some kind or other; for my object is
to labor for profit, and therefore to regard quality, instead
of quantity, there being, except in the article of manuring,
no difference between attending a good plant and an indif-
ferent one. But in any event, let the precise number of
hills be ascertained, that an estimate may be formed of their
yield to the thousand.

Being thoroughly convinced, from experience, that em-
bezzlement and waste of crops (to say nothing of the various
accidents to which they are liable by delays) are increased
proportionably to the time they are suffered to remain on
hand, my wish is, as soon as circumstances will permit after
the grain is harvested, that it may be got out of the straw,
especially at the plantations where there are no barns, and
either disposed of in proper deposites, or sold, if it is wheat,
and the price is tolerable, after it has been converted into

ee ee + Se <a Wage

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 49

flour. When this work is set about as the sole, or as a serious
business, it will be executed properly. But when a little is
done now, and a little then, there is more waste, even if there
should be no embezzlement, than can well be conceived.

One or two other matters I beg may be invariably at-
tended to. The first is to begin harvest as soon as the
grain can be cut with safety; and the next, to get it in the
ground in due season. Wheat should be sown by the last of
August; at any rate by the 10th of September; and other
fall grain as soon after as possible. Spring grain and grass
seeds should be sown as soon as the ground can possibly,
with propriety, be prepared for their reception.

For such essential purposes as may absolutely require the
aid of the ditchers, they may be taken from that work. At
all other times they must proceed in the manner, which has
been directed formerly; and in making the new roads from
the Ferry to the Mill, and from the Tumbling Dam across
the Neck, till it communicates with the Alexandria road, as
has been pointed out on the spot. The ditch from the Ferry
to the Mill along this road may be a common four-feet one.
But from the Mill to the Tumbling Dam, and thence across
to the head of the old field by Muddy-Hole fence, it must be
five feet wide at top, but no deeper than the four-feet one,
and the same width at bottom as the latter.

After the carpenters have given security to the old barn
in the Neck, they must proceed to the completion of the new
one at the Ferry, according to the plan and the explanations,
which have been given. Gunner and Davis should get bricks -
made for this purpose; and if John Knowles could be spared
(his work, not only with respect to time, but quantity and
quality to be amply returned) to examine the bilged walls,
and the security of them, but to level and lay the founda-
| tions of the other work, when the bricks are ready, it would

50 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

be rendering me an essential service; and, as the work might
be returned in proper season, would be no detriment to your
building.

When the brick work is executed at the Ferry Barn, Gun-
ner and Davis must repair to Dogue Run, and make bricks
there; at the place and in the manner, which have been di-
rected, that I may have no salmon bricks in that building.

Oyster shells should be bought, whenever they are offered
for sale, if good and on reasonable terms.

Such money as you may receive for flour, barley, fish, as
also for other things, which can be spared and sold; and for
rents, the use of the jacks, &c.; and for book debts, which
may be tried, though little is expected from the justice of
those who have been long indulged; may be applied to the
payment of workmen’s wages as they arise, Fairfax, and the
taxes, and likewise to the payment of any just debts, which
I may be owing in small sums, and have not been able to
discharge previous to my leaving the State. The residue may
await further orders.

As I shall want shingles, plank, nails, rum for harvest,
scantling, and such like things, which would cost me money
at another time, fish may be bartered for them. The scant-
ling, if any is taken, must be such as will suit for the barn
now about to be built, or that at Dogue Run, without waste
and of good quality.

I find it is indispensably necessary, for two reasons, to
save my own clover and timothy seed; first, because it is the
only certain means of having it good and in due season;
and, secondly, because I find it is a heavy article to purchase.

Save all the honey-locusts you can, of those which belong
to me; if more could be obtained, the better. And, in the
fall, plant them on the ditches where they are to remain,
about six inches apart, one seed from another.

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 51

The seeds, which are on the case in my study, ought, with-
out loss of time, to be sown and planted in my botanical gar-
den, and proper memoranda kept of the times and places.

You will use your best endeavours to obtain the means for
support of G. and L. Washington, who, I expect, will board,
till something further can be decided on, with Dr. Craik;
who must be requested to see that they are decently and
properly provided with clothes from Mr. Porter’s store.
He will give them a credit on my becoming answerable to
him for the payment. And, as I know of no resources, that
H. has for supplies but from me, Fanny will, from time to
time, as occasion may require, have such things got for her,
on my account, as she shall judge necessary. Mrs. Wash-
ington will, I expect, leave her tolerably well provided with
common articles for the present.

My memorandum books, which will be left in my study,
will inform you of the times and places, when, and where,
different kinds of wheat, grass-seeds, &c., were sown. Let
particular attention be paid to the quality and quantity of
each sort, that a proper judgment of them may be formed.
To do this, great care must be taken to prevent mixture
of the several sorts, as they are so contiguous to each other.

The general superintendence of my affairs is all I require
of you; for it is neither my desire nor wish, that you should
become a drudge to it, or that you should refrain from any
amusements or visitings, which may be agreeable, either to
Fanny or yourself to make or receive. If Fairfax, the farmer,
and 'Thomas Green, on each of whom I have endeavoured to
impress a proper sense of their duty, will act their part
with propriety and fidelity, nothing more will be necessary
for you to do, than would comport with amusement and that
| exercise which is conducive to health. Nor is it my wish,
\» that you should live in too parsimonious a manner. Frugal-

52 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

ity and economy are undoubtedly commendable, and all that
is required. Happily for this country, these virtues prevail
more and more every day among all classes of citizens. I
have heard of, and I have seen with pleasure, a remarkable
change in the mode of living from what it was a year or two
ago; and nothing but the event, which I dreaded would take
place soon, has prevented my following the example. Indeed,
necessity, if this had not happened, would have forced me
into the measure, as my means are not adequate to the ex-
pense at which I have lived since my retirement to what is
called private life. Sincerely wishing you health and happi-
ness, I am ever your warm friend and affectionate uncle.

A VIEW OF THE WORK AT THE SEVERAL PLANTATIONS AT MOUNT
VERNON, IN THE YEAR 1789, AND GENERAL DIRECTIONS
FOR THE EXECUTION OF IT

From the plans of the plantations, from the courses of
the crops, which are annexed to these plans, and from the
mode of managing them as there prescribed, may be derived a
full and comprehensive view of my designs, after the rotation
is once perfectly established, in the succession that is pro-
posed. But as this cannot, at all the plantations, be adopted
this year, every thing in the mean time must be made to tend
to it, against the next, as far as circumstances will admit.

Muddy-Hole Farm

The ploughs belonging to this plantation, together with
those from Dogue Run, are to continue, without interruption
or delay, when not prevented by frost or rain, to break up
field No. 5 for Indian corn. And, when this is accomplished,
next to break up No. 4 for buckwheat, which is to be sowed
in April, and ploughed in before harvest, as a manure for
the crop of wheat, which is to be sown therein in the month

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 58

of August next, after these ploughings are performed.

Then, as there is no field at this plantation, which can with
convenience be appropriated for spring grain, or for the
crop of sundries this year, and as the ploughs at Dogue Run,
especially if the winter should prove hard and unfavorable,
will not be able, of themselves, to break up fields No. 4 and
No. 6 at their own plantation, and at the same time prepare
those of No. 3 for barley and oats, and No. 7 for Indian
corn, in due season, the whole may go to Dogue Run, till the
corn at Muddy Hole shall want them, and work in No. 6, if
the condition of it is such as to admit thereof; or in No. 4
at the same place, if it is not; for the respective crops which
are designed for them.

The fence on the Ferry road, from the division between
the fields No. 4 and No. 5 to the lane on the Mill road, must
be repaired with new rails; but from thence to the gate lead-
ing to the barn from the overseer’s house it should be made
tolerably secure with rails, which may be taken from the
opposite side.

As the days are short, walking bad, and the different kinds
of stock will require careful attendance, it may perhaps be
best to relinquish the idea of the people of this place having
any thing further to do with the new ground at the Mansion
House; and when not employed, in open weather, with their
fencing, to be threshing out grain. But there is a work of
great importance, if the weather and other circumstances
would concur for the execution of it in season. I mean,
that of getting up rich mud from the most convenient parts
of the creek, and laying it in small heaps, for amelioration,
to be carried over the poor parts of No. 5, which will be in
corn. If this last-mentioned work can be accomplished (and
it must be done soon, if any effect is expected from it this
year, in order that the frost may have time to operate), the

54 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

cart may be employed in hauling it to the ground.

Another piece of work to be done here, as I propose to
make a small quantity of tobacco at this, as well as at my
other plantations, is, to hill the ground that is marked off
for it, in time. But, previous to hilling, it must be laid off
with the plough into three-feet squares, that the hills may be
made directly on the cross; so that, in the early stages of
the growth of the tobacco, it may be tended with a plough
each way.

If these several kinds of work should not afford sufficient
employment for the hoe people, with the cultivation of the
ground, which will be marked out for potatoes and carrots,
and which ought to be ploughed up immediately, they may be
preparing field No. 6, on the creek, for corn in 1790. In
the execution of this work, the cedar trees are not to be cut
down, but trimmed only; and other trees left here and there
for shades. The brush and rubbish, of all sorts, are to be
thrown into the gullies and covered over, so as to admit the
ploughs to pass.

Both parts of field No. 1 should from this time be with-
held from stock of all kinds, that there may be, in the spring,
early food for the ewes, lambs, and calves. Field No. 3, now
in wheat and rye, must be sown with clover and timothy on
the first snow that falls, six pints of the first, and two of
the latter per acre.

Dogue-Run Farm

The ploughs belonging to this plantation, when they have
performed what has already been directed for them at Muddy
Hole, together with those of the latter, are to begin, if the
ground will admit of it, to break up No. 6 for buckwheat, to
be sown in April. But if this, on account of the levelness
of the field and the water which may stand on it, cannot

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 55

be done, then plough No. & for the crop of sundries. But,
as it is of essential importance, that the oats and barley
should be sown early, and the working of the fields for In-
dian corn not so much delayed as to endanger the prospect
for that crop, the ploughings of both No. 6 and No. 4 must
be delayed, at least till the cats and barley are in, if they
cannot be broken up in season for the above purposes.
The oats ought to be sown in February, next the post-and-
rail fence; and the barley as soon after as possible, on the
other side, adjoining the corn. With both, clover and tim-
othy, in the proportions already mentioned, are to be sown.

After the above work is accomplished, it will be time to
cross-plough and sow such parts of No. 4 as are intended
for carrots, and this is to be done in drills four feet asunder;
and, if the ground is dry enough, in the month of March,
and for flax, which should be sown in April.

By the time these are done, possibly before it, the fields
for corn will want listing. This corn, in the south part of
the field, next to the woods, may be planted at five feet each
way, with two stalks in a hill, and in the north part, next
to Colonel Mason’s, at four feet each way, with one stalk in
a hill. ‘The ploughings and harrowings necessary for which,
without going into detail with respect to the manner and
times, must be given when wanted.

The sowing of buckwheat in April for manure seems to be
the next thing which calls for the ploughs; because it ought
to be in the ground as soon as all danger of frost is over,
that it may be in the proper state (full bloom) for ploughing
in before harvest.

After buckwheat, pease will come next, and the ground for
these, as for the tobacco, must be laid off in squares for
hilling, that they may, before they begin to run and spread,
be ploughed each way. They ought to be planted in May.

56 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

Pumpkins, potatoes, turnips, and buckwheat for a crop,
in the order they are mentioned, will next claim the assist-
ance of the ploughs. ‘The first should be planted in May,
in hills eight feet apart, and well manured. The second in
June, in drills four feet apart, and a foot asunder in the
rows, with a large handful of manure on each potato, which
should be uncut and of the largest sort. The third, that
is, turnips, to be sown partly in June, and partly in July.
And the fourth, buckwheat, as near as may be to the 10th
of July.

This field of sundries may be thus apportioned; carrots,
five acres ; potatoes, five; pumpkins, one; turnips, one; pease,
fifteen; flax, three; tobacco, five; buckwheat, thirty-five;
being seventy acres in all.

That it may be ascertained, by repeated experiments,
whether carrots or potatoes are the most productive and
valuable root, I would have the ten acres allotted for them
in one square, and the rows for each alternate through the
whole square, and each to have the same quantity of manure
allowed to it.

The work, which has been mentioned for the ploughs, to-
gether with the ploughing in of the buckwheat before harvest,
the wheat after harvest, with the workings of the several
species of crops during their growth, is all the employment
that can be recollected at present for this part of the force
of the plantation, until the autumn ploughing for the next
year’s crop commences. But, as these, till the system is
brought more into practice, and the preceding crop as a
better preparation of the ground for the succeeding oné than
is the case at present, will require much exertion and an
addition of ploughs, one may be added to the number at
Dogue Run, which will make five there; and another at
Muddy Hole, which will make four there.

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 57

Much fencing is necessary at this plantation, before it
can be said to be advantageously laid off, and in good order.
That, which requires to be first done, is the one which di-
vides field No. 4 from the meadow; but, as the rails, which
are about the stacks, will be most convenient for this work,
it may be delayed until they can be spared. In the mean
time, no heavy stock must run in that field, to trample and
poach the meadow.

The next, that requires doing, is the line from the head
of the meadow to the new road, which is to be laid off,
thence with the road to the Tumbling Dam, and thence
round field No. 7, agreeably to the ploughing, and the rails
which have been laid there.

Next after these, the cross fence between field No. 5 and
the wood should be done, and then the fence, which was
begun last year, but not finished, between fields No. 2 and
No. 3. The fence which divides the first of these, that is,
No. 2, from the great meadow, requires doing also. All
these are essential; as it also is, to strengthen the post-
and-rail fence, which divides No. 1 from No. 2 and No. 3;
but, as this never can be made a good one, until the whole is
taken down, and both posts and rails shortened, it must be
postponed till there is time to do this; righting it up in such
a manner, as to make it answer for the present, being all
that can be attempted this year.

Lastly, when time will admit, after the posting and railing
from the Tumbling Dam to the Mill is completed, the rails,
which at present run upon that line, may serve to separate
the great meadow into three divisions, as will be marked out.

Every thing, that the hoe people can do in the course of
the winter towards getting the old crop off hand, and pre-
paring for the new one, ought to be the first object of con-
sideration, and must be closely attended to. Carrying out

58 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

manure, when the cart can be spared and the ground is in
order for its reception, either for carrots, potatoes, tobacco,
or other things, is not to be neglected. Grubbing and filling
up gullies, in the fields which are to receive crops this year,
is also essential. And, if these should not afford sufficient
employment, the overplus time may be spent in clearing
swamps, or the sides of them, so that they may hereafter,
when drained effectually, be tended in tobacco previous to
their being laid down in grass.

At this place, I propose to plant about thirty thousand
_tobacco plants, in field No. 4, round the houses and stacks,
where they will be most convenient to the manure; and,
where the ground is not very rich, I would join a gallon or
a large double handful of manure to each hill. The ground
for the crop ought to be broken up early, either with the
ploughs or hoes, that the green sward may have time to
rot. If thirty thousand hills cannot be got here, the de-
ficiency may be made up by the gate that goes into field
No. 5.

River Farm

Early and good ploughing at this place is indispensably
necessary. ‘The field No. 7, intended for spring grain, that
is, barley and oats, would, if justice were done to it, call for
a second or cross ploughing by the time the ploughs will
begin to break it up. Consequently, field No. 1, designed
for corn, will hardly get more than a listing, and the field
No. 4, which ought to have received a crop of sundries, must
go altogether uncultivated this year.

After field No. 7 is sown with barley, oats, and grass-seed,
the latter in the proportion mentioned at the other places,
if the preparation of No. 1 for corn cannot be postponed,
without involving injurious consequences to that crop, the

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 59

ploughs must go there next, and do all that is necessary for
getting it planted in time, and in good order.

But, as I do not mean to plant potatoes or carrots among
corn this year, as was the case last year, inclining to allot
separate spots for this purpose, these spots, and that which
is intended for tobacco, ought to be immediately ploughed ;
that the weeds and grass, where there are any, may have
time to rot, and the ground to be in order to receive manure.
The spot, which I would principally appropriate for carrots
and potatoes, is that whereon the flax grew last year, but if
more can be conveniently obtained elsewhere, it ought to be
had, as that spot is insufficient. The ground for tobacco
(forty thousand plants) I mean to lay off in a long square,
from the farm-pen up to field No. 2, which, when ploughed
and checkered, will be ready to receive manure at times when
the carts can with convenience carry it out.

All the ploughings, which are enumerated, being accom-
plished, the season probably will have arrived when No. 8
will require to be cross-ploughed, and sowed with buckwheat
or manure, in April. This is, in all respects, to be man-
aged as has been directed for Dogue Run, and after harvest
is to receive wheat, in August, as there mentioned.

These, with the necessary workings of the several species
of crops, which must not be neglected, will, it is presumed,
give sufficient employment for the ploughs. If not, there
can be no difficulty in finding work for them.

Much fencing is wanting on this plantation, before it can
be in the order I wish to see it; but, among the most essential
of these, is the fence which is to enclose field No. 1 for corn;
that which runs from the second gate, going into the planta-
tion, to the creek, dividing my land from Colonel Mason’s;
and that which is to form the lane, which is to lead from the
barn into the lane which now goes to Johnson’s, and which

60 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

must continue the other way, so as to open a communication
with the fields No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4. As timber is
very scarce on this tract, it must in fencing, as well as in
other things, be made to go as far as possible; consequently,
posts and rails, of a good and substantial kind, must be
substituted instead of the usual kind of worm fences.

To point out all the work for the hoe people of this plan-
tation is unnecessary. ‘To finish the old, and to prepare for
the new crop; to put up fences; to heap up the manure early,
that it may get well and soon rotted; to carry it out, and
to lay it in the furrows intended. for carrots and potatoes,
and on the ground intended for tobacco; making hills for
the tobacco; grubbing and filling gullies in the fields, which
are to receive crops this year, with old rails, old stumps,
old trees, and such other rubbish as can be had conveniently ;
levelling the bank, on which a fence formerly ran through
field No. 8; will, with the cultivation of the crops that will
be planted and sown, and gathering them in, compose the
greater part, if not all, of their labor. But if there should,
notwithstanding, be time for other things, I know of nothing
in which they could be more advantageously employed, than
in getting up rich mud from the branches in field No. 8, to
spread over the poor and washed parts of that field, before
it is sown in wheat next August.

Mansion-House Farm

The ditchers, after the post-and-rail fence, which they are
now about, to the Tumbling Dam is completed, and a strong
one put across the Mill Run, as will be marked off, may con-
tinue on to the Mill by the line of stakes, which will be set
up; but they are not to use for this purpose those posts,
which were got by Marley’s house, as they will be more
convenient for the lane, which is to form the new road from

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 61

the Ferry by the Mill, as authorized by the court. After this
work is performed, it will be time enough to point out more.

To say what the other part of the force at this place shall
be employed about, is next to impossible, since there is such
a variety of jobs for them to attend to, besides fishing, hay-
making, and the grain harvest in their respective seasons,
which must unavoidably employ them while they last.

But, as it is designed to raise tobacco, and to tend in
corn that part, at least, of the new ground in front of the
house, which was cleared last year, in order that it may be
laid down in the fall in wheat and orchard grass, they must
prepare for them accordingly, and, under the circumstances
above mentioned, attempt as much of the first, that is, to-
bacco, as there is a moral certainty of their tending well.
The men may be employed in getting posts and rails of a
good kind for the purpose of enclosing this tobacco. But
it is essential, if any labor is expected from the girls and
boys, who are about this house, to keep some person with
them, who will not only make them work, but who will see
that the work is well executed, and that the idleness, which
they appear every day in the practice of, may be avoided.

11

1789.
SPECIMEN STATEMENTS OF CROPS, AND
OF REPORTS BY THE MANAGER

April 14, 1792.
These S'pecimen Statements of Crops, and Reports of the
Manager are here inserted to give the reader an idea of the
system of farm accounts used by Washington, as well as to
indicate the thorough and methodical way he kept in touch
with the operations upon his plantations while he was im office.
It may surprise some farmers of today who look with doubt
upon various systems of farm accounting,— considering them
only new fads in farming,— to realize that one hundred and
twenty five years ago George Washington believed in the util-
ity and value of such procedure.

FIRST STATEMENT OF THE CROPS IN 1789

Har-
Acres | Acres | rowed

Corn; 375 acres. 1 ploughing in the fall of 1788.... 375
Listing the field in March, about 14 of the
SUN ON VIE | AVIS, rats hc (ali esac e eles kia ta ghee eat eohce a tare 94
Opening the furrows in April, 14 of the last
VIE shh antes haath aes leg status) SUK Sata iba a cal alana erst 31
Breaking up the balks in May, % of the whole. 281
Ploughing do. inJune, do. do. 281

Do. do. inJuly, do. do. 281
Three times harrowed, do. do. each 281 843
Rye; 375 acres. Once ploughed for seeding in Sep-
TOMBE ie cos aie cinereus ate miata iale
Once harrowed do
Buckwheat; 375 acres. One ploughing after Rye
BOMEs OFF yi. cig wine eee 375
One do: in: April ih Sis

Three harrowings, 1 before, and 2 after sowing

62

281

1125

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 63

Acres| Acres| rowed

Wheat; 375 acres Ploughing in buckwheat in June. 375
do. seeding ground with wheat in
TEI a a) rate alata se a ki caeael os we 375

One harrowing after sowing.....
Sundries; 375 acres. One ploughing in the fall of 1788 375
75 do. in Pease ploughed into 3 ft.

PIA Ges: Hy Agha sion coals wisi eye\ain,s 75
Checkered, about 44 of above work in
MAINE //a/nvalalce sia setulae sate wer atel aia aa 19
234 do. in Buckwheat for a crop, ploughed

TER OPUBAE LA ransp ete ovek suas pie al ie aha ae ert 234
SEs MMAR Nem aie Repaealp ek reveals do... .234
Three times harrowed Ist of July
8 do. Scarcity ploughed in March..... 8
do. MEAG! cists 8
do. Sy a eases 8
8 do. Pumpkins, ploughed in March... 8
do. May us U8
do, OW oe. eS
20 do. Flax, ploughed in March........ 20
do. 4 0, | Ne ae 20
Three times harrowed .... 60
Barley; 375 acres. First ploughing January or
BCUSUBDY isk ss owls bi Sieaee 375
Second do. February or March 375
_ Three times harrowed...... 1125
4511
Of the above Work
Between the Ist of October and Christmas, Corn
BA RERREUEN Se ERP Val Sty imi ai fal lols p\edsiade Bie Wrepes dre alias) Gemma, a 375
PPI HEAL AMOUNTS GO. is s\seiciy si0esoe'vs Shin vole & 375
Sundries 3 TF, Glwee athe rene e abel teh aylaie aera 375
—| 1125
In January and February, Barley, first ploughing, 375
February and May, do. second “ 375 | 1195
March, listing for Corn as above............... 94
Ploughing first time for Root of Scarcity....... 8
Do. do. Rea a lias ccideg ned 20
Do. do. BS 00) 1 2 a en 8/ 130

64 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

Har-
Acres| Acres| rowed
April, second ploughing for Flax.............+.+6+ 20
do. Pease, in three-feet ridges 175
10. Checkered iss puke. 19
Opening Corn lists for planting..... 31
Buckwheat for manure ............. 375
May, So ROM Ce) oS 3 MR eed Re Q34
Pumpkins, second ploughing, 8; Root of
ICRP CULT 706s ie a Ou aed lula etal wieieieveteiwis: ete eie arate 16,
Breaking balks between Corn .............. 281
June, ploughing Corn second time ................. 281
do. Buckwheat for manure ........... 375
Wily, Duckwheat for Sede we es cee lt wee Wawey 234
anne ‘plouehing GE iComm NL pnts adie suet & 281 :
Third do. Root of Scarcity, 8; Pumpkins, 8 16 |
AMDEEPLESIE WV Ee aig a CL awa eee MUL (alte L hue Stata teinn gl aha :
Bensbenamer, Pewee Dow WOR gerne eR aos ale |
Dr. Results of the First Statement Cr.
£.) Sd. 6. ssi
For 375 bushels Rye for By 5625 bushels Corn, at 3s. 843 0 0
seed at 3s... 56 50 5624 do, hye, 48... 843 00
375 bushels Buck- 5625 do. Potatoes, Is. 281 5 0
wheat, for 4500 do. Barley, 3s.6d. 787 0 0
seed at 2s... 37 10 0 3750 do. Wheat, 5s.... 937 10 0 :
375 bushels Wheat, Sundries, viz.
for seed'at 5s. 93 15 0 1404 bushels Buckwheat, .
750 bushels Barley BERRY Ue eae eats 140 80 .
for seed at 3s. 375 bushels Pease, 4s.. 75 00 .
GE Uy Sits 131 50 100 bushels Flax seed, j
Sundries, viz. ee VEE OG lays bins 17 100 a
75 bush. Pease for Dressed Flax a
seed, at 4s... 15 00 Buckwheat, 375 acres
234 bush. Buck- for manure. i |
wheat,. 2s, ..,.238 0 >
30 bush. Flax, 3s. ve i
Ce etek a8, ike 5 50 £3924 13 0 1G
3750 lbs. Clover seed, 8d. 125 00 } :
3120 bushels of Corn for 375 acres Clover, 20s 375 i

negroes, at 3s, .. 468 00
2750 bushels of Rye for MEN EN.
HOTses,, SA"!)'. 5.5. 412 10 0 £4299 13 0

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 65

Bit Say £. 8. a,
100 bushels Salt, 2s. 6d. 12 10 0
330 gallons Rum, 2s.... 33 0 0 100 thousand Tobacco
750 bushels of Potatoes, hills, 20 hhds. £7.
for eced, Us. cos. a0 10 0 BOR oe saat 150
£1450 18 0 £4449 13.0

SECOND STATEMENT OF CROPS IN 1789.

Har-
Acres| Acres| rowed

Corn; 375 acres. Same in all respects as No. 1...... 1343 843
| Buckwheat; 375 acres. First ploughing in April.... 375
Second do. last of June.... 375) 750

Three harrowings ...... 1125
Wheat; 375 acres. One ploughing after the Buck-
PCIE (Ser WARE our Sa Wh a laine gts twp 375
Two harrowings ......... 750
Sundries; 375 acres. The same as No. 1........... 1025 762
Bariey:375 acres. The same'as No. 1.5. ...555 5. + 750 | 1125
4243 | 4605

Of the above Work ©

Har-
Acres| Acres | rowed °

One ploughing for Corn, 2788 os oie ssn viaies's aisle os 375
Fall, one ploughing for Sundries, do ............... 375
January and February, first ploughing for Barley.. 375
February and March, second do do ... 375
—| 1750 1125
March, listing for Corn ...... Phat SATE CR eae 94
ploughing first time for Root of Scarcity... 8
do. do. RAR ra shhh cy Nie wht wie ss 20
do. do. PUTER MRA oo Dl chs bie 8
—| 130
April second ploughing for Flax .........-....+.+-- 20 60
do. Pease, in three-feet ridges 75 :
do. SUP RE EGU (Li: (aan ebuinibaiaias@ 19
Opening Corn lists ..........s.ssseeeeeeees 31

First ploughing for Buckwheat for a crop.... 375
— | 520

66 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

Har-
rowed

May, first ploughing of Buckwheat among the sun-

cS Ly Tl A EH aD St PAN AE aL ATA: 234
Pumpkins, second ploughing, 8 acres; Scarcity,
ro #0 Amp eH RING Ue mL Veoh EO A GIL Ua Das Bret MT oES 16
Ploughing balks between Corn, first time...... 281
— 281
June, ploughing Corn second time................6- 281 281
second ' do. of Buckwheat ioc eee ieas de eee 375
me 1125
A AL neal CURES 1 EU ARENA AM es AIRGAS aD Cy eRe 234 7102
Comn Third times sisi tet ANB se ele 281 281
Third ploughing for Scarcity, 8; for Pumpkins,8 16
Aorust, ploughs TOT; WHEAE ss <isin lave ai p wininteceaye.e wie 750
4605
Dr. Results of the Second Statement. Cr.
£, |S. a. 2 Sat
For 375 bushels of Buck- By 5625 bushels of Corn, 3s. 843 0 0
wheat for seed, 5625 do. Potatoes, Is. 281 50
OB alate eialaiate iw \els 37 10 0 Buckwheat ploughed in
375 bushels seed for manure.
Wheat, 5s. .... 93 15 0
Sundries, viz. 3750 bushels Wheat, 5s, 937 10 0
75 bushels Pease, 4s. 15 0 0 Sundries, viz.
234 bushels Buck-
wheat, 2s. .... 23 80 375 bushels of Pease,4s 75 00
30 bushels Flax seed, 1404 do. Buckwheat, 2s. 140 8 0
BSG a uses naw 5 50 4500 do. Barley, 8s. 6d. 787 0 0
750 bushels Barley, 100 do. Flax seed, 3s.
ASN) 11 PRR RR a 130 5.0 21 PARE Pan ENE A 17:10 0
3750 Tbs. Clover seed, 8d. 125 0 0
3120 bushels of Corn, 3s. 468 0 0 £3,081 13 0
2750 do. Rye, 3s. .... 412 10 0
100 do. Salt, 2s. 6d... 12100 Dressed Flax.
330 gallons Rum, gs. .. 33 00 375 acres Clover, 20s.. 375
750 bushels potatoes for 375 do. do. ‘do, (375

SOUS So) oe col iio 37 10 0

ooo eannEiEennEnEEEeEEEEEEERE

£1,394 13 0 £3,831 13 0

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 67

THIRD STATEMENT OF CROPS FOR 1789

Har-
Acres | rowed
Corn; 375 acres. The same as No. 1 and No. 2.......... 1343 843

Barley ; 375 acres. do. d Diele o vos va
Buckwheat; 375 acres. Ploughed in fall, in March and

BERTON ANG od) in ered ulin) Xe Aiea as (ot ahsl Xie Yikes ovat ellatelB SYa''p' dain 1125 | 1125
Wheat; 375 acres. Ploughed in June, to cover Buckwheat
nel rey ny A MOUSE S251.) od dhe wd 'ele ote aie Miatehy pele raiareyal Hee 750 375
Flax; 20 acres. Ploughed twice, harrowed three times.... 40 60
4008 | 3528
Of the above Work
Har-

Acres rowed
Pall, one: ploughing’ for. Corn, 1788.0 0502). Ss..0 6. aioe 375
Go: ))) Praelewhteate doe ee eee to: 375
January and February, first ploughing for ph 375
February and March, second do. re Co Raa: 29
Pr Cry) Stee TO) SOOT Sp. sie's a Winls sala tein) oyun oom ee 94
Second ploughing for Buckwheat .......... 375
First do. JEL, UAE oe Nee 20
April, second do. EEN SE i EO 20
Third do. Back wheg Ei... eile ae 375
pening Cort TSts eicside aiaisicecleadalels sens 31

May, breaking up the balks between Corn ........

June, second ploughing: of: Corm 2.6.26 6. se sek ales 281
Pidughing) in Byeckwheat oo. ese ses te ee ate 875
July, ploughing Corn the third time............... 281
Ploughing for Wheat or Buckwheat.......... 375

Dr. Results of Third Statement. Cr.

£.\s.\d. £ s.d.

For 750 bushels of Bar- By 5625 bushels of Corn, 3s. 843 0 0

ley, for seed, at
SB GILT esate 4 131 15 0 5625 do. Potatoes, Is.. 281 50

68 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

=) Bdk EAR A Bs
375 bushels Buck-
wheat, 2s. .... 37 100 4500 do. Barley, 3s.6d. 787 00
375 bushels Wheat,
CAM A SPLINE ae 93 15 0 3750 do. Wheat, 5s.... 937 10 0
3750 lbs. Clover seed,
Be NENT uw e 125 00 Buckwheat for manure
30 bushels of Flax
Cu a eae un, 5 50 100 bush. Flax seed,
3120 bushels corn, 3s. 468 0 0
2750 bushels Rye for NM 1 MRP a MN 17 10 0
ORSES Su ue 2 412 10 0
0
100 bushels Salt, 2s. caeasaanii is
6d. .....----. 12100) 375 acres of Clover, 20s. 375
330 gallons of Rum,
2 AN en 33 10 0 375 do. do. do. 375
750 bushels of Pota-
toes for seed, 375 do. do. do. 375
1 TR ASSL AO NEA 37 10 0
SL S5T |p) 40 £3,091 50

MANAGER’S WEEKLY REPORT
April 14th, 1792.
Meteorological Table.

Morning

April 8th, E. Clear S. E. Cloudy S. E. Rain
Syn vet S. E. Rain S. E. Cloudy S. E. Cloudy
a Dota, S. W. Cloudy S. W. Rain 60S. E. Rain
ith, f 68). ‘Rain S. E. Rain 58S. E. Rain
“« 8th,| 57 N. E. Rain 56 N. E. Hard Rain | 54.N. E. Cloudy
“ 13th,| 52N. E. Cloudy | 56 N. E. Rain 58 N. E. Rain
“14th, | 54.N. W. Cloudy | 58 N. W. Cloudy 52N. W. Clear
Dr. Days
Mansion-House Farm for the work of 12 men, 6 boys, and 4 girls,
Bmaguitine Mer Weeks, LO). iiels ik alevetole ole sn ele ce ine aise ig esha ele ai Ca 132
Cr.
By a wagon hauling posts and rails to Ferry-Barn lane............ 1
By do. hauling hay 1, stocks 1, timber for shafts for carts and mov-
RUM | ORT LE ATER DS le ie eimai ap Valin p ay allan nls Ua RO APE eee este et 3
By hauling 6 barrels salt to Major Washington’s landing, and bring-
ST OMA] SEDAW ie haa 'b wia'o oie bios the Wipiin ake rnisi atplate fe Mhiniailp Are are thaliana 1

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 69

Cr. Days
By carts hauling manure from Ferry Barn to No. 2 French’s ..... 6
By cleaning loose manure about stables, and hauling it to lot in-

Reena TOE MACE N IE iets, cpcy sini x (e(aiabal elnede ayaa ears lere atid RaRin tw oe 5
By hauling corn from Ferry, and bran and meal from Mill wood
I RATARAENI DS i cleo ol ch cust a aud we Hen Ah eas SOMMINL Oh Ls) Oh slo) al yl a whe whibbee pyle eh 2
By hauling stones to repair the crossing-place of Muddy-Hole
Swamp, at the head of French’s meadow.................6- Q
By Old Jack in care of granary 6, Old Frank in care of stock 6.... 12
iy Peter, im Care of Mares, MBIEs, BN PACKS i 5)6[0)6/4.6 oy aie nie oe as wes 6
By Gunner digging brick earth 3, cutting poles to build a brick
MORITA CG C's ald, each. ans eM aH sh atl w ia hin Mb NETREGS fll doa 8 6, aR 5
By putting up post-and-rail fence leading to Ferry Barn........... 5
By hauling seine, cleaning, striking, and packing fish.............. Al
ROY) Maer. WC ORGY 8s). de em Can Wlaeiniele mini nl mare Wie wiMiuete' dian rele bee 22
By sickness Boatswain 6, Mima 3, Richmond 3, Postilion Joe 3,
ARTE aay SOCHLL: GO)! inlet Leg) Fv ale wel a ih eS iale 4 gen: hye)W elm jalaloimrainn dalle ple et 21
POLES 5c ts 8s 132

Increase, 2 Calves and 2 Mules. Received from Mill, 22 bushels of
Meal, and 29 bushels of Bran; from Ferry, 3 barrels of Corn. Stock,
11 head of Cattle, 4 Calves, 60 Sheep, 28 Lambs, 4 working Mares, 4 do.
Horses, 5 Colts, 4 spring do., 2 Jacks, 2 old Jennies, 1 do. three years
old, 1 do. two years old, 1 do. one year old, 15 Mules, 10 one year old,
2 spring do.; and 11 Mares.

Dr. Days
Ditchers, for the work of 6 men, amounting per week to.......... 36
Cr. ‘icaanes
By Baths and Paschal mortising posts 1, fencing Ferry-Barn new
PR A Nes accra k, lal chime ema NatIA hes Wilh ela re ated a ee iS NR IMN a Any ale cont Ayal mi a 10
By Boatswain and Robin mauling rails 1, and fencing as above 4.. 10
ey er Ree SEMANA PIES Le oi ML A's ha dialo\e alpt ad oh dinla diate wiw'n'y 5
By Dundee sawing trunnels with Dogue-Run hands ..............- 5
BG PIOGRSE VLOG OY: ow sicinid sis Sila aia's Ske Aa aiere fhe aaa alk. b ee. baie Ba pie miele 6
| 4: Dena pea ee 36

N.B. There has been almost one day and part of another lost by
rain this week.

Dr. Days
Muddy-Hole Farm for the work of 3 men and 9 women, amounting

RET AVE EN he dig ao vlnie in sia bese a 'whaibiploiainia ey a(alme Simin © 5a ace ws aw mlel 72

Cr. ttt

By listing in NOs? ....0sccccsccnce sees erecc cece ence cscsnseilos 4

70 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

Cr. Days
By a cart hauling stakes and trunnels to the fence between Nos.
DING EO sees oii W ia ie ge aap eh Vale eter aien Aten Ute) bela ane Roe ah cee a 3
By, hauling ras: to Ne. dane) fence). 3). bie odin co eles Ulsan 1
By raising the bank with a plough and hoes between No. 1 and No.
Tb ete ies Vale ol nies ip wie 0s ecole ol ellnte FG lca cas pee eke eine ea eee ate 11
By putting up fences on said bank 19, cutting stakes and trunnels
AOE AUD leg evose-m a )nte'aisiel acolicln Ww (elie anu, wet as asco tary aneteda tally aineniaiet as aie 26
By taking down and new setting the Lane fence of No. 1 ........ 7
ey, easter: MOnG ayy) of oes als alee Cis W bogies aiciblioye Me ate ane eas Wn ete oan 12
By sickness, Kate 3) Amy) 2; Molly 3 i ois ak dina ee ale aeane 8
DORAL Cicily teases 72

Received from Mill 6 bushels of Meal, and 6 bushels of Rye Meal..—
Stock, 37 head of cattle, 5 Calves, 30 Sheep, 8 working Horses, and 1
Mule.

Dr. Days
Ferry and French’s Farms for the work of 7 men, 16 women, and 4

Hoys, AMOUntiNg Per WEEK EO) 5/65 ewes ae wie mice ol wnat n aie aeate oe 162

Cr. naan

By listing new ground in French’s meadow ............sceseeees 16

By carts hauling stakes, rails, and trunnels to different fences...... 6

By hauling manure to No. 2 French’s 3, hauling corn to Mill1l.... 4
By repairing fences, 34, burning logs and brush in the swamp, 30.. 64
By heaping manure 4, beating out corn 4, cutting and mauling stakes

UTNE) UTES Sb 0a cb te aah peveiay tee ee iyetmtel Mb loi Bune dice ea 12
By spinning 3, hauling seine 5, French’s Tom at Mansion-House

ahi wile Wea loc tate WIM eat ta fa AMG ands Se kN a KEY A LEN et Goa 13

Dy Taster Monday te id's Sag Nie fsealal Ola psa! wr gi bis Ways We area eR eee Q7
By sickness, Doll 6, Old Daph 5, Betty 4, Rose 3, Delia 2.......... 20
Total aside 162

Increase 2 Calves, and 5 Lamhs.— Received from Mill, 1214 bushels
of Meal, sent do. 54 bushels of Corn. To Mansion-House $8 barrels of
do., feed to Horses 1 barrel of do.— Stock, 83 head of Cattle, 5 Calves,
136 Sheep, 60 Lambs, 16 working Horses, and 2 Mules.

Dr. Days
River Farm for the work of 9 men, 18 women, and 1 girl, amount-

he Per Weele HO! Wiis ales Visine bleieiei dP atare mie iaieieta ne Mate a ie aetna ae 168

Cr. stale.

Sy: | Webi ian INGO ahaa oiaiels whet elk tale laian olin cies aie yovbohtiaic cele ie tae hae tata ae 10

By carts hauling manuge Om GO oo)... )jiais!s sais sloiaineim sree mab eve vele wae eal 6

By) hauling rails:2,)poing to MO Di st is cise telah we eee ama ernunnnns 3

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington ‘1

Cr. Days
By loading carts with manure 6, cutting straw 3.................. 9
By plashing thorn hedge 4, repairing the bank of Lane fence No.6 2
By stopping hog-hole in do. 6, putting up new fence next to the

BRIE OP OO ED ia) aC Le weaiia Oy Bi aleeea La Det ate al ot > 2 ip a ail are la come 24,

By cating cornstalks, and: getting’ them Of. 240). 6.26. ses wales as cise 56
Posey Teint, Or Very Le GORE, «2 dhe vin a= iaielgisl n'a, ¥: 4's sia o)b'a ai alee wieyaieke 20
MAE E S NUTIOAY iiss w/a 'eciaie ie 2 pie # Bia ob brerstnigl ap s:e Dialer! mel atv. Setiehele 28
Pepe toceme lta: 1b, CRMC |. sa sin 2:4 /sip ainia ep alelals oe usloie)a\e #6, sige atpSceae ee 6
WOU iies se wales 168

Increase, 2 Calves.— Received from Mill, 934 bushels of Meal, and 10
bushels of Rye Meal.— Stock, 83 head of Cattle, 5 Calves, 221 Sheep,
45 Lambs, 4 working Mares, 13 working Horses, and 1 Mule.

Dr. Days
Dogue-Run Farm for the work of 6 men, 8 women, and 2 girls, amount-
PERE EIEE: WCC NEO tas aaa ia bo alttaye/e d/o.e tala) AMAR a lelalac ced vere 96
Cr. . cies
By listing in No. 2, 5, by ploughing in Mill meadow @2............ 4
By raising a bank with a plough and hoes in Mill meadow for the
RAEN, aie at ao tahs lal ops Lily a asa al de oh ctu Gael Waelarla t's) loiia gh au ca Se ilola fabled A azehd 19
By sawing trunnels 5, mauling do. 5, cutting in Mill meadow 2,..... 12
By repairing fence around the middle meadow ..................-. 10
By repairing fence around No. 2, 7, by spinning 2................. 9
By hauling post and rails to Ferry-Barn new lane .............. 5
iy namie balls; to Ni meadow LEMCe 6. oa) </</es e504 din sn 6 biased ee 3
By hauling rails to the middle meadow fence .............+..0.000 2
MUR EOE! | TL OTIIUYT 0) cis wa 'a(s sare Weis aa) abi aes aya ns aw din #0) siden, 6s Wiaies wide 16
By ‘sickness, Grace 3,, Molly 3, Sall'3, Cicely 4... c0e ic. es samen 13
DGUEbae os <b .e bitin tales 96

Received from Mill, 634 bushels of Meal.—Stock, 57 head of Cattle,
1 Calf, 124 Sheep, 9 working Horses, and 1 Mule.

Dr. Days
Joiners and Carpenters for the work of 6 men and 2 boys, amount-

TARO EY AURIS EDN a Sa alardita aah sp rales ala Gad Hi 6 atk he wb wih a wal nie’ Sava overd ae 48

Cr. —

By Thomas Green making sashes for the new quarter .............. 5

Py ahony. puttine arp. ithe bertits in! Wo! so 0:5. ois)s sc e)n4 0 nldiaye seme 5
By Isaac making and mending ploughs 4, getting ash for rake-

Pic ee Ee ra Mee tan tii a rahe Ne auc aig rk teas, Cia ce aia ue a de ulle: ideal lke 5

By Jam making a new cart and shafts, and getting beach stocks
PP MER ian ie she toate vga sc ciate, Gi pe akalantabraidls cela «Swiss we isls bela ee, Sia 5

72 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

Cr. Days
By Sambo and David sawing gate stuff 2, getting stocks and ash

FOR PASAT SS iG) siaiged a apnoea etc ase. 9 ele cn Wa mw Oe ote Gan a 8

By Sambo ripping plank on account Of rain 2... 06 cet siks oes x'some 1

By Dayid: with) Isaaciom account (OF GO.) 5 i's) iia bss slereleeipielnccle we ain mle I

By Joe) planame | play cde Media lale sei ee eea sidiclm minrele wis eae Gra lads Bt 5

By Christopher at do. 4, and 1 day with the wagon ............... 5

Dy Peaster: Monday is! s\cs4 seein elaven elds Wale mieeie's Meta d ate Comnh eet aie re ae 8

EOUAL phe ies! a falscane 48

Dr. Rye

Mill for Sundries Meal| Bran

Corn | By Dogue-Run Plantation 6%,
Ferry and French’s, 53 | By River Plantation..... 93%, 10
Toll Corn received, 914| By Muddy Hole ........ 6 6
By Ferry and French’s... 124%
Total received ..... 6214 | By Mansion-House ...... 22
Toll Corn ground... 56 Total delivered «.3..... 563, 16

By Coopers and Miller .. 1

he = = A
a = - = a as ——— QW is
—————————— Oe eee eee ee eee eee re ree

12
ANTHONY WHITING November 11, 1792.

We have here a typical reply to a manager’s report in
«which Washington shows his ability to criticize severely. It
will be noticed that even the sawyer’s faulty calculations of
lumber do not escape Washington’s careful eye.

Jared Sparks, an early biographer of Washington, says of
these reports and their replies:
“While Washington was absent from home, in discharging
_ the duties of President of the United States, it was his custom
to exact from the manager at Mount Vernon, once in each
week, a full report of the proceedings on all the farms. This
paper is a sample of those reports. In the meteorological
'\ table, the figures denote the state of the thermometer, and the
| initial letters the direction of the wind. The design of this
table was to communicate a knowledge of the weather, by
\ which a more correct judgment could be formed of the
' amount of time, that the laborers could properly be employed
‘at their work. Each report was accompanied with an ex-
planatory letter from the manager, containing other partic-
| ulars. These were regularly answered once a week by the
| President, and sometimes oftener. His letters frequently
| filled two or three sheets closely written. The importance he
| attached to these letters, and his diligence in preparing them,
| may be understood from the fact, that he first made rough
\ drafts, which were copied out. by himself in a fair hand
| before they were sent off. Press-copies were then taken,
| which he preserved. This habit was pursued, without inter-

. 99 1

| mission, from the beginning to the end of the Presidency.

1 Sparks: “The Writings of Washington,” Vol. XII, p. 351.
73

|
|

T4 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

TO ANTHONY WHITING

Philadelphia, 11 November, 1792.
Mr. Whiting,

Since my last, I have received your letters of the 2d and
7th instant, and shall notice such parts of them as require
it, and give such directions respecting my business, commit-
ted to your management, as may occur to me.

I shall again express my wish, and, as the raising of corn
at the Mansion-House is given up, will also add my anxiety,
to have all the ground (except single trees and clumps here

and there) cleared, and well cleared, as mentioned in a former ©
letter, between the old clover lot and the sunken ground ~
quite from the wharf to Richard’s house and the gate; but, ©
previously, do what has been desired from the cross fence —
by the spring, to the wharf. In clearing the whole of this
ground, let all the ivy and flowering trees and shrubs remain ~

on it, over and above the clumps, and other single trees where

they may be thought requisite, for ornament. The present —

growing pines within that enclosure might be thinned, and

brought more into form. When this is done, and all the
low land from the river up to the gate laid down in grass, it —

will add much to the appearance of the place, and be a real
benefit and convenience, as it will yield an abundance of
grass. |

All the hands, that can be conveniently spared, may be
kept steadily at this work until it is accomplished, or till
they are called off for other essential purposes. The ditch-
ers too, when not employed about more essential work, may

aid in this. And it will be necessary for you to think of

some crop for the new part of the ground, that will require
cultivation through the summer; otherwise the clearing of
it will be labor in vain, as in a year or two, without cultiva-

——

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington ‘5

tion, it will be as foul as ever.

By a vessel called the President, Captain Carhart, you will
receive, I hope, the articles contained in the enclosed invoice
and bill of lading. The linen, I expect, will be cut out and
used to the best advantage. You will perceive there are
two prices; let that, which bears the lowest price, be given
to the boys and girls, and the highest price and best, to the
grown and most deserving men and women, and the surplus
(for there is more than you required) be put away securely.

The mulberry trees may be planted about in clumps, as
mentioned in my letter ky last post to the gardener. They
are not trimmed, because, as I am informed, these trees may
be propagated by cuttings from them, and save me the
trouble and expense of sending more from this place. With
respect to the shrubs from Mr. Bartram’s botanical garden,
directions at the foot of the list are given so fully, as to
render it unnecessary to add aught concerning them in this
letter; but the grapes the gardener must take particular
care of, as they are of a very fine kind.

I send you, also, under cover with this letter, some seeds,
which were given to me by an English farmer from the
county of Essex, in England, lately arrived in this country
to settle, and who appears to be a very sensible and judicious
man, and a person of property. He also gave me a pamphlet
upon the construction of the kind of plough, which he has
used for many years; and the principles for putting the
parts together, to make it work true and easy, which I will
send to you so soon as [ shall receive it from a gentleman to
whom I lent it. The plough is simple in its make. The
oats, which he gave me as a sample, exceed very little, if any,
what I have grown myself. They may, however, in the spring
be put into the ground by single seeds, to try what can be
made of them. The cattle cabbage may also he tried.

76 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

Mr. Lambert, the name of the farmer from whom I had
these things, says that the land, on which he and his father
before him have lived for fifty or sixty years, is a stiff white
clay; and, being at a distance from any source of manure,
besides that which is made on the farm, they have pursued
a different mode of cropping from that which is usually
followed in England; and by so doing, with the aid of the
internal manure of the farm, they have brought their poor,
stiff land, which originally did not yield them more than five
or six bushels of wheat to the acre, and other grain in pro-
portion, to produce very generally from twenty-five to thirty
of wheat, and from forty to fifty of barley. Their method
has been to keep the arable land always perfectly clean, and
alternately in crop or fallow; that is, to take a corn crop
from it one year, and have it under the plough in a naked
fallow, by way of preparation for the next crop, the next
year; beginning this fallow in the autumn, when the ground
is dry, again in the spring, as soon as it becomes dry, and
three or four times after, before seeding for wheat (if wheat
is the crop); never ploughing it wet, which is the cause, he
says, of its running. He seems to understand the principles
as well as the practice of husbandry, being a sensible man,
and inured for a number of years (I suppose he is sixty)
to the labor and practice of it. He has travelled a good
deal about this country, and is of opinion that our great
error lies in not keeping our arable land clean, and free from
weeds. I observed to him, that the people of this country
are of opinion, that naked fallows under our hot sun are
injurious. He will not by any means admit the principle or
the fact; but ascribes the impoverished state of our lands
and bad crops to the weeds which he everywhere sees, and
which both exhaust and foul it. By constant ploughing,
these, he says, are eradicated ; and when the fields come to be

4

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 7

laid in grass, which is sown, the hay will be pure and un-
mixed with any thing hurtful to it.

The giving way of the post-and-rail fencing proves, in a
strong point of view, the necessity of seeing that all which
is made hereafter be of a more substantial kind; that is, the
posts larger, and the rails shorter; and it proves, too, the
necessity of what I can never too often nor too strongly
impress upon you, and that is, to begin and make a business
of rearing hedges, without the loss of a single season; for
really there is no time to lose. Set about it effectually. I
am sure every plantation is now of sufficient force to spare
labor for this purpose; not merely to scratch a little trench
along the banks of the ditches, and therein put a few seeds,
or cuttings, among weeds, briars, and every kind of trash,
which will prevent their coming up, or choke them if they do.
I would wish to have the seeds or cuttings of any thing tried,
rather than that the attempt should be delayed, as it has
hitherto been, from one season to another.

Desire Thomas Green to date his reports. That of the
week before last I send back for explanation of his measure-
ment of the sawing. I fancy it will puzzle him to make out
508 feet in the twenty-four plank there set down; for, as
plank, length and breadth only could be measured. This
would amount to no more than 296 feet. As scantling,
_ length and side and edge would be measured, and this would
give only about 310 or 312 feet. If he goes on at this rate,
he will, in appearance, amend their work, though it will not
in reality be any better. But, admitting that the true ad-
| measurement was 508 feet, this would make but a miserable
quantity for the time they were about it. That these people
(sawyers I mean) may have no pretence for such idleness,
not only get them two saws, but let them be of the largest
‘| and best kind. I have already told you, that the oak scant-

78 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

ling is to be got on the estate, and the place where. Let
Thomas Green, while he is in the Neck, repair the overseer’s
house, as well as it can be done at this season. The scantling
that is to be bought, should be got as soon as possible, that
the carpenters may be framing it in the winter, or early in
the spring.

Direct the miller to report every week the state of his
manufactory of the wheat; as well as the receipts and de-
livery of the grain into and from the mill, that I may see
how he proceeds in that business, and what flour he has on
hand, that I may govern my directions accordingly.

I am very well satisfied with the reasons you assign for
opening my letter to Mrs. Fanny Washington. It might,
as you observe, have contained a request, which, as she was
gone, you might have complied with.

You have never mentioned in any of your letters what has
become of the mare I left at Georgetown, and which was to
have been sent to Mount Vernon. I hope she got there safe,
and is now well; in that case you may, occasionally, ride
her; keeping her in good order against I may call for her.

How does your growing wheat look at this time? I hope
no appearance of the Hessian fly is among it. On Patuxent,
not far from you, I am told it is making such havoc amongst
the growing wheat, as to render it necessary to sow over
again. I am sorry to find No. 1, at French’s, turn out so
poor a crop of wheat, and that the fields at Muddy Hole have |
yielded still worse. How much wheat at that place came off
the lot by the overseer’s house?

In ploughing fields No. 3 and No. 4, Dogue Run, let them
be so begun as that the rows when planted may run north
and south, or as nearly so as the situation of the fields will
admit.

In making your weekly reports, instead of referring to —

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington ‘9

the preceding week or weeks, for the state of your stock
of different kinds, enumerate the number of each. I shall
have it in my power then to see at one view the precise state
of it without resorting to old accounts. And let me entreat,
that you will examine them yourself, frequently, as a check
upon the overseers; without which, rather than be them-
selves at the trouble of counting them, they will make you
that kind of general report.

The coffee and tea, that I sent you some time ago, you are
very welcome to use, and it is my desire you should do it.

The sheriff’s bill for the taxes, which you paid while I
was at home, cannot here be got at, as it is filed amongst my
papers; but, as I want a copy of it for a particular reason,
I should be glad if you would procure one from the sheriff,
and send it to me exactly as it was handed in and paid. I
want no receipt annexed to it. The account only is all I
desire, containing the whole items of charges. I am your
friend and well-wisher,

GrorcE WasHINGTON.

P.S. In clearing the wood, mark a road by an easy and
graduated ascent from the marsh or low ground, up the
hollow which leads into the lot beyond the fallen chestnut,
about midway of the lot; and leave the trees standing thick
on both sides of it, for a shade to it. On the west side of
this hollow, if I recollect rightly, there was an old road
formerly, but not laid out agreeably to the directions here
given. It would look well, and perhaps might be convenient,
| if there was a road on both sides of this hollow, notwithstand-
| ing the hill-side on the east is steep. At any rate, trees
where the road would go, if made, might be left for future
decision, as they might also be along the side of the low land
| at the foot of the hill quite from the wharf to the gate by
| Richard’s house. If that meadow should ever be thoroughly

80 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

reclaimed, and in good grass, a walk along the edge of it
would be an agreeable thing; and leaving trees for this pur-

pose may not be amiss, as they may at any time be removed, © |

although time only can restore them if taken away in the
first instance. And this would be a good general rule for
you to observe in other parts of the same ground; as, if too
thick, they can always be thinned; but, if too thin, there is
no remedy but time to retrieve the error.

WASHINGTON’S FARMS

aT

MOUNT VERNON

REPRODUCED
Prom 4 Daawino Mane

5 BH
he

* IRF
field N°7

13
ARTHUR YOUNG December 12, 1793.

This is perhaps the most important letter in this collection.
For in it, Washington gives to us a detailed and careful de-
scription of his Mount Vernon Estate which was the scene of
all his agricultural activities. Since he was a surveyor from
youth, the map that he includes in his account of the estate is
no doubt very reliable. It surely is an excellent help in form-
ing an adequate conception of the extent of his farm hold-
ings.*

TO ARTHUR YOUNG
Philadelphia, 12 December, 1793.

Sir,

I wrote to you three months ago, or more, by my late
secretary and friend, Mr. Lear; but, as his departure from
this country for Great Britain was delayed longer than he
or I expected, it is at least probable, that that letter will not
have reached your hands at a much earlier period than the
one I am now writing.

At the time it was written, the thoughts which I am now
about to disclose to you were not even in embryo; and
whether, in the opinion of others, there be impropriety or
not in communicating the object which has given birth to
them, is not for me to decide. My own mind reproaches me

1 Besides the Mount Vernon Estate which contained 3260 acres, he held
large tracts of land on the Ohio and great Kenhawa Rivers west of Pitts-
burg, amounting to 37,372 acres and three smaller tracts, two iocated
in Washington and Fayette Counties, Pennsylvania, and a third near
Wheeling, West Virginia. These three totaled 5,465 acres, making a

grand total of all the land held by Washington in 1793 of 46,097 acres.
81

82 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

with none; but, if yours should view the subject differently,
burn this letter, and the draught which accompanies it, and
the whole matter will be consigned to oblivion.

All my landed property, east of the Appalachian Moun-
tains, is under rent, except the estate called Mount Vernon.
This, hitherto, I have kept in my own hands; but, from my
present situation, from my advanced time of life, from a
wish to live free from care, and as much at my ease as
possible, during the remainder of it, and from other causes,
which are not necessary to detail, I have latterly entertained
serious thoughts of letting this estate also, reserving the
Mansion-House Farm for my own residence, occupation, and
amusement in agriculture; provided I can obtain what is, in
my own judgment, and in the opinion of others whom I have
consulted, the low rent which I shall mention hereafter; and
provided also I can settle it with good farmers.

The quantity of ploughable land (including meadow), the
relative situation of the farms to one another, and the di-
vision of these farms into separate enclosures, with the quan-
tity and situation of the woodland appertaining to the tract,
will be better delineated by the sketch herewith sent (which
is made from actual surveys, subject nevertheless to revision
and correction), than by a volume of words.

No estate in United America is more pleasantly situated
than this. It lies in a high, dry, and healthy country, three
hundred miles by water from the sea, and, as you will see by
the plan, on one of the finest rivers in the world. Its margin

is washed by more than ten miles of tide-water; from the |

bed of which, and the innumerable coves, inlets, and small
marshes, with which it abounds, an inexhaustible fund of rich
mud may be drawn, as a manure, either to be used separately,
or in a compost, according to the judgment of the farmer.
It is situated in a latitude between the extremes of heat and

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 83

cold, and is the same distance by land and water, with good
roads and the best navigation, to and from the Federal City,
Alexandria, and Georgetown; distant from the first, twelve,
from the second, nine, and from the last, sixteen miles. The
Federal City, in the year 1800, will become the seat of the
general government of the United States. It is increasing
fast in buildings, and rising into consequence; and will, I
have no doubt, from the advantages given to it by nature,
and its proximity to a rich interior country, and the West-
ern territory, become the emporium of the United States.

The soil of the tract, of which I am speaking, is a good
loam, more inclined however to clay than sand. From use,
and I might add, abuse, it is become more and more con-
solidated, and of course heavier to work. The greater part
is a greyish clay; some part is a dark mould; a very little is
inclined to sand; and scarcely any to stone. A husbandman’s
wish would not lay the farms more level than they are; and
yet some of the fields, but in no great degree, are washed into
gullies, from which all of them have not as yet been re-
covered.

This river, which encompasses the land the distance above-
mentioned, is well supplied with various kinds of fish at all
seasons of the year; and, in the spring, with the greatest
profusion of shad, herrings, bass, carp, perch, sturgeon, &c.
Several valuable fisheries appertain to the estate; the whole
shore, in short, is one entire fishery.

There are, as you will perceive by the plan, four farms
besides that at the mansion-house; these four contain three
thousand two hundred and sixty acres of cultivable land,
to which some hundreds more adjoining, as may be seen,
might be added, if a greater quantity should be required ; but
as they were never designed for, so neither can it be said
that they are calculated to suit, tenants of either the first,

84 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

or of the lower class; because those, who have the strength
and resources proportioned to farms of from five hundred
to twelve hundred acres (which these contain), would hardly
be contented to live in such houses as are thereon; and, if
they were to be divided and subdivided, so as to accommodate
tenants of small means, say from fifty to one or two hun-
dred acres, there would be none, except on the lots which
might happen to include the present dwelling-houses of my
overlookers (called bailiffs with you), barns, and negro-
cabins ; nor would I choose to have the woodland (already too
much pillaged of its timber) ransacked, for the purpose of
building many more. ‘The soil, however, is excellent for
bricks, or for mud-walls; and to the building of such houses
there would be no limitation, nor to that of thatch for the
cover of them.

The towns already mentioned, to those who might incline
to encounter the expense, are able to furnish scantling, plank,
and shingles, to any amount, and on reasonable terms; and
they afford a ready market also for the produce of the
land. |

On what is called Union Farm (containing nine hundred
and twenty-eight acres of arable and meadow), there is a
newly-erected brick barn, equal perhaps to any in America,
and for conveniences of all sorts, particularly for sheltering
and feeding horses, cattle, &c., scarcely to be exceeded any-
where. A new house is now building in a central position,
not far from the barn, for the overlooker; which will have
two rooms, sixteen by eighteen feet, below, and one or two
above, nearly of the same size. Convenient thereto is suffi-
cient accommodation for fifty-odd negroes, old and young;
but these buildings might not be thought good enough for
the workmen or day-laborers of your country.

Besides these, a little without the limits of the farm, as

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 85

marked in the plan, are one or two other houses, very pleas-
antly situated, and which, in case this farm should be divided
into two, as 1t formerly was, would answer well for the east-
ern division. The buildings thus enumerated are all that
stand on the premises.

Dogue-Run Farm (six hundred and fifty acres) has a
small, but new building for the overlooker; one room only
below, and the same above, sixteen by twenty each; decent
and comfortable for its size. It has also covering for forty-
odd negroes, similar to what is mentioned on Union Farm.
It has a new circular barn, now finishing, on a new construc-
tion; well calculated, it is conceived, for getting grain out
of the straw more expeditiously than the usual mode of
threshing. There are good sheds also, erecting, sufficient
to cover thirty work-horses and oxen.

Muddy-Hole Farm (four hundred and seventy-six acres)
has a house for the overlooker in size and appearance nearly
like that at Dogue Run, but older; the same kind of covering
for about thirty negroes, and a tolerably good barn, with
stables for the work-horses.

River Farm, which is the largest of the four, and sepa-
rated from the others by Little Hunting Creek, contains
twelve hundred and seven acres of ploughable land, has an
overlooker’s house, of one large and two small rooms below,
and one or two above; sufficient covering for fifty or sixty
negroes, like those beforementioned ; a large barn and stables,
gone much to decay, but these will be replaced next year
with new ones.

I have deemed it necessary to give this detail of the build-
ings, that a precise idea might be had of the conveniences
and inconveniences of them; and I believe the recital is just
in all its parts. The enclosures are precisely and accurately

delineated in the plan; and the fences now are, or soon will he,

i

86 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

in respectable order.

I would let these four farms to four substantial farmers, of
wealth and strength sufficient to cultivate them, and who
would insure to me the regular payment of the rents; and I
would give them leases for seven or ten years, at the rate of
a Spanish milled dollar, or other money current at the time
in this country equivalent thereto, for every acre of plough-
able and mowable ground, within the enclosures of the re-
spective farms, as marked in the plan; and would allow the
tenants, during that period, to take fuel; and use timber from
the woodland to repair the buildings, and to keep the fences
in order until live fences could be substituted in place of
dead ones; but in this case, no sub-tenants would be allowed.

Or, if these farms are adjudged too large, and the rents,
of course, too heavy for such farmers as might incline to
emigrate, I should have no unsuperable objection against
dividing each into as many small ones, as a society of them,
formed for the purpose, could agree upon among them-
selves; even if it should be by the fields as they are now
arranged (which the plan would enable them to do), pro-
vided such buildings, as they would be content with, should
be erected at their own expense, in the manner already men-
tioned. In which case, as in the former, fuel, and timber for
repairs, would be allowed; but, as an inducement to parcel
out my grounds into such small tenements, and to compensate
me at the same time for the greater consumption of fuel and
timber, and for the trouble and expense of collecting small
rents, I should expect a quarter of a dollar per acre, in addi-
tion to what I have already mentioned. But in order to
make these small farms more valuable to the occupants, and
by way of reimbursing them for the expense of their es-
tablishment thereon, I would grant them leases for fifteen or
eighteen years; although I have weighty objections to the

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 87

measure, founded on my own experience of the disadvantage
it is to the lessor, in a country where lands are rising every
year in value. As an instance in proof, about twenty years
ago I gave leases for three lives, in land I held above the
Blue Mountains, near the Shenandoah River, seventy miles
from Alexandria, or any shipping-port, at a rent of one
shilling per acre, no part being then cleared; and now land of
similar quality in the vicinity, with very trifling improvements
thereon, is renting currently at five and more shillings per
acre, and even as high as eight.

My motives for letting this estate having been avowed, I
will add, that the whole, except the Mansion-House Farm, or
none, will be parted with, and that upon unequivocal terms;
because my object is to fix my income, be it what it may,
upon a solid basis in the hands of good farmers; because I
am not inclined to make a medley of it; and, above all, be-
cause I could not relinquish my present course without a
moral certainty of the substitute which is contemplated; for
to break up these farms, remove my negroes, and dispose of
the property on them upon terms short of this, would be
ruinous.

Having said thus much, I am disposed to add further, that
it would be in my power, and certainly it would be my in-

_ clination, upon the principle above, to accommodate the
_ wealthy, or the weak-handed farmer, and upon reasonable
terms, with draught-horses, and working mules and oxen;
| with cattle, sheep, and hogs; and with such implements of
husbandry, if they should not incling to bring them them-
| selves, as are in use on the farms. On the four farms there
| are fifty-four draught-horses, twelve working mules, and a
sufficiency of oxen, broke to the yoke; the precise number I
am unable this moment to ascertain, as they are compre-
hended in the aggregate of the black cattle. Of the latter,

:
|

88 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

there are three hundred and seventeen; of sheep, six hundred
and thirty-four ; of hogs, many ; but, as these run pretty much
at large in the woodland, which is all under fence, the number
is uncertain. Many of the negroes, male and female, might
be hired by the year, as laborers, if this should be preferred
to the importation of that class of people; but it deserves
consideration, how far the mixing of whites and blacks to-
gether is advisable; especially where the former are entirely
unacquainted with the latter.

If there be those who are disposed to take these farms in
their undivided state, on the terms which have been mentioned,
it is an object of sufficient magnitude for them, or one of them,
in behalf of the rest, to come over and investigate the prem-
ises thoroughly, that there may be nothing to reproach
themselves, or me with, if (though unintentionally) there
should be defects in any part of the information herein given;
or, if a society of farmers are disposed to adventure, it is
still more incumbent on them to send over an agent, for the
purpose abovementioned; for with me the measure must be
so fixed as to preclude any cavil or discussion thereafter.
And it may not be malapropos to observe in this place, that
our overlookers are generally engaged, and all the arrange- —
ments for the ensuing crops are made, before the first of
September in every year. It will readily be perceived, then,
that if this period is suffered to pass away, it is not to be
regained until the next year. Possession might be given
to the new comers at the season just mentioned, to enable
them to put in their ,grain for the next crop; but the final ©
relinquishment could not take place until the crops are
gathered, which of Indian corn (maize) seldom happens till
towards Christmas, as it must endure hard frosts before it ©
can be safely housed. |

I have endeavoured, as far as my recollection of facts —

|

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 89

would enable me, or the documents in my possession allow, to
give such information of the actual state of the farms, as to
enable persons at a distance to form as distinct ideas as the
nature of the thing is susceptible of, short of one’s own view ;
and, having communicated the motives which have inclined me
to a change in my system, I will announce to you the origin
of them.

First, few ships, of late, have arrived from any part of
Great Britain or Ireland without a number of emigrants, and
some of them, -by report, very respectable and full-handed
farmers. A number of others, they say, are desirous of
following, but are unable to obtain passages ; but their coming
in that manner, even if I was apprized of their arrival in time,
would not answer my views, for the reason already assigned ;
and which, as it is the ultimatum at present, I will take the
liberty of repeating, namely, that I must carry my plan into
complete execution, or not attempt it; and under such
auspices, too, as to leave no doubt of the exact fulfilment; and,

Secondly, because, from the number of letters which I
have received myself, and, as it would seem, from respectable
people, inquiring into matters of this sort, with intimations
of their wishes, and even intentions of migrating to this
country, I can have no doubt of succeeding. But I have
made no reply to these inquiries, or, if any, in very general
terms; because I did not want to engage in correspondences
of this sort with persons of whom I had no knowledge, nor
indeed leisure for them, if I had been so disposed.

I shall now conclude as I began, with a desire, that if you
see any impropriety in making these sentiments known to
that class of people, who might wish to avail themselves of
the occasion, that it may not be mentioned. By a law, or by
some regulation of your government, artisans, I am well
aware, are laid under restraints; and for this reason, I have

90 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

studiously avoided any overtures to mechanics, although my
occasions called for them. But never having heard that dif-
ficulties were thrown in the way of husbandmen by the goy-
ernment, is one reason for my bringing this matter to your
view. A second is, that, having yourself expressed senti-
ments, which showed that you had cast an eye towards this
country, and were not inattentive to the welfare of it, I was
led to make my intentions known to you, that if you, or your
friends, were disposed to avail yourselves of the knowledge,
you might take prompt measures for the execution. And,
thirdly, I was sure, if you had lost sight of the object your-
self, I could, nevertheless, rely upon such information, as
you might see fit to give me, and upon such characters, too,
as you might be disposed to recommend.

Lengthy as this epistle is, I will crave your patience while
I add, that it is written in too much haste, and under too
great a pressure of public business, at the commencement of
an important session of Congress, to be correct or properly
digested. But the season of the year, and the apprehension
of ice, are hurrying away the last vessel bound from this port
to London. I am driven, therefore, to the alternative of
making the matter known in this hasty manner, and giving a
rude sketch of the farms, which is the subject of it, or to
encounter delay ; the first I have preferred. It can hardly be
necessary to add, that I have no desire that any formal pro-
mulgation of these sentiments should be made.

To accomplish my wishes, in the manner herein expressed,
would be agreeable to me; and in a way that cannot be ex-
ceptionable, would be more so. With much esteem and re-
gard, I am, Sir, &c.

a

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 91

FARMS, AND THEIR CONTENTS

Union Farm. Muddy-Hole Farm
Pie Pe. cakes wat-acres reid. Was) Fess eta 63 acres
1 IES pe pee 129 i i Bega ana 68
19) 4 ipa Sept gs 121 |S 9) RR ara 52
1 2 pa Rr gob 120 TO ee Sees 54
IW cies Seas 110 Kis catoonine 65
Wibosee sche 116 i SAR ae fee 80
VOLE aiieg secs g 125 il Wh Ca aL 74
PPCAUOWS) nies ss 0ce ss 42 Clever OSs avs coe Set 26 476
25 67 —
POUOMEE NGLG icteis's 5 caain's oe 20 928 River Farm
—- Field, No. Beh cNataiten2 120 acres
1 eB eR tags 120
Dogue-Run Farm. Pr 2S 125
Field, No. Exe Goes 70 acres A 4," tae eee ee 132
Yh DRE one 74 yl baieretcap ihe 132
18 Cane RD 14 as oe 130
WN eae 71 pL) apa i es 120
We ale avalels 15 PaSeUr es) ee oe ee ae es 212
ACE. eal as 73 Orchards: WGN iene es! ate 84
pe Ot ngs Ameen eG 80 Etover lots, 2) Bs ae 32 1207
PIGCAGOW. oa asvs'cens 38 ——
18 Dimion Parana ise cece. ec 928
12 Dogue-Run Farm....... 649
10 Muddy-Hole Farm...... 476
36 114
Gover 16tS. i os oe eds ween 18 649 —

—. Total of the four farms 3260

14

THOMAS JEFFERSON October 4, 1795.8

We have in the following letter an interesting discussion of

lucerne, clover, chiccory, buckwheat, peas, potatoes, and the ©

winter vetch,— all from the standpoint of manures.

It is pleasant to reflect upon the fact that two such promi-
nent statesmen as Washington and Jefferson, though differ-
ing radically on many political and social questions, had the

same hobby while at home,— that of agriculture. Certainly ©

if they found it an inspiring and restful occupation, it ought
not to be beneath the dignity of the American citizen today
to engage in such an avocation. We are also tempted to re-
mark that the farmers of today are following more nearly in
the foot-steps of Washington and Jefferson than are some of
the politicians of today.

TO THOMAS JEFFERSON

Mount Vernon, 4 October, 1795.
Dear Sir, |

Your letter of the 12th ultimo, after travelling to Phila-
delphia and back again, was received by me at this place the —
Ist instant. The letter from Madame de Chastellux to me is ~

short, referring to the one she has written to you for par-
ticulars respecting herself and infant son. Her application
to me is unquestionably misplaced, and to Congress it would

certainly be unavailing; as the Chevalier de Chastellux’s pre- |

tensions (on which hers must be founded) to any allowance |
from this country were no greater than that of any and —

every other officer of the French army, who served in America
- 92

|
e
hd

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 93

the last war. ‘To grant to one, therefore, would open a wide
door to applications of a similar nature, and to consequent
embarrassments. Probably the sum granted at the last ses-
sion of Congress to the daughters of the Count de Grasse has
given rise to this application. ‘That it has done so in other
instances, I have good reasons to believe.

I am much pleased with the account you have given of the
succory. ‘This, like all other things of the sort with me, since
my absence from home, has come to nothing; for neither my
overseers nor manager will attend properly to any thing
but the crops they have usually cultivated; and, in spite of
all I can say, if there is the smallest discretionary power al-
lowed them, they will fill the land with Indian corn, although
even to themselves there are the most obvious traces of its
baneful effects. I am resolved, however, as soon as it shall
be in my power to attend a little more closely to my own
concerns, to make this crop yield in a degree to other grain,
to pulses, and to grasses. I am beginning again with chic-
cory, from a handful of seed given me by Mr. Strickland,
which, though flourishing at present, has no appearance of
seeding this year. Lucerne has not succeeded better with
me than with you; but I will give it another and a fairer
trial before it is abandoned altogether. Clover, when I can
dress lots well, succeeds with me to my full expectation, but
not on the fields in rotation, although I have been at much
cost in seeding them. This has greatly disconcerted the
system of rotation on which I had decided.

I wish you may succeed in getting good seed of the winter
vetch. I have often imported it, but the seed never vege-
tated, or in so small a proportion, as to be destroyed by
weeds. I believe it would be an acquisition, if 1t was once
introduced properly in our farms. The Albany pea, which
is the same as the field pea of Europe, I have tried, and found

94 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

it will grow well; but is subject to the same bug which per-
forates the garden pea, and eats out the kernel. So it will
happen, I fear, with the pea you propose to import. I had
great expectation from a green dressing with buckwheat, as
a preparatory fallow for a crop of wheat, but it has not an-
swered my expectation yet. I ascribe this, however, more
to mismanagement in the times of seeding and ploughing in,
than any defect of the system. The first ought to be so
ordered, in point of time, as to meet a convenient season for
ploughing it in, while the plant is in its most succulent state.
But this has never been done on my farms, and consequently
has drawn as much from, as it has given to the earth. It
has always appeared to me that there were two modes in

which buckwheat might be used advantageously as a manure. |

One, to sow early, and, as soon as a sufficiency of seed is
ripened, to stock the ground a second time, to turn the whole
in, and when the succeeding growth is getting in full bloom,
to turn that in also, before the seed begins to ripen; and,
when the fermentation and putrifaction ceases, to sow the
ground in that state, and plough in the wheat. The other
mode is, to sow the buckwheat so late, as that it shall be gen-
erally about a foot high at the usual seeding of wheat; then
turn it in, and sow thereon immediately, as on a clover lay,
harrowing in the seed lightly to avoid disturbing the buried
buckwheat. I have never tried the latter method, but see
no reason against its succeeding. ‘The other, as I observed
above, I have prosecuted, but the buckwheat has always stood
too long, and consequently had got too dry and sticky to
answer the end of a succulent plant.

But of all the improving and ameliorating crops, none in
my opinion is equal to potatoes, on stiff and hard bound
land, as mine is. I am satisfied, from a variety of instances,
that on such land a crop of potatoes is equal to an ordinary

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 95

dressing. In no instance have I failed of good wheat, oats,
or clover, that followed potatoes; and I conceive they give
the soil a darker hue. I shall thank you for the result of
your proposed experiments relative to the winter vetch and
pea, when they are made. ©

I am sorry to hear of the depredations committed by the
weevil in your parts; it is a great calamity at all times, and
this year, when the demand for wheat is so great, and the
price so high, must be a mortifying one to the farmer. The
rains have been very general, and more abundant since the
Ist of August, than ever happened in a summer within the
memory of man. Scarcely a mill-dam, or bridge, between
this and Philadelphia, was able to resist them, and some were
carried off a second and third time.

Mrs. Washington is thankful for your kind remembrance
of her, and unites with me in best wishes for you. With
very great esteem and regard, I am, dear Sir, &c.

15
JAMES McHENRY May 29, 1797.

While this letter does not throw much light upon Washing-
ton as a farmer, yet it does give us a delightful glimpse of his
home life after a sojourn of eight years in Philadelphia as
President. It contains a concise description of how Wash-
ington at 65 spends a typical day. Incidentally, it leads us
to the comforting thought that in one respect, at least, he is
human ; for in regard to letter writing he says: “‘ but when the
lights are brought, I feel tired and disinclined to engage in
this work, conceiving that the next night will do just as well.”

TO JAMES McHENRY

Mount Vernon, 29 May, 1797.
Dear Sir,

I am indebted to you for several unacknowledged letters ;
but never mind that; go on as if you had them. You are at
the source of information, and can find many things to re-
late; while I have nothing to say, that could either inform or
amuse a Secretary at War in Philadelphia.

I might tell him, that I begin my diurnal course with the
sun; that, if my hirelings are not in their places at that time
I send them messages expressive of my sorrow for their in-
disposition; that, having put these wheels in motion, I ex-
amine the state of things further; and the more they are
probed, the deeper I find the wounds are which my buildings
have sustained by an absence and neglect of eight years; by
the time I have accomplished these matters, breakfast (a

little after seven o’clock, about the time I presume you are
96

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 97

taking leave of Mrs. McHenry), is ready; that, this being
over, I mount my horse and ride round my farms, which em-
ploys me until it is time to dress for dinner, at which I
rarely miss seeing strange faces, come as they say out of
respect for me. Pray, would not the word curiosity answer
as well? And how different this from having a few social
friends at a cheerful board! The usual time of sitting at
table, a walk, and tea, brings me within the dawn of candle
light; previous to which, if not prevented by company, I
resolve, that, as soon as the glimmering taper supplies the
place of the great luminary, I will retire to my writing-table
and acknowledge the letters I have received; but when the
lights are brought, I feel tired and disinclined to engage in
this work, conceiving that the next night will do as well.
The next comes, and with it the same causes for postponement,
and effect.

This will account for your letter remaming so long un-
acknowledged ; and having given you the history of a day, it
will serve for a year, and I am persuaded you will not require
a second edition of it. But it may strike you that in this
detail no mention is made of any portion of time allotted for
reading. 'The remark would be just, for I have not looked
into a book since I came home; nor shall I be able to do it
until I have discharged my workmen, probably not before
the nights grow longer, when possibly I may be looking in
Doomsday-Book. At present I shall only add, that I am
always and affectionately yours.

16
WILLIAM STRICKLAND July 15, 1797.

An able discussion of the Englishman’s criticism of agricul-
tural methods followed in the United States is contained in
this letter. Washington deplores the wasteful use of land,
and the expensive style of fencing then in vogue in this coun-
try.

There are also some interesting remarks upon the methods
of planting wheat, and growing clover with orchard grass.

TO WILLIAM STRICKLAND, IN ENGLAND

Mount Vernon, 15 July, 1797.
Sir,

I have been honored with yours of the 30th of May and
5th of September of last year. As the first was in part an
answer to a letter I took the liberty of writing to you, and
the latter arrived in the middle of an important session of
Congress, which became more interesting as it drew more
near to its close, inasmuch as it was limited by the constitu-
tion to the 3d of March, and on that day was to give po-
litical dissolution to the House of Representatives, a third
part of the Senate, and the Chief Magistrate of the United
States, I postponed, from the pressure of business occasioned
thereby, the acknowledgment of all private letters, which did
not require immediate answers, until I should be seated under
my own vine and fig-tree, where I supposed I should have —

abundant leisure to discharge all my epistolary obligations.
98

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 99

In this, however, I have hitherto found myself mistaken ;
for at no period have I been more closely employed in re-
pairing the ravages of an eight years’ absence. Engaging
workmen of different sorts, providing and looking after them,
together with the necessary attention to my farms, have oc-
cupied all my time since I have been at home.

I was far from entertaining sanguine hopes of success in
my attempt to procure tenants from Great Britain; but,
being desirous of rendering the evening of my life as tranquil
and free from care as the nature of things would admit, I was
willing to make the experiment.

Your observation, with respect to occupiers and proprie-
tors of land has great weight, and, being congenial with my
own ideas on the subject, was one reason, though I did not
believe it would be so considered, why I offered my farms to
be let. Instances have occurred, and do occur daily, to prove
that capitalists from Europe have injured themselves by
precipitate purchases of free-hold estates, immediately upon
their arrival in this country, while others have lessened their
means in exploring States and places in search of locations ;
whereas, if on advantageous terms they could have been first
seated as tenants, they would have had time and opportuni-
ties to become holders of land, and for making advantageous
purchases. But it is so natural for man to wish to be the
absolute lord and master of what he holds in occupancy, that
his true interest is often made to yield to a false ambition.
Among these, the emigrants from the New England States
may be classed, and this will account, in part, for their mi-
gration to the westward. Conviction of these things having
left little hope of obtaining such tenants as would answer my
purposes, I have had it in contemplation, ever since I returned
home, to turn my farms to grazing principally, as fast as
I can cover the fields sufficiently with grass. Labor, and of

100 The Agricultural Papers of George Washmgton

course expense, will be considerably diminished by this change,
the net profit as great, and my attention less divided, whilst
the fields will be improving.

Your strictures on the agriculture of this country are but
too just. It is indeed wretched; but a leading, if not the
primary, cause of its being so is, that, instead of improving
a little ground well, we attempt much and do it ill. A half,
a third, or even a fourth of what we mangle, well wrought
and properly dressed, would produce more than the whole
under our system of management; yet such is the force of
habit, that we cannot depart from it. The consequence of
which is, that we ruin the lands that are already cleared, and
either cut down more wood, if we have it, or emigrate into the
Western country. I have endeavoured, both in a public and
private character, to encourage the establishment of boards
of agriculture in this country, but hitherto in vain; and what
is still more extraordinary, and scarcely to be believed, I
have endeavoured ineffectually to discard the pernicious
practice just mentioned from my own estate; but, in my ab-
sence, pretexts of one kind or another have always been para-
mount to orders. Since the first establishment of the Na-
tional Board of Agriculture in Great Britain, I have con-
sidered it as one of the most valuable institutions of modern
times; and, conducted with so much ability and zeal, as it
appears to be under the auspices of Sir John Sinclair, it must
be productive of great advantages to the nation, and to man-
kind in general.

My system of agriculture is what you have described, and
I am persuaded, were I to proceed on a large scale, would
be improved by the alteration you have proposed. At the
same time I must observe, that I have not found oats so
great an exhauster, as they are represented to be; but in my
system they follow wheat too closely to be proper, and the

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 101

rotation will undergo a change in this, and perhaps in some
other respects.

The vetches of Europe have not succeeded with me; our
frosts in winter, and droughts in summer, are too severe for
them. How far the mountain or wild pea would answer as a
substitute, by cultivation, is difficult to decide, because I be-
lieve no trial has been made of it, and because its spontaneous
growth is in rich lands only. That it is nutritious in a great
degree, in its wild state, admits of no doubt.

Spring barley, such as we grow in this country, has thriven
no better with me than vetches. The result of an experiment,
made with a little of the true sort, will be interesting. The
field peas of England (different kinds) I have more than
once tried, but not with encouragement to proceed ; for, among
other discouragements, they are perforated by a bug, which
eats out the kernel. From the cultivation of the common
black-eye peas, I have more hope, and am trying them this
year, both as a crop, and for ploughing in as a manure; but
the severe drought, under which we labor at present, may
render the experiment inconclusive. It has, in a manner, de-
stroyed my oats, and threatens to destroy my Indian corn.

The practice of ploughing in buckwheat twice in the season
as a fertilizer is not new to me. It is what I have practised,
or, I ought rather to have said, attempted to practise, the
last two or three years; but, like most things else in my ab-
sence, it has been so badly executed, that is, the turning in
of the plants has been so ill timed, as to give no result. I
am not discouraged, however, by these failures; for, if pul-
verizing the soil, by fallowing and turning in vegetable sub-
stances for manure, is a proper preparation for the crop
that is to follow, there can be no question, that a double
portion of the latter, without an increase of the ploughing,
must be highly beneficial. I am in the act of making an-

102 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

other experiment of this sort, and shall myself attend to the
operation, which, however, may again prove abortive, from
the cause I have mentioned, namely, the drought.

The lightness of our oats is attributed, more than it ought
to be, to the unfitness of the climate of the middle States.
That this may be the case in part, and nearer the seaboard in
a greater degree, I will not controvert; but it is a well-known
fact, that no country produces better oats than those that
grow on the Allegany Mountains, immediately westward of
us. I have heard it affirmed, that they weigh upwards of fifty
pounds the Winchester bushel. This may be occasioned by
the fertility of the soil, and the attraction of moisture by the
mountains ; but another reason, and a powerful one too, may
be assigned for the inferiority of ours, namely, that we are
not choice in our seeds, and do not change them as we ought.

The seeds you were so obliging as to give me shared the
same fate that Colonel Wadsworth’s did, and as I believe
seeds from England generally will do, if they are put into the
hold of the vessel. For this reason, I always made it a point,
whilst I was in the habit of importing seeds, to request my
merchants and the masters of vessels, by which they were
sent, to keep them from the heat thereof.

You make a distinction, and no doubt a just one, between
what in England is called barley, and big, or bere. If there
be none of the true barley in this country, it is not for us,
without experience, to pronounce upon the growth of it; and
therefore, as noticed in a former part of this letter, it might
be interesting to ascertain, whether our climate and soil
would produce it to advantage. No doubt, as your observa-
tions while you were in the United States appear to have been
extensive and accurate, it did not escape you, that both
winter and spring barley are cultivated among us. The lat-
ter is considered as an uncertain crop south of New York, and

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 103

I have found it so on my farms. Of the former I have not
made sufficient trial to hazard an opinion of success, About
Philadelphia it succeeds well.

The Eastern Shore bean, as it is denominated here, has ob-
tained a higher reputation than it deserves; and, like most
things unnaturally puffed, sinks into disrepute. Ten or more
years ago, led away by exaggerated accounts of its fertiliz-
ing quality, I was induced to give a very high price for some
of the seed; and, attending to the growth in all its stages,
I found that my own fields, which had been uncultivated for
two or three years, abourded with the same plants, without
perceiving any of those advantages, which had been attributed
to them.

I am not surprised that our mode of fencing should be dis-
gusting to a European eye. Happy would it have been for
us, if it had appeared so in our own eyes; for no sort of
fencing is more expensive or wasteful of timber. I have

_ been endeavouring for years to substitute live fences in place

of them; but my long absence from home has in this, as in
every thing else, frustrated all my plans, that required time
and particular attention to effect them. I shall now, al-
though it is too late in the day for me to see the result,
begin in good earnest to ditch and hedge; the latter I am
attempting with various things, but believe none will be found
better than cedar, although I have several kinds of white
thorn growing spontaneously on my own grounds.

Rollers I have been in the constant use of for many years,
in the way you mention, and find considerable benefit in

| passing them over my winter grain in the spring, as soon as

the ground will admit a hoof on it. I use them also on
spring grain and grass seeds, after sowing and sometimes
before, to reduce the clods when the ground is rough. My

| clover generally is sown with spring grain; but, where the

104 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

ground is not too stiff and binding, it succeeds very well on
wheat. Sown on a light snow in February, or the beginning
of March, it sinks with the snow and takes good root. And
orchard grass, of all others, is in my opinion the best mixture
with clover; it blooms precisely at the same time, rises quick
again after cutting, stands thick, yields well, and both horses
and cattle are fond of it, green or in hay. Alone, unless it
is sown very thick, it is apt to form tussocks. If of this, or
any other seeds I can procure, you should be in want, I
shall have great pleasure in furnishing them.

I should have been very happy in forming an acquaintance
with the gentleman, of whom you speak so highly (Mr. Smith
of Ross Hall) ; but, unless he has been introduced on a public
day and among strangers, unaccompanied by any expression
to catch the attention, I have not yet had the pleasure to
see him; nor have I heard more of Mr. Parsons, than what
is mentioned of him in your letter. Your sentiments of these
gentlemen, or others, on giving letters of introduction to
any of your acquaintance, require no apology, as I shall al-
ways be happy in showing civility to whomsoever you may
recommend.

For the detailed account of your observations on the
husbandry of these United States, and your reflections
thereon, I feel myself much obliged, and shall at all times be
thankful for any suggestions on agricultural subjects, which
you may find leisure and inclination to favor me with, as
the remainder of my life, which, in the common course of
things, now in my sixty-sixth year, cannot be of long con-
tinuance, will be devoted wholly to rural and ane
pursuits.

For the trouble you took in going to Hull, to see if any
of the emigrants, who were on the point of sailing from
thence to America, would answer my purposes as tenants; and

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 105

for your very kind and friendly offer of rendering me serv-
ices, I pray you to accept my sincere thanks, and an assurance
of the esteem and regard with which I an, Sir, &c.

tT?
JAMES ANDERSON December 10, 1799.

Washington makes some excellent and very pertinent re-
marks in the following letter to his manager upon the value of
system in general, and upon its application to farm manage-
ment in particular. Standing out in contrast with some of
the loose farming methods of today, are his comments upon
economy, and the care of tools and machinery on a farm.

He also makes extensive plans for his farms, and gives de-
tailed directions for their execution as far ahead as 1803.

Especial importance attaches to this letter of directions be-
cause it was written only four days before his death.

TO JAMES ANDERSON, MANAGER OF THE FARMS

) Mount Vernon, 10 December, 1799.
Mr. Anderson,

From the various plans suggested by you at different times
for cropping the farms, which I propose to retain in my own
hands, in the year 1800, and with a reduced force of the
laborers on them, and the operations necessary to carry them
into effect; comparing these with the best reflections I have
been able to make on the subject; and considering, moreover,
the exhausted state of my arable fields, and how important it
is to adopt some system by which the evil may be arrested,
and the fields in some measure restored by a rotation of
crops, which will not press hard upon them, while sufficient
intervals are allowed for improvement; I have digested the
following instructions for my manager, and for the govern-

ment of my overseers, and request that they may be most
106

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 107

strictly and pointedly attended to and executed, as far as
the measures therein required will admit.

A system closely pursued, although it may not in all its
parts be the best that could be devised, is attended with in-
numerable advantages. The conductor of the business, in
this case, can never be in any dilemma in his proceedings.
The overseers, and even the laborers, know what is to be
done, and what they are capable of doing, in ordinary sea-
sons. ‘The force to be employed may be in due proportion
to the work which is to be performed, and a reasonable and
tolerably accurate estimate may be made of the product.
But when no plan is fixed, when directions flow from day to
day, the business becomes a mere chaos, frequently shifting,
and sometimes at a stand, for want of knowing what to do,
or the manner of doing it. Thus is occasioned a waste of
time, which is of more importance, than is generally imagined.

Nothing can so effectually obviate the evil, as an established
system, made known to all who are actors in it, that all may
be enabled thereby to do their parts to advantage. This
gives ease to the principal conductor of the business, and is
more satisfactory to the persons who immediately overlook
it, less harassing to the laborers, as well as more beneficial
to the employer.

Under this view of the subject, the principal service, which
you can render me, is to explain to the overseers (who will
be furnished with duplicates) the plan, in all its parts, which
is hereafter detailed; to hear their ideas with respect to
the order in which the different sorts of work therein pointed
out shall succeed each other, for the purpose of carrying it
on to the best advantage; to correct any erroneous projects
they may be disposed to adopt; and then to see, that they
adhere strictly to whatever may be resolved on, and that they
are always (except when otherwise permitted) on their

108 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

farms, and with their people. The work, under such circum-
stances, will go on smoothly; and, that the stock may be well
fed, littered, and taken care of according to the directions, ©
it will be necessary to inspect the conduct of the overseers
in this particular, and those also whose immediate business
it is to attend upon them, with a watchful eye; otherwise,
and generally in severe weather, when attention and care
are most needed, they will be most neglected.

Economy in all things is as commendable in the manager,
as it is beneficial and desirable to the employer; and, on a
farm, it shows itself in nothing more evidently, or more essen-
tially, than in not suffering the provender to be wasted, but,
on the contrary, in taking care that every atom of it be used

to the best advantage; and, likewise, in not permitting the |

ploughs, harness, and other implements of husbandry, and
the gears belonging to them, to be unnecessarily exposed,
trodden under foot, run over by carts, and abused in other
respects. More good is derived from attending to the minu-
tiae of a farm, than strikes people at first view; and exam-
ining the farm-yard fences, and looking into the fields to see
that nothing is there but what is allowed to be there, is often-
times the means of producing more good, or at least of
avoiding more evil, than can be accomplished by riding from
one working party or overseer to another. I have mentioned
these things not only because they have occurred to me, but
because, although apparently trifles, they prove far other-
wise in the result.

The account for the present quarter must be made final, as
an entire new scene will take place afterwards. In doing this,
advertise in the Alexandria paper for the claims of every
kind and nature whatsoever against me, to be brought to you
by the Ist of January, that I may wipe them off, and begin
on a fresh score. All balances in my favor must either be

A

A

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 109

received, or reduced to specialties, that there may be no dis-
putes hereafter.
I am, Sir, &c.

RIVER FARM

DIRECTIONS CONCERNING CROPS FOR THE RIVER FARM, AND
OPERATIONS THEREON, FOR THE YEAR 1800

Field No. 1.— Is now partly in wheat; part is to be sown
with oats; another part may be sown with pease, broad
cast; part is in meadow, and will remain so; the most broken,
washed, and indifferent part is to remain uncultivated, but
to be harrowed and smoothed in the spring, and the worst
portions, if practicable, to be covered with litter, straw,
weeds, or any kind of vegetable rubbish, to prevent them
from running into gullies.

No. 2.— One fourth is to be in corn, and to be sown
with wheat; another fourth in buckwheat and pease, half of
it in the one, and half in the other, sown in April, to be
ploughed in as a green dressing, and by actual experiment
to ascertain which is best. The whole of this fourth is to
be sown with wheat also; another fourth part is to be naked
fallow for wheat; and the other and last quarter to be ap-
propriated for pumpkins, cymlins, turnips, Yateman pease,
in hills, and such other things of this kind as may be required ;
and to be sown likewise with rye, after they are taken off, for
seed.

No. 3.— Is now in wheat, to be harvested in the year 1800;
the stubble of which, immediately after harvest, is to be
ploughed in and sown thin with rye; and such parts thereof
as are low, or produce a luxuriant growth of grain, are to
have grass-seeds sprinkled over them. The whole for sheep to
run on in the day (but housed at night) during the winter
and spring months. If it should be found expedient, part

110 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

thereof in the spring might be reserved for the purpose of
seed.

No. 4.— Will be in corn, and is to be sown in the autumn
of that year with wheat, to be harvested in 1801; and to be
treated in all respects as has been directed for No. 3, the
preceding year. It is to be manured as much as the means
will permit, with such aids as can be produced during the
present winter and ensuing spring.

Nos. 5, 6, 7, and 8.— Are to remain as they are, but noth-
ing suffered to run upon them; as ground will be allotted
for the sole purpose of pasturage, and invariably used as
such.

Clover Lots

No. 1.— Counting from the Spring Branch is to be planted
in potatoes.

No. 2.— That part thereof which is now in turnips is to be
sown with oats and clover ; the other part, being now in clover,
is to remain so until it comes into potatoes by rotation.

No. 3.— Is also in clover at present, and is to remain so,
as just mentioned, for No. 2.

No. 4.— Is partly in clover and partly in timothy, and so
to be, until its turn for potatoes.

The rotation for these lots invariably is to be, 1. Potatoes,
highly manured ; 2. Oats, and clover sown therewith; 3. Clover;
4. Clover. ‘Then to begin again with potatoes, and proceed
as before. The present clover lots must be plastered.

All green sward, rough ground, or that which is heavily
covered with weeds, bottle-brush grass, and such things as
being turned in will ferment, putrefy, and meliorate the
soil, should in autumn be ploughed in, and at such times in
winter as it can be done while the ground is dry, and in con-
dition for it.

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 111

Pasture Grounds

The large lot adjoiming the negro houses and orchard is
to have oats sown on the potato and pumpkin ground; with
which, and on the rye also in that lot, and on the melon
part, orchard grass-seeds are to be sown; and thereafter to
be kept as a standing calf pasture, and for ewes (which may
require extra care) at yeaning, or after they have yeaned.

The other large lot, northeast of the barn lane, is to be
appropriated always as a pasture for the milch cows, and
probably working oxen during the summer season.

The woodland, and the old field commonly called John-
ston’s, are designed for common pasture, and to be so applied
always. 'To which, if it should be found inadequate to the
stock of the farm, field No. 8, and the woodland therein, may
be added.

Meadows

Those already established and in train must continue, and
the next to be added to them is the arms of the creek, which
runs up to the spring-house, and forks, both prongs of which
must be grubbed up, and wrought upon at every convenient
moment when the weather will permit, down to the line of
the ditch, which encloses the lots for clover, &c.

And, as the fields come into cultivation, or as labor can be
spared from other work, and circumstances will permit, the
heads of all the inlets in them must be reclaimed, and laid to
grass, whether they be large or small. Forasmuch as noth- .
ing will run on, or can trespass upon, or injure the grass, no
fencing is required.

112 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

Mud for Compost

The season is now too far advanced, and too cold, to be
engaged in a work, that will expose the hands to wet; but
it is of such essential importance, that it should be set about
seriously and with spirit next year, for the summer’s sun and
the winter’s frost to prepare it for the corn and other crops
of 1801. All the hands of the farm, not indispensably en-
gaged in the crops, should, so soon as corn-planting is com-
pleted in the spring, be uninterruptedly employed in raising
mud from the pocosons,' and from the bed of the creek, into
the scow; and the carts, so soon as the manure for the corn
and potatoes in 1800 is carried out, are to be incessantly
drawing it to the compost heaps in the fields, which are to be
manured by it. What number of hands can be set apart for
this all-important work, remains to be considered and decided
upon.

Penning Cattle and Folding Sheep

On the fields intended for wheat, from the first of May,
when the former should be turned out to pasture, until the
first of November, when they ought to be housed, must be
practised invariably; and to do it with regularity and pro-~
priety, the pen for the former, and the fold for the latter,
should be proportioned to the number of each kind of stock;
and both these to as much ground as they will manure sufh-
ciently in the space of a week for wheat, beyond which they
are not to remain in a place, except on the poorest spots;
and even these had better be aided by litter or something
else, than to depart from an established rule, of removing
the pens on a certain day in each week. For in this, as in

1 Pocoson is a word used in Virginia to denote a small swamp or
marshy place.”— Sparks: “ Writings of Washington,” Vol. XII, p. 363.

ee _ A

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 1138

every thing else, system is essential to carry on business well,
and with ease.

Feeding

The work-horses and mules are always to be in their stalls,
and all littered and cleaned, when they are out of harness;
and they are to be plenteously fed with cut straw, and as
much chopped grain, meal, or bran, with a little salt mixed
therewith, as will keep them always in good condition for
work; seeing also, that they are watered as regularly as they
are fed; this is their winter feed. For spring, summer, and
autumn, it is expected, that soiling them on green food, first
with rye, then with lucerne, and next with clover, with very
little grain, will enable them to perform their work.

The oxen and other horned cattle, are to be housed from
the first of November until the first of May; and to be fed as
well as the means on the farm will admit. The first (oxen)
must always be kept in good condition, housed in the stalls
designed for them; and the cows (so many of them as can
find places), on the opposite side. The rest, with the other
cattle, must be in the newly-erected sheds; and the whole
carefully watered every day; the ice, in frozen weather, be-
ing broken, so as to admit them to clean water.

With respect to the sheep, they must receive the best pro-
tection that can be given them this winter; against the next,
I hope they will be better provided for.

And with regard to the hogs, the plan must be, to raise a
given number of good ones, instead of an indiscriminate num-
ber of indifferent ones, half of which die or are stolen before
the period arrives for putting them up as porkers. To ac-
complish this, a sufficient number of the best sows should
be appropriated to the purpose; and so many pigs raised
from them as will insure the quantity of pork, which the

114 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

farm ought to furnish.

Whether it will be most advisable to restrain these hogs
from running at large or not, can be decided with more pre- _
cision after the result of those now in close pens is better
known.

The exact quantity of corn used by those which are now
in pens, should be ascertained and regularly reported, in
order to learn the result.

Stables and Farm Pens

These ought to be kept well littered, and the stalls clean; as
well for the comfort of the creatures that are contained in
them, as for the purpose of manure; but, as straw cannot
be afforded for this purpose, leaves and such spoiled straw
or weeds as will not do for food, must serve for the stables;
and leaves and cornstalks are all that can be applied to the
pens. To do this work effectually, let the cornstalks be cut
down by a few careful people with sharp hoes, so low as
never to be in the way of scythes at harvest; and, whenever
the wheat will admit carts to run on it without injury, let
them be brought off and stacked near the farm pens. In
like manner, let the people, with their blankets, go every
evening, or as often as occasion may require, to the nearest
wood, and fill them with leaves for the purposes above men-
tioned; bottoming the beds with cornstalks, and covering
them thick with leaves. A measure of this sort will be, if
strictly attended to, and punctually performed, of great
utility in every point of view. It will save food, make the
cattle lie warm and comfortable, and produce much manure.
The hogs also in pens must be well bedded in leaves.

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 115

Fencing

As stock of no kind, according to this plan, will be suffered
to run on the arable fields or clover lots (except sheep in
the day on the rye fields, as has been mentioned before), par-
tition fences between the fields, until they can be raised of
quicks, may be dispensed with. But it is of great importance,
that all the exterior or outer fences should be substantially
good; and those also, which divide the common or woodland
pasture from the fields and clover lots, are to be very re-
spectable.

To accomplish this desirable object in as short a time as
possible, and with the smallest expense of timber, the post-
and-rail fence which runs from the negro quarters, or rather
from the corner of the lot enclosing them, up to the division
between fields Nos. 7 and 8, may be placed on the bank
(which must be raised higher) running to the creek. In like
manner, the fence from the gate, which opens into No. 2, quite
down to the river, along the Cedar Hedge-row, as also those
rails which are between Nos. 1 and 2, and between No. 2 and
No. 3, may all be taken away, and applied to the outer
fences, and the fences of the lanes from the barn into the
woodland pasture, and from the former (the barn) into No. 5;
for the fences of all these lanes must be good, as the stock
must have a free passage along them at all times, from the
barn-yard to the woodland pasture.

All the fencing from the last-mentioned place (between me
and Mr. Mason), until it joins Mr. Lear’s farm, and thence
with the line between him and me, until it comes to the river,
will require to be substantially good; at its termination on
the river, dependence must be placed in a water fence; for if
made of common rails, they would be carried off by boatmen

for firewood. ‘The fences separating fields No. 1 and No. 8

116 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

from the woodland pasture must also be made good, to prevent
depredations on the fields by my own stock.

a Crops, &c. for 1801 las thir ve]
[ No. 5 is to be in corn, and to be invariably in that article.
_ It is to be planted (if drills are thought to be ineligible until
_ the ground is much improved) in rows six feet by four, or
seven feet by three and a half, the wide part open to the south.
. These hills are to be manured as highly as the means will ad-
-mit; and the corn planted every year in the middle of the
“yows of the preceding year; by doing which, and mixing the
manure and earth by the plough and other workings, the
whole in time will be enriched.
| “The washed and gullied parts of this field should be lev-
‘elled, and as much improved as possible, or left uncultivated.
~~... Although it is more broken than some of the other fields, it
has its advantages. Ist, It has several inlets extending into
it, with easy ascents therefrom; secondly, it is convenient to
the mud in the bed of the creek, whensoever (by means of the
~scow) resort is had thereto, and has good landing-places |
a and, thirdly, it is as near to the barn as any other, when a
bridge and causeway shall be made over the Spring Branch.
To these may be added, that it is more remote from squirrels
than any other.
[~No. 6 and No. 7, or such part thereof as is not so much
| washed or gullied, as to render ploughing ineligible, are to
be fallowed for wheat. One of which, if both cannot, is to
have the stubble ploughed in and sown with rye, and the low
~~ and strong parts to have timothy or orchard grass seeds,
perhaps both, in different places, sprinkled over them, for
the purpose of raising seed. On the rye pasture the sheep are.
| to be fed in winter and spring, and treated in all respects as
_ No. 3 in 1800.

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 117

In the years 1802, 1803, and so on

The corn ground remaining the same, two fields, in the
following numbers, will be fallowed for wheat, and treated in
all respects as mentioned above; and if pumpkins, cymlins,
turnips, pease, and such like growth, are found beneficial to
the land, or useful and profitable to the stock, ground may
readily. be found for them.

These are the great outlines of a plan, and the operations
of it, for the next year, and for years to come, for the River
Farm. To carry it into effect advantageously, it becomes
the indispensable duty of him, who is employed to overlook and
conduct the operations, to take a prospective and comprehen-
sive view of the whole business, which is laid before him, that
the several parts thereof may be so ordered and arranged,
as that one sort of work may follow another sort in proper
succession, and without loss of labor or of time; for nothing
is a greater waste of the latter, and consequently of the
former (time producing labor, and labor money), than shift-
ing from one thing to another before it is finished, as if chance
or the impulse of the moment, not judgment and foresight,
directed the measure. It will be acknowledged, that weather
and other circumstances may at times interrupt a regular
course of proceedings; but, if a plan is well digested before-
hand, they cannot interfere long, with a man who is ac-
quainted with the nature of the business, and the crops he
is to attend to.

Every attentive and discerning person, who has the whole
business of the year laid before him, and is acquainted with
the nature of the work, can be at no loss to lay it out to
advantage. There are many sorts of in-doors work, which
can be executed in hail, rain, or snow, as well as in sunshine;
and if they are set about in fair weather (unless there be a

118 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

necessity for it), there will be nothing to do in foul weather ;
the people therefore must be idle. The man of prudence
and foresight will always keep these things in view, and
order his work accordingly, so as to suffer no waste of time,
or idleness. These same observations apply with equal force
to frozen ground, and to ground too wet to work in, or which,
if worked, will be injured thereby.

These observations might be spun to a greater length, but
they are sufficient to produce reflection; and reflection, with
industry and proper attention, will produce the end that is
to be wished.

There is one thing, however, I cannot forbear to add, and
in strong terms; it is, that whenever I order a thing to be
done, it must be done, or a reason given at the time, or as
soon as the impracticability is discovered, why it cannot be
done, which will produce a countermand or change. But it
is not for the person receiving the order to suspend, or dis-
pense with, its execution; and, after it has been supposed to
have gone into effect, to tell me, that nothing has been done
in it, that it will be done, or that it could not be done; either
of these is unpleasant and disagreeable to me, having been
all my life accustomed to more regularity and punctuality.
Nothing but system and method are required to accomplish
any reasonable requests.

UNION FARM

™ DIRECTIONS CONCERNING CROPS FOR THE UNION FARM, AND

OPERATIONS THEREON, FOR THE YEAR 1800

Field No. 1.— Is now sown with wheat, to be harvested in
1800; the stubble of which is to be immediately ploughed
in, and rye sowed thereon for a sheep pasture. Grass-seeds
must be sown therewith, on such parts as will yield grass

TF eS eS eee ee

en tet ii ne A A

A

A —— —_ AA—

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 119

for seed, to supply my own wants, and the market, so far as
it can be spared. ‘This field, after the rye has been eaten off
by the sheep, is to be kept from the stock of all kinds, and
nothing suffered to run thereon, until it comes, in course, to
be cultivated, in the regular routine of crops. aM

No. 2.— Will be in corn, and, although but an naliabant
field, washed in some places, gullied in others, and rich in
none, is, all things considered, best to be appropriated con-
stantly for this crop. First, and specially, because it is
most contiguous to the barn, and the corn therein more easily
secured and attended to. Secondly, because it is as handy
to the mud from the pocoson and the bed of the creek as any
other, to mix in a compost, and more convenient to the manure
from the farm-yard and stables. Thirdly, because it is en-
tirely out of the reach of squirrels. And, fourthly, because
it is hoped and expected, from the manner of treating it, that
it will be so much amended as to become more and more pro-
ductive every year, and the impoverished places, if not re- |
stored to some degree of fertility, prevented from getting
worse, and becoming such eye-sores as they now are. |

The corn will be planted in rows, six feet by four, or seven
by three and a half; the wide part open to the south. It must
be as highly manured in the hill as the means on the farm
(respect being had to other species of crops) will admit.
The rows of the succeeding year will be in the middle of the
last, and alternately shifted; by which means, and the work-
ings the field will yearly receive, the whole will be enriched,
and, it is hoped, restored.

No. 3.— As No. 2 is to be appropriated as a standing field
for corn, and of course cannot be sown with wheat in the
autumn of 1800, this field, that is, No. 3, ought, if it be prac-
ticable, to be fallowed, and sown with that article; otherwise
the farm will produce no wheat the following year, and the

120 The Agricultural Papers of. George Washington

stock must suffer for want of the straw; and it is to be treated
in every respect as has been directed for No. 1, that is, the
stubble to be ploughed in immediately after harvest, and rye
sowed thereon, with grass-seeds where the soil is strong
enough to rear them, for the purpose of producing seed
again.

No. 4.— The part thereof which lies northeast of the mea-
dow, commonly called Manley’s Field, is to remain well en-
closed, and no stock suffered to run thereon until it comes
in rotation to be fallowed for wheat in 1801. The other
part of the same No. 4 is to be equally well enclosed, and kept
from stock; and, except the part along Muddy-Hole Branch
(which is to be added to No. 5, in order to supply the de-
ficiency occasioned by taking the clover lot No. 2 from it),
is to be planted with peach trees, at sixteen feet and a half
asunder, except so much of it as lies flat, by the gate on the
Mill road, which, if properly prepared, it is supposed would
bring grass, and on that account is to be planted at double
that distance, namely, at thirty-three feet apart. What is
here meant by enclosing this part of No. 4 well, is, that the
outer fence shall be secure, for it will remain as now undivided
from No. 3, otherwise than by the Branch.

No. 5.— Is also to be kept for stock; and, when it comes
in course to be fallowed for wheat, is to have the addition
above mentioned, along the Branch, added thereto, and sown
in this article.

No. 6.— Will receive such an addition to its size from No.
7%, as will make it, exclusive of the lot for clover, lucerne, &c.,
of equal size thereto. Part of this field is now sown with, and
will be in wheat in 1800. Part will be in oats, particularly
where the pease grew; and all that part of it, and No. 7 also,
which lies low, from the meadow fence by the overseer’s house,
quite up to the head springs of the Branch, reclaimed in the

Hs

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 121

spring, is to be planted with rare-ripe corn; and in the fall to
be treated in every respect as the great meadow at this farm
(but at an earlier period) has been this year. For, although
I am not sanguine enough to expect, that it will make good
mowing meadow, I shall be much disappointed if it does not
produce grass, yielding a good deal of seed, which, until the
fields come into cultivation, in regular rotation, and after-
wards, if it answer expectation, will be an annual profit with-
out any other labor than gathering it. The other part of
No. 6, which will be taken from No. 7, lying south of this
low ground between it and No. 1, might, if it does not involve
too much ploughing, be put in corn also; but this is a mea-
sure, which will require consideration, and probably must de-_
pend upon circumstances. The poor and washed parts of ©
No. 6 must remain uncultivated ; but ought, if it be practica- _
ble, to be levelled, harrowed, and such trash of some kind to | i
be thrown thereon, as will keep them from growing worse.

No. 7.— Some parts of this fields may be sown with buck-
wheat, in no great quantity, and a part may be planted
with the Yateman pease, in hills, both for a crop; some of the
other kind of pease may be sown broad-cast, and mowed at a
proper season for the stock. The rest of the ground, by
lying uncultivated, and nothing running thereon, will be in-
creasing in strength while idle.

Clover Lots

No. 1.— Next the overseer’s house, same side of the lane
(excepting the ground now in and designed for lucerne, south
of the slash by the barn, and two acres where the turnips
grew, or at the other end for experiments) is to be in oats,
and to be sown with clover seed. ;

No. 2.— Opposite thereto, and at present part of No. 5, is
to be well manured and planted with potatoes; whether in

122 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

hills, or drills, may be considered.

No. 3.— May receive pumpkins, cymlins, turnips, and mel-
ons, there being no sown grass remaining on it; and the ma-
nure for, and shade occasioned by, these vines, together with
the working the lot will get, will be of service instead of a det-
riment to the potato crop which will follow.

No. 4.— Is to remain in clover, until, by rotation, it comes
into potatoes again.

The rotation for these lots is uniformly to be, 1. Potatoes,
highly manured ; 2. oats, and clover sown therewith; 3. clover ;
4. clover. Then to begin again with potatoes, and proceed as
before.

The present clover lots must be plastered.

All green sward, rough ground, or that which is heavily
covered with weeds, bottle-brush grass, and such things as by
being turned in will ferment, putrefy, and ameliorate the soil,
should in the autumn be ploughed in, and at such time in
winter as it can be done while the ground is dry and in condi-
tion for working.

Pasture Ground

As stock of all sorts, except sheep upon the rye, are to be
excluded from the arable fields and clover lots, resort must be
had to the woodland and unreclaimed swamps therein for
pasture for them; and this will be provided by a fence extend-
ing from the southwest corner of Muddy-Hole field No. 2, to
the southeast corner of Dogue-Run field No. 4, leaving all
south of it for this farm; as the north part will be for Muddy-
Hole farm; and, as it will be for the mutual benefit of both
farms, the fence must be erected at the joint expense of both.

Fencing

The one just mentioned must be completed in the course
of the winter; and every possible exertion must be made to

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 123

strengthen, and render substantially good, the whole of the
exterior or outer fence of the farm. To do this, and to
avoid all unnecessary consumption of timber, the partition
fence between the fields No. 6 and No. 7, as it now stands,
quite up to the woods, and thence to the fence leading from
the Ferry to the Mill road from the Mansion-House, may be
taken away and applied to that fence, and to the trunnel-
fence on the Mill road, where they unite, until it comes to
the meadow fence at the bridge; leaving the fields No. 6 and
No. 7, and the woodland adjoining, under one enclosure. In
like manner, the fences dividing No. 1 from No. 2, and No. 2
from No. 3, may be used for a fence around the creek, until
it unites with that opposite to the Mill house; without which
neither of those fields will be secure, as hogs have been taught,
or of themselves have learnt, to cross the creek in pursuit of
food. For strengthening effectually the fence from the plank
bridge by the Barn lane to the Branch opposite to the Mill
house, new rails must be got in the nearest wood between the
Mill road and the road leading to the Gum Spring.

The west fence of No. 5 must, next year, or as soon as it
can be accomplished, be removed across the Branch, and
placed in a line with the new ditch fence of the lower meadow,
until it comes in range with the south line of the said field; and,
until a fence is run from the end thereof to the nearest
part of the outer fence opposite to the Mill, and a second
gate established thereat, or until that intercourse between
the Barn and Mill is effectually barred, which would be the
cheapest and most convenient mode, there would be no se-
curity for any crop growing in fields Nos. 1, 2, and 3, as leav-
ing the gate by the Mill run open only five minutes might
deluge the whole with the hogs at that place; and they might
be there a night or two, perhaps more, before they were dis-
covered, and do irreparable damage. Indeed, the latter

124 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington —

mode has so much the advantage of the former, especially
as my intercourse with the Mill will in a great measure cease,
that I see no cause to hesitate a moment in adopting it; and,
to prevent opening the fence where the gate now is, a deep
ditch and a high bank would be necessary, from some dis-
tance below to the foot of the hill above, if not quite up to
the meadow. One among other advantages resulting from
this measure would be, that the west and even south fence
of No. 5 might, if occasion required it, be applied, instead of
new rails, in making the fence from the meadow towards
the Mill, and around the creek, more substantial; for it must
be repeated again, that, as there will be few or no inner fences,
the outer ones must be unassailable by the most vicious stock.

The fences that are already around the meadows may re-
main, but there is no occasion for their being formidable. 'To
guard them against hogs, if any should by chance get through
the outer fence, is all that would be necessary.

Meadows

The large meadow below the Barn lane, and half of that
above the lane, have had every thing done for them that is
requisite, except manuring when necessary and the means are
to be had. The remaining part of the last-mentioned mea-
dow above must receive a complete summer fallow, to cleanse
it of rubbish of all sorts, and be sown in proper season with
timothy, with a protecting crop of rye for soiling the work-
ing mules in the spring.

Although I may find myself mistaken, I am inclined to put
the other prong of this swamp, running through No. 6 and
heading in No. 7, into meadow; and I have for this reason al-
ready directed the mode to be pursued for accomplishing it.
Next to this, let as much of the inlet in No. 2 as can be laid
dry enough for corn, be planted therewith, in order to erad-

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 125

icate the wild growth. When this is effected, lay it to grass.
As the fields come round, the unreclaimed inlets may be pre-
pared for grass, if circumstances and the force of the farm
will admit of it. Of these there is one, besides a swamp in
No. 3, which is susceptible of being converted into good grass
ground; and the flat and low ground in No. 4, it is presumed,
would bring grass also. Whether the part proposed to be
added to field No. 5 had better be retained for arable uses, or
laid to meadow, can be determined better after it is cleared,
and cleaned of the wild growth, than now. But the inlets at
the Ferry, between the dwelling and fish houses, might, by a
small change of the fence from the gate of No. 1, be thrown
into that field and brought into excellent meadow at very
little expense, whensoever time and labor can be afforded for
this purpose. ‘To dwell on the advantages of meadow would
be a mere waste of time, as the produce is always in demand
in the market and for my purposes, and obtained at no other
expense, than that of cutting the grass and making it into
hay.

Crops, &c., for 1801

No. 2.— Being the field appropriated for corn, will be
planted with this article accordingly, as already directed for
1800; the poor and washed parts continuing to receive all
the aid that can be given to them.

No. 3.— Supposing it to have been fallowed and sown the
year before, will this year produce a crop of wheat, the stub-
ble of which, immediately after harvest, is to be turned in, and
be sown with rye for the benefit of sheep in the day, during
winter and spring, but which are to be housed at night. All
the low and rich spots, capable of producing grass, must be
sown with timothy or orchard-grass seeds, for the purpose of
supplying seeds again; and a part of the field may be re-

126 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

served for a rye crop, or the sheep taken off early enough for
the whole to yield enough of this grain to pay for the harvest-
ing of it. |

Nos. 4 and 5.— That part of No. 4, which lies next to the
Mill, is, as has been directed already, to be planted with peach
trees ; the other part, called Manley’s Field, with all that can
be added to it, not exceeding forty acres, of woodland adjoin-
ing No. 6, and the upper meadow below the plank bridge, are
to be fallowed for wheat, as No. 5 also is to be, with the addi-
tion at the west end taken from No. 4; and both of them,
if it can be accomplished, but one certainly, must have the
stubble, when the wheat comes off, sowed with rye for the
sheep, and with grass-seeds upon low and rich places, for the
purpose of raising seed. They are to be treated in all other
respects as has been directed for No. 3.

The reason for preferring an addition to No. 4 from the
woods east of the meadow, although the land is of inferior
quality, is, because it requires no additional fencing, for the
same fence that enclosed Nos. 6 and 7 encompasses this also;
because it will be more convenient for supplying the Mansion
with fire-wood; and because it will give a better form and
appearance to the farm, than breaking into the woodland on
the north side of the Mill road.

Crops for 1802, 1803, and so on.

The corn ground remaining the same always, two fields,
in following numbers, will every year be fallowed for wheat,
and treated in all respects as has been mentioned before.
And, if pumpkins, cymlins, turnips, and such like growths are
found beneficial to the land, or useful and profitable for
stock, places enough may be found to raise them in.

All unnecessary wood is to be cut down, and removed from
the fields, as they are cultivated in rotation.

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 127

Mud and Rich Earth for Composts,
Penning Cattle and Folding Sheep,
Feeding,

S'tables and Farm Pens,

are all to be managed precisely as is directed for River Farm.

18
FOUR TABLES OF CROP ROTATION 1793-1799.

These tables are here inserted to show with what prodigious
industry Washington studied the rotation of his crops look-
ing for the greatest yield with the least investment. These
tables were apparently made for comparative purposes, in an
effort to discover which system of rotation would give the best
results.

Jared Sparks in his “ Writings of Washington” (1837)
Vol. XII, p. 374, makes the following statement concerning
these tables : —

“To understand the tables of Rotation of Crops which
follow, it should be observed, that they all apply to one and
the same farm, which contained 525 acres, and was divided
into seven fields. The first part of each table indicates the
kind of products destined for each field, under the respective
years. Then follow the times for ploughing the different
fields, and the number of days it will take; next, an estimate of
the probable quantity and value of the products; lastly, re-
marks on the plan of the table, and on the results of the rota-
tion.

“In a note attached to these tables, Washington says:
‘The ploughing is calculated at three fourths of an acre per
day. If, then, one plough will go over a seventy-five acre
field in one hundred days, five ploughs will do it in twenty
days. In some ground, according to the state of it, and the
seasons, an acre at least ought to be ploughed per day by
each team; but the estimate is made at three fourths of an
acre, in order to reduce it to more certainty. The fields are
all estimated at seventy-five acres each (although they run a
little more or less), for the sake of more easy calculation of

the crops, and to show their comparative yield.’ ”
128

129

The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

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19
EXTRACT FROM WASHINGTON’S DIARY —

Dec. 7 to 13 (Inclusive) 1799.
This extract is added to the collection to indicate the way
in which Washington kept up his diary even to the night be-
fore he died. It shows what a keen observer he was, and how
painstaking in recording his observations.
It was during the night of the 12th that he was attacked
by the illness from which he died on the 14th of December,
L798.

EXTRACT FROM A DIARY FOR DECEMBER, 1799.

December 7th.— Rainy morning, with the wind at north;
mercury at 87. Afternoon, clear and pleasant; wind west-
erly. Mercury 41 at night. Dined at Lord Fairfax’s.

8th.— Morning perfectly clear, calm, and pleasant; but
about nine o’clock the wind came from the northwest and blew
frost. Mercury 38 in the morning, and 40 at night.

9th.— Morning clear and pleasant, with a light wind from
northwest. Mercury at 33. Pleasant all day; afternoon
calm. Mercury 39 at night. Mr. Howell Lewis and wife set
off on their return home after breakfast; and Mr. Lawrence
Lewis and Washington Custis, on a journey to New Kent.

10th.— Morning clear and calm; mercury at 31. After-
noon lowering; mercury at 42, and wind brisk from the south-
ward. A very large hoar-frost this morning.

11th.— But little wind, and raining. Mercury 44 in the
morning, and 38 at night. About nine o’clock the wind

shifted to the northwest, and it ceased raining, but continued
141

142 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington

cloudy. Lord Fairfax, his son Thomas, and daughter, Mrs.
Warner Washington and son Whiting, and Mr. John Her-
bert, dined here, and returned after dinner.

12th.— Morning cloudy; wind at northeast; mercury 33.
A large circle round the moon last night. About one o’clock
it began to snow; soon after, to hail, and then turned to a
settled cold rain. Mercury 28 at night.

13th.— Morning snowing, and about three inches deep.
Wind at northeast, and mercury at 30. Continued snowing.
till one o’clock, and about four it became perfectly clear.
Wind in the same place, but not hard. Mercury 28 at night.

INDEX

Agriculture, Board of, 100 Cymlins, 109, 117, 122, 126
England, 22, 40 : y
United States, 21, 22, 39,100,104 Diary of Washington, 141
Agricultural Society, 38 Dogue Run, 18, 19, 50, 52, 53, 54,
Anderson, James, 106 56, 59, 78, 85, 91, 122

Annals of Agriculture, 22, 26, 38, »England, Agriculture in, 22, 40

ex. 39, 40, 41 Implements ordered, 22
rtichoke, Jerusalem, 33 Estates, free-hold, 99
Barley, 18, 19, 27, 29, 30, 32, 40, 53, Fairfax, John, 44
54, 58, 76,101, 102 Farm, contents, 91*
Barns, 49 Farm-yard plan, 27
* Beans, 27, 39, 40, 103 Feeding, 113
Biddle, Clement, 31 Fencing, 53, 57, 59, 77, 103, 108,
Bland, Theodoric, 34 115, 120, 122 ff., 126
Bricklaying, 18 Ferry, 19, 49, 50
Brickwork, 50 Fertilizer (see) Buckwheat, Com-
~ Buckwheat, 52, 54, 55, 56, 59, 93, post, Manure, Mud, Stubble
94, 109, 121 Flax, 55, 56, 59
Burnet, 22 Flour, 78
« Cabbage, 23, 75 Garden, botanical, 51
. Carrots, 19, 54, 55, 59, 60 Grain, 49
Cattle, 40, 41, 42, 87 ff., 104, 109, + Grapes, 75
110-113 Grass, 17, 19, 22, 23, 29, 40, 48, 49,
sChicory, 92 ff. 58, 61, 74, 77, 99, 103, 104, 109,
Clay, 27, 76 116, 118, 120, 125, 126
Clearing, 74, 79 Grass, orchard, 61, 104, 125
Clover, 93, 103, 110, 191, 129
Compost, 112, 119 Harrow, 35
Convention, Constitutional, 37 ” Triangular, 42, 43

» Corn, 18, 19, 34, 35, 39, 41, 42, 52, , Harrowing, 18, 19, 22, 43
53, 54, 55, 58, 59, 61, 76, 88,93, Harvesting, 48, 49
101, 110, 111, 113, 116, 117, Hedges (see fencing)

119, 121, 124, 125, 196 Hessian fly, 78
Cropping, 24, 40, 43, 76 » Hogs, 113, 114, 193 A
Crops, for 1801, 116 ff., 125 ff. » Horses, 113
For 1802, 1803, 126 . Husbandry, 22, 24, 40, 41, 43, 76,
River Farm, 109 104,
Rotation of, 39, 40, 106
Statements of, 62 ff. Jefferson, Thomas, 92

143

144

Labor, price of, 41
Land, recovered, 48
Loam, 27, 83

. Locusts, honey, 50

~ Lucerne, 120, 121

. Machine, barley, 30
» Maize, 39, 88
Management, 44, 45, 104
Farms, 101, 104 ff., 106
System, 104 ff.
Mt. Vernon, 47
Manager, Reports, 62 ff.
Mansion House, 53, 74, 123
Farm, 60, 82
Manure, 18, 19, 38, 47, 48, 52, 57,
58, 60, 76, 110, 116, 121, 122,
124 s
Bean, 103
Buckwheat, 52, 55, 58, 82, 109
McHenry, 96
Meadows, 111, 124, 125
Melons, 122
Meteorological Table, 68
“ Mill,” 37, 41
Millet, 18
Mount Vernon, 37, 47, 52,
Mud, compost, 60, 112, 119
Muddy Hole, 17, 18, 19, 22, 49, 52,
53, 56, 78, 85, 91, 120, 122
Mulberry, 75
- Mules, 113

81 ff.

Neck, The, 18, 19, 22, 49

. Oats, 17, 18, 19, 27, 34, 53, 54, 58,
75, 95, 100, 101, 102, 109, 110,
116 ff., 120, 121

_ Oyster shells, 50

Pasture, 111, 118, 122

, Pea, 93, 94, 101

Peach Trees, 120

Pease, 19, 22, 34, 40, 55, 56, 109,
117, 120, 121

Pens, 114

Peters, Richard, 42

Peters, Thomas, 29

Index

Plan, barn, 39
Farm-yard, 27
Plantations, 45, 52, 81 ff.
Planter, 34 ff.
Ploughman, 39

. Plow, 22, 38, 39, 56, 59,75 ~~

Barrel, 34
Drill, 18, 34
Rotherham, 22

« Plowing, 42, 93, 94, 118, 191, 130,

133, 136, 139
» Potatoes, 19, 42, 54, 56, 59, 60, 94,
110, 121, 122
» Price, cows, 41
Seeds, 40
Pulse, 93
» Pumpkins,‘56, 109, 117, 122, 126

Repairs, 49
Reports of Manager, 62 ff.
River Farm, 58, 85, 91, 109, 117
» Road-making, 49
» Rollers, 103
Rolling, 18
Rotation, Crops, 39, 76, 93, 95, 101,
106, 109 ff., 116 ff., 118 ff.
Plantations, 52 ff., 85
Tables (Four), 128 ff.
Rye, 23, 29, 32, 40, 109, 116, 119,
122, 124, 126

Sainfoin, 23, 27

Sand, 27

Seeds, 27, 40, 50, 102
Artichoke, 32
Barley, 30, 32
Beans, 27, 39
Burnet, 23
Cabbage, 23
Clover, 23, 30, 32, 50
Oats, 27
Rye, 23
Sainfoin, 27, 39
Timothy, 34, 50
Turnip, 23
Vetch, 23
Wheat, 27

;
r

Index

Sheep, 41, 109, 112, 113,
125
Society, Agricultural, 38
Soil, 18, 19, 27
Sowing, Barley, 18, 55
Buckwheat, 54, 56
Carrots, 19, 55
Clover, 54, 55
Corn, 18, 19, 35, 55
Flax, 55
Grain, 49
Grass, 19, 49
Millet, 18, 19
Oats, 17, 18, 19, 55
Pease, 19, 22
Potatoes, 19, 56
Pumpkins, 56
Rye, 54
Timothy, 54, 55
Turnips, 56
Wheat, 18, 19, 49, 54
Stables, 114
Staple, 27
Statements, specimen, 62 ff.

AStock, 24, 33, 45, 53, 54, 57, 79, 108,

115, 117, 120, 122
Strickland, William, 98
Stubble, 109, 118, 120, 125
Succory, 93
System, Management, 104 ff., 106 ff.

Taxes, 50
Thresher, 37, 41

145

116, 118, Timothy, 34, 50, 54, 55, 110, 116,

124, 125
Tobacco, 39, 48, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59,
60, 61

, Turnips, 17, 23, 56, 109, 121, 122,

126
Union Farm, 84, 91, 118

Vetch, European, 101
Winter, 28, 92 ff.

Wages, ploughman, 24
Workman, 50
Washington, Character of, 31, 42,
4A, 47, 52
Washington, George A. (nephew),
AT

Waste, 48, 49
Weevil, 95
Welch Wakelin, 24

» Wheat, 29, 32, 34, 39, 40, 48, 49,

59, 6h, 76, 95, 104, 109, 110,
112, 118, 119, 120, 126
Wheat, Cape, 17
Siberian, 18, 19
Velvet, 27
Whiting, Anthony, 73 ff.

Yield, 32, 40, 93, 134, 137
Young, Arthur, 21, 26, 34, 37, 38,
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