84 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 



or of the lower class ; because those, who have the strength 

 and resources proportioned to farms of from five hundred 

 to twelve hundred acres (which these contain), would hardly 

 be contented to live in such houses as are thereon; and, if 

 they were to be divided and subdivided, so as to accommodate 

 tenants of small means, say from fifty to one or two hun 

 dred acres, there would be none, except on the lots which 

 might happen to include the present dwelling-houses of my 

 overlookers (called bailiffs with you), barns, and negro- 

 cabins ; nor would I choose to have the woodland (already too 

 much pillaged of its timber) ransacked, for the purpose of 

 building many more. The soil, however, is excellent for 

 bricks, or for mud-walls ; and to the building of such houses 

 there would be no limitation, nor to that of thatch for the 

 cover of them. 



The towns already mentioned, to those who might incline 

 to encounter the expense, are able to furnish scantling, plank, 

 and shingles, to any amount, and on reasonable terms; and 

 they afford a ready market also for the produce of the 

 land. 



On what is called Union Farm (containing nine hundred 

 and twenty-eight acres of arable and meadow), there is a 

 newly-erected brick barn, equal perhaps to any in America, 

 and for conveniences of all sorts, particularly for sheltering 

 and feeding horses, cattle, &c., scarcely to be exceeded any 

 where. A new house is now building in a central position, 

 not far from the barn, for the overlooker; which will have 

 two rooms, sixteen by eighteen feet, below, and one or two 

 above, nearly of the same size. Convenient thereto is suffi 

 cient accommodation for fifty-odd negroes, old and young; 

 but these buildings might not be thought good enough for 

 the workmen or day-laborers of your country. 



Besides these, a little without the limits of the farm, as 



