514 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 6 



Eiialiind, and which mu8t be greatly promoted by 

 vnur valuable AiiiialK, is now srainino; ground. 

 There are several (among vvliich I may class iny- 

 t:ellj) who are endeavoring to get inio your reiju- 

 lar ruid sy.sleniaiic coursa ol' cropping, as last; as 

 Jhe nature of the buriine.^s will admit; so ihat I 

 liope in the course ofa few years we .shall tnalce a 

 more revspectuble ligure as liirmers, than we liave 

 hitherto done. 



I will, agreeable to your desire, give you the 

 prices of our products as nearly as 1 am able; but 

 you will readily conceive, Ir-om the foregoing ac- 

 coimt, that ihey cannot be given wilii any pre- 

 cision. Wheat, for the /<)ur last years, will aver- 

 aye about 43, sterling per busliel, of eight gallons; 

 rye about 2s. 4^.; oats Is. 6J.; beans, peas, &c., 

 Irave not been sold in any (juantities; barley is not 

 made here, from a prevaiiinop opinion that the cli- 

 tnate is not adapted to it. f, however, in opposition 

 to prejudice, sowed about 50 bushels last spring, 

 and fjund that it yielded a proponionate quantity 

 with any other kind ol" grain which I sowed. I 

 might add, more. Cows may be bought at about 

 £3 sterling per head. Cattle ibr the slaughter vary 

 Trom 2\d. to 4. \ J, sterling, per lb., the former being 

 the curient price in summer: tlie laMer in the win- 

 ter or spring. Sheep at 125. sterling, per head; 

 and wool at about Is. slerling, per lb. [ am not 

 able 10 give you the ()rice of labor, as the land is 

 cidtivated here wholly by slaves, and the [irice of 

 labor in the towns is fluctuating, and governed al- 

 together by circumstances. 



Give me leave to repeat my thanks for your at- 

 tention 10 me, and your polite offer to execute anv 

 business relaiinir lo husbandry, which I may have 

 in England; and lo assure yon that I shall not tail 

 to apply to you lor whatever I may have occasion 

 for in tliat line. 



1 am, sir, with very great esteem, 



Your most obedient, humble servant, 



G. Washington^. 



P. S. 1 observe in the sixth volume of your 

 Annals, there is a plate and description of Mr. 

 Winlaw's mill, lor -separating the grain from the 

 heads of corn. Its utility or inutility haa, un- 

 doubtedly, been reduced to a certainty before this 

 time; if it possesses ail the properties and advan- 

 tages mentioned in the description; and you car, 

 from your own knowledge, or such information as 

 you entirely rely on, recommend it as a useful ma- 

 chine, where laborers are scarce, I should be much 

 obliged to you to procure one for me, to be paid 

 for and forwarded by Mr. Welch, provided it is so 

 simple in its construction, as lo be worked by i""- 

 norant persons, wiihout danger of being spoiled 

 (for such only will manage it here,) and the price 

 of it does not exceed £15 as mentioned in the An- 

 nuls, or thereabouts. 



Mount Vernon, December 4, 1788, 

 Sir: 



I have been favored with the receipt of your let- 

 ter dated the first day of July ; and have to expres.9 

 my thanks for the three additional volumes of the 

 Annals, which have also come safely to hand. 



The more I am acquainted with airricultural af- 

 fairs, the better I am pleased with them ; insomuch, 

 that I can nowhere find so great satisfaction as 

 in those innocent and useful pursuits. In inlul- 

 ginj these feelinga, I am led to reflect how much 



mori^ df'litibtful to an undehauched mind is the task 

 of making improvements on the earth, than all the 

 vain gloi'} which can he acquired iiom ravaging it, 

 by the most uninterrupted career of conquests*. 

 The desiijn of this observation, is oniy to show 

 how nnich, as a member of human society, I feel 

 ujvself obliged by your labors to render res- 

 pectable and advantageous, an employment which 

 is more congenial to the natural dispositions of 

 mankind than any oilier. 



I am also much indebted to you, for the inqui- 

 ries you were so kind as to make respecting the 

 thrashing maidiitics. Notwithstanding I am pret- 

 ty well convinced iiom your account, thai the 

 new-invented Scotch machine is ol'superior merit to 

 Winlaw's, yet I think to wait a little longer before 

 I procure one. In the intermediate time, I am 

 not insensible to your obliging ofl'ers of executing 

 this, or any other commission for me ; and shall 

 take the liberty to avail myself of them as occa- 

 sions may require. 



1 would willingly have sent you a lock of the 

 wool of my sheep, au'reeably lo your desire, but it 

 is all wrouL^ht into cloth, and I must therefore de- 

 fter it until after the next shearing. You may e.x- 

 pect it by some ftiture conveyance. A manufac- 

 turer from Leeds, who was lately here, judges it 

 to be of about the same quality with the Enirlish 

 wool in general — through there is always a great 

 difference in the fineness of difft^rent parts of the 

 same fleece. I cannot help thinking that increas- 

 intjand improving onr breed of sheep, would be one 

 of the nios< profitable speculations we could under- 

 take ; especially in this part of the continent, where 

 we have so little winter, that they require either no 

 dry fodder, or next to none; and where we are suf- 

 ficiently distant from the frontiers, not to be trou- 

 bled with wolves or other wild vermin, which pre- 

 vent the inhabitants there from keeping flocks. 

 Though we do not feed our sheep upon leaves, as 

 you mention they do in some parts of France, yet 

 we cannot want for jjastures enough suitable lor 

 thern. I am at a loss, therefore, to account lor the 

 disproportion between their value and that of 

 black cattle ; as well as for our not augmenting 

 the number. So persuaded am I of the practica- 

 bility and advantage of it, that I have raised near 

 200 lambs upon my farm this year. I am glad to 

 find that you are likely to succeed in propagating 

 tlieS[)anish breed of sheep in England, and that 

 the wool does not degenerate: for the multiplica- 

 tion of useful animals is a common blessing to 

 mankind. I have a prospect of introducing into 

 this country a very excellent race of animals also, 

 by means of the liberality of the King of Spain. 

 One of the jacks which he was pleased to present 

 to me (the other perished at sea ) is about 15 

 hands high, his body and limbs very large in pro- 

 portion to his height; and the mules whicli I have 

 had li'om him, appear to be extremely well formed 

 for service, I have likewise a jack and two jen- 

 netts from Malta, of a very good size, which the 

 Marquis de la Fayette sent to me. The Spanish 

 jack seems calculated to breed for heavy slow 

 draught; and the others for the saddle, or lighter 

 carriatres. From these, altogether, I hope to se- 

 cure a race of extraordinary goodness, which will 

 stock the country. Their longevity and cheap 



* A noble senhment, which does honor to tha 

 heart of this tiuly great maa. — A. Y. 



