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Conserving the soil and checking its erosion were of first 

 importance in Washington's mind throughout the years following the 

 Revolution. When looking for a new manager he demanded that the 

 man must be, "above all, Midas like, one who can convert everything 

 he touches into manure, as the first transmutation toward gold; in 

 a word, one who can bring wornout and gullied lands into good tilth 

 in the shortest time." He experimented with various fertilizers and 

 used marl and muck from the Potomac River bottom on some of his 

 fields. Mechanical difficulties prevented him from spreading river 

 mud as fertilizer on a large scale. Noah Webster said that at the 

 time of his visit to Mount Vernon the standing toast was "Success to 

 the mud! " 



In the early 1760's, Washington, like all other planters in 

 Tidewater Virginia, specialized in tobacco. In 1759 he made 34,160 

 pounds of it, and in 1763, 89,079 pounds; by 1773, however, the quan- 

 tity had dropped to 5,000 pounds, and during the course of the next 

 fifteen years he practically discontinued raising it. He realized 

 that continuous single cropping would destroy the fertility of the 

 soil and turned to other crops. By careful seed selection, he develop- 

 ed a very good strain of wheat. In commenting on the flour made in his 

 mills for shipment to plantations in the West Indies, he stated that 

 his was as good in quality as any produced in America. He experimented 

 with new crops and procured seed from other colonies and England. As 

 early as 1760, he sowed lucerne, known today as alfalfa. He was 

 interested in clovers and grasses, not only as a means of conserving 

 the soil, but also to provide feed for his livestock. 



Of special concern to Washington was the improvement of the 

 grain drills used in his time. Soon after he settled at Mount Vernon 

 he "Fitted a two Eyed Plow instead of a Duck Bill Plow," but the 

 results were not satisfactory, and a little later, he "Spent the 

 greater part of the day in making a new plow of my own Invention." 

 He recorded that "She answered very well." Later he imported an 

 improved Rotherham or patent plow from England. 



Washington's observations in the northern colonies while lead- 

 ing the army during the Revolution turned his attention to the desir- 

 ability of keeping more and better livestock. He was, according to 

 his own account, the first American to raise mules. Soon after the 

 War for Independence he asked the American representative in Spain 

 "to procure permission to extract a Jack ass of the best breed," but 

 exportation of these animals was at that time prohibited. But in 

 1785, the King of Spain sent him two jacks and two jennets. One jack 

 died on the way, but the other arrived safely and was appropriately 

 named "Royal Gift." This animal was later taken on a tour of the 

 Southern States. In 1786 General Lafayette sent Washington a jack and 

 two jennets of the Malta breed. 



