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 



