INTRODUCTORY NOTE 



Washington's main aspiration was to be a successful farmer. 

 Having settled at Mount Vernon in 1759, each time he was called to 

 his country's service he left his farming with greater reluctance. 

 During the long and trying years of the American Revolution and later 

 during his presidency he constantly looked forward to the day when 

 he could lay down his public duties and return to his farm home on the 

 banks of the Potomac. Expressions of this general view are found 

 throughout his personal correspondence and are attested by the in- 

 cidents and observations recorded in his diaries. 



In his attitude toward agriculture, Washington exemplified the 

 spirit of scientific research. His farming was remarkable in that he 

 did many things advocated by agriculturists of today. He worked to 

 conserve his soil and check its erosion, diversified his crops, and 

 pioneered in using new machinery, so that Mount Vernon became a verit- 

 able experimental farm. In attempting scientific farming his task 

 was not easy. Today any farmer in America can get technical informa- 

 tion and suggestions by writing the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, the agricultural college or experiment station of his 

 State, the local county agent, or one of the many farm journals. But 

 Washington had no such aids. Only a few at that time were interested 

 in improved methods, and he had to seek facts by experimenting and by 

 corresponding with members of a small group in England, led by Arthur 

 Young and John Sinclair, who were making careful studies and publishing 

 their findings. Extensive notes among Washington's papers indicate 

 how carefully he read the writings of these men. 



Washington's interest in agriculture was not limited to Mount 

 Vernon. His wide travels throughout the colonies and his acquaintance 

 with the leading agriculturists of Europe as well as America gave him [/ 

 a comprehensive understanding of the importance and needs of agricul- 

 ture in the Nation he did so much toward creating. Washington also 

 had a vision of an empire of farms west of the Alleghenies, and he 

 led in the efforts to improve transportation facilities between the 

 headwaters of the Potomac River and those of the Ohio in order that 

 the farmers who settled in the West could have a market for their 

 crops. 



Washington gradually added to his inherited holdings, and at 

 one time or another he owned some 69,615 acres of land in thirty-seven 

 localities, together with twenty-four city lots and one whole city 

 square. But the Mount Vernon estate, comprising approximately 8,077 

 acres and divided into five farms and woodlands, received his major 

 attention. In connection with this estate, he operated a fishery, a 

 ferry, and two grist mills. 



