WASHINGTON'S LETTERS. 



237 



then in A^ogue in the whole of that part of 

 the country. 



He quickly remarked, that the system of 

 the tobacco planters was fast exhausting the 

 lands, and rendering them of little or no va- 

 lue. He entered into correspondence with 

 the most distinguished scientific agricultu- 

 rists in Great Britain, studied the ablest trea- 

 tises then extant abroad on that subject, and 

 immediately carried into practice the most 

 valuable principles which he could draw 

 from the soundest theory and practice then 

 known. At a time when the planters were 

 thinkingof abandoning their worn-out lands, 

 Washington began a new and most excellent 

 system of rotation of crops, based on a care- 

 ful examination of the qualities of the soils 

 on his estate, and by substituting grains, 

 grass, and root crops, for tobacco, he soon 

 restored the soil to good condition, and 

 found his income materially increasing, 

 while his neighbors who pursued the old 

 system, were daily growing poorer. 



Nothing was more remarkable, among 

 the trials of this great man's character, 

 and nothing contributed more to his suc- 

 cess in all he undertook, than the complete 

 manner in which he first mastered his sub- 

 ject, and the exact method in which he af- 

 terwards marked out and pursued his 

 plans. 



In farming, this was evinced in the tho- 

 roughly systematic course of culture which 

 he adopted on his Mount Vernon estate. 

 This estate consisted of about 8000 acres, 

 of which over 2000 acres, divided into 

 five farms, were under cultivation. On his 

 map of this estate, every field was number- 

 ed, and in his accompanying agricultural 

 field book, the crops were assigned to each 

 field for several years in advance. So well 

 had he studied the nature of the soils, that 

 with slight subdivisions and experimental 

 deviations, this scientific system of rotation 



was pursued with great success, from about 

 1785 to the close of his life. 



After about four years — the most agree- 

 able, doubtless, of his whole life — passed 

 at Mount Vernon, in its improved condition, 

 he was again called, by the spontaneous 

 voice of one people to the Presidency. 

 Much has been said and written about the 

 reluctance of Cincinnatus to leave his farm, 

 and return to the service of the Roman 

 Republic ; but the sources for regret in his 

 position must have been small, compared 

 to those which Washington felt, when he 

 left Mount Vernon on this occasion. The 

 farm of Cincinnatus, which has been ren- 

 dered famous in classical history, was an 

 hereditary allotment of four acres, and its 

 cultivation was part of the daily toil of his 

 own hands. Mount Vernon, on the other 

 hand, was one of the largest and loveliest 

 estates in America ; it stood amid the rich 

 landscape beauty of the Potomac, its beau- 

 tiful lawns running down to the river, its 

 serpentine walks of shrubbery, its fruit and 

 flower garden, planted by its master's own 

 hands,* and its broad acres rendered pro- 

 ductive by an intelligent and comprehensive 

 system of agriculture of his own construc- 

 tion — think, oh ye who have never thus taken 

 root in the soil, how hard it must have been 

 for Washington the Farmer, to surrender 

 again, even to the flattering wish of a 

 whole nation, the life that he so much lov- 

 ed, for the hard yoke of what he felt to be 

 the most difficult public service ! 



It is the best proof of how thoroughly 

 devoted by natural taste was Washington 

 to agriculture, that instead of leaving 

 Mount Vernon to the charge of the excellent 



* AVashixoton's residence exhibited ever}' mark of the 

 cultivated and refined country peiuleman. He appears to 

 liave had considerable ta-le in ornamental gardening ; he de- 

 corated his pleasure grounds with uiuch effect ; and his diary 

 shows that he collected und plained a variety of rare trees 

 and shrubs with liis own hands, and watched their growth 

 with the greatest interest. He employed skilful gardener*, 

 and pruning was one of liis lavorile exercises. 



