1S37] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



489 



when one woukl serve. Tliose rliing:5 are only 

 nienlioned to slunv, thnf the uiiinaucer, who takes 

 a coiuprehtMisive view of his business, will throw 

 no liil)or away. 



For these reasons it is, that t have endeavored 

 to <;;ive A geni^ral view orniy-|)lans, as to the bnsi- 

 ness ot" the year, that the concerns of the several 

 plantations may <to on without application daily 

 ibr orders, unless it be in particular cases, or wliere 

 these directions are not clearly understood. 



2. Particular directions for cultivating a farm 

 near Mount Vernon. 



[The dirpctions alluded to . in the precedinir 

 article, for the management of the (arms in the 

 neighborhood of Alount Vernon*, were' fjiven in 

 December, 1799, a few days before Washington's 

 death, and intended for the year 1800. We shall 

 select here the part relating to one farm only 

 (called \ht^. River /'arm,) wliich may serve as a 

 sample of the whole.] 



Crops for the River Farm, and operaiionsthereon} 

 for the year ISOO. 



Field No. 1 — Is now partly in wheat; part is 

 to be sown with oats ; another part niay be sown 

 with peas, broad-cast ; part is in meadow, and 

 will remain so ; the most broken, washed, and in- 

 /JifFerent part is to remain uncultivated, but to be 

 harrowed and smoothed in the spring, and the 

 worst portions (if practicable) to be covered with 

 litter, straw, weeds, or any kind of vegetable rub- 

 bish, to prevent them from runninginto gullies. 



No. 2. — One fdurth is to be in corn, and to be 

 sown with wheat j another fourth in buckwheat 

 and peas, half of it in the one, and half in the 

 other, sown in April, to be ploughed in as green 

 dressing, and by actual experiment to ascertain 

 which is best. The whole of this Iburlh is to be 

 sown with wheat also ; another fourth part is to 

 be naked fallow lor wheat ; and the other and last 

 quarter to be appropriated lor pumpkins, cymlins, 

 turnips, Yateman peas, (in hills,) and such other 

 things of this kind as may be required ; and to' be 

 sown likewise with rye, after they are taken off, 

 for seed. 



No. 3— Is now in wheat, to be harvested in the 

 year 1800 ; the stubble of which, immediately 

 after harvest, is to be ploughed in, and sown thin 

 with rye; and such part* thereof as are low, or 

 produce a luxuriant growth of grain, are to have 

 grass-seeds sprinkled over them. The whole for 

 sheep to run on in the day (but housed at nicht) 

 during the winter and spring months. If it should 

 be Ibuiid expedient, part thereof in the spring 

 miirht be reserved Ibr the purpose of seed. 



No. 4 — Will he in corn, ant! is to be sown in 

 the autumn of that year with wheat, to be har- 

 vested in 1801 ; and to he treated in all respects as 

 has been directed for No. 3, the preceding year. 

 It is to be manured as much as the means will 

 permit, with such aids as can be procured during, 

 the present winter and ensuing sprin-r. 



Nos. 5, 6, 7, and 8 — Are to remain as they are, 

 but nothing suffered to run upon ihem ; as giound 

 will be allotted for the sole purpose of pasturage, 

 and invariably u^^ed as such. 



Clover lots. 



No. 1 — Counting from the spring branch, is to 

 planted in potatoes. 

 Vol. V— 62 



No. 2. — Thai part thereof which is now in tur- 

 nips, is to be sown with oats and clover ; the otiier 

 part, being now in clover, it; to remain so until it 

 comes into potatoes, by relation. 



No. 3 — Is also in clover at present, and is to 

 remain so, as just mentioned, for No. 2. 



No. 4 — Is partly" in clover and partly in timothy, 

 and so to be, until its turn-fbr potatoes. 



The rotation for these lots invariably is to be, 1. 

 potatoes, highly manured ; 2. oats, and clover 

 sown therewith ; 3. clover; 4. clover. Then to 

 liegin again with potatoes, and proceed as before. 

 Tiie present clover lots nmst be plastered. 



All. green sward, rough ground, or that which 

 is hea\'ily covered with weeds, bottle brush grass, 

 and such things as being turned in will fijrment, 

 [)utrefy, and meliorate the soil, should in aututmi 

 be ploughed in, and at such times in winter as can 

 be done while the ground is dry, and in condition 

 lor it. 



Pasture grounds. 



The large lot adjoining the nefrro houses and 

 orchard, is to have oats sown on the potato and 

 pumpkin ground ; with which, and on the rye 

 also io that lot, and on the melon part, orchard- 

 grass seeds are to be sown; and thereafter to be 

 kept as a standing calf-pasture, and for ewe.-? 

 ("which may require extra care) at yeaning, or 

 alter they have yeaned. 



The other large lot, north-east of the barn lane, 

 is to be appropriated always as a pasture for the 

 milch cows ; and probably working oxen during 

 the summer season. 



The woodland, and the old field commonly cal- 

 led Johnston's, are designed for common pasture, 

 and to be so applied always. To' which, if it 

 should be found i»ndequate to the stock of the 

 farm, field No. 8, and the woodland therein, may 

 be added. 



Ifeadows. 



Those already' established and in train must 

 continue, and the next to be added to them is the 

 arms of the creek which runs up to the spring- 

 house, and forks', both prongs of which must be 

 grubbed. up, and wrought upon at every convenient 

 moment when the weather will permit, down to 

 the line of the ditch, which encloses the lots for 

 clover,, &c. 



And as the fields come into cultivation ; or as 

 labor can be spared from other work, and circum- 

 stances will permit, the heads of all the inlets in 

 them must be reclaimed, and laid to grass, whether 

 they be large or small, forasmuch as nothing will 

 run on, or can trespass upon or injure the grass; 

 no fencing being required. 



3Iud for compost. 



The season is now too flir advanced, apd too 

 cold to be engaged in a work, that will expose the 

 hands to wet; but it is of such essential impor- 

 tance, that it should be set about v«eriously and 

 with spirit next year, for the summers sun and 

 the winter's frost, to prepare it for the corn and 

 other crops of 1801, that all the hands of the farm, 

 not in<lispensably engaged in the crops, should, so 

 soon as corn-planting is completed in tne spring, 

 be uninterruptedly employed in raising mud li-oiiri 

 the pocosons, and fronj the bed of the creek, into 



