1S37] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



325 



kcepioi; will be cirruriistarices much in iheir lavour. 

 I am coiiviii'ed liom the liiile experimorits I hn\^^' 

 niatie wiih tlie oi\linarv mules, (wliich perlbrm as 

 much l.ihor, wilh vastly loss teediiiti' than horses.) 

 ihat those ol' a superior quality will he ihe hesi 

 <-atlle wt> can employ lor the harness; and indeed, 

 in a lew years, I iniend to drive no olher in my 

 carriage, havinir approprialed lc)r the sole purpose 

 of hreediuii them, u|)wards ol' iweiiiy ol' my best 

 mares. 



Sinec I wro!e to you formerly, respectinji the ob- 

 jecfion made by mv labourers to the weight of my 

 plouoiis, 1 have had sufficient experience to over- 

 come the ill-jiiuiided prejudice, and find them an- 

 su'er the purpose exceedinirlv well. I have been 

 layinn'out my farm into fields of nearly the same 

 dimensions, and as;?iirninir crops to each until the 

 year 1795. The buildint; of" a brick barn ha.s oc- 

 cupied much of mv altention this summer. It is 

 constructed according to the [ilan yon had the 

 goodness to send me ; but with some additions. It 

 is now, I believe, the largest and most convenient 

 one in this country. Our seasons in this country 

 (oral least in this part of it) have been so much 

 in the two opfiosite extremes of dry and wet, for 

 the two summers past, that many of my experi- 

 ments have failed to give a satisfactory result, or I 

 would have done myself the pleasure of transmit- 

 tiiiiT it to you. In the first pari of the last summer, 

 the rains prevailed beyond what has been known 

 in the memory of man ; yet the crops in mo?t parts 

 of the Uiiiled States are <iood. They were much 

 injured, however, in those places on my farm, 

 where the soil is mixed with clay, and so stifi'as to 

 be liable to retain the moisture. I planted a large 

 quantity of potatoes, of which only those that 

 were put in as late as ihe end of June, have pro- 

 duced tolerably well. I am notwithstanding, more 

 and n)ore convinced of the prodigious usefulness of 

 tfiis root, and that it is very little, if any thing of 

 an exhauster. 1 have a high opinion also of car- 

 rots. The same unfiivorabieness of the season, 

 has rendered it unimportant to give a detail of my 

 experiments this year in flax, though I had sowed 

 25 biisheis of the seed, in some spots it has yield- 

 ed well ; in otiiers very indifferently, much injured 

 by weeds and lodgits. 



As 10 what you susffest at the close of your let- 

 ter, respecting the publication of extracts from my 

 correspondence, in your Annals, I hardly know 

 what to say. I certainly highly approve the judi- 

 cious execution of your well-conceived project of 

 throwinn; light on a subject, which may be more 

 conducive than almost any other to the happi- 

 ness of mankmd. On the or,e hand, it seems 

 scarcely generous or proper, that any farmer, who 

 receives benefit from the lads contained in such 

 publications, should withhold his mite of inlbrma- 

 tion from the general stock. On the other hand, I 

 am ali'aid it might be imputed to me as a piece of 

 ostentation, if my name should appear in the work. 

 And surely it would not be discreet tor me to run 

 the hazard of incurring this imputation, unless 

 some sood miirhl probably result to society, as 

 some kind of compensation lor it. Of this I am 

 not a judge — I can only say for myself, that I have 

 endeavored, in a state of tranquil retirement, to 

 keep myself as much li^om the eye of the world as 

 I fiossihly could. I have studiously avoided, as 

 much as was in my power, to give any cause lor ill- 

 natured or impertinent comments on my conduct: 



and I should he very unha| py to have any thing 

 done on my behalf (however distant in itself from 

 im|)ropriely, (which should <rive occasion llir one 

 officious tongue to use my name wilh indelicacy. 

 For I wish most devoutly lo glide silently and un- 

 noticeii tinough ihe remainderof life. This is my 

 heart-lelt wish; and these are my undisguised 

 ieeiiiigs. After havitiiT submitted ihem confidon- 

 lially to you, I have such a reliance upon your pru- 

 dence, as to leave ii with you to do what you tliink, 

 upon a full consideration of the matter, shall be 

 wisest and best*. I am, with very great regard 

 and esteem, sir, 

 Your most obedient and oblisred humble servant, 



G. Washington. 

 u'Irthur Young, Esq. 



New York, j^vgust \5lh, 1789. 

 Sir: 



Recollecting ihat in one of your letters tome, 

 you had ref]uested me to send you a sample of ihe 

 wool produced by my sheep, [ directed that a fleece 

 of a middlinix size and quality should be sent to 

 me at this place ; which has been done ; and I now 

 Iraiipmil it lo you by ihe British packet, directed 

 lo the care of Messrs. VVakelin Welch, and Son, 

 in London. 



I am. sir, 



Your most obedient servant, 



G. Washingtoiv. 

 j.-ldhur Young, Esq. 



Philadelphia, August 15, 1791. 

 Sir : 



That I may not be thought inattentive to your fa- 

 vor of the25ih January, which came to my hands 

 about ten days ago only, I avail myself of the first 

 packet since the receipt of it, to inform you that the 

 Annals, and Chicorium inlibus, have got sale to my 

 hands. A set of Ihe Ibrmer \ have presented, in 

 your name, agreeably to your request, to the Agri- 

 cultural Society in this city. For the olher set — 

 lor the seeds — and lor the manuliiclured wool from 

 Uie fleece I sent you — 1 piay you to accept my best 

 thanks. 



Wilh astonishment hardly to be conceived, I 

 read in No. 86 of your Annals, the account of the 

 taxes with which you are burthened. Had the 

 account come from dubitable authority, the reality 

 of such a lax would not only have been question- 

 ed, but absolutely disbelieved; lor I can assureyou, 

 Sir, that there is nothing in this country that has 

 the s-emblance of it. I do not, however, mean to 

 dwell on Ibis, or any olher part of your letter at 

 this time: ihe purpose of my vvritinir to you now, 

 is to acknowledge the receipt of the things you had 

 the goodne&s lo send me ; and to assure you, that 

 wilh great pleasure I will Ibrward. in a short lime, 

 such infbrmat ion with respect to the prices of lands, 

 slock, grain, amount of taxes, &c. &c. as will ena- 

 ble you to Ibrm a pretty accurate idea of the pre- 

 sent state, and future prospects, of this country. 



In the mean while, I believe I may confidently 



* Whatever doubts might have been entertained of 

 the extent of this permission at that time, and of the 

 propriety of printin"; any part of General Washing- 

 ton's letters then, at present, I conceive the above pas- 

 sage is a very fair justification of my presenting the 

 public witfi these valuable letters — A. Y. 



