322 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No 6 



part of the United States, is as unproductive to the 

 practitioners, as it is ruinous to the land-holders. 

 Yet it is pertinaciously adhered to. To Ibrsake it 

 — to pursue a course of husbamlry which is aho- 

 gether diti'erent and new to the (i^azinfj nuiititude, 

 ever averse to novelty in matters of this sort, and 

 much attached to their old customs — reqiiires reso- 

 lution; and without a good practical i^ruid.:", may 

 be danjjerous; because, ol" the many volumes 

 which have been written on this subject, few ol' 

 them are founded on experimental knowledge — are 

 verbose, contradictory, and bewildering. Your 

 Annals shall be this guide. The plan on which 

 they are published, gives them a reputation which 

 inspires confidence; and tor the favor of sending 

 them to me, I pray vou to accept my very best ac- 

 knowledgments. To continue them, will add 

 much to the obligation. 



To evince with what avidity, and with how lit- 

 tle reserve, I embrace the polite and fiiendly offer 

 you have made mc, of supplyinii me with "men, 

 cattle, fools, seeds, or any thinir else that may add 

 to my rural amufsement," I will fjive you, sir, the 

 trouble of providing, and sending to the care of 

 Wakelin Welch, esq. of London, merchant, the 

 following articles: 



may have the goodness to send me. I do not at 

 this time ask for any other implements of husban- 

 dry than the ploughs; but when I have read your 

 Annals (for they are but just come to hand) I may 

 request more. In the meanvvhile, permit me lo 

 ask what a good ploughman might be had lor, an- 

 nual wages, to be found (being a single man) in 

 board, washing, and longing. The writers upon 

 husbandry estimate the hire of laborers so dif- 

 ferently in England, that it is not easy to discover 

 from them, whether one of the class I am speak • 

 ing of would cost eight or eighteen pounds a year. 

 A good ploughman at low wages, would come 

 very opportunely with the ploughs here retjuested. 

 -By means of the application I made to my 

 friend JNlr. Fairfax, of Bath, and through the me- 

 dium of Mr. Rack, a bailiff is sent to me, who, if 

 he is acquainted with the best courses of cropping, 

 will answer my purposes as a director or superin- 

 tendent of my farms. He has the appearance of 

 a plain, honest farmer — is industrious — and from 

 the character given of him by a Mr, Pcacy (with 

 whom he has lived many years,) has understand- 

 inir in the management of stock, and of most mat- 

 ters for which he is employed. How far his abil- 

 ities may be equal to a pretty extensive concern, 



Two of the simplest and best constructed j is questionable. And what is still worse, he has 

 plouirhs for land which is neither very heavy nor I come over with improper ideas; ibr, instead of 



sandy ; to be drawn by two horses — to have 

 spare shares and coulters — and a mould on which 

 to form new irons when the old ones are worn out, 

 or will require repairing. 



I shall take the liberty in this place to observe, 

 that some years ago, from a description, or recom- 

 mendation of what was then called the Rother- 

 ham, or patent plough, I sent to Ensjland for one 

 of them; and till it began to wear, and was ruineti 

 by a bunglinnr country smith, that no plough could 

 have done better work, or appeared to have gone 

 easier with two horses; but, tor want of a mould, 

 (which I had neglected to order with the plough,) 

 it became useless afler the irons which came in 

 with it were much worn. 



A little of the best kind of cabbage seeds, for 

 field culture. 



Twenty pounds of the best turnip-seeds, for 

 ditto. 



Ten bushels of sainfoin seeds. 



Eight bushels of the winter vetches. 



Two bushels of rye-grass seeds. 



Fifty pounds of hop clover seeds. 



x\nd, if it is decided (for much has been said 

 for and against it,) thatburnet, as an early food, is 

 valuable, I should be glad of a bushel of this seed 

 also. Red clover seeds are to be had on easy 

 terms in this country; but if there are any other 

 kinds of grass seeds (not included in the above,) 

 that you may think valuable, especially for early 

 feeding or cutting, you would oblige me by adding 

 a small quantity of the seeds, to put me in stock. 

 Early grasses, unless a species can be found that 

 will stand a hot sun, and oftentimes severe 

 droujihts in the summer months, without much 

 expense of cultivation, would suit our climate 

 best. 



You see, sir, that without ceremony, I avail 

 myself of your kind offer; but if you should find, 

 in the course of our correspondence, that I am 

 likely to become troublesome, you can easily check 

 me. Inclosed I give you an order on Wakelin 

 Welch, esq., for the cost of such things as you 



preparing his mind to meet a ruinous course of 

 cropping, exhausted lands, and numberless incon- 

 veniencies into which we had been thrown by an 

 eight years' war, he seems to have expected that 

 he was coming to well organized farms^ and that 

 he was to have met ploughs, harrows, and all 

 the other implements of husbandry, in as high 

 taste, asthe be^t farming counties in England could 

 have exhibited them. How liir his fortitude will 

 enable him to encounter these disappointments, or 

 his patience and perseverance will carry him to- 

 wards the work of reform, remains to be decided. 

 With great esteem, 



I have the honor to be, sir, 



Your most obd't. humble serv't., 



G. Washington. 

 Arthur Young, esq., 



Mount Vernon, 15th of November, 1786. 

 Sir: 



The inclosed is a duplicate of the letter I had 

 the honor of writing to you the 6th of August. 



The evil genius of the vessel by which it was 

 sent (which had detained her many weeks in this 

 country, after the letters intended to go by her were 

 ready, agreeably to the owner's appointment,) 

 pursued her to sea, and obliged the captain, (when 

 many days out,) by the leaky condition in which 

 she appeared, to return to an American port. The 

 uncertainty of' his conduct with respect to the let- 

 ters, is the apology I offer Ibr giving you the trouble 

 of the enclosed. 



Since the date of it, I have had much satisfac- 

 tion in perusing the Annals of Agriculture, which 

 you did me the honor to send me. If the testimo- 

 ny of my approbation, sir, of your disinterested 

 conduct and perseverance, in publishing so useful 

 and beneficial a work, (than which nothing, in my 

 opinion, can be more conducive to the welfare of 

 your country,) will add aught to the satisfaction 

 you must feel from the conscious discharge of thia 

 interesting duty to it, I give it with equal willing- 

 ness and sincerity. 



