1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



855 



own knowieilire : and believe what is given from 

 infnrni!\iioii, as it will be handed with caution. 



Mr. Le;ir has been inakiiiir arranijr<Miieiits fi)r 

 f'oriuiiiir an extensive commercial establishment at 

 the Federal City, on the river Potomac: and now 

 goes to Europe, lor the purpose ol' taking measures, 

 there, to carry iiis plan into efiect. I persiuide my- 

 sellj that any information you can <xive him res- 

 j)eciing the nianullictures ol" Great Britain, will be 

 graiel'ully received : and, as I l\ave a particular 

 i'riendshiplbr him, I shall consider any civilities 

 shown him by you, as a mark of your pohteness 

 to, 



Sir, 

 Your most obedient, 

 ■ And very humble servant, 



G. W ASIlITfGTON, 



jfrthur Young, Esq. 



Philadelphia, December 1--, 1793, 



Sir: 



1 wrote to you llin^e months ago, or more, by' 

 my late secreiary and iHend, Mr. Lear; but as his 

 departure from this country for Great Britain, was 

 delayed longer than he or I expected, it ii3 at least 

 probable that thai letter will not have reached 

 your hands at a much earlier period than the one 

 I am now wriiintr. 



At the time it was written, the thouiTJits which 

 I am now about to disclose to you, were not even 

 in eudiryo : and whether, in the opinion of others, 

 the-e be in'.pro[)riety, or not, in communicating the 

 object which has given birth to them, is not lor 

 ni^. to decide. My own mind reproaches me with 

 none; but if yours should view the suliject different- 

 ly, burn this letier. and the draught whii-h accom- 

 panies it*, and the whole matter will be consigned 

 to oblivion. 



All my landed property, east of the Apalachian 

 mountains, is under rent, except the estate called 

 Mount Vernon. This, hitherto, I have kept in 

 my own hands: but It'om my present situation, 

 from my advanced time of lilii, from a wish to live 

 fw.e from care, and as much at my ease as possi- 

 ble, during the remainder of it, and from other 

 causes, which are not n<5cessary to detail, 1 have, 

 latterly, entertained serious thoughts of letting 

 ihis estate also, reservincr the mansion-house flirm 

 for my own residence, occupation, and amusement 

 in agriculture; provided I can obtain what is, in my 

 own judnfment, and in the opinion of others whom 

 I have consulted, the low rent which I shall men- 

 tion hereaner;and provided also lean settle it 

 with good farmers. 



The quantity of ploughable land (inclndmg 

 meadow,; the relative situation of the farms to 

 one another, and the division of these farms into 

 separate inclosures, with the quantity and situa- 

 tion of the woodland appertaining to the tract, 

 will be better delineated bv the sketch herewith 

 sent (which is made from actual survpvs, subject, 

 nevertheless, to revision and correction), than by 

 a volume of words. 



No estate in united America, is more pleasant- 

 ly situated than this. It lies in a hisrh, dry and 

 healthy country, 300 miles by water fi-om the sea, 

 and, as you will see by the plan, on one of the 

 finest rivers in the world. Its margin is washed 



*A map of the general's farm. 



by more tiian ten miles of tide-water; from the 

 bed of which, and the innumerable coves, inlets, 

 and small marslu^s, with which U abounds, an in- 

 exhaustible Haul of rich mud may be drawn, as a 

 mamjre, either to be used separately, or in a com- 

 post, according to the judgment of the farmer 

 It is situated in a latitude between the extremes of 

 heat and cold, and is the same distance by land 

 and water, with good ronds, and the best naviga- 

 tion (to and) liom the Federal City, Alexandria, 

 and George-Town; distant from the first, twelve, 

 liom the second, nine, and from the last, sixteen 

 miles. The Federal. Gity*, in the year 1800, will 

 become the seat of the general government of the 

 United States. It is increasing fast in buildings, 

 and rising into consequence; and will Ifiave no 

 doubt, from the advantages given to it by nature, 

 and its proximity to a rich inferior country, and the 

 western territor^v, become the emporium of tl.e 

 United States. 



The soil of the tract ol" which I am speaking, 

 is a good loam, more inclined, however, to clay 

 ihiuisand. From use, and I might add, abuse, it 

 is l)ecome more .and more coiisoiidated, and of 

 course heavier to work. Tlie greater part is a 

 greyish clay ; some part is a dark mould ; a very 

 little is inclined tosand ; and scarcely any to stone. 

 A husbandman's wish would not lay the farms 

 more level than they are: and yet some ol" the 

 fields (but in no ffreat degree) are washed into 

 gullies, Irom u^hicli all of them have not as yet 

 been recovered. 



This river, which encompasses the land the 

 distance above-mentioned, is well supplied with 

 various kinds of fish, at all seasons of the year ; 

 and, in the spring, with the greatest prolusion of 

 shad, herrin£ts, bass, carp, perch, sturgeon, &c. 

 Several valuable fisheries appertain to the estate j 

 the whole shore, in short, is one entire fishery. 



There are, as you will perceive by the plan, 

 four farms besiiies that at the mansion-house: 

 these four contain 3260 acres of cultivable land, 

 to which some hundreds more, adjoining, as may 

 be soen, miffht be added, if a greater quantity 

 should be required ; but as they v/ere never de- 

 signed for, so neither can it be said they are cal- 

 culated to suit, tenants of either the first, or of the 

 lower class; because, those who have the strenuth 

 und resources proportioned to farms of from 500 

 to 1200 acres (which these contain), would hard- 

 ly be contented to live in such houses as are there- 

 on : and if they were to be divided and subdivided 

 so as to accomodnfe tenants of small means, say 

 from 50 to one or 200 acres there would be none, 

 except on the lots which might hapf)en to include 

 the jiresetit dwellinir-bouses of my overlookers, 

 (called bailiff's with you), barns, and neo-ro cabins: 

 i nor would I choose to have the woud-land (already 

 too much pillaaed of its timber) ransacked, l()r 

 the purpose of building many more. The soil, 

 however, is excellent fjr bricks, or for mud walls; 

 and to the buildings 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 

 miijht incline to encounter the expense), are able 

 to furnish scantlinG', plank, and shinrrles, to any 

 amount, and on reasonable terms , and they af- 



*Thf sreneral favored me also with a large and 



beautiful plun of this intended city. 



