OF THE SADDLE AND SIRLOIN CLUB 221 



establishment; and fourth, the prevalence of that pacific and 

 friendly disposition among the people of the United States which 

 will induce them to forget their local prejudices and policies, 

 to make those mutual concessions which are requisite to the 

 general prosperity, and in some instances to sacrifice their indi- 

 vidual advantages to the interest of the community. These are 

 the pillars on which the glorious fabric of our independence 

 and national character must rest." For a period of five years 

 he was able again to pursue his beloved agriculture and enter- 

 tained widely with hunts and explorations. He headed the Vir- 

 ginia delegation to the Constitutional Convention and was unani- 

 mously chosen the first president and as unanimously re-elected. 

 His service in uniting the warring Federalists and Republicans 

 for constructive upbuilding, his two inaugural and his farewell 

 addresses, his neutrality policy in the Franco-British war of the 

 closing century, his recognition of all sections of the country 

 in his appointments to office, and his triumphal visits to the 

 north and south, served to build him an irreplacable affection 

 in the hearts of his countrymen. 



His last public service came when French war threatened, 

 and he was made commander of the American army in 1798 

 with the rank of Lieutenant-General. Fortunately the war was 

 averted. He died December 14, 1799, following a severe expo- 

 sure in a rainstorm while overseeing his estate. 



George Washington may truly be called America's first 

 scientific agriculturist. He maintained an intimate correspond- 

 ence with that noted early English writer on rural affairs, 

 Arthur Young, and in his correspondence evidenced a knowl- 

 edge not only far above the average of the day, but equivalent 

 in its sum total to that of the last mid-century. Before the 

 Revolution he conducted some very interesting experiments on 

 manuring, trying out each spring the rate of growth for his seed 

 of that year in small boxes differently treated. Soil conserva- 



