412 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



utility : — and the more I have seen and reflected 

 on the plan since, the more convinced I am of its 

 im])ortance, ii\ a rational point of ■\iew, not only to 

 Great Britain, but to all other coimtries." 



Under date of July 20th, 1794, he writes to Sin- 

 clair as follows : — "I know of no pursuit in which 

 more real and important service can be rendered to 

 aiiiy country, than by improving its agricultirre — its 

 breeds of useful animals — and other branches of a 

 husbandman's cares ; — nor can I conceive any plan 

 more conducive to this end than the one you liave 

 introduced for bringing into \iew the actual state of 

 them in all parts of the Kingdom ; by which good 

 and bad habits are exhibited in a manner too j^lain 

 to be misconceived, for the accounts given to the 

 British Board appear, in general, to be dra-wn up in 

 a masterly mamier, affording a fund of information 

 useful in political economy — sernceable in all coun- 

 tries." 



Again, under date Dec. 10, 1796, he says : — "A 

 few months more, say the 3d of March next, 

 (1797,) and the scenes of my political Hfe vail 

 close, and leave me in the shades of retii-ement ; 

 when, if a few years are allowed me to enjoy it 

 (many I cannot expect, being upon the verge of 

 sixty-five,) and health is continued to me, I shall 

 pursue Avith pleasure and edification the fruits of 

 the exertions of the British Board for the improve- 

 ment of agriculture ; and shall have leisure, I 

 trust, to reaUze some of the useful discoveries which 

 have been made in the science of husbandry. Un- 

 til the above period shall have arrived, and jiar- 

 ticularly during the present session of Congress, 

 which commenced the 5th instant, I can give but 

 little attention to matters out of the line of my im- 

 mediate avocations. I did not, however, omit the 

 occasion, at the opening of the session, to call the 

 attention of that body to the importance of agricul- 

 ture." 



The following extract from his Speech to Con- 

 gress, Dec. 5, 1796, contains his remarks alluded 

 to above : — 



"It vnll not be doubted that with reference either 

 to individual or national welfare. Agriculture is of 

 primary importance. In proportion as nations ad- 

 vance in population and other circumstances of 

 maturity, this truth becomes more apparent, and 

 renders the cultivation of the soil more and more 

 an object of public patronage. Institutions for 

 promoting it grow up, supported by tlie pubUc 

 jjurse ; and to what object can it be dedicated -vrith 

 greater proj)riety ? Among the means which have 

 been employed to this end, none have been attend 

 ed with greater success than the establishment of 

 Boards, composed of proper characters, charged 

 with collecting and diffusing information, and en- 

 abled by premiums, and small pecuniary aid, to 

 encourage and assist a spirit of discovery and im- 

 provement. This species of establishment contrib- 



utes doubly to the increase of improvement, by 

 stimulating to enterprise and experiment, and by 

 drawing to a common centre the results everywhere 

 of indindual skill and observation, and spreading 

 them thence over the whole nation. Experience 

 accordingly has shown that they are very cheap in- 

 struments of immense national benefits." 



Washuigton often remarks to Sinclair that ag- 

 riculture has ever been his favorite pursuit, regrets 

 that the duties of his pubHc station do not allow 

 him to pay that attention to it that he could wish, 

 and expresses an earnest longing for the time to 

 arrive when he may return to Mount Vernon, and 

 engage in "these most agreeable and useful occu- 

 pations." On retiring from his public office, in the 

 spring of 1797, he returned to his estates on the 

 Potomac, and engaged with renewed pleasure in 

 farming. Writing to Mr. Stickland soon after his 

 retirement to private Hfe, he says : — "At no period 

 have I been more closely employed than now, in 

 repairmg the ravages of an eight years' absence. 

 Engaging workmen of different sorts, pro>'iding 

 and looking after them, together with the necessary 

 attention to my farms, have occupied all my time 

 since I have been at home. For the detailed ac- 

 counts of your observations on the husbandry of 

 these United States, and your reflections thereon, 

 I feel myself much obliged, and shall at all times 

 be thankful for any suggestions on agricultural 

 subjects which you may find leisure and incUnation 

 to flivor me A^ith, as the remainder of my life, 

 M'hich in the common com'se of things, now in my 

 sixty-sixth year, cannot be of long continuance, 

 will be devoted wholly to rural and agricultural 

 pursuits." 



And so for the brief period allotted him after 

 this final retirement, was that life spent. Only four 

 days pre\T[ous to his death, he made out a new and 

 elaborate plan for the management of his farms, re- 

 vising and improving upon such former modes of 

 cultivation as appeared to him to need it, making 

 new tables of rotation and of estimates of labor, 

 products, &c. A sketch of these interesting docu- 

 ments cannot be given in this necessarily limited 

 article. 



I close with the brief expression of a wish that 

 our statesmen might copy largely from the exam- 

 ple of Washington, catcliing something of his 

 earnest solicitude for the advancement of the ag- 

 ricultural interests of the country, and not allomng 

 mere political theories, or considerations of party, 

 to hinder them from efforts to promote those in- 

 terests. F. H. 



Brattlehoro\ July 10, 1855. 



Early Tomatoes.— Mr. George W. White, of 

 North Cambridge, left with us, July 21st, a box of 

 tomatoes, well growTi and fully ripe, which he 

 raised in the open air. He informs us that last 



