146 OLD-FASHIONED GARDENING 
which he loved so well, riding about inspecting the 
farms, directing, planning; walking down the south 
driveway to turn in at the gate of his vegetable gar¬ 
den perhaps, for a look at the grapes; lingering and 
loitering along the path at the bottom of the terrace 
until he reaches the summer-house, then sitting here 
for a bit, out of the sun; or strolling in the warm early 
twilight or under the big, round, white southern moon, 
among the beds of pensive box, happy in this happy 
creation of his brain and tireless energy and industry, 
he is as virile a model of America’s best as at any time 
and circumstance of his life. And surely a model 
nearer to the life of us of to-day; and more precious 
to the rank and file to-day, for that nearness. 
Unlike Mount Vernon, Monticello was not in ex¬ 
istence when its master was born. Washington in¬ 
herited his father’s farm, with the limitations which 
previous use and development always impose. But 
young Tom Jefferson struck out for himself from the 
beginning; and although Monticello—the “little moun¬ 
tain”—was one of the hills of Shadwell, his father’s 
estate, nothing was done to it until he chose it as the 
site of his own home. 
About the time that he began his activities in the 
world at large, he also began a Garden Book in which 
he set down everything; all that he observed anywhere, 
