40 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 



which the ground is respited (except from weeds, and every 

 trash that can contribute to its foulness), for about eighteen 

 months; and so on, alternately, without any dressing, till 

 the land is exhausted; when it is turned out, without being 

 sown with grass-seeds, or any method taken to restore it; 

 and another piece is ruined in the same manner. No more 

 cattle are raised, than can be supported by lowland meadows, 

 swamps, &c., and the tops and blades of Indian corn; as 

 very few persons have attended to sowing grasses, and con 

 necting cattle with their crops. The Indian corn is the chief 

 support of the laborers and horses. Our lands, as I men 

 tioned in my first letter to you, were originally very good; 

 but use and abuse have made them quite otherwise. 



The above is the mode of cultivation which has been gen 

 erally pursued here ; but the system of husbandry, which has 

 been found so beneficial in England, and which must be greatly 

 promoted by your valuable &quot; Annals,&quot; is now gaining ground. 

 There are several, among whom I may class myself, who are 

 endeavouring to get into your regular and systematic course 

 of cropping, as fast as the nature of the business will admit ; 

 so that I hope in the course of a few years we shall make a 

 more respectable figure as farmers, than we have hitherto 

 done. 



I will, agreeably to your desire, give you the prices of our 

 products, as nearly as I am able; but you will readily con 

 ceive from the foregoing account, that they cannot be given 

 with any precision. Wheat for the last four years will aver 

 age about 4s. sterling per bushel, of eight gallons. Rye, 

 about 2s. 4d. Oats, Is. 6d. Beans, pease, &c., have not 

 been sold in any quantities. Barley is not made here, from 

 a prevailing opinion that the climate is not adapted to it. I, 

 however, in opposition to prejudice, sowed about fifty bushels 

 last spring, and found that it yielded a proportionate quan- 



