236 



WASHINGTON'S LETTERS. 



on a fine day they are all out of their cells, 

 leaping and frisking^ about the cage, here 

 one hanging by his tail, there another by 

 one leg, and another, of more sedate tem- 

 perament, sitting with his hands folded in 

 all possible gravity, while in a corner will 

 be seen a couple affectionately saluting each 

 other in Kamskatkan style. But the most 

 amusing part of the scene to me was to wit- 

 ness the delight of the juvenile lookers on, 

 at every antic of these strange caricatures 

 of humanity. The little fellows would 

 fairly scream and caper with delight, and 

 when one more active monkey than the 

 rest would suddenly box his neighbor's ear, 

 or with a nut shell hit another on the nose, 

 their joy could scarcely be contained within 



bounds. There is no forced mirth in chil- 

 dren, and their ringing laughter was al- 

 ways sufficient to draw me to the monkeys 

 and their play grounds. 



This is one of the best arranged zoologi- 

 cal collections existing, and offers unusual 

 facilities for studying the natures and ha- 

 bits of animals. They are alloAved so much 

 liberty, and are so comfortably cared for in 

 every respect, that the student has many op- 

 portunities of seeing them under the most 

 favorable circumstances. There is also a 

 gallery containing a very extensive collec- 

 tion of dead animals, of which, with the 

 various other galleries, we must reserve a 

 description until another number. 



L. B- Paksoks. 



REVIEW. 



Letters on Agricvltvre, from His Excellency 

 George Washington, to Arthur Young and 

 Sir John Sinclair, etc. Edited by Franklin 

 Knight, Washington, 1847. Published by the 

 Editor. New- York, Baker &. Scribner. 1 vol. 

 quarto, with plates, 198 pp. 

 For a long time, the halo of Washington's 

 civil and military glory has kept out of 

 view his extraordinary talent in other di- 

 rections. Mankind, too, are so reluctant 

 to allow great men the meed of greatness, 

 in more than one sphere of action, that 

 there has, we think, always been a national 

 want of faith regarding the pre-eminence 

 as an agriculturist, to which Washington 

 is most undeniably entitled. 



We are inclined to think that, consider- 

 ing the great disadvantages of the time in 

 which he lived, he was one of the wisest, 

 most successful, and most scientific farmers 

 that America has ever yet produced. 



Washington, as it is well known, was a 

 very large landed proprietor. Before the 

 Revolution, he was one of the most exten- 

 sive tobacco planters in Virginia. His 



crops of this staple, he shipped in his own 

 name, to Liverpool or Bristol, loading the 

 vessels that came up the Potomac, either 

 at Mount Vernon, or some other convenient 

 point. In return, he imported from his 

 agents abroad, improved agricultural im- 

 plements, and all the better kind of clothing, 

 implements and stores needed in the do- 

 mestic economy of his estate. During the 

 Revolution, although necessarily absent 

 from Mount Vernon, he endeavored to car- 

 ry out his plans by frequent and minute 

 directions to his manager there. 



No sooner had the war closed, than 

 Washington immediately retired to his 

 beloved Mount Vernon, and was soon deep- 

 ly immersed in the cares and pleasures of 

 the life of an extensive landed proprietor. 

 But it was by no means a life of indolent 

 repose, though upon an estate large enough 

 to secure him in the possession of every 

 comfort. The very first year after the war, 

 he directed his attention and his energies 

 to the improvement of the mode of farming 



