1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



409 



For the Netr England Farmer. 



WASHINGTON AS AN AGRICULTURIST. 



BY FREDERICK UOLBROOK. 



We might almost say that the wealth of our lan- 

 guage has been exhausted, in the many efforts 

 which have been made delineating those qualities of 

 goodness and greatness wliicli formed the character 

 of Washington ; and yet we all feel that his merits 

 and wtues have not been overstated, that he is the 

 peculiar ornament of human nature, and by univer- 

 sal consent, "the father of his country." He has 

 perhaps been most commonly viewed in the light of 

 his mihtary and ci\-il ser\ices ; but an examination 

 of his habits and sentiments as connected with farm- 

 ing, whether in a public or private character, shows 

 him in quite another light, and in this view we feel 

 that he is entitled to the peculiar regard of the ag- 

 ricultural commmiity. 



A friend recently sent me a volume of Washing- 

 ton's letters to Sir John Smclaii-, of England, — the 

 perusal of which led me to realize more fully than 

 ever before the great predilections of their illustri- 

 ous author for the pursuits of agriculture, and his 

 practical acquaintance with its principles ; and in- 

 duced me to examine other publications witliin 

 reach, which disclose his coimection with the sub- 

 ject. The volume of letters to Sinclair contains 

 about fifty pages in quarto or letter-sheet form, the 

 contents bemg engraved from the original letters, 

 so as to be an exact fac simile of Wasliington's 

 hand^rating. They represent* very round, full and 

 legible hand, read with entire ease at first sight. 

 The letters are models of a good epistolary style of 

 composition, expressing the views of the author 

 with eminent propriety, discrimination and sound 

 sense, and disclosing an intimate knowledge of the 

 subjects cUscussed. They are particularly honora- 

 ble to the author, as commg from him while chief 

 magistrate of the United States, at a time when 

 everj-tlaing connected with the administration of the 

 government was new and mitricd, and to be wrought 

 out and estabhshed without tlie aid of precedent, 

 making his public labors most aixluous and inces- 

 sant ; and when most other public men would have 

 found no time for such a corrc^jjondencc, or would 

 perhaps have deemed the subjects discussed be- 

 neath their notice. 



When Washington assumed command of the ar- 

 my, he committed the care of his estixtes to a rela- 

 tive in whom he reposed special confidence. He 

 gave full and minute directions for the conduct of 

 the farming, taking away A\ith him drawings and 

 charts of each farm and subdivided field, and leav- 

 ing duplicates with his superintendent, so that in fu- 

 ture correspondence particular references might be 

 made to any portions of the estates, and be readily 

 understood by both parties. In the midst of the 

 most stirring and eventful scenes of the war, his 

 mind constaaitly reverted to liis flu-ms at Momit Ver- 



non ; and he kept up a frequent and systematic cor- 

 respondence with his superintendent, giving the 

 most particular directions about the farming, and 

 requiring, in return, full and regular reports of op- 

 erations, of the condition of the laborers and the 

 stock, the products raised, expenses incurred, and 

 other matters of mterest. 



At the close of the war, and immediately on re- 

 signing his commission in the army, he returned to 

 Mount Vernon, with the detei'mination to pass the 

 remainder of fife in rural occupations and enjoy- 

 ments. He at once engaged most zealously in the 

 improvement of his farming and his breeds of do- 

 mestic animals ; in fitting up the form-buildings ; 

 adorning the grounds ai'ound the mansion-house 

 with trees and skrubs, and by lajing out tasteful 

 walks ; arranging anew the vegetable garden ; 

 pruning and training the orchards with his own 

 hands ; replenishing the orchards, gardens and 

 green-houses with new and rare varieties of trees, 

 vegetables, slirubs, and flowering pkuits, jirocured 

 in this and foreign coimtries. Through his corres- 

 pondents in Great Britain, he obtained skilful gar- 

 deners and farmers to assist him ; also through those 

 correspondents came new and desirable field and 

 other seeds, fann implements and tools for conduct- 

 ing his operations — the country being then too 

 young to furnish such helps ; also, from the same 

 source, the works of the best British writers on ag- 

 riculture, which he attentively studied, drawing 

 from them such principles as could be advanta- 

 geously applied in his farming, and which Iiis emi- 

 nently sagacious mind knew how to draw out and 

 reduce to practice. It Avas his habit to rise early, 

 despatch necessaiy letters before breakflist, and 

 that meal finished, to momit liis horse and ride over 

 the farms, giving directions for the operations of 

 the day. He kept a diary for several years, in 

 which was noted the kind and quantity of work 

 done each day on the farms ; the times of planting 

 or sowing the fields ; of gathering the crops ; the 

 expenses of cultivating, and the product of each 

 crop, with the balance for or against each field in a 

 given year ; and every other circumstance which 

 would enable him to draw useful conclusions about 

 the details of cultivation and to enlarge his knowl- 

 edge of farmmg by experience. He engaged in cor- 

 respondence upon agricultural tojiics with men in 

 tliis country and Great Britain, distinguished by 

 their knowledge of such matters, as well as enter- 

 tained many such at liis house ; and his thoughts 

 never flowed more enthusiastically, nor his pen more 

 forcibly and practically, than when writing on these 

 subjects, spealdng of his fondness for agricultural 

 pursuits, and of their claims not only upon the in- 

 telligent citizen, but upon the statesman and patriot. 



In these, to him, dehghtful occupations, lie fondly 

 hoped to pass the remnant of his life. Writing to 

 Lafayette during tliis period, he remarks : — "I am be- 



jl 



