INVENTOR OF THE MODERN PLOW. 13 



In one of bis letters to Jethro Wood, Mr. 

 Jefferson spoke of Lis own labors in that 

 direction, as the experiments of one whiling 

 away a few idle hours, but herein he did him- 

 self injustice. His efforts, however, were far 

 from exhaustive in their results, and it was 

 with good reason that he urged Mr. Wood to 

 go forward in his undertaking, and no doubt 

 he was perfectly sincere in wishing him suc- 

 cess. His correspondence, as published in 

 nine large volumes, attests his long and deep 

 interest in the problem, which it was reserved 

 for Jethro Wood to solve. Having carefully 

 examined those volumes, to glean all there is 

 in them on this subject, I herewith append the 

 observations found, for besides being in them- 

 selves interesting, in view of their authorship, 

 they throw important light upon the general 

 subject. 



Under date of July 3, 1796, Mr. Jefferson 

 wrote to Jonathan Williams: "You wish me 



