98 



THE farmers' cabinet. 



VOL. 1. 



in the manager, as it is benefical and desira- [ 

 ble to the employer ; and, on a farm, it shows 

 itself in nothings more evidently, or morees-j 

 sentially, than in not suffering the provender 

 to he wasted, but, on the contrary, in taking 

 care, that every atom of it be used to the best 

 advantage; and likewise, in not permitting 

 the ploughs, harness, and other implements 

 of husbandry, and the gears belonging to 

 them, to be unnecessarily exposed, trodden- 

 \inder foot, run over by carts, and abused in 

 other respects. More good is derived from 

 attending to the minutize of a farm, than j 

 strikes people at first view ; and examining, 

 the farm-yards, fences, and looking into the i 

 fields to see that nothing is there but what j 

 is allowed to be there, is oftentimes the means 

 of producing more good, or at least of avoid- 

 ing more evil, than can be accomplished by 

 riding from one working part}^ or one over- 

 seer to another. I have mentioned these 

 things not only because they have occurred 

 to me, but because, although apparently 

 trifles, they prove far otherwise in the result. 

 To request that my people may be at their 

 ■work as soon as it is light, work till it is 

 dark, and be diligent while they are at it, 

 can hardly be necessary, because the pro- 

 priety of it must strike every manager, who 

 attends to my interest, or regards his own 

 character, and who, on reflecting, must be 

 convinced that lost labor is never to be re- 

 gained. The presumption is, that every 

 laborer does as much in tvi'enty-four hours, 

 as his strength, without endangering his 

 health or constitution, will allow. But there 

 is much more in what is called head work, 

 that is, in the manner of conducting business, 

 than is generally imagined. For take two 

 managers, and give to each the same number 

 of laborers, and let the laborers be equal in 

 all respects. Let both these managers rise 

 equally early, go equally late to rest, be 

 equally active, sober, and industrious, and 

 yet, in the course of the year, one of them, 

 without pushing the hands under him more 

 than the other.shall have performed infinitely 

 more work. To what is this owing? Why, 

 simply to contrivance, resulting from that 

 forethought and arrangement, which will 

 ^uard against the misapplication of labor, 

 ■and doing it unseasonably. In ploughing, 

 for instance, though the field first intended 

 for It, or in which the ploughs may actually 

 have been at work, should, from its situation, 

 be rendered unfit (by rain or other cause) to 

 be worked, and other spots, even though the 

 call for them may not be so urgent, can be 

 ploughed, 'this business ought to go on, be- 

 cause the general operation is promoted by 

 it. So with respect to other things, and par- 

 ticularly carting, where nothing is more com- 

 mon, than, when loadB are to go to a place, 



and others to be brought from it, though not 

 equally necessary at the same moment, to 

 make two trips, when one would serve. Thes« 

 things are only mentioned to show, that the 

 manager, who takes a comprehensive view 

 of his business, will throw no labor away. 



For these reasons it is, that I have endea*- 

 voured to give a general view of my plans, a» 

 to the business of the year, that the concerns 

 of the several plantations may go on without 

 application daily for orders, unless it be in 

 particular cases, or where these directionR 

 are not clearly understood. 



2. Particular directions for cultiva- 



1 TING a farm near MOUNT VERNON. 



I [The directions alludrd to in the preceding ar- 

 ticle, for the management of the farms in the 

 neighborhood of Mount Vernon, were given in 

 December, 1799, a few days before Washing- 



I ton's death, and intended for the year 1800. 



I We shall select here the part relating to one faim 

 only (called the liiver Farm,) which may serve 

 as a sample of the whole.] 



Crops for the River Farm, and Operations 

 thereon, for the year 1800. 



Field No. 1, — Is now partly in wheat; 

 part is to be sown with oats ; another part 

 may be sown with peas, broad cast ; part is in 

 meadow, and will remam so; the most bro- 

 ken, washed, and indifferent part is to re- 

 main uncultivated, but to be harrowed and 

 smoothed in the spring, and the worst por- 

 tions (if practicable) to be covered with lit- 

 ter, straw, weeds, or any kind of vegetable 

 rubbish, to prevent them from running into 

 gullies. 



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

 to be sown with wheat ; 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 fourth is to be sown with 

 wheat also ; another fourth part is to be na- 

 ked fallow for wheat ; and the other and last 

 quarter to be appropriated for pumpkins, 

 cymlins, turneps, 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 offi for seed. 



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

 in the year 1800 ; the stubble of which, im- 

 mediately after harvest, is to be ploughed 

 in and sown thin with rye ; and such parts 

 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 tlie day (but housed at night) 

 during the winter and spring months. If it 

 should be found expedient, part thereof in 

 the spring might be reserved for the purpose 

 of seed. 



