THE GENESEE FARMER. 



237 



md render the land in fine tilth for future crops. 11 

 rhe grey pea makes "excellent food for hogs, 

 which fatten on them sooner and better than on 

 iny other food." 



Then follows an article on the. "culture of tur- 

 lips, 11 in which it is recommended to dust the 

 ( r oung plants with wood-ashes or soot to keep off 

 ;he fly; it is also recommended to pass a light 

 •oiler over the plants, and thus "crush and kill 

 he flies." Sometimes, it is said, "turnips have 

 )een harrowed in after a crop of peas, without 

 lowing, and have thriven amain." 



We have also in this number, articles on the cul- 

 ure of burnet, which is said to grow like aspara- 

 gus; on cole-seed and on timothy grass, which 

 Lord Manners had just introduced from Virginia. 



JEFFERSON AS A FARMER. 



Capt. Edmund Bacon, a now aged and wealthy 

 iitizen of Kentucky, was for twenty years the 

 ihief overseer of Jefferson's estate at Monticello. 

 Che Rev. Dr. Pierson, President of Cumberland 

 College, Ky., has obtained from Capt. B. much in- 

 brmation in regard to Mr. Jefferson not hitherto 

 nade public. This he has embodied in a book, 

 entitled "Jefferson at Monticello. 11 * It does not 

 liscuss political or religious opinions. Its purpose 

 s simply to describe his home, his personal ap- 

 >eavance, and his business habits— to set the man 

 iilly before the reader, as a farmer, manufacturer 

 md master; as a lover of fine horses, hogs and 

 heep ; as the enthusiastic cultivator of fruits and 

 lowers; as the kind neighbor, the liberal benefac- 

 or of the poor, the participator of the childish 

 ports of his grandchildren, the hospitable enter- 

 riner of swarms of visitors that Avell-nigh ate up 

 lis substance and consumed his life. The work is 

 me of great interest and we are sure a few extracts 

 vill be acceptable to the readers of the Genesee 

 farmer. 



Mr. Jefferson's farm comprised about ten thou- 

 and acres. It was divided into four plantations ; 

 ' Negro Jim " having charge of the negroes on the 

 Monticello portion. Capt. Baoon says : " We used 

 o get up a strife between the different overseers, 

 o see which would make the largest crops, by gi v- 

 ng premiums. The one that delivered the best 

 srop of wheat to the hand, had an extra barrel of 

 lour ; the best crop of tobacco, a fine Sunday suit; 

 he best lot of pork, an extra hundred and fifty 



* Jefferson at Monticello. The Private Life of Thomas 

 rEFEEKSON. From entirely new materials. With numerous fixe 

 imiles. By Kev. Hamilton W. Pierson, President of Columbia 

 College, Ky. New York ; Chaeles Scrib«bb, i§62, 



lbs. of bacon. Negro Jim always had the best 

 pork, so that the other overseers said that it was 

 no use to try any more, as he would get it any 

 way." 



Mr. Jefferson wrote out the minutest directions 

 for his overseer, so that Mr. B. says : "I knew al- 

 ways exactly what to do." We extract a few : 



" A part of this field is to be planted with Quar- 

 antine corn, which will be found in a tin cannister 

 in my closet. This corn is to be drilled 5 feet 

 and the stalks 18 inches asunder in the drills. The 

 rest of the ground is to be sowed in oats, and red 

 clover sowed on the oats. All plowing is to be 

 done horizontally, in the manner Mr. Randolph 

 does his." 



" 180 cords of wood are next to be cut." Min- 

 ute directions are given where to cut it, on some 

 flat lands, which were intended for a timothy 

 meadow. 



" When these things are done, the levelling of the 

 garden is to be resumed." 



" Davy and Abram may patch up the old garden 

 pales, when work is going on from which they can 

 best be spared." 



" The thorn hedges are to be kept clean wed at 

 all times." 



" As soon as the aspen trees lose their leaves, 

 take up one or two hundred of the young trees, 

 not more than two or three feet high ; tie them in 

 bundles, with the roots well covered with straw." 

 They were to be sent to Washington. 



" When the work at the mill is done, and the 

 fence mended up on the top of the mountain, take 

 as much time with your hands as will fill all the 

 gullies in the field north of the overseers home 

 (called Belfield) with bushes, etc., so that they may 

 be filling up by the time we are ready to clear it 

 up. The scalded places should also be covered 

 with bushes." 



" The orchard below the garden must be entirely 

 cultivated the next year ; to wit, a part in Ravens- 

 croft pea, which you will find in a canister in my 

 closet; a part with Irish potatoes, and the rest 

 with cow-pea, of which there is a patch at Mr. 

 Freeman's, to save which, great attention must 

 be paid, as they are the last in the neighborhood." 



This was in 180T. 



Jefferson was very fond of all kinds of good 

 stock. "The first full-blood Merino sheep in all 

 that country," says Capt. B., " were imported by 

 Mr. Jefferson for himself and Mr. Madison, while 

 he was President. They were sent by water to 

 Fredericksburg. Mr. Jefferson wrote me to go 

 with Mr. Madison's overseer, Mr. Graves, and get 



