file which includes the original illustrations4 ,see #aaheh-;h4htm or #aaheh-;h4zip3 7http3_/_/www4ibiblio4org_/gutenberg_/#a _/a_/h_/e_/aaheh_/aaheh-;h_/#aaheh-;h4ht m7 or 7http3_/_/www4ibiblio4org_/gutenberg_/#a _/a_/h_/e_/aaheh_/aaheh-;h4zip7 ,,george ,,washington3 ,,farmer ,,being ,,an ,,account ,,of ,,his ,,home ,,life ,,and ,,agricultural ,,activities ,by ,,paul ,,leland ,,haworth ,author of ,,the ,,path ,,of ,,glory1 ,,reconstruction ,,and ,,union1 ,,america ,,in ,,ferment1 ,,etc4 ,,with ,,many ,,illustrations1 ,,facsimilies ,,of ,,private ,,papers1 ,,and ,a ,,map ,,of ,,washington',s ,,estate ,,drawn ,,by ,,himself #aiae ,illustration3 ,by permission of the ,mount ,vernon ,ladies' ,association ,mount ,vernon ,stable ,built in #agcc ,showing also the ,powell ,coach ,the aim of the farmers in this country 7if they can be called farmers7 is1 not to make the most they can from the land1 which is or has been cheap1 but the most of the labour1 which is dear2 the consequence of which has been1 much ground has been scratched over and none cultivated or improved as it ought to have been3 whereas a farmer in ,england1 where land is dear1 and labour cheap1 finds it his interest to improve and cultivate highly1 that he may reap large crops from a small quantity of ground4 ,washington to ,arthur ,young1 ,december #e1 #agia4 ,,preface ,the story of ,george ,washington's public career has been many times told in books of varying worth1 but there is one important aspect of his private life that has never received the attention it deserves4 ,the present book is an attempt to supply this deficiency4 ,i desire to acknowledge gratefully the assistance ,i have received from ,messrs4 ,gaillard ,hunt and ,john ,c4 ,fitzpatrick of the ,library of ,congress1 ,mr4 ,hubert ,b4 ,fuller lately of ,washington and now of ,cleveland1 ,colonel ,harrison ,h4 ,dodge and other officials of the ,mount ,vernon ,association1 and from the work of ,paul ,leicester ,ford1 ,worthington ,c4 ,ford and ,john ,m4 ,toner4 ,above all1 in common with my countrymen1 ,i am indebted to heroic ,ann ,pamelia ,cunningham1 to whose devoted labor1 despite ill health and manifold discouragements1 the preservation of ,mount ,vernon is due4 ,to her we should be grateful for a shrine that has not its counterpart in the world--a holy place that no man can visit without experiencing an uplift of heart and soul that makes him a better ,american4 ,,paul ,,leland ,,haworth4 ,,contents ,,chapter ,i ,a ,,man ,,in ,,love ,,with ,,the ,,soil4 ,,ii ,,building ,,an ,,estate4 ,,iii ,,virginia ,,agriculture ,,in ,,washington',s ,,day4 ,,iv ,,washington',s ,,problem4 ,v ,,the ,,student ,,of ,,agriculture4 ,,vi ,a ,,farmer',s ,,records ,,and ,,other ,,papers4 ,,vii ,,agricultural ,,operations ,,and ,,experiments ,,before ,,the ,,revolution4 ,,viii ,,conserving ,,the ,,soil4 ,,ix ,,the ,,stockman4 ,x ,,the ,,horticulturist ,,and ,,landscape ,,gardener4 ,,xi ,,white ,,servants ,,and ,,overseers4 ,,xii ,,black ,,slaves4 ,,xiii ,,the ,,farmer',s ,,wife4 ,,xiv ,a ,,farmer',s ,,amusements4 ,,xv ,a ,,critical ,,visitor ,,at ,,mount ,,vernon4 ,,xvi ,,profit ,,and ,,loss4 ,,xvii ,,odds ,,and ,,ends4 ,,xviii ,,the ,,vale ,,of ,,sunset4 ,,index4 ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,mount ,vernon ,stable1 ,built in #agcc1 ,showing also the ,powell ,coach4 ,mount ,vernon1 ,showing ,kitchen to the ,left and ,covered ,way ,leading to ,it4 ,the ,washington ,family4 ,driveway from the ,lodge ,gate4 ,the ,porter's ,lodge4 ,one of the ,artificial ,mounds4 ,the ,tree ,upon ,it ,was ,set ,out by ,mrs4 ,grover ,cleveland4 ,the ,seed ,house4 ,beyond ,lay the ,vegetable ,garden4 ,the ,mount ,vernon ,kitchen 7restored74 ,map of ,mount ,vernon ,drawn by ,washington and ,sent by ,him to ,arthur ,young in #agic4 ,gully on a ,field of ,union ,farm1 ,showing ,susceptibility to ,erosion4 ,looking ,across ,part of ,dogue ,run ,farm to ,woodlawn1 the ,home of ,nelly ,custis ,lewis4 ,first ,page of ,washington's ,digest of ,duhamel's ,husbandry4 ,dogue ,run ,below the ,site of the ,mill4 ,on the ,road to the ,mill and ,pohick ,church4 ,part of ,washington's ,plan for ,his ,sixteen-,sided ,barn4 ,bill of ,lading for ,royal ,gift4 ,experimental ,plot1 with ,servants' ,quarters 7restored7 in ,background4 ,west ,front of ,mansion ,house1 ,showing ,bowling ,green and ,part of ,serpentine ,drive4 ,first ,page of the ,diary for #agfj4 ,part of a ,manager's ,weekly ,report4 ,the ,butler's ,house and ,magnolia ,set ,out by ,washington the ,year of ,his ,death4 ,spinning ,house--,last ,building to the ,right4 ,weekly ,report on the ,work of the ,spinners4 ,the ,flower ,garden4 ,a ,page from a ,cash ,memorandum ,book4 ,one of ,washington's ,tavern ,bills4 ,,chapter ,i ,a ,,man ,,in ,,love ,,with ,,the ,,soil ,one ,december day in the year #aghh a ,virginia gentleman sat before his desk in his mansion beside the ,potomac writing a letter4 ,he was a man of fifty-six1 evidently tall and of strong figure1 but with shoulders a trifle stooped1 enormously large hands and feet1 sparse grayish-chestnut hair1 a countenance somewhat marred by lines of care and marks of smallpox1 withal benevolent and honest-looking--the kind of man to whom one could intrust the inheritance of a child with the certainty that it would be carefully administered and scrupulously accounted for to the very last sixpence4 ,the letter was addressed to an ,englishman1 by name ,arthur ,young1 the foremost scientific farmer of his day1 editor of the ,annals of ,agriculture1 author of many books1 of which the best remembered is his ,travels in ,france on the eve of the ,french ,revolution1 which is still read by every student of that stirring era4 ,the more ,i am acquainted with agricultural affairs1 such were the words that flowed from the writer's pen1 the better ,i am pleased with them2 insomuch1 that ,i can no where find so great satisfaction as in those innocent and useful pursuits4 ,in indulging these feelings ,i am led to reflect how much more delightful to an undebauched mind is the task of making improvements on the earth than all the vain glory which can be acquired from ravaging it1 by the most uninterrupted career of conquests4 ,thus wrote ,george ,washington in the fulness of years1 honors and experience4 ,surely in this age of crimson mists we can echo his correspondent that it was a noble sentiment1 which does honor to the heart of this truly great man4 ,happy ,america to have had such a philosopher as a father6 ,i think with you that the life of a husbandman is the most delectable1 he wrote on another occasion to the same friend4 ,it is honorable1 it is amusing1 and1 with judicious management1 it is profitable4 ,to see plants rise from the earth and flourish by the superior skill and bounty of the laborer fills a contemplative mind with ideas which are more easy to be conceived than expressed4 ,the earliest ,washington arms had blazoned upon it #c ,cinque foiles1 which was the herald's way of saying that the bearer owned land and was a farmer4 ,when ,washington made a book-plate he added to the old design spears of wheat to indicate what he once called the most favorite amusement of my life4 ,evidently he had no fear of being-called a clodhopper or a hayseed6 ,nor was his enthusiasm for agriculture the evanescent enthusiasm of the man who in middle age buys a farm as a plaything and tries for the first time the costly experiment of cultivating the soil4 ,he was born on a plantation1 was brought up in the country and until manhood he had never even seen a town of five thousand people4 ,first he was a surveyor1 and so careful and painstaking was he that his work still stands the test4 ,later he became a soldier1 and there is evidence to show that at first he enjoyed the life and for a time had military ambitions4 ,when ,braddock's expedition was preparing he chafed at the prospect of inaction and welcomed the offer to join the general's staff1 but the bitter experiences of the next few years1 when he had charge of the herculean task of protecting the settlers upon the cold and ,barren ,frontiers 444 from the cruel ,incursions of a crafty ,savage ,enemy1 destroyed his illusions about war4 ,after the capture of ,fort ,duquesne had freed ,virginia from danger he resigned his commission1 married and made a home4 ,soon after he wrote to an ,english kinsman who had invited him to visit ,london3 ,i am now ,i believe fixed at this seat with an agreeable ,consort for ,life4 ,and hope to find more happiness in retirement than ,i ever experienced amidst a wide bustling world4 ,thereafter he quitted the quiet life always with reluctance4 ,amid long and trying years he constantly looked forward to the day when he could lay down his burden and retire to the peace and freedom of ,mount ,vernon1 there to take up again the task of farming4 ,as ,commander-in-,chief of the ,armies of the ,revolution and as first ,president of the ,republic he gave the best that was in him--and it was always good enough--but more from a sense of duty than because of any real enthusiasm for the rle of either soldier or statesman4 ,we can well believe that it was with heartfelt satisfaction that soon after independence was at last assured he wrote to his old comrade-in-arms the ,marquis de ,chastellux3 ,i am at length become a private citizen on the banks of the ,potomac1 where under my own vine and fig-tree free from the bustle of a camp and the intrigues of a court1 ,i shall view the busy world with calm indifference1 and with serenity of mind1 which the soldier in pursuit of glory1 and the statesman of a name1 have not leisure to enjoy4 ,years before as a boy he had copied into a wonderful copy-book that is still preserved in the ,library of ,congress some verses that set forth pretty accurately his ideal of life--an ideal influenced1 may we not believe1 in those impressionable years by these very lines4 ,these are the verses--one can not call them poetry--just as ,i copied them after the clear boyish hand from the time-yellowed page3 ,,true ,,happiness ,these are the things1 which once possess'd ,will make a life that's truly bless'd ,a good ,estate on healthy ,soil1 ,not ,got by ,vice nor yet by toil2 ,round a warm ,fire1 a pleasant ,joke1 ,with ,chimney ever free from ,smoke3 ,a strength entire1 a ,sparkling ,bowl1 ,a quiet ,wife1 a quiet ,soul1 ,a ,mind1 as well as body1 whole ,prudent ,simplicity1 constant ,friend1 ,a ,diet which no art ,commends2 ,a ,merry ,night without much ,drinking ,a happy ,thought without much ,thinking2 ,each ,night by ,quiet ,sleep made ,short ,a ,will to be but what thou art3 ,possess'd of these1 all else defy ,and neither wish nor fear to ,die ,these are things1 which once ,possess'd ,will make a life that's truly bless'd4 ,george ,washington did not affect the rle of a ,cincinnatus2 he took it in all sincerity and simpleness of heart because he loved it4 ,nor was he the type of farmer--of whom we have too many--content to vegetate like a lower organism1 making scarcely more mental effort than one of his own potatoes1 parsnips or pumpkins4 ,as the pages that follow will reveal1 he was one of the first ,american experimental agriculturists1 always alert for better methods1 willing to take any amount of pains to find the best fertilizer1 the best way to avoid plant diseases1 the best methods of cultivation1 and he once declared that he had little patience with those content to tread the ruts their fathers trod4 ,if he were alive to-day1 we may be sure that he would be an active worker in farmers' institutes1 an eager visitor to agricultural colleges1 a reader of scientific reports and an enthusiastic promoter of anything tending to better ,american farming and farm life4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,building ,,an ,,estate ,augustine ,washington was a planter who owned thousands of acres of land1 most of it unimproved1 besides an interest in some small iron works1 but he had been twice married and at his death left two broods of children to be provided for4 ,george1 a younger son--which implied a great deal in those days of entail and primogeniture--received the farm on the ,rappahannock on which his father lived1 amounting to two hundred and eighty acres1 a share of the land lying on ,deep ,run1 three lots in ,frederick1 a few negro slaves and a quarter of the residuary estate4 ,he was also given a reversionary interest in ,mount ,vernon1 bequeathed to his half-brother ,lawrence4 ,the total value of his inheritance was small1 and1 as ,virginia landed fortunes went1 he was left poorly provided for4 ,much of ,washington's youth was spent with ,lawrence at ,mount ,vernon1 and as an aside it may be remarked here that the main moulding influence in his life was probably cast by this high-minded brother1 who was a soldier and man of the world4 ,by the time he was sixteen the boy was on the frontier helping ,lord ,thomas ,fairfax to survey the princely domain that belonged to his lordship1 and received in payment therefor sometimes as much as a doubloon a day4 ,in #agdh he patented five hundred fifty acres of wild land in ,frederick ,county1 ,my ,bullskin ,plantation he usually called it1 payment being made by surveying4 ,in #agej he had funds sufficient to buy four hundred fifty-six acres of land of one ,james ,mc,cracken1 paying therefor one hundred twelve pounds4 ,two years later for one hundred fifteen pounds he bought five hundred fifty-two acres on the south fork of ,bullskin ,creek from ,captain ,george ,johnston4 ,in #ageg he acquired from a certain ,darrell five hundred acres on ,dogue ,run near ,mount ,vernon1 paying three hundred fifty pounds4 ,it is evident1 therefore1 that very early he acquired the land hunger to which most of the ,virginians of his day were subject1 as a heritage from their ,english ancestry4 ,in the ,england of that day1 in fact1 no one except a churchman could hope to attain much of a position in the world unless he was the owner of land1 and until the passage of the great ,reform ,bill in #ahcb he could not even vote unless he held land worth forty shillings a year4 ,in ,virginia likewise it was the landholder who enjoyed distinction and consideration1 who was sent to the ,house of ,burgesses and was bowed and scraped to as his coach bumped along over the miserable roads4 ,the movement to cities did not begin until after the ,industrial ,revolution1 and people still held the healthy notion that the country was the proper place in which to live a normal human existence4 ,in #ageb ,lawrence ,washington died4 ,as already stated1 he was the proprietor by inheritance of ,mount ,vernon1 then an estate of two thousand five hundred acres which had been in the ,washington family since #afgd1 being a grant from ,lord ,culpeper4 ,lawrence had fought against the ,spaniards in the conflict sometimes known as the war of ,jenkins's ,ear1 and in the disastrous siege of ,cartagena had served under ,admiral ,vernon1 after whom he later named his estate4 ,he married ,anne ,fairfax1 daughter of ,sir ,william ,fairfax1 and for her built on his estate a new residence1 containing eight rooms1 four to each floor1 with a large chimney at each end4 ,illustration3 ,mount ,vernon1 ,showing ,kitchen to the ,left and ,covered ,way ,leading to ,it ,illustration3 ,from a painting by ,t4,p4 ,rossiter and ,l4,r4 ,mignot ,the ,washington ,family ,lawrence ,washington was the father of four children1 but only an infant daughter1 ,sarah1 survived him1 and she died soon after him4 ,by the terms of his father's and ,lawrence's wills ,george ,washington1 after the death of this child1 became the ultimate inheritor of the ,mount ,vernon estate1 but1 contrary to the common idea1 ,anne ,fairfax ,washington1 who soon married ,george ,lee1 retained a life interest4 ,on ,december #ag1 #aged1 however1 the ,lees executed a deed granting said life interest to ,george ,washington in consideration of an annual payment during ,anne ,lee's lifetime of fifteen thousand pounds of tobacco or the equivalent in current money#a4 ,mrs4 ,lee died in #agfa and thereafter ,washington owned the estate absolutely4 ,that it was by no means so valuable at that time as its size would indicate is shown by the smallness of the1 rent he paid1 never more than four hundred sixty-five dollars a year4 ,many eighty-acre farms rent for that much to-day and even for more4 #a ,from entries in ,washington's account book we know that this equivalent in #agee was #ic4ae2 during each of the next four years it was #hg4aj1 and for #agfj it was #ha4e4 ,up to #agei ,washington was so constantly engaged in fighting the ,french and ,indians that he had little time and opportunity to look after his private affairs and in consequence they suffered4 ,in #ageg he wrote from the ,shenandoah ,valley to an ,english agent that he should have some tobacco to sell1 but could not say whether he did have or not4 ,his pay hardly sufficed for his personal expenses and on the disastrous ,fort ,necessity and ,braddock campaigns he lost his horses and baggage4 ,owing to his absence from home1 his affairs fell into great disorder from which they were extricated by a fortunate stroke4 ,this stroke consisted in his marriage to ,martha ,custis1 relict of the wealthy ,daniel ,parke ,custis4 ,the story of his wooing the young widow has been often told with many variations and fanciful embellishments1 but of a few facts we are certain4 ,from a worldly point of view ,mrs4 ,custis was the most desirable woman in all ,virginia1 and the young officer1 though not as yet a victor in many battles1 had fought gallantly1 possessed the confidence of the ,colony and formed a shining exception to most of the tidewater aristocracy who continued to hunt the fox and guzzle ,madeira while a cruel foe was harrying the western border4 ,matters moved forward with the rapidity traditional in similar cases and in about three weeks and before the ,colonel left to join ,forbes in the final expedition against ,fort ,duquesne the little widow had been wooed and won4 ,after his return from that expedition ,washington resigned his commission and on the #fth of ,january1 #agei1 they were married at her ,white ,house on ,york ,river and spent their honeymoon at her ,six ,chimney ,house in ,williamsburg4 ,the young groom and farmer--as he would now have styled himself--was at this time not quite twenty-seven years old1 six feet two inches high1 straight as an ,indian and weighed about one hundred and seventy-five pounds4 ,his bones and joints were large1 as were his hands and feet4 ,he was wide-shouldered but somewhat flat-chested1 neat-waisted but broad across the hips1 with long arms and legs4 ,his skin was rather pale and colorless and easily burned by the sun1 and his hair1 a chestnut brown1 he usually wore in a queue4 ,his mouth was large and generally firmly closed and the teeth were already somewhat defective4 ,his countenance as a whole was pleasing1 benevolent and commanding1 and in conversation he looked one full in the face and was deliberate1 deferential and engaging4 ,his voice was agreeable rather than strong4 ,his demeanor at all times was composed and dignified1 his movements and gestures graceful1 his walk majestic and he was a superb horseman#b4 #b ,adapted from a description written by his comrade-in-arms1 ,george ,mercer4 ,the bride brought her husband a little progeny consisting of two interesting stepchildren2 also property worth about a hundred thousand dollars1 including many negro slaves1 money on bond and stock in the ,bank of ,england4 ,soon we find him sending certificates of the marriage to the ,english agents of the ,custis estate and announcing to them that the management of the whole would be in his hands4 ,the dower negroes were kept separate from those owned by himself1 but otherwise he seems to have made little distinction between his own and ,mrs4 ,washington's property1 which was now1 in fact1 by ,virginia law his own4 ,when ,martha wanted money she applied to him for it4 ,now and then in his cash memorandum books we come upon such entries as1 ,by ,cash to ,mrs4 ,washington for ,pocket ,money #d4 ,as a rule1 if there were any purchases to be made1 she let ,george do it and1 if we may judge from the long list of tabby colored velvet gowns1 silk hose1 satin shoes1 ,fashionable ,summer ,cloaks ,hatts1 and similar articles ordered from the ,english agents she had no reason to complain that her husband was niggardly or a poor provider4 ,if her ,old ,man--for she sometimes called him that--failed in anything she desired1 tradition says that the little lady was in the habit of taking hold of a button of his coat and hanging on until he had promised to comply4 ,he managed the property of the two children with great care and fidelity1 keeping a scrupulous account in a marble colour'd folio ,book of every penny received or expended in their behalf and making a yearly report to the general court of his stewardship4 ,how minute this account was is indicated by an entry in his cash memorandum book for ,august #ba1 #aggb3 ,charge ,miss ,custis with a hair ,pin mended by ,c4 ,turner one shilling4 ,her death 7of ,fitts7 in #aggc added about ten thousand pounds to ,mrs4 ,washington's property1 which meant to his own4 ,there can be no question that the fortune he acquired by the ,custis alliance proved of great advantage to him in his future career1 for it helped to make him independent as regards money considerations4 ,he might never have become the ,father of ,his ,country without it4 ,some of his contemporaries1 including jealous-hearted ,john ,adams1 seem to have realized this1 and tradition says that old ,david ,burnes1 the crusty ,scotsman who owned part of the land on which the ,federal ,city was laid out1 once ventured to growl to the ,president3 ,now what would ye ha' been had ye not married the widow ,custis8 ,but this was a narrow view of the matter1 for ,washington was known throughout the ,colonies before he married the ,custis pounds sterling and was a man of too much natural ability not to have made a mark in later life1 though possibly not so high a one4 ,besides1 as will be explained in detail later1 much of the ,custis money was lost during the ,revolution as a result of the depreciation in the currency4 ,following his marriage ,washington added largely to his estate1 both in the neighborhood of ,mount ,vernon and elsewhere4 ,in #agei he bought of his friend ,bryan ,fairfax two hundred and seventy-five acres on ,difficult ,run1 and about the same time from his neighbor1 the celebrated ,george ,mason of ,gunston ,hall1 he acquired one hundred acres next that already bought of ,darrell4 ,negotiations entered into with a certain ,clifton for the purchase of a tract of one thousand eight hundred six acres called ,brents was productive of much annoyance4 ,clifton agreed in ,february1 #agfj1 to sell the ground for one thousand one hundred fifty pounds1 but later1 under pretence of his wife not consenting to acknowledge her right of dower wanted to disengage himself 444 and by his shuffling behavior convinced me of his being the trifling body represented4 ,washington heard presently that ,clifton had sold the land to another man for one thousand two hundred pounds1 which fully unravelled his conduct 444 and convinced me that he was nothing less than a thorough paced rascal4 ,ultimately ,washington acquired ,brents1 but had to pay one thousand two hundred ten pounds for it4 ,during the next few years he acquired other tracts1 notably the ,posey plantation just below ,mount ,vernon and later often called by him the ,ferry ,farm4 ,with it he acquired a ferry to the ,maryland shore and a fishery1 both of which industries he continued4 ,by #agga he paid quit rents upon an estate of five thousand five hundred eighteen acres in ,fairfax ,county2 on two thousand four hundred ninety-eight acres in ,frederick ,county2 on one thousand two hundred fifty acres in ,king ,george2 on two hundred forty in ,hampshire2 on two hundred seventy-five in ,loudoun2 on two thousand six hundred eighty-two in ,loudoun ,faquier--in all1 twelve thousand four hundred sixty-three acres4 ,the quit rent was two shillings and sixpence per hundred acres and amounted to #ae4aa4g4 ,in addition to these lands in the settled parts of ,virginia he also had claims to vast tracts in the unsettled ,west4 ,for services in the ,french and ,indian ,war he was given twenty thousand acres of wild land beyond the mountains--a cheap mode of reward1 for the ,ohio region was to all intents and purposes more remote than ,yukon is to-day4 ,many of his fellow soldiers held their grants so lightly that he was able to buy their claims for almost a song4 ,the feeling that such grants were comparatively worthless was increased by the fact that to become effective they must be located and surveyed1 while doubt existed as to whether they would be respected owing to conflicting claims1 jurisdictions and proclamations4 ,illustration3 ,the ,porter's ,lodge ,illustration3 ,driveway from the ,lodge ,gate ,washington1 however1 had seen the land and knew it was good and he had prophetic faith in the future of the ,west4 ,he employed his old comrade ,captain ,william ,crawford to locate and survey likely tracts not only in what is now ,west ,virginia and western ,pennsylvania1 but beyond the ,ohio ,river4 ,settlement in the latter region had been forbidden by the ,king's proclamation of #agfc1 but ,washington thought that this was merely a temporary measure designed to quiet the ,indians and was anxious to have picked out in advance some of the most valuable land in the ,king's part4 ,in other words he desired ,crawford to act the part of a ,sooner1 in the language of more than a century later4 ,in this period a number of companies were scrambling for western lands1 and ,washington1 at one time or another1 had an interest in what was known as the ,walpole ,grant1 the ,mississippi ,company1 the ,military ,company of ,adventurers and the ,dismal ,swamp ,company4 ,this last company1 however1 was interested in redeeming lands about ,dismal ,swamp in eastern ,virginia and it was the only one that succeeded4 ,in #agii he estimated the value of his share in that company at twenty thousand dollars4 ,washington took the lead in securing the rights of his old soldiers in the ,french ,war1 advancing money to pay expenses in behalf of the common cause and using his influence in the proper quarters4 ,in ,august1 #aggj1 he met many of his former officers at ,captain ,weedon's in ,fredericksburg1 and after they had dined and had talked over old times1 they discussed the subject of their claims until sunset1 and it was decided that ,washington should personally make a long and dangerous trip to the western region4 ,in ,october he set out with his old friend ,doctor ,james ,craik and three servants1 including the ubiquitous ,billy ,lee1 and on the way increased the party4 ,they followed the old ,braddock ,road to ,pittsburgh1 then a village of about twenty log cabins1 visiting en route some tracts of land that ,crawford had selected4 ,at ,pittsburgh they obtained a large dugout1 and with ,crawford1 two ,indians and several borderers1 floated down the ,ohio1 picking out and marking rich bottom lands and having great sport hunting and fishing4 ,the region in which they traveled was then little known and was unsettled by white men4 ,daniel ,boone had made his first hunting trip into the dark and bloody ground of ,kaintuckee only the year before1 and scattered along the banks of the ,ohio stood the wigwam villages of the aboriginal lords of the land4 ,at one such village ,washington met a chief who had accompanied him on his memorable winter journey in #agec to warn out the ,french1 and elsewhere talked with ,indians who had shot at him in the battle of the ,monongahela and now expressed a belief that he must be invulnerable4 ,at the ,mingo ,town they saw a war party of three score painted ,iroquois on their way to fight the far distant ,catawbas4 ,between the ,indians and the white men peace nominally reigned1 but rumors were flying of impending uprisings1 and the ,red ,man's smouldering hate was soon to burst into the flame known as ,lord ,dunmore's ,war4 ,once the party was alarmed by a report that the ,indians had killed two white men1 but they breathed easier on learning that the sole basis of the story was that a trader had tried to swim his horse across the ,ohio and had been drowned4 ,in spite of uncertainties1 the voyagers continued to the ,great ,kanawha and paddled about fourteen miles up that stream4 ,near its mouth ,washington located two large tracts for himself and military comrades and after interesting hunting experiences and inspecting some enormous sycamores--concerning which matters more hereafter--the party turned back1 and ,washington reached home after an absence of nine weeks4 ,two of ,washington's western tracts are of special interest4 ,one had been selected by ,crawford in #agfg and was a fine piece of land on a stream called ,chartiers ,creek in the present ,washington ,county1 southwest of ,pittsburgh4 ,crawford surveyed the tract and marked it by blazed trees1 built four cabins and cleared a patch of ground1 as an improvement1 about each4 ,later ,washington1 casting round for some one from whom to obtain a military title with which to cover the tract1 bought out the claim of his financially embarrassed old neighbor ,captain ,john ,posey to three thousand acres1 paying #aa4aa4c1 or about two cents per acre4 ,crawford1 now a deputy surveyor of the region1 soon after resurveyed two thousand eight hundred thirteen acres and forwarded the return to ,washington1 with the result that in #aggd ,governor ,dunmore of ,virginia granted a patent for the land4 ,in the meantime1 however1 six squatters built a cabin upon the tract and cleared two or three acres1 but ,crawford paid them five pounds for their improvements and induced them to move on4 ,to keep off other interlopers he placed a man on the land1 but in #aggc a party of rambunctious ,scotch-,irishmen appeared on the scene1 drove the keeper away1 built a cabin so close in front of his door that he could not get back in1 and continued to hold the land until after the ,revolution4 ,by that time ,crawford himself was dead--having suffered the most terrible of all deaths--that of an ,indian captive burnt at the stake4 ,the other tract whose history it is worth our while to follow consisted of twelve hundred acres on the ,youghiogheny ,river1 likewise not far from ,pittsburgh4 ,it bore seams of coal1 which ,washington examined in #aggj and thought to be of the very best kind1 burning freely and abundance of it4 ,in the spring of #aggc he sent out a certain ,gilbert ,simpson1 with whom he had formed a sort of partnership1 to look after this land1 and each furnished some laborers1 ,washington a fellow and a wench4 ,simpson managed to clear some ground and get in six acres of corn1 but his wife disliked life on the borderland and made him so uncomfortable with her complaints that he decided to throw up the venture4 ,however1 he changed his mind1 and after a trip back ,east returned and1 on a site noticed by the owner on his visit1 built a grist mill on a small stream now called ,washington's ,run that empties into the ,youghiogheny4 ,this was one of the first mills erected west of the ,alleghany ,mountains and is still standing1 though more or less rebuilt4 ,the millstones were dug out of quarries in the neighborhood and the work of building the mill was done amid considerable danger from the ,indians1 who had begun what is known as ,dunmore's ,war4 ,simpson's cabin and the slave quarters stood near what is now ,plant ,no4 #b of the ,washington ,coal and ,coke ,company4 ,the tract of land contains valuable seams of coal and with some contiguous territory is valued at upward of twenty million dollars4 ,washington had large ideas for the development of these western lands4 ,at one time he considered attempting to import ,palatine ,germans to settle there1 but after careful investigation decided that the plan was impracticable4 ,in #aggd he bought four men convicts1 four indented servants1 and a man and his wife for four years and sent them and some carpenters out to help ,simpson build the mill and otherwise improve the lands4 ,next year he sent out another party1 but ,indian troubles and later the ,revolution united with the natural difficulties of the country to put a stop to progress4 ,some of the servants were sold and others ran away1 but ,simpson stayed on in charge1 though without making any financial settlement with his patron till #aghd4 ,at the close of the ,revolution ,washington wrote to ,president ,john ,witherspoon of ,princeton ,college that he had in the western country patents under signature of ,lord ,dunmore for about #cj1jjj acres1 and surveys for about #aj1jjj more1 patents for which were suspended by the disputes with ,great ,britain1 which soon followed the return of the warrants to the land office4 ,ten thousand acres of the above thirty lie upon the ,ohio2 the rest on the ,great ,kenhawa1 a river nearly as large1 and quite as easy in its navigation1 as the former1 ,the whole of it is rich bottom land1 beautifully situated on these rivers1 and abounding plenteously in fish1 wild-fowl1 and game of all kinds4 ,he could have obtained vast land grants for his ,revolutionary services1 but he stuck by his announced intention of receiving only compensation for his expenses4 ,he continued1 however1 to be greatly interested in the western country and was one of the first ,americans to foresee the importance of that region to the young ,republic1 predicting that it would become populated more rapidly than any one could believe and faster than any similar region ever had been settled4 ,he was extremely anxious to develop better methods of communication with the ,west and in #aghc made a trip up the ,mohawk ,river to the famous ,oneida or ,great ,carrying ,place to view the possibilities of waterway development in that region--the future course of the ,erie ,canal4 ,soon after he wrote to his friend the ,chevalier de ,chastellux3 ,i could not help taking a more extensive view of the vast inland navigation of these ,united ,states and could not but be struck by the immense extent and importance of it1 and of the goodness of that ,providence which has dealt its favors to us with so profuse a hand4 ,would to ,god we may have wisdom enough to improve them4 ,i shall not rest contented till ,i have explored the ,western ,country1 and traversed those lines or great part of them1 which have given bounds to a new empire4 ,in partnership with ,george ,clinton he bought1 in #aghd1 a tract of six thousand acres on the ,mohawk1 paying for his share1 including interest1 one thousand eight hundred seventy-five pounds4 ,in #agic he sold two-thirds of his half for three thousand four hundred pounds and in his will valued the thousand acres that remained at six thousand dollars4 ,this was a speculation pure and simple1 as he was never in the region in which the land lay but once4 ,on ,december #bc1 #aghc1 in an ever memorable scene1 ,washington resigned his commission as ,commander of the ,continental ,army and rode off from ,annapolis to ,mount ,vernon to keep ,christmas there for the first time since #aggd4 ,the next eight months he was busily engaged in making repairs and improvements about his home estate1 but on ,september first1 having two days before said good-by to ,lafayette1 who had been visiting him1 he set off on horseback to inspect his western lands and to obtain information requisite to a scheme he had for improving the ,inland ,navigation of the ,potomac and connecting its head waters by canal with those of the ,ohio4 ,the first object was rendered imperative by the settlement of squatters on part of his richest land1 some of which was even being offered for sale by unscrupulous land agents4 ,with him went again his old friend ,doctor ,craik4 ,their equipage consisted of three servants and six horses1 three of which last carried the baggage1 including a marquee1 some camp utensils1 a few medicines1 hooks and lines1 ,madeira1 port wine and cherry bounce4 ,stopping at night and for meals at taverns or the homes of relatives or friends1 they passed up the picturesque ,potomac ,valley1 meeting many friends along the way1 among them the celebrated ,general ,daniel ,morgan1 with whom ,washington talked over the waterways project4 ,at ,happy ,retreat1 the home of ,charles ,washington in the fertile ,shenandoah ,valley1 beyond the ,blue ,ridge1 ,washington met and transacted business with tenants who lived on his lands in that region4 ,on ,september fifth he reached ,bath1 the present ,berkeley ,springs1 where he owned two thousand acres of land and two lots4 ,here fifteen years before he had come with his family in the hope that the water would benefit poor ,patey ,custis1 and here he met the ingenious ,mr4 ,rumney who showed him the model of a boat to be propelled by steam4 ,at ,bath the party was joined by ,doctor ,craik's son ,william and by the ,general's nephew1 ,bushrod ,washington4 ,twelve miles to the west ,washington turned aside from the main party to visit a tract of two hundred forty acres that he owned on the ,virginia side of the ,potomac4 ,he found it exceedingly ,rich1 must be very valuable--the lower end of the ,land is rich white oak in places springey 444 the upper part is 444 covered with ,walnut of considerable size many of them4 ,he got a snack at the home of a ,mr4 ,mc,cracken and left with that gentleman the terms upon which he would let the land1 then rode onward and rejoined the others4 ,the cavalcade passed on to ,fort ,cumberland4 ,there ,washington left the main party to follow with the baggage and hurried on ahead along ,braddock's old road in order to fill an appointment to be at ,gilbert ,simpson's by the fifteenth4 ,passing through the dark tangle of ,laurel known as the ,shades of ,death1 he came on ,september twelfth to the opening among the mountains--the ,great ,meadows--where in #aged in his rude little fort of logs1 aptly named ,fort ,necessity1 he had fought the ,french and had been conquered by them4 ,he owned the spot now1 for in #aggj ,crawford had bought it for him for #cj ,pistols#c1 ,thirty years before1 as an enthusiastic youth1 he had called it a charming field for an encounter2 now he spoke of it as capable of being turned to great advantage 444 a very good stand for a ,tavern--much ,hay may be cut here ,when the ground is laid down in grass the upland1 ,east of the ,meadow1 is good for grain4 #c ,doubtless he meant pistoles1 coins1 not weapons4 ,not a word about the spot's old associations6 ,the same day he pushed on through the mountains1 meeting numbers of ,persons ,pack horses going in with ,ginseng2 for ,salt other articles at the ,markets below1 and near nightfall reached on the ,youghiogheny ,river the tract on which ,gilbert ,simpson1 his agent1 lived4 ,he found the land poorer than he had expected and the buildings that had been erected indifferent1 while the mill was in such bad condition that little ,rent1 or good is to be expected from the present aspect of her1 ,he was1 in fact1 unable to find a renter for the mill and let the land1 twelve hundred acres1 now worth millions1 for only five hundred bushels of wheat6 ,the land had cost him far more than he had received from it4 ,simpson had not proved a man of much energy and even had he been otherwise conditions in the region would have prevented him from accomplishing much in a financial way1 for there was little or no market for farm produce near at hand and the cost of transportation over the mountains was prohibitive4 ,during the ,revolution1 however1 ,simpson had in some way or other got hold of some paper currency and a few months before had turned over the worthless bills to ,washington4 ,a century later the package was sold at auction1 and the band1 which was still unbroken1 bore upon it in ,washington's hand3 ,given by ,gilbt4 ,simpson1 #ai ,june1 #aghd4 ,at ,simpson's ,washington was met by a delegation from the squatters on his holdings on ,miller's ,run or ,chartiers ,creek1 and after much conversation attempts in them to discover all the flaws they could in my ,deed c4 they announced that they would give a definite answer as to what they would do when ,washington reached the land in dispute4 ,he drew near the neighborhood on the following ,saturday1 but the next day ,being ,sunday1 and the ,people living on my ,land1 apparently very religious1 it was thought best to postpone going among them till to-morrow4 ,on ,monday1 in company with several persons including the high sheriff1 ,captain ,van ,swearingen1 or ,indian ,van1 captain of one of the companies in ,morgan's famous rifle corps1 he proceeded to the land and found that1 of two thousand eight hundred thirteen acres1 three hundred sixty-three were under cultivation and forty more were in meadow4 ,on the land stood twelve cabins and nine barns claimed by fourteen different persons1 most or all of whom were doughty ,scotch-,irishmen4 ,washington was humane enough to see that they had something to urge in their behalf and offered to sell them the whole tract at twenty-five shillings an acre1 or to take them as tenants1 but they stubbornly refused his offers and after much wrangling announced their intention to stand suit4 ,ejectment proceedings were accordingly brought by ,washington's attorney1 ,thomas ,smith of ,carlisle4 ,the case was tried in #aghf before the ,supreme ,court of ,pennsylvania and resulted in ,washington's favor4 ,in #agif ,washington sold the tract to a certain ,matthew ,richey for twelve thousand dollars1 of which three thousand one hundred eighty dollars was to be paid in cash and the rest in three annual instalments4 ,richey died in #agih1 and ,washington's heirs had difficulties in their attempts to collect the remainder4 ,leaving these legal matters to be disposed of by lawyers1 ,washington turned back without visiting his ,kanawha or ,ohio lands1 and on ,october fourth reached ,mount ,vernon1 having traveled on horseback about six hundred eighty miles4 ,one result of his trip was the formation of the ,potomac ,company1 but this is a subject that lies without the scope of this book4 ,illustration3 ,the ,seed ,house1 ,beyond ,lay the ,vegetable ,garden ,illustration3 ,one of the ,artificial ,mounds4 ,the ,tree upon ,it was ,set out by ,mrs4 ,grover ,cleveland4 ,from that time onward he bought occasional tracts of lands in various parts of the country or acquired them in discharge of debts4 ,by the death of his mother he acquired her land on ,accokeek ,creek in ,stafford ,county1 near where his father had operated an iron furnace4 ,washington's landed estate as listed in his will amounted to about sixty thousand two hundred two acres1 besides lots in ,washington1 ,alexandria1 ,winchester1 ,bath1 ,manchester1 ,edinburgh and ,richmond4 ,nine thousand two hundred twenty-seven acres1 including ,mount ,vernon and a tract on ,four ,mile ,run1 he specifically bequeathed to individuals1 as he did some of the lots4 ,the remaining lots and fifty thousand nine hundred seventy-five acres 7some of which land was already conditionally sold7 he directed to be disposed of1 together with his live stock1 government bonds and shares held by him in the ,potomac ,company1 the ,dismal ,swamp ,company1 the ,james ,river ,company and the banks of ,columbia and ,alexandria--the whole value of which he conservatively estimated at five hundred and thirty thousand dollars4 ,the value of the property he specifically bequeathed1 with his slaves1 which he directed should be freed1 can only be guessed at1 but can hardly have been short of two hundred and twenty thousand dollars more4 ,in other words1 he died possessed of property worth three-quarters of a million and was the richest man in ,america4 ,not all of the land that he listed in his will proved of benefit to his heirs4 ,the title to three thousand fifty-one acres lying on the ,little ,miami ,river in what is now ,ohio and valued by him at fifteen thousand two hundred fifty-five dollars proved defective4 ,in #agij a law1 signed by himself1 had passed ,congress requiring the recording of such locations with the federal ,secretary of ,state4 ,washington's locations and surveys of this ,ohio land had already been recorded in the ,virginia land office1 and with a carelessness unusual in him he neglected to comply with the statute4 ,after his death certain persons took advantage of the defect and seized the lands1 and his executors failed to embrace another opportunity given them to perfect the title1 with the result that the lands were lost4 ,the matter rested until a few years ago when some descendants of the heirs set their heads together and one of them1 ,robert ,e4 ,lee1 ,jr41 procured his appointment in #aijg by the court of ,fairfax ,county as administrator de bonis non of ,washington's estate4 ,it was1 of course1 impossible to regain the lands--which lie not far from ,cincinnati and are worth vast sums--so the movers in the matter had recourse to that last resort of such claimants--,congress--and1 with the modesty usually shown by claimants1 asked that body to reimburse the heirs in the sum of three hundred and five thousand one hundred dollars--that is1 one hundred dollars per acre--with interest from the date of petition4 ,thus far ,congress has not seen fit to comply1 nor does there seem to be any good reason why it should do so4 ,the land cost ,washington a mere bagatelle1 it was lost through the neglect of himself and his executors1 and not one of the persons who would benefit by such a subsidy from the public funds is his lineal descendant4 ,as a mere matter of public policy and common sense it may well be doubted whether any claim upon government1 no matter how just in itself1 should be reimbursed beyond the third generation4 ,the heirs urge in extenuation of the claim that ,washington refused to accept any compensation for his ,revolutionary services1 but it is answered that it is hardly seemly for his grand nephews and grand nieces many times removed to beg for something that the ,father of ,his ,country himself rejected4 ,one wonders whether the claimants would dare to press their claims in the presence of their great ,kinsman himself6 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,virginia ,,agriculture ,,in ,,washington',s ,,day ,the ,virginia of ,george ,washington's youth and early manhood was an imperial domain reaching from ,atlantic tidewater through a thousand leagues of forests1 prairies and mountains west and northwest to the ,south ,sea4 ,only a narrow fringe along the eastern coast was settled by white men2 the remainder was a terra incognita into which ,knights of the ,golden ,horseshoe and ,indian traders had penetrated a short distance1 bringing back stories of endless stretches of wolf-haunted woodland1 of shaggy-fronted wild oxen1 of saline swamps in which reposed the whitened bones of prehistoric monsters1 of fierce savage tribes whose boast was of the number of scalps that swung in the smoke of their wigwams4 ,even as late as #agej the fertile ,shenandoah ,valley beyond the ,blue ,ridge formed the extreme frontier1 while in general the fall line1 where the drop from the foothills to the coastal plain stops navigation1 marked the limit of settlement4 ,at the time that ,washington began to farm in earnest eastern ,virginia had1 however1 been settled for one hundred fifty-two years4 ,yet the population was almost wholly rural4 ,williamsburg1 the capital1 was hardly more than a country village1 and ,norfolk1 the metropolis1 probably did not contain more than five thousand inhabitants4 ,the population generally was so scattered that1 as has been remarked1 a man could not see his neighbor without a telescope or be heard by him without firing a gun4 ,a large part of the settled land was divided up into great estates1 though there were many small farms4 ,some of these estates had been acquired for little or nothing by ,cavalier favorites of the colonial governors4 ,a few were perfectly enormous in size1 and this was particularly the rule on the ,northern ,neck1 the region in which ,mount ,vernon was situated4 ,the holding of ,lord ,thomas ,fairfax1 the early friend and patron of ,washington1 embraced more than a score of modern counties and contained upward of five million acres4 ,the grant had been made by ,fairfax's grandfather1 ,lord ,culpeper1 the coproprietor and ,governor of ,virginia4 ,the ,virginia plantation of #agfj was much more sufficient unto itself than was the same plantation of the next century when methods of communication had improved1 articles from the outside world were easier to obtain1 and invention was beginning to become the mother of necessity4 ,many of the large plantations1 in fact1 bore no small resemblance to medieval manors4 ,there was the planter himself residing with his family in the mansion1 which corresponded to the manor house1 and lording it over a crowd of white and black dependents1 corresponding to serfs4 ,the servants1 both white and black1 dwelt somewhat apart in the quarters1 rude log huts for the most part1 but probably as comfortable as those of the ,saxon churls of the time of the ,plantagenets4 ,the planter's ownership over the persons of his dependents was1 however1 much more absolute than was that of the ,norman lord1 for on the manors the serfs could not be sold off the land1 a restriction that did not apply in ,virginia either to black slaves or indentured servants4 ,on the manor1 furthermore1 the serf had his own bits of ground1 for which he paid rent in kind1 money or service1 and the holdings passed from father to son2 on the plantation the slave worked under an overseer on his master's crops only and had nothing that he could call his own--not even his wife or children4 ,in the matter of the organization of industries there was a closer resemblance4 ,the planter generally raised the staple articles of food for his family and slaves1 as did the lord1 and a large proportion of the other articles used or consumed were manufactured on the place4 ,a son of ,george ,mason1 ,washington's close friend and neighbor1 has left us the following description of industry at ,gunston ,hall3 ,my father had among his slaves carpenters1 coopers1 sawyers1 blacksmiths1 tanners1 curriers1 shoemakers1 spinners1 weavers1 and knitters1 and even a distiller4 ,his woods furnished timber and plank for the carpenters and coopers1 and charcoal for the blacksmith2 his cattle killed for his own consumption and for sale1 supplied skins for the tanners1 curriers1 and shoemakers2 and his sheep gave wool and his fields produced cotton and flax for the weavers and spinners1 and his own orchards fruit for the distillers4 ,his carpenters and sawyers built and kept in repair all the dwelling-houses1 barns1 stables1 ploughs1 harrows1 gates1 etc41 on the plantations1 and the outhouses of the house4 ,his coopers made the hogsheads the tobacco was prized in1 and the tight casks to hold the cider and other liquors4 ,the tanners and curriers1 with the proper vats1 etc41 tanned and dressed the skins as well for upper as for lower leather to the full amount of the consumption of the estate1 and the shoemakers made them into shoes for the negroes4 ,a professed shoemaker was hired for three or four months in the year to come and make up the shoes for the white part of the family4 ,the blacksmiths did all the iron work required by the establishment1 as making and repairing ploughs1 harrows1 teeth1 chains1 bolts1 etc4 ,the spinners1 weavers1 and knitters made all the coarse cloths and stockings used by the negroes1 and some of fine texture worn by the white family1 nearly all worn by the children of it4 ,the distiller made every fall a good deal of apple1 peach1 and persimmon brandy4 ,the art of distilling from grain was not then among us1 and but few public distilleries4 ,all these operations were carried on at the home house1 and their results distributed as occasion required to the different plantations4 ,moreover1 all the beeves and hogs for consumption or sale were driven up and slaughtered there at the proper seasons1 and whatever was to be preserved was salted and packed away for distribution4 ,nevertheless the plantation drew upon the outside world for many articles1 especially luxuries1 and the owner had to find the wherewithal to make payment4 ,the almost universal answer to this problem was--tobacco4 ,it was not an ideal answer1 and historians have scolded the departed planters vigorously for doing the sum in that way1 yet the planters were victims of circumstances4 ,they had no gold or silver mines from which to draw bullion that could be coined into cash2 the fur trade was of little importance compared with that farther north2 the ,europe of that day raised sufficient meat and grain for its own use1 and besides these articles were bulky and costly to transport4 ,but ,europe did have a strong craving for the weed and1 almost of necessity1 ,virginians set themselves to satisfying it4 ,they could hardly be expected to do otherwise when a pound of tobacco would often bring in ,england more than a bushel of wheat1 while it cost only a sixtieth part as much to send it thither4 ,it is estimated that prior to the ,revolution ,virginia often sent out annually as much as ninety-six thousand hogsheads of tobacco4 ,tobacco took the place of money1 and debts1 taxes and even ministers' salaries were paid in it4 ,the disadvantages of tobacco culture are well known4 ,of all crops it is perhaps the most exhausting to the soil1 nor was a large part of ,virginia particularly fertile to begin with4 ,much land was speedily ruined1 but nothing was so cheap and plentiful in that day as land1 so the planter light-heartedly cleared more and let the old revert to the wilderness4 ,any one who travels through the long settled parts of ,virginia to-day will see many such old fields upon which large forest trees are now growing and can find there1 if he will search closely enough1 signs of the old tobacco ridges4 ,only heroic measures and the expenditure of large sums for fertilizer could make such worn-out land again productive4 ,washington himself described the character of the agriculture in words that can not be improved upon3 ,a piece of land is cut down1 and left under constant cultivation1 first in tobacco1 and then in ,indian corn 7two very exhausting plants71 until it will yield scarcely anything2 a second piece is cleared1 and treated in the same manner2 then a third and so on1 until probably there is but little more to clear4 ,when this happens1 the owner finds himself reduced to the choice of one of three things--either to recover the land which he has ruined1 to accomplish which1 he has perhaps neither the skill1 the industry1 nor the means2 or to retire beyond the mountains2 or to substitute quantity for quality in order to raise something4 ,the latter has been generally adopted1 and1 with the assistance of horses1 he scratches over much ground1 and seeds it1 to very little purpose4 ,the tobacco industry was not only ruinous to the soil1 but it was badly organized from a financial standpoint4 ,three courses were open to the planter who had tobacco4 ,he might sell it to some local mercantile house1 but these were not numerous nor as a rule conveniently situated to the general run of planters4 ,he might deposit it in a tobacco warehouse1 receiving in return a receipt1 which he could sell if he saw fit and could find a purchaser4 ,or he could send his tobacco direct to an ,english agent to be sold4 ,if a great planter and particularly if situated upon navigable water1 this last was the course he was apt to follow4 ,he would have his own wharf to which once or twice a year a ship would come bringing the supplies he had ordered months before and taking away the great staple4 ,if brought from a distance1 the tobacco was rarely hauled to the wharf in wagons--the roads were too wretched for that--instead it was packed in a great cylindrical hogshead through which an iron or wooden axle was put4 ,horses or oxen were then hitched to the axle and the hogshead was rolled to its destination4 ,by the ship that took away his tobacco the planter sent to the ,english factor a list of the goods he would require for the next year4 ,it was an unsatisfactory way of doing business1 for time and distance conspired to put the planter at the factor's mercy4 ,the planter was not only unlikely to obtain a fair price for his product1 but he had to pay excessive prices for poor goods and besides could never be certain that his order would be properly filled4 ,washington's experiences with his ,english agents were probably fairly typical4 ,near the close of #agei he complained that ,thomas ,knox of ,bristol had failed to send him various things ordered1 such as half a dozen scythes and stones1 curry combs and brushes1 weeding and grubbing hoes1 and axes1 and that now he must buy them in ,america at exorbitant prices4 ,not long afterward he wrote again3 ,i have received my goods from the ,recovery1 and cant help again complaining of the little care taken in the purchase3 ,besides leaving out half and the most material half too6 of the ,articles ,i sent for1 ,i find the ,sein is without ,leads1 corks and ,ropes which renders it useless--the crate of stone ware don't contain a third of the ,pieces ,i am charged with1 and only two things broken1 and everything very high ,charged4 ,in ,september of the same year he ordered1 among other things1 busts of ,alexander the ,great1 ,julius ,caesar1 ,charles ,,xii of ,sweden1 ,frederick the ,great1 ,prince ,eugene and the ,duke of ,marlborough2 also of two wild beasts4 ,the order was filled by sending him a group showing ,aeneas bearing his father from ,troy1 two groups with two statues of ,bacchus and ,flora1 two ornamental vases and two ,lyons4 ,it is needless for me to particularise the sorts1 quality1 or taste ,i woud choose to have them in unless it is observd1 he wrote a year later to ,robert ,gary ,company of ,london apropos of some articles with which he was dissatisfied1 and you may believe me when ,i tell you that instead of getting things good and fashionable in their several kind1 we often have articles sent us that coud only have been used by our ,forefathers in the days of yore--',tis a custom1 ,i have some reason to believe1 with many ,shop keepers1 and ,tradesmen in ,london when they know ,goods are bespoke for ,transportation to palm sometimes old1 and sometimes very slight and indifferent goods upon us taking care at the same time to advance #aj1 #ae1 or perhaps #bj pr4 ,ct4 upon them4 ,to his ,london shoemaker he wrote1 ,november #cj1 #agei1 that the last two pairs of dog leather pumps scarce lasted twice as many days4 ,to his tailor he complained on another occasion of exorbitant prices4 ,i shall only refer you generally to the ,bills you have sent me1 particularly for a ,pompadour ,suit forwarded last ,july amounting to #af4c4f without embroidery1 ,lace or ,binding--not a close fine cloth neither--and only a gold ,button that woud not stand the least ,wear4 ,another time he mentions that his clothes fit poorly1 which is not strange considering that measurements had to be sent three thousand miles and there1 was no opportunity to try the garments on with a view to alterations4 ,we may safely conclude1 therefore1 that however elegant ,virginia society of that day may have been in other respects1 it was not distinguished for well fitting clothes6 ,most ,virginia planters got in debt to their agents1 and ,washington was no exception to the rule4 ,when his agents1 ,robert ,gary ,company1 called his attention to the fact1 he wrote them1 that they seemed in a bit of a hurry considering the extent of past dealings with each other4 ,mischance rather than ,misconduct hath been the cause of it1 he asserted1 explaining that he had made large purchases of land1 that crops had been poor for three seasons and prices bad4 ,he preferred to let the debt stand1 but if the agents insisted upon payment now he would find means to discharge the obligation4 ,not all planters could speak so confidently of their ability to find means to discharge a debt1 for the truth is that the profits of tobacco culture were by no means so large as has often been supposed4 ,a recent writer speaks of huge incomes of twenty thousand to eighty thousand pounds a year and asserts that the ordinary planter could count on an income of from #c1jjj to #f1jjj4 ,the first figures are altogether fabulous1 paper profits of the same sort that can be obtained by calculating profits upon the geometrical increase of geese as illustrated in a well known story4 ,even the last mentioned sums were realized only under the most favorable conditions and by a few planters4 ,much of the time the price of the staple was low and the costs of transportation and insurance1 especially in time of war1 were considerable4 ,washington himself had a consignment of tobacco captured by the ,french4 ,the planters were by no means so prosperous as is often supposed and neither was their life so splendid as has often been pictured4 ,writers seem to have entered into a sort of conspiracy to mislead us concerning it4 ,the tendency is one to which ,southern writers are particularly prone in all that concerns their section4 ,if they speak of a lawyer1 he is always a profound student of the law2 of a soldier1 he is the bravest tenderest knight that ever trod shoe leather2 of a lady1 she is the most beautiful that ever graced a drawing-room4 ,the old ,virginia life had its color and charm1 though its color and charm lay in large part in things concerning which the writers have little or nothing to say4 ,it is true that a few planters had their gorgeous coaches1 yet ,martha ,washington remembered when there was only one coach in the whole of ,virginia1 and throughout her life the roads were so wretched that those who traveled over them in vehicles ran in imminent danger of being overturned1 with possible dislocation of limbs and disjointing of necks4 ,virginians had their liveried servants1 mahogany furniture1 silver plate1 silks and satins2 an examination of the old account books proves that they often had these and many other expensive things1 along with their ,madeira and port wine4 ,but the same books show that the planter was chronically in debt and that bankruptcy was common1 while accounts left by travelers reveal the fact that many of the mansion houses were shabby and run down1 with rotting roofs1 ramshackle doors1 broken windows into which old hats or other garments had been thrust to keep the wind away4 ,in a word1 a traveler could find to-day more elegance in a back county of ,arkansas than then existed in tidewater ,virginia4 ,the tobacco industry was a culture that required much labor4 ,in the spring a pile of brush was burned and on the spot thus fertilized and made friable the seed were sowed4 ,in due course the ground was prepared and the young plants were transplanted into rows4 ,later they must be repeatedly plowed1 hoed and otherwise cultivated and looked after and finally the leaves must be cut or gathered and carried to the dry house to be dried4 ,one man could care for only two or three acres1 hence large scale cultivation required many hands--result1 the importation of vast numbers of indentured servants and black slaves1 with the blighting effects always consequent upon the presence of a servile class in a community4 ,illustration3 ,by permission of the ,mount ,vernon ,ladies' ,association ,the ,mount ,vernon ,kitchen 7restored7 ,although tobacco was the great staple1 some of the ,virginia planters had begun before the ,revolution to raise considerable crops of wheat1 and most of them from the beginning cultivated ,indian corn4 ,from the wheat they made flour and bread for themselves1 and with the corn they fed their hogs and horses and from it also made meal for the use of their slaves4 ,in the culture of neither crop were they much advanced beyond the ,egyptians of the times of the ,pyramids4 ,the wheat was reaped with sickles or cradles and either flailed out or else trampled out by cattle and horses1 usually on a dirt floor in the open air4 ,washington estimated in #agia that the average crop of wheat amounted to only eight or ten bushels per acre1 and the yield of corn was also poor4 ,so much emphasis was laid upon tobacco that many planters failed to produce food enough4 ,some raised none at all1 with the result that often both men and animals were poorly fed1 and at best the cost of food and forage exhausted most of the profits4 ,a somewhat similar condition exists in the ,south to-day with regard to cotton4 ,almost no attention was paid to conserving the soil by rotation of crops1 and even those few planters who attempted anything of the sort followed the old plan of allowing fields to lie in a naked fallow and to grow up in noxious weeds instead of raising a cover crop such as clover4 ,washington wrote in #aghb3 ,my countrymen are too much used to corn blades and corn shucks2 and have too little knowledge of the profit of grass land4 ,and again in #aghg3 ,the general custom has been1 first to raise a crop of ,indian corn 7maize7 which1 according to the mode of cultivation1 is a good preparation for wheat2 then a crop of wheat2 after which the ground is respited 7except for weeds1 and every trash that can contribute to its foulness7 for about eighteen months2 and so on1 alternately1 without any dressing1 till the land is exhausted2 when it is turned out1 without being sown with grass-seeds1 or reeds1 or any method taken to restore it2 and another piece is ruined in the same manner4 ,no more cattle is raised than can be supported by lowland meadows1 swamps c4 and the tops and blades of ,indian corn2 as very few persons have attended to growing grasses1 and connecting cattle with their crops4 ,the ,indian corn is the chief support of the labourers and their horses4 ,as for the use of fertilizer1 very little was attempted1 for1 as ,jefferson explained1 we can buy an acre of new land cheaper than we can manure an old one4 ,it was this cheapness of land that made it almost impossible for the ,virginians to break away from their ruinous system--ruinous1 not necessarily to themselves1 but to future generations4 ,conservation was then a doctrine that was little preached4 ,posterity could take care of itself4 ,only a few persons like ,washington realized their duty to the future4 ,in the matter of stock as well as in pure agriculture the ,virginians were backward4 ,they showed to best advantage in the matter of horses4 ,virginia gentlemen were fond of horses1 and some owned fine animals and cared for them carefully4 ,a ,randolph of ,tuckahoe is said to have had a favorite dapple-gray named ,shakespeare for whom he built a special stable with a sort of recess next the stall in which the groom slept4 ,generally speaking1 however1 even among the aristocracy the horses were not so good nor so well cared for as in the next century4 ,among the small farmers and poorer people the horses were apt to be scrubs1 often mere bags of bones4 ,a scientific ,english agriculturist named ,parkinson1 who came over in #agih1 tells us that the ,american horses generally leap well2 they are accustomed to leap from the time of foaling2 as it is not at all uncommon1 if the mare foal in the night1 for some part of the family to ride the mare1 with the foal following her1 from eighteen to twenty miles next day1 it not being customary to walk much4 ,i think that is the cause of the ,american horse having a sort of amble3 the foal from its weak state1 goes pacing after the dam1 and retains that motion all its life4 ,the same is the case with respect to leaping3 there being in many places no gates1 the snake or worm-fence 7which is one rail laid on the end of another7 is taken down to let the mare pass through1 and the foal follow3 but1 as it is usual to leave two or three rails untaken down1 which the mare leaps over1 the foal1 unwilling to be left behind1 follows her2 so that1 by the time it is one week old1 it has learned to leap three feet high2 and progressively1 as it grows older1 it leaps higher1 till at a year old1 it will leap its own height4 ,sheep raising was not attempted to any great extent1 partly because of the ravages of wolves and dogs and partly because the sheep is a perverse animal that often seems to prefer dying to keeping alive and requires skilled care to be made profitable4 ,the breeds were various and often were degenerated4 ,travelers saw ,holland or rat-tailed sheep1 ,west ,indian sheep with scant wool and much resembling goats1 also a few ,spanish sheep1 but none would have won encomiums from a scientific ,english breeder4 ,the merino had not yet been introduced4 ,good breeds of sheep were difficult to obtain1 for both the ,english and ,spanish governments forbade the exportation of such animals and they could be obtained only by smuggling them out4 ,in #agib ,arthur ,young expressed astonishment when told that wolves and dogs were a serious impediment to sheep raising in ,america1 yet this was undoubtedly the case4 ,the rich had their foxhounds1 while every poor white and many negroes had from one to half a dozen curs--all of which canines were likely to enjoy the sport of sheep killing4 ,mr4 ,richard ,peters1 a well informed farmer of ,pennsylvania1 said that wherever the country was much broken wolves were to be found and bred prodigiously4 ,i lay not long ago at the foot of ,south ,mountain1 in ,york county1 in this ,state1 in a country very thickly settled1 at the house of a ,justice of the ,peace4 ,through the night ,i was kept awake by what ,i conceived to be a jubilee of dogs1 assembled to bay the moon4 ,but ,i was told in the morning1 that what disturbed me1 was only the common howling of wolves1 which nobody there regarded4 ,when ,i entered the ,hall of ,justice1 ,i found the ',squire giving judgment for the reward on two wolf whelps a countryman had taken from the bitch4 ,the judgment-seat was shaken with the intelligence1 that the wolf was coming--not to give bail--but to devote herself or rescue her offspring4 ,the animal was punished for this daring contempt1 committed in the face of the court1 and was shot within a hundred yards of the tribunal4 ,virginians had not yet learned the merits of grass and pasture1 and their cattle1 being compelled to browse on twigs and weeds1 were often thin and poor4 ,many ranged through the woods and it was so difficult to get them up that sometimes they would not be milked for two or three days4 ,often they gave no more than a quart of milk a day and were probably no better in appearance than the historian ,lecky tells us were the wretched beasts then to be found in the ,scottish ,highlands4 ,hogs received even less care than cattle and ran half wild in the woods like their successors1 the famous ,southern razor-backs of to-day1 being fed only a short period before they were to be transformed into pork4 ,says ,parkinson3 ,the real ,american hog is what is termed the wood-hog3 they are long in the leg1 narrow on the back1 short in the body1 flat on the sides1 with a long snout1 very rough in their hair1 in make more like a fish called a perch than anything ,i can describe4 ,you may as well think of stopping a crow as those hogs4 ,they will go a distance from a fence1 take a run1 and leap through the rails1 three or four feet from the ground1 turning themselves sidewise4 ,these hogs suffer such hardships as no other animal could endure4 ,it is customary to keep them in the woods all winter1 as there is no thrashing or fold-yards2 and they must live on the roots of trees1 or something of that sort1 but they are poor beyond any creature that ,i ever saw4 ,that is probably the cause why ,american pork is so fine4 ,they are something like forest-sheep4 ,i am not certain1 with ,american keeping and treatment1 if they be not the best3 for ,i never saw an animal live without food1 except this2 and ,i am pretty sure they nearly do that4 ,when they are fed1 the flesh may well be sweet3 it is all young1 though the pig be ten years old4 ,the aim of the farmers in this country 7if they can be called farmers71 wrote ,washington to ,arthur ,young in #agia1 is1 not to make the most they can from the land1 which is or has been cheap1 but the most of the labour1 which is dear2 the consequence of which has been1 much ground has been scratched over and none cultivated or improved as it ought to have been3 whereas a farmer in ,england1 where land is dear1 and labour cheap1 finds it his interest to improve and cultivate highly1 that he may reap large crops from a small quantity of ground4 ,no clearer statement of the differences between ,american and ,european agriculture has ever been formulated4 ,down to our own day the object of the ,american farmer has continued to be the same--to secure the largest return from the expenditure of a given amount of labor4 ,but we are on the threshold of a revolution1 the outcome of which means intensive cultivation and the realization of the largest possible return from a given amount of land4 ,that ,washington saw the distinction so clearly is of itself sufficient proof that he pondered long and deeply upon agricultural problems4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,washington',s ,,problem ,no estate in ,united ,america1 wrote ,washington to ,arthur ,young in #agic1 is more pleasantly situated than this4 ,it lies in a high1 dry1 and healthy country1 #cjj miles by water from the sea1 and1 as you will see by the plan1 on one of the finest rivers in the world4 ,its margin is washed by more than ten miles of tide water2 from the beds of which and the innumerable coves1 inlets1 and small marshes1 with which it abounds1 an inexhaustible fund of mud may be drawn as a manure1 either to be used separately or in a compost4444 ,the soil of the tract of which ,i am speaking is a good loam1 more inclined1 however1 to clay than sand4 ,from use1 and ,i might add1 abuse1 it is become more and more consolidated1 and of course heavier to work4444 ,this river1 which encompasses the land the distance above mentioned1 is well supplied with various kinds of fish at all seasons of the year2 and1 in the spring1 with great profusion of shad1 herring1 bass1 carp1 perch1 sturgeon1 etc4 ,several fisheries appertain to the estate2 the whole shore1 in short1 is one entire fishery4 ,the ,mount ,vernon estate1 amounting in the end to over eight thousand acres1 was1 with the exception of a few outlying tracts1 subdivided into five farms1 namely1 the ,mansion ,house ,farm1 the ,union ,farm1 the ,dogue ,run ,farm1 ,muddy ,hole ,farm and the ,river ,farm4 ,on the ,mansion ,house ,farm stood the owner's residence1 quarters for the negroes and other servants engaged upon that particular estate1 and other buildings4 ,the land in general was badly broken and poor in quality2 much of it was still in woodland4 ,the ,river ,farm lay farthest up the ,potomac1 being separated from the others by the stream known as ,little ,hunting ,creek4 ,visitors to ,mount ,vernon to-day1 traveling by trolley1 cross this farm and stream4 ,it contained more tillable ground than any other1 about twelve hundred acres4 ,in #agic it had an overlooker's house of one large and two small rooms below and one or two rooms above1 quarters for fifty or sixty negroes1 a large barn and stables gone much to decay4 ,muddy ,hole ,farm lay across ,little ,hunting ,creek from the ,river ,farm and back of the ,mansion ,house ,farm and had no frontal upon the ,potomac4 ,it contained four hundred seventy-six acres of tillable soil and had in #agic a small overlooker's house1 covering for about #cj negroes1 and a tolerable good barn1 with stables for the work-horses4 ,union ,farm lay just below the ,mansion ,house ,farm and contained nine hundred twenty-eight acres of arable land and meadow4 ,in #agic it had1 in ,washington's words1 a newly erected brick barn1 equal1 perhaps1 to any in ,america1 and for conveniences of all sorts1 particularly for sheltering and feeding horses1 cattle1 c4 scarcely to be exceeded any where4 ,a new house of four rooms was building1 and there were quarters for fifty odd negroes4 ,on this farm was the old ,posey fishery and ferry to ,maryland4 ,dogue ,run ,farm1 of six hundred fifty acres1 lay back of ,union ,farm and upon it in #agic stood the grist mill and later a distillery and the famous sixteen-sided new circular barn1 now finishing on a new construction2 well calculated1 it is conceived1 for getting grain out of the straw more expeditiously than the usual mode of threshing4 ,it had a two-room overseer's house1 covering for forty odd negroes1 and sheds sufficient for thirty work horses and oxen4 ,washington considered it much the best of all his farms4 ,it was this farm that he bequeathed to ,nelly ,custis and her husband1 ,lawrence ,lewis1 and upon it they erected ,woodlawn1 which is shown in the photograph herewith reproduced4 ,not long since ,i rambled on foot over the old estate and had an opportunity to compare the reality1 or what remains of it1 with ,washington's description4 ,i left the ,mansion ,house1 often visited before1 and strolled down the long winding drive that runs between the stunted evergreens and oaks through the old lodge gate and passed from the domain1 kept trim and parklike by the ,association1 out upon the unkempt and vastly greater part of the old ,mount ,vernon4 ,it was early morning1 about the hour when in the long past the master of the estate used to ride out on his tour of inspection4 ,the day was one of those delicious days in early autumn when earth and sky and air and all things in nature seem kindly allied to help the heart of man leap up in gladness and to enable him to understand how there came to be a poet called ,wordsworth4 ,meadow-larks were singing in the grass1 and once in an old hedgerow over-grown with sweet-smelling wild honeysuckle ,i saw a covey of young quails4 ,these hedgerows of locust and cedar are broken now1 but along the old road to the mill and ,pohick ,church and between fields the scattered trees and now and then a bordering ditch are evidences of the old owner's handiwork4 ,then and later ,i visited all the farms1 the site of the old mill1 of which only a few stones remain1 the mill stream1 the fishery and old ferry landing4 ,i walked across the gullied fields and examined the soil1 ,i noted the scanty crops they bear to-day and gained a clearer idea of what ,washington's problem had been than ,i could have done from a library of books4 ,truly the estate is pleasantly situated1 though even to-day it seems out of the world and out of the way4 ,one must go far to find so satisfying a view as that from the old ,mansion ,house porch across the mile of shining water to the ,maryland hills' crowned with trees glorified by the ,midas-touch of frost4 ,the land does lie high and dry1 but we must take exception to the word healthy4 ,in the summer and fall the tidal marshes breed a variety of mosquito capable of biting through armor plate and of infecting the devil himself with malaria4 ,in the ,general's day1 when screens were unknown1 a large part of the population1 both white and black1 suffered every ,august and ,september from chills and fever4 ,the master himself was not exempt and once we find him chronicling that he went a-hunting and caught a fox and the ague4 ,what he says as regards the fisheries is all quite true and in general they seem to have been very productive4 ,herring and shad were the chief fish caught and when the run came the seine was carried well out into the river in a boat and then hauled up on the shelving beach either by hand or with a windlass operated by horse-power4 ,there were warehouses and vats for curing the fish1 a cooper shop and buildings for sheltering the men4 ,the fish were salted down for the use of the family and the slaves1 and what surplus remained was sold4 ,now and then the landing and outfit was rented out for a money consideration1 but this usually happened only when the owner was away from home4 ,at the old ,posey fishery on ,union ,farm the industry is still carried on1 though gasoline engines have been substituted for the horse-operated winch used in drawing the seines4 ,lately the industry has ceased to be very productive1 and an old man in charge told me that it is because fishermen down the river and in ,chesapeake ,bay are so active that comparatively few fish manage to get up so far4 ,the ,mount ,vernon estate in the old days lacked only one quality necessary to make it extremely productive1 namely1 rich soil6 ,only ignorance of what good land really is1 or an owner's blind pride in his own estate1 can justify the phrase a good loam4 ,on most of the estate the soil is thin1 varying in color from a light gray to a yellow red1 with below a red clay hardpan almost impervious to water4 ,to an observer brought up on a farm of the rich ,middle ,west1 ,mount ,vernon1 except for a few scattered fields1 seems extremely poor land4 ,for farming purposes most of it would be high at thirty dollars an acre4 ,much of it is so broken by steep hills and deep ravines as scarcely to be tillable at all4 ,those tracts which are cultivated are very susceptible to erosion4 ,deep gullies are quickly worn on the hillsides and slopes4 ,at one time such a gully on ,union ,farm extended almost completely across a large field and was deep enough to hide a horse1 but ,washington filled it up with trees1 stumps1 stones1 old rails1 brush and dirt1 so that scarcely a trace of it was left4 ,in places one comes upon old fields that have been allowed to revert to broom sedge1 scrub oak and scrub pine4 ,one is astonished at the amount that has never been cleared at all4 ,only by the most careful husbandry could such an estate be kept productive4 ,it never could be made to yield bumper crops4 ,the situation confronting ,farmer ,washington was this3 ,he had a great abundance of land1 but most of it on his home estate was mediocre in quality4 ,some of that lying at a distance was more fertile1 but much of it was uncleared and that on the ,ohio was hopelessly distant from a market4 ,with the exception of ,mount ,vernon even those plantations in ,virginia east of the ,blue ,ridge could not be looked after in person4 ,he must either rent them1 trust them to a manager1 or allow them to lie idle4 ,even the ,mount ,vernon land was distant from a good market1 and the cost of transportation was so great that he must produce for selling purposes articles of little bulk compared with value4 ,finally1 he had an increasing number of slaves for whom food and clothing must be provided4 ,his answer to the problem of a money crop was for some years the old ,virginia answer--tobacco4 ,his far western lands he left for the most part untenanted4 ,those plantations in settled regions but remote from his home he generally rented for a share of the crop or for cash4 ,the staple articles that he produced to feed the slaves were pork and corn1 eked out by herring from the fishery4 ,from his accounts we find that in #agei he made thirty-four thousand one hundred sixty pounds of tobacco2 the next year sixty-five thousand thirty-seven pounds2 in #agfc1 eighty-nine thousand seventy-nine pounds1 which appears to have been his banner tobacco crop4 ,in #agfe the quantity fell to forty-one thousand seven hundred ninety-nine pounds2 in #agga1 to twenty-nine thousand nine hundred eighty-six pounds1 and in #aggc to only about five thousand pounds4 ,thereafter his crop of the weed was negligible1 though we still find occasional references to it even as late as #agid1 when he states that he has twenty-five hogsheads in the warehouses of ,alexandria1 where he has held it for five or six years because of low prices4 ,illustration3 ,looking across part of ,dogue ,run ,farm to ,woodlawn1 the ,home of ,nelly ,custis ,lewis ,illustration3 ,gully on a ,field of ,union ,farm1 ,showing ,susceptibility to ,erosion ,he tried to raise a good quality and seems to have concentrated on what he calls the sweet scented variety1 but for some reason1 perhaps because his soil was not capable of producing the best1 he obtained lower prices than did some of the other ,virginia planters1 and grumbled at his agents accordingly4 ,he early realized the ruinous effects of tobacco on his land and sought to free himself from its clutches by turning to the production of wheat and flour for the ,west ,india market4 ,ultimately he was so prejudiced against the weed that in #aghi we find him in a contract with a tenant named ,gray1 to whom he leased a tract of land for ten pounds1 stipulating that ,gray should make no more tobacco than he needed for chewing and smoaking in his own family4 ,late in life he decided that his land was not congenial to corn1 in which he was undoubtedly right1 for the average yield was only about fifteen bushels per acre4 ,in the corn country farmers now often produce a hundred4 ,he continued to raise corn only because it was essential for his negroes and hogs4 ,in #agih he contracted with ,william ,a4 ,washington to supply him with five hundred barrels annually to eke out his own crop4 ,even this quantity did not prove sufficient1 for we find him next year trying to engage one hundred barrels more4 ,before this time his main concern had come to be to conserve his soil and he had turned his attention largely to grass and live stock4 ,of these matters more hereafter4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,student ,,of ,,agriculture ,washington took great pains to inform himself concerning any subject in which he was interested and hardly was he settled down to serious farming before he was ordering from ,england the best ,system now extant of ,agriculture1 ,shortly afterward he expressed a desire for a book lately published1 done by various hands1 but chiefly collected from the papers of ,mr4 ,hale4 ,if this is known to be the best1 pray send it1 but not if any other is in high esteem4 ,another time he inquires for a small piece in octavo1 a new system of ,agriculture1 or a speedy way to grow rich4 ,among his papers are preserved long and detailed notes laboriously taken from such works as ,tull's ,horse-,hoeing ,husbandry1 ,duhamel's ,a ,practical ,treatise of ,husbandry1 ,the ,farmer's ,compleat ,guide1 ,home's ,the ,gentleman ,farmer1 and volumes of ,young's ,annals of ,agriculture4 ,the abstracts from the ,annals were taken after the ,revolution and probably before he became ,president1 for the first volume did not appear until #aghd4 ,from the handwriting it is evident that the digests of ,tull's and ,duhamel's books were made before the ,revolution and probably about #agfj4 ,in the midst of the notes on chapter eight of the ,compleat ,guide there are evidences of a long hiatus in time--,mr4 ,fitzpatrick of the manuscript division of the ,library of ,congress thinks perhaps as much as eight or ten years4 ,a vivid imagination can readily conceive ,washington's laying aside the task for the more important one of vindicating the liberties of his countrymen and taking it up again only when he had sheathed the sword4 ,but all we can say is that for some reason he dropped the work for a considerable time1 the evidence being that the later handwriting differs perceptibly from that which precedes it4 ,as most of ,washington's agricultural ideas were drawn from these books1 it is worth while for us to examine them4 ,i have not been able to put my hands on ,washington's own copies1 but in the library of the ,department of ,agriculture ,i have examined the works of ,tull1 ,duhamel and ,young4 ,tull's ,horse-,hoeing ,husbandry was an epoch-making book in the history of ,english agriculture4 ,it was first published in #agca and the third edition1 the one ,i have seen and probably the one that ,washington possessed1 appeared in #agea4 ,possibly it was the small piece in octavo1 a new system of ,agriculture1 or a speedy way to grow rich concerning which he wrote to his agent4 ,it deals with a great variety of subjects1 such as of roots and leaves1 of food of plants1 of pasture1 of plants1 of weeds1 of turnips1 of wheat1 of smut1 of blight1 of ,st4 ,foin1 of lucerne1 of ridges1 of plows1 of drill boxes1 but its one great thesis was the careful cultivation by plowing of such annuals as potatoes1 turnips1 and wheat1 crops which hitherto had been tended by hand or left to fight their battle unaided after having once been planted4 ,duhamel's book was the work of a ,frenchman whose last name was ,monceau4 ,it was based in part upon ,tull's book1 but contained many reflections suggested by ,french experience as well as some additions made by the ,english translator4 ,the ,english translation appeared in #agei1 the year of ,washington's marriage4 ,it dealt with almost every aspect of agriculture and stock raising1 advocated horse-hoeing1 had much to say in favor of turnips1 lucerne1 clover and such crops1 and contained plates and descriptions of various plows1 drills and other kinds of implements4 ,it also contained a detailed table of weather observations for a considerable time1 which may have given ,washington the idea of keeping his meteorological records4 ,young's ,annals was an elaborate agricultural periodical not unlike in some respects publications of this sort to-day except for its lack of advertising4 ,it contains records of a great variety of experiments in both agriculture and stock raising1 pictures and descriptions of plows1 machines for rooting up trees1 and other implements and machines1 plans for the rotation of crops1 and articles and essays by experimental farmers of the day4 ,among its contributors were men of much eminence1 and we come upon articles by ,mr4 ,william ,pitt on storing turnips1 ,mr4 ,william ,pitt on deep plowing2 ,george ,,iii himself contributed under the pen name of ,ralph ,robinson4 ,the man who should follow its directions even to-day would not in most matters go far wrong4 ,as one looks over these publications he realizes that the scientific farmers of that day were discussing many problems and subjects that still interest those of the present4 ,the language is occasionally quaint1 but the principles set down are less often wrong than might be supposed4 ,to be sure1 ,tull denied that different plants require different sorts of food and1 notes ,washington1 gives many unanswerable ,reasons to prove it1 but he combats the notion that the soil ever causes wheat to degenerate into rye4 ,this he declares as ridiculous as it would be to say that an horse by feeding in a certain pasture will degenerate into a ,bull4 ,and yet it is not difficult to discover farmers to-day who will stubbornly argue that wheat makes cheat4 ,tull also advocated the idea that manure should be put on green and plowed under in order to obtain anything like its full benefit1 as well as many other sound ideas that are still disregarded by many ,american farmers4 ,washington eagerly studied the works that have been mentioned1 and much of his time when at ,mount ,vernon was devoted to experiments designed to ascertain to what extent the principles that were sound in ,england could be successfully applied in an ,american environment4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,a ,,farmer',s ,,records ,,and ,,other ,,papers ,washington was the most methodical man that ever lived4 ,he had a place for everything and insisted that everything should be kept in its place4 ,there was nothing haphazard about his methods of business4 ,he kept exact accounts of financial dealings4 ,his habit of setting things down on paper was one that developed early4 ,he kept a journal of his surveying experiences beyond the ,blue ,ridge in #agdh1 another of his trip to ,barbadoes with his brother ,lawrence in #agea-eb1 another of his trip to ,fort ,le ,boeuf to warn out the ,french1 and yet another of his ,fort ,necessity campaign4 ,the words are often misspelled1 many expressions are ungrammatical1 but the handwriting is good and the judgments expressed1 even those set down when he was only sixteen1 are the mature judgments of a man4 ,a year after his marriage he began a formal diary1 which he continued until ,june #ai1 #agge1 the time of his appointment to command the army of the ,revolution4 ,he called it his ,diary and later ,where1 how my time is ,spent4 ,in it he entered the happenings of the day1 his agricultural and other experiments1 a record of his guests and also a detailed account of the weather4 ,his attention to this last matter was most particular4 ,often when away from home he would have a record kept and on his return would incorporate it into his book4 ,exactly what advantages he expected to derive therefrom are not apparent1 though ,i presume that he hoped to draw conclusions as to the best time for planting crops4 ,in reading it ,i was many times reminded of a ,cleveland octogenarian who for fifty-seven years kept a record twice a day of the thermometer and barometer4 ,near the end of his life he brought the big ledgers to the ,western ,reserve ,historical ,society1 and ,i happened to be present on the occasion4 ,you have studied the subject for a long time1 ,i said to him4 ,are there any conclusions you have been able to reach as a result of your investigation8 ,he thought a minute and passed a wrinkled hand across a wrinkled brow4 ,nothing but this1 he made answer1 that ,cleveland weather is only constant in its inconstancy4 ,we would gladly exchange some of these meteorological details for further information about ,washington's own personal doings and feelings4 ,of the latter the diaries reveal little4 ,washington was an objective man1 above all in his papers4 ,he sets down what happens and says little about causes1 motives or mental impressions4 ,when on his way to ,yorktown to capture ,cornwallis he visited his home for the first time in six weary years1 yet merely recorded3 ,i reached my own ,seat at ,mount ,vernon 7distant #abj ,miles from the ,hd4 of ,elk7 where ,i staid till the #abth4 ,not a word of the emotions which that visit must have roused6 ,for almost six years after #agge there is a gap in the diary1 though for some months of #aghj he sets down the weather4 ,on ,may ,i1 #agha1 he begins a new record1 which he calls a ,journal1 and he expresses regret that he has not had time to keep one all the time4 ,the subjects now considered are almost wholly military and the entries reveal a different man from that of #agge4 ,the grammar is better1 the vocabulary larger1 the tone more elevated1 the man himself is bigger and broader with an infinitely wider viewpoint4 ,from ,november #e1 #agha1 for more than three years there is another blank1 except for the journal of his trip to his western lands already referred to4 ,but on ,january #a1 #aghe1 he begins a new ,diary and thenceforward continues it1 with short intermissions1 until the day of his last ride over his estate4 ,a few of the diaries and journals have been lost1 but most are still in existence4 ,some are in the ,congressional ,library and there also is the ,toner transcript of these records4 ,the transcript makes thirty-seven large volumes4 ,the diary is one of the main sources from which the material for this book is drawn4 ,the original of the record of events for #agfj is a small book1 perhaps eight or ten inches long by four inches wide and much yellowed by age4 ,part of the first entry stands thus3 ,january #a1 ,tuesday ,visited my ,plantations and received an ,instance of ,mr4 ,french's great ,love of ,money in disappointing me of some ,pork because the price had risen to #bb4f after he had engaged to let me have it at #bj s4 ,on his return from his winter ride he found ,mrs4 ,washington broke out with the ,meazles4 ,next day he states with evident disgust that he has taken the pork on ,french's own terms4 ,the weather record for #agfj was kept on blank pages of ,the ,virginia ,almanac1 a compendium that contains directions for making ,indico1 for curing bloody flux1 for making ,physick as pleasant as a ,dish of ,chocolate1 for making a striking sun-dial1 also ,a ,receipt to keep one's self warm a whole ,winter with a single ,billet of ,wood4 ,to do this last ,take a ,billet of ,wood of a competent ,size1 fling it out of the ,garret-,window into the ,yard1 run down ,stairs as hard as ever you can drive2 and when you have got it1 run up again with it at the same ,measure of ,speed2 and thus keep throwing down1 and fetching up1 till the ,exercise shall have sufficiently heated you4 ,this renew as often as ,occasion shall require4 ,probatum est4 ,this receipt would seem worth preserving in this day of dear fuel4 ,as ,washington had great abundance of wood and plenty of negroes to cut it1 he probably did not try the experiment--at least such a conclusion is what writers on historical method would call a safe inference4 ,illustration3 ,first ,page of ,washington's ,digest of ,duhamel's ,husbandry ,there is in the almanac a rhyme ridiculing physicians and above the ,march calendar are printed the touching verses3 ,thus of all ,joy and happiness bereft1 ,and with the ,charge of ,ten poor ,children left3 ,a greater ,grief no ,woman sure can know1 ,who1--with ,ten ,children--who will have me now4 ,also there are some other verses1 very broad and not quite the proper thing1 as ,kipling has it4 ,but it must not be inferred that ,washington approved of them4 ,washington also kept cash memorandum books1 general account books1 mill books and a special book in which he recorded his accounts with the estate of the ,custis children4 ,these old books1 written in his neat legible hand1 are not only one of our chief sources of information concerning his agricultural and financial affairs1 but contain many sidelights upon historical events4 ,it is extremely interesting1 for example1 to discover in one of the account books that in #agge at ,mount ,vernon he lent ,general ,charles ,lee--of ,monmouth fame--#ae1 and to ,ditto lent him on the ,road from ,phila to ,cambridge at different times #i4ab more1 a total of #bd4ab4 ,in later years ,lee intrigued against ,washington and said many spiteful things about him1 but he never returned the loan4 ,the account stood until #aghf1 when it was settled by ,alexander ,white1 ,lee's executor4 ,in the ,cash ,memorandum books we can trace ,washington's military preparations at the beginning of the ,revolution4 ,thus on ,june #b1 #agge1 being then at ,philadelphia1 he enters3 ,by ,expences bringing my ,horses from ,baltimore1 #b4e4 ,next day he pays thirty pounds for ,cartouch ,boxes c4 for ,prince ,wm4 ,comp4 ,june #f1 ,by ,covering my ,holsters1 #j4g4f2 ,by a ,cersingle1 #j4g4f2 ,by #e ,books--,military1 #a4ab4j4 ,he was preparing for ,gage and ,howe and ,cornwallis and whether the knowledge contained in the books was of value or not he somehow managed for eight years to hold his opponents at bay and ultimately to win4 ,at ,cambridge1 ,july tenth1 he spends three shillings and four pence for a ,ribbon to distinguish myself1 that is to show his position as commander2 also #a4b4f for a pair of ,breeches for ,will1 his colored body servant4 ,a vast number of papers bear witness to his interest in agriculture and with these we are particularly concerned4 ,he preserved most of the letters written to him and many of these deal with farming matters4 ,during part of his career he had a copying press and kept copies of his own important letters1 while many of the originals have been preserved1 though widely scattered4 ,when away from home he required his manager to send him elaborate weekly reports containing a meteorological table of each day's weather1 the work done on each farm1 what each person did1 who was sick1 losses and increases in stock1 and other matters of interest4 ,scores of these reports are still in existence and are invaluable4 ,he himself wrote--generally on ,sunday--lengthy weekly letters of inquiry1 direction1 admonition and reproof1 and if the manager failed in the minutest matter to give an account of some phase of the farm work1 he would be sure to hear of it in the proprietor's next letter4 ,washington's correspondence on agricultural matters with ,arthur ,young and ,sir ,john ,sinclair1 eminent ,english agriculturists1 was collected soon after his death in a volume that is now rare4 ,in it are a number of letters written by other ,american farmers1 including ,thomas ,jefferson1 relative to agriculture in their localities4 ,these letters were the result of inquiries made of ,washington by ,young in #agia4 ,in order to obtain the facts desired ,washington sent out a circular letter to some of the most intelligent farmers in the ,middle ,states1 and the replies form perhaps our best source of information regarding agricultural conditions in that period4 ,because of this service and of his general interest in agricultural matters ,washington was elected a foreign honorary member of the ,english ,board of ,agriculture and received a diploma1 which is still preserved among his papers4 ,some of ,washington's other agricultural papers have been printed in one form and another1 but a great number1 and some the most interesting1 can still be consulted only in manuscript4 ,washington bequeathed his books and papers1 along with his ,mansion ,house1 to his nephew1 ,bushrod ,washington1 an associate justice of the ,federal ,supreme ,court4 ,judge ,washington failed to appreciate fully the seriousness of the obligation thus incurred and instead of safeguarding the papers with the utmost jealousy gave many1 including volumes of the diary1 to visitors and friends who expressed a desire to possess mementoes of the illustrious patriot4 ,in particular he permitted ,reverend ,william ,buel ,sprague1 who had been a tutor in the family of ,nelly ,custis ,lewis1 to take about fifteen hundred papers on condition that he leave copies in their places4 ,the judge also intrusted a considerable portion to the historian ,jared ,sparks1 who issued the first considerable edition of ,washington's writings4 ,sparks likewise was guilty of giving away souvenirs4 ,bushrod ,washington died in #ahbi and left the papers and letter books for the most part to his nephew ,john ,corbin ,washington4 ,in #ahcd the nation purchased of this gentleman the papers of a public character1 paying twenty-five thousand dollars4 ,the owner reserved the private papers1 including invoices1 ciphering book1 rules of civility1 etc41 but in #ahdi sold these also to the same purchaser for twenty thousand dollars4 ,the papers were kept for many years in the ,department of ,state1 but in the administration of ,theodore ,roosevelt most of them were transferred to the ,library of ,congress1 where they could be better cared for and would be more accessible4 ,bushrod ,washington gave to another nephew1 ,john ,augustine ,washington1 the books and relics in the dining-room of the ,mansion ,house4 ,in course of time these were scattered1 some being bought for the ,boston ,athenaeum1 which has decidedly the larger part of ,washington's library2 others were purchased by the state of ,new ,york1 and yet others were exhibited at the ,centennial ,exposition and were later sold at auction4 ,among the relics bought by ,new ,york was a sword wrongly said to have been sent to the ,general by ,frederick the ,great4 ,one hundred and twenty-seven of his letters1 mostly to ,william ,pearce1 his manager at ,mount ,vernon during a portion of his presidency1 were bought from the heirs of ,pearce by the celebrated ,edward ,everett and now belong to the ,long ,island ,historical ,society4 ,these have been published4 ,his correspondence with ,tobias ,lear1 for many years his private secretary1 are now in the collection of ,thomas ,k4 ,bixby1 a wealthy bibliophile of ,st4 ,louis4 ,these also have been published4 ,the one greatest repository of papers is the ,library of ,congress4 ,furthermore1 through the unwearying activities of ,j4 ,m4 ,toner1 who devoted years to the work1 the ,library also has authenticated copies of many papers of which it does not possess the originals4 ,all told1 according to ,mr4 ,gaillard ,hunt1 who has them in charge1 the ,washington manuscripts in the ,library of ,congress is the largest collection of papers of one person in the world4 ,the collection contains about eighteen thousand papers in his own hand1 press copies1 or drafts in the writing of his secretaries1 and many times that number of others4 ,as yet all except a small part are merely arranged in chronological order1 but soon it is to be sumptuously bound in royal purple levant4 ,the color1 after all1 is fitting1 for he was a ,king and he reigns still in the hearts of his countrymen4 ,benjamin ,franklin knew the great men of earth of his time1 the princes and kings of blood royal4 ,near the close of his life he wrote in his will3 ,my fine crabtree walking-stick with a gold head1 curiously wrought in the form of a cap of ,liberty1 ,i give to my friend1 and the friend of mankind1 ,general ,washington4 ,if it was a sceptre1 he has merited it1 and would become it4 ,and thus ,thackeray1 who knew the true from the false1 the dross from pure gold3 ,which was the most splendid spectacle ever witnessed1 the opening feast of ,prince ,george in ,london or the resignation of ,washington8 ,which is the noble character for ages to admire--yon fribble dancing in lace and spangles1 or yonder hero who sheathes his sword after a life of spotless honor1 a purity unreproached1 a courage indomitable1 and a consummate victory8 ,which of these is the true gentleman8 ,what is it to be a gentleman8 ,is it to have lofty aims1 to lead a pure life1 to keep your honor virgin2 to have the esteem of your fellow-citizens1 and the love of your fireside2 to bear good fortune meekly2 to suffer evil with constancy2 and through evil or good to maintain truth always8 ,show me the happy man whose life exhibits these qualities1 and him will we salute as gentleman1 whatever his rank may be2 show me the prince who possesses them1 and he may be sure of our love and loyalty4 ',tis often distance only that lends enchantment1 but it is ,washington's proud pre-eminence that he can bear the microscope4 ,having read thousands of his letters and papers dealing with almost every conceivable subject in the range of human affairs1 ,i yet feel inclined1 nay compelled1 to bear witness to the greatness of his heart1 soul and understanding4 ,he was human4 ,he had his faults4 ,he made his mistakes4 ,but ,i would not detract a line from any eulogium of him ever uttered4 ,words have never yet been penned that do him justice4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,agricultural ,,operations ,,and ,,experiments ,,before ,,the ,,revolution ,a detailed account of all of ,washington's agricultural experiments would require several hundred pages and would be tedious reading4 ,all that ,i shall attempt to do is to give some examples and point the way for any enthusiast to the mass of his agricultural papers in the ,library of ,congress and elsewhere4 ,at the outset it should be stated that he worked under extremely different conditions from those of to-day4 ,any ,american farmer of the present who has a problem in his head can have it solved by writing to the nearest government experiment station1 a good farm paper1 an agricultural college1 the department of agriculture1 or in some favored districts by consulting the local county agent4 ,washington had no such recourse4 ,there was not an agricultural college or agricultural paper in the whole country2 the department of agriculture was not created until near the end of the next century2 county agents were as unthought of as automobiles or electric lights2 there was not a scientific farmer in ,america2 even the ,philadelphia ,society for the ,promotion of ,agriculture was not founded until #aghe4 ,in his later years our ,farmer could and did write to such foreign specialists as ,arthur ,young and ,sir ,john ,sinclair1 but they were ,englishmen unfamiliar with ,american soils and climate and could rarely give a weighty answer propounded to them by an ,american4 ,if ,washington wished to know a thing about practical farming1 he usually had to find it out for himself4 ,this state of affairs accounts for his performing some experiments that seem absurd4 ,thus in the fall of #agfd we find him sowing a few ,oats to see if they would stand the winter4 ,any country boy of to-day could tell him that ordinary oats sown under such conditions in the latitude of ,mount ,vernon would winter kill too badly to be of much use1 but ,washington could not know it till he had tried4 ,in another category was his experiment in ,march1 #agfj1 with lucerne4 ,lucerne is alfalfa4 ,it will probably be news to most readers that alfalfa--the wonderful forage crop of the ,west1 the producer of more gold than all the mines of the ,klondike--was in use so long ago1 for the impression is pretty general that it is comparatively new2 the fact is that it is older than the ,christian era and that the name alfalfa comes from the ,arabic and means the best crop4 ,evidently our ,farmer had been reading on the subject1 for in his diary he quotes what ,tull speaking of lucerne1 says4 ,he tried out the plant on this and several other occasions and had a considerable field of it in #agih4 ,his success was not large with it at any time1 for the ,mount ,vernon soil was not naturally suited to alfalfa1 which thrives best in a dry and pervious subsoil containing plenty of lime1 but the experiment was certainly worth trying4 ,in this same year1 #agfj1 we find him sowing clover1 rye1 grass1 hope1 trefoil1 timothy1 spelt1 which was a species of wheat1 and various other grasses and vegetables1 most of them to all intents and purposes unknown to the ,virginia agriculture of that day4 ,he also recorded an interesting experiment with fertilizer4 ,april #ad1 #agfj1 he writes in his diary3 ,mixed my composts in a box with the apartments in the following manner1 viz4 ,no4 #a is three pecks of earth brought from below the hill out of the #df acre field without any mixture4 ,in ,no4 #b is two pecks of sand earth and one of marle taken out of the said field1 which marle seemed a little inclined to sand4 #c has #b pecks of sd4 earth and #a of river sand4 #d has a peck of ,horse ,dung #e has mud taken out of the creek #f has cow dung #g has marle from the ,gulleys on the hillside1 wch4 seem'd to be purer than the other #h sheep dung #i ,black mould from the ,gulleys on the hill side1 wch4 seem'd to be purer than the other #aj ,clay got just below the garden ,all mixed with the same quantity and sort of earth in the most effective manner by reducing the whole to a tolerable degree of fineness and rubbing them well together on a cloth4 ,in each of these divisions were planted three grains of wheat1 #c of oats1 and as many of barley1 all of equal distances in ,rows and of equal depth done by a machine made for the purpose4 ,the wheat rows are next the numbered side1 the oats in the middle1 and the barley on the side next the upper part of the ,garden4 ,two or three hours after sowing in this manner1 and about an hour before sunset ,i watered them all equally alike with water that had been standing in a tub abt two hours exposed to the sun4 ,three weeks later he inspected the boxes and concluded that ,nos4 #h and #i gave the best results4 ,the plows of the period were cumbersome and did their work poorly4 ,consequently in ,march1 #agfj1 ,washington ,fitted a two ,eyed ,plow instead of a ,duck ,bill ,plow1 and tried it out1 using his carriage horses in the work4 ,but this new model proved upon the whole a failure and a little later he ,spent the greater part of the day in making a new plow of my own ,invention4 ,next day he set the new plow to work and found ,she answerd very well4 ,a little later he got a new harrow made of smaller and closer teethings for harrowing in grain--the other being more proper for preparing the ground for sowing4 ,much of his attention in the next few years was devoted to wheat growing1 for1 as already related1 he soon decided gradually to discontinue tobacco and it was imperative for him to discover some other money crop to take its place4 ,we find him steeping his seed wheat in brine and alum to prevent smut and he also tried other experiments to protect his grain from the ,hessian fly and rust4 ,noticing how the freezing and thawing of the ground in spring often injured the wheat by lifting it out of the ground1 he adopted the practice of running a heavy roller over the wheat in order to get the roots back into the ground and he was confident that when the operation was performed at the proper time1 that is when the ground was soft and the roots were still alive1 it was productive of good results4 ,in ,june1 #agfc1 he dug up abt4 a load of ,marle to spread over ,wheat ,land for experiment4 ,in #agfh he came to the conclusion that most farmers began to cut their wheat too late1 for of course cradling was a slow process--scarcely four acres per day per cradler--and if the acreage was large several days must elapse before the last of the grain could be cut1 with the result that some of it became so ripe that many of the kernels were shattered out and lost before the straw could be got to the threshing floor4 ,by careful experiments he determined that the grain would not lose perceptibly in size and weight if the wheat were cut comparatively green4 ,in wheat-growing communities the discussion as to this question still rages--extremists on one side will not cut their wheat till it is dead ripe1 while those on the other begin to harvest it when it is almost sea-green4 ,in #agfc ,washington entered into an agreement with ,john ,carlyle and ,robert ,adams of ,alexandria to sell to them all the wheat he would have to dispose of in the next seven years4 ,the price was to be three shillings and nine pence per bushel1 that is1 about ninety-one cents4 ,this would not be far from the average price of wheat to-day1 but1 on the one side1 we should bear in mind that ninety-one cents then had much greater purchasing power than now1 so that the price was really much greater1 and1 on the other1 that the cost of raising wheat was larger then1 owing to lack of self-binders1 threshing machines and other labor-saving devices4 ,the wheat thus sold by ,washington was to be delivered at the wharf at ,alexandria or beside a boat or flat on ,four ,mile ,run ,creek4 ,the delivery for #agfd was #beg-a_/b bushels2 for #agfe1 #a1aab-c_/d bushels2 for #agff1 #b1cca-a_/b bushels2 for #agfg--;a bad year--#a1bic-a_/b bushels2 for #agfh1 #d1iid-a_/b bushels of wheat and #d1cjd-a_/b bushels of corn2 for #agfi1 #f1bda-a_/b bushels of wheat4 ,thereafter he ground a good part of his wheat and sold the flour4 ,he owned three mills1 one in western ,pennsylvania1 already referred to1 a second on ,four ,mile ,run near ,alexandria1 and a third on the ,mount ,vernon estate4 ,this last mill had been in operation since his father's day4 ,it was situated near the mouth of the stream known as ,dogue ,run1 which was not very well suited for the purpose as it ran from the extreme of low water in summer to violent floods in winter and spring4 ,thus his miller1 ,william ,a4 ,poole1 in a letter that wins the sweepstakes in phonetic spelling1 complains in #ageg that he has been able to grind but little because ,she fails by want of ,water4 ,at other times the ,master sallies out in the rain with rescue crews to save the mill from floods and more than once the tumbling dam goes by the board in spite of all efforts4 ,the lack of water was partly remedied in #agga by turning the water of ,piney ,branch into the ,run1 and about the same time a new and better mill was erected1 while in #agig further improvements were made4 ,during the whole period flatboats and small schooners could come to the wharf to take away the flour4 ,corn and other grains were ground1 as well as wheat1 and the mill had considerable neighborhood custom1 the toll exacted being one-eighth4 ,only a few stones sticking in a bank now remain of the mill4 ,washington divided his flour into superfine1 fine1 middlings and ship stuff4 ,it was put into barrels manufactured by the plantation coopers and much of it ultimately found its way to the ,west ,india market4 ,a tradition--much quoted--has it that barrels marked ,george ,washington1 ,mount ,vernon1 were accepted in the islands without any inspection1 but ,mr4 ,j4,m4 ,toner1 one of the closest students of ,washington's career1 contended that this was a mistake and pointed to the fact that the ,virginia law provided for the inspection of all flour before it was exported and the placing of a brand on each barrel4 ,however this may be1 we have ,washington's own word for it1 that his flour was as good in quality as any manufactured in ,america--and he was no boaster4 ,,illustration3 ,dogue ,run below the ,site of the ,mill ,,illustration3 ,on the ,road to the ,mill and ,pohick ,church ,that his flour was so good was in large measure due to the excellent quality of the wheat from which it was made4 ,by careful attention to his seed and to cultivation he succeeded in raising grain that often weighed upward of sixty pounds to the bushel4 ,after the ,revolution he wrote3 ,no wheat that has ever yet fallen under my observation exceeds the wheat which some years ago ,i cultivated extensively4 ,his idea of good cultivation in these years was to let his fields lie fallow at certain intervals1 though he also made use of manure1 marl1 etc41 and in #aggb tried the experiment of sowing two bushels of salt per acre upon fallow ground1 dividing the plot up into strips eight feet in width and sowing the alternate strips in order that he might be able to determine results4 ,he imported from ,england an improved ,rotheran or patent plow1 and1 having noticed in an agricultural work mention of a machine capable of pulling up two or three hundred stumps per day1 he expressed a desire for one1 saying3 ,if the accounts are not greatly exaggerated1 such powerful assistance must be of vast utility in many parts of this wooden country1 where it is impossible for our force 7and laborers are not to be hired here71 between the finishing of one crop and preparations for another1 to clear ground fast enough to afford the proper changes1 either in the planting or farming business4 ,these were his golden days4 ,he was not so rich as he was later nor so famous1 but he was strong and well and young1 he had abundant friends1 and his neighbors thought well enough of him to send him to the ,burgesses and to make him a vestryman of old ,pohick ,church2 if he felt the need of recreation he went fishing or fox-hunting or attended a horse race or played a game of cards with his friends1 and he had few things to trouble him seriously4 ,but fussy kings and ministers overseas were meddling with the liberties of subjects and were creating a situation out of which was to come a mighty burden--a burden so ,atalantean that it would have frightened most men1 but one that he was brave enough and strong enough to shoulder and with it march down to immortality4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,conserving ,,the ,,soil ,the ,revolution rudely interrupted ,washington's farming experiments1 and for eight long years he was so actively engaged in the grim business of checkmating ,howe and ,clinton and ,cornwallis that he could give little time or thought to agriculture4 ,for more than six years1 in fact1 he did not once set foot upon his beloved fields and heard of his crops1 his servants and his live stock only from family visitors to his camps or through the pages of his manager's letters4 ,peace at last brought him release4 ,he had left ,mount ,vernon a simple country gentleman2 he came back to it one of the most famous men in the world4 ,he wasted no time in contemplating his laurels1 but at once threw himself with renewed enthusiasm into his old occupation4 ,his observation of northern agriculture and conversations with other farmers had broadened his views and he was more than ever progressive4 ,he was now thoroughly convinced of the great desirability of grass and stock for conserving the soil and he was also wide awake to the need of better tools and methods and wished to make his estate beautiful as well as useful4 ,much of his energy in #aghd-he was devoted to rebuilding his house and improving his grounds1 and to his trip to his ,ohio lands--all of which are described elsewhere4 ,no diary exists for #aghd except that of the trip to the ,ohio1 but from the diary of #aghe we learn that he found time to experiment with plaster of ,paris and powdered stone as fertilizers1 to sow clover1 orchard grass1 guinea grass and peas and to borrow a scow with which to raise rich mud from the bed of the ,potomac4 ,the growing poverty of his soil1 in fact1 was a subject to which he gave much attention4 ,he made use of manure when possible1 but the supply of this was limited and commercial fertilizers were unknown4 ,as already indicated1 he was beginning the use of clover and other grasses1 but he was anxious to build up the soil more rapidly and the ,potomac muck seemed to him a possible answer to the problem4 ,there was1 as he said1 an inexhaustible fund of it1 but the task of getting it on the land was a heavy one4 ,having heard of a horse-power dredge called the ,hippopotamus that was in use on the ,delaware ,river1 he made inquiries concerning it but feared that it would not serve his purpose1 as he would have to go from one hundred to eight hundred or a thousand yards from high water-mark for the mud--too far out for a horse to be available4 ,mechanical difficulties and the cost of getting up the mud proved too great for him--as they have proved too great even down to the present--but he never gave up the idea and from time to time tried experiments with small plots of ground that had been covered with the mud4 ,his enthusiasm on the subject was so great that ,noah ,webster1 of dictionary fame1 who visited him in this period1 says that the standing toast at ,mount ,vernon was ,success to the mud6 ,every scientific agriculturist knows that erosion is one of the chief causes of loss in soil fertility and that in the basins and deltas of streams and rivers there is going to waste enough muck to make all of our land rich4 ,but the cost of getting this fertility back to the soil has thus far proved too great for us to undertake the task of restoration4 ,it is conceivable1 however1 that the time may come when we shall undertake the work in earnest and then the dream of ,washington will be realized4 ,the spring and summer of #aghe proved excessively dry1 and the crops suffered1 as they always do in times of drought4 ,the wheat yield was poor and chinch bugs attacked the corn in such myriads that our ,farmer found hundreds of them their young under the blades and at the lower joints of the ,stock4 ,by the middle of ,august ,nature had put on a melancholy look4 ,the corn was fired in most places to the ,ear1 with little appearance of yielding if ,rain should now come a certainty of making nothing if it did not4 ,like millions of anxious farmers before and after him1 he watched eagerly for the rain that came not4 ,he records in his diary that on ,august #agth a good deal of rain fell far up the river1 but as for his fields--it tantalizingly passed by on the other side1 and not enough fell here to wet a handkerchief4 ,on the eighteenth1 nineteenth and twenty-second clouds and thunder and lightning again awakened hopes but only slight sprinkles resulted4 ,on the twenty-seventh nature at last relented and1 to his great satisfaction1 there was a generous downpour4 ,the rain was beneficial to about a thousand grains of ,cape of ,good ,hope wheat that ,washington had just sown and by the thirty-first he was able to note that it was coming up4 ,for several years thereafter he experimented with this wheat4 ,he found that it grew up very rank and tried cutting some of it back4 ,but the variety was not well adapted to ,virginia and ultimately he gave it up4 ,in this period he also tried ,siberian wheat1 put marl on sixteen square rods of meadow#d1 plowed under rye1 and experimented with oats1 carrots1 ,eastern ,shore peas1 supposed to be strengthening to land1 also rib grass1 burnet and various other things4 ,he planted potatoes both with and without manure and noted carefully the difference in yields4 ,at this time he favored planting corn in rows about ten feet apart1 with rows of potatoes1 carrots1 or peas between4 ,he noted down that his experience showed that corn ought to be planted not later than ,may #aeth1 preferably by the tenth or perhaps even as early as the first1 in which his practice would not differ much from that of to-day4 ,but he came to an erroneous conclusion when he decided that wheat ought to be sown in ,august or at the latter end of ,july1 for this was playing into the hands of his enemy1 the ,hessian fly1 which is particularly destructive to early sown wheat4 ,later he seems to have changed his mind on that point1 for near the end of his life he instructed his manager to get the wheat in by ,september #ajth4 ,another custom which he was advocating was that of fall and winter plowing and he had as much of it done as time and weather would permit4 ,all of his experiments in this period were painstakingly set down and he even took the trouble in #aghf to index his agricultural notes and observations for that year4 #d ,on sixteen square rod of ground in my lower pasture1 ,i put #adj ,bushels of what we call ,marle viz on #d of these1 ,no4 ,wt4 corner were placed #ej bushels--on #d others ,so4 ,wt4 corner #cj bushels--on #d others ,so4 ,et4 corner #dj bushels--and on the remaining #d-bj bushels4 ,this ,marle was spread on the rods in these proportions--to try first whether what we have denominated to be ,marie possesses any virtue as manure--and secondly--if it does1 the quantity proper for an acre4 ,his ultimate conclusion was that marl was of little benefit to land such as he owned at ,mount ,vernon4 ,many of his experiments were made in what he called his ,botanical ,garden1 a plot of ground lying between the flower garden and the spinner's house4 ,but he had experimental plots on most or all of his plantations1 and each day as he made the rounds of his estate on horseback he would examine how his plants were growing or would start new experiments4 ,the record of failures is1 of course1 much greater than of successes1 but that is the experience of every scientific farmer or horticulturist who ventures out of the beaten path4 ,even ,burbank1 the wizard1 has his failures--and many of them4 ,one of ,washington's successes was what he called a barrel plough4 ,at that time all seed1 such as corn1 wheat and oats had to be sown or dropped by hand and then covered with a harrow or a hoe or something of the kind4 ,washington tried to make a machine that would do the work more expeditiously and succeeded1 though it should be said that his plans were not altogether original with him1 as there was a plan for such a machine in ,duhamel and another was published by ,arthur ,young about this time in the ,annals of ,agriculture1 which ,washington was now perusing with much attention4 ,richard ,peters also sent yet another plan4 ,washington's drill1 as we should call it to-day1 consisted of a barrel or hollow cylinder of wood mounted upon a wheeled plow and so arranged that as the plow moved forward the barrel turned4 ,in the barrel1 holes were cut or burnt through which the corn or other seed could drop into tubes that ran down to the ground4 ,by decreasing or increasing the number of holes the grain could be planted thicker or thinner as desired4 ,to prevent the holes from choking up he found it expedient to make them larger on the outside than on the inside1 and he also found that the machine worked better if the barrel was not kept too full of seed4 ,behind the drills ran a light harrow or drag which covered the seed1 though in rough ground it was necessary to have a man follow after with a hoe to assist the process4 ,a string was fastened to this harrow by which it could be lifted around when turning at the ends of the rows1 the drill itself being managed by a pair of handles4 ,washington wrote to a friend that the drill would not work to good effect in land that is very full either of stumps1 stones1 or large clods2 but1 where the ground is tolerably free from these and in good tilth1 and particularly in light land1 ,i am certain you will find it equal to your most sanguine expectation1 for ,indian corn1 wheat1 barley1 pease1 or any other tolerably round grain1 that you may wish to sow or plant in this manner4 ,i have sown oats very well with it1 which is among the most inconvenient and unfit grains for this machine4444 ,a small bag1 containing about a peck of the seed you are sowing1 is hung to the nails on the right handle1 and with a small tin cup the barrel is replenished with convenience1 whenever it is necessary1 without loss of time1 or waiting to come up with the seed-bag at the end of the row4 ,as ,washington says1 the drill would probably work well under ideal conditions1 but there were features of it that would incline1 ,i have no doubt1 to make its operator swear at times4 ,there was a leather band that ran about the barrel with holes corresponding to those in the barrel1 the purpose of the band being to prevent the seeds issuing out of more than one hole at the same time4 ,this band had to be slackened or braced according to the influence of the atmosphere upon the leather1 and sometimes the holes in the band tended to gape and admit seed between the band and the barrel1 in which case ,washington found it expedient to rivet a piece of sheet tin1 copper1 or brass1 the width of the band1 and about four inches long1 with a hole through it1 the size of the one in the leather4 ,washington was1 however1 very proud of the drill1 and it must have worked fairly well1 for he was not the man to continue to use a worthless implement simply because he had made it4 ,he even used it to sow very small seed4 ,in the summer of #aghf he records3 ,having fixed a ,roller to the tale of my drill plow1 a brush between it and the barrel1 ,i sent it to ,muddy ,hole sowed turnips in the intervals of corn#e4 #e ,another passage from his papers in which he mentions using his drill plow is also illustrative of the emphasis he placed upon having the seed bed for a crop properly prepared4 ,the passage describes his sowing some spring wheat and is as follows3 #abth of ,april1 #aghe4--,sowed sixteen acres of ,siberian wheat1 with eighteen quarts1 in rows between corn1 eight feet apart4 ,this ground had been prepared in the following manner3 #a4 ,a single furrow2 #b4 another in the same to deepen it2 #c4 four furrows to throw the earth back into the two first1 which made ridges of five furrows4 ,these1 being done some time ago1 and the sowing retarded by frequent rains1 had got hard2 therefore1 #d4 before the seed was sown1 these ridges were split again by running twice in the middle of them1 both times in the same furrow2 #e4 after which the ridges were harrowed2 and1 #f4 where the ground was lumpy1 run a spiked roller with a harrow at the tail of it1 which was found very efficacious in breaking the clods and pulverizing the earth1 and would have done it perfectly1 if there had not been too much moisture remaining from the late rains4 ,after this1 harrowing and rolling were necessary1 the wheat was sown with the drill plough on the reduced ridges eight feet apart1 as above mentioned1 and harrowed in with the small harrow belonging to the plough4 ,but it should have been observed1 that1 after the ridges were split by the middle double furrows1 and before they were closed again by the harrow1 a little manure was sprinkled in4 ,no man better understood the value of good clean seed than did he1 but he had much trouble in satisfying his desires in this respect4 ,often the seed he bought was foul with weed seeds1 and at other times it would not grow at all4 ,once he mentions having set the women and weak hands to work picking wild onions out of some ,eastern ,shore oats that he had bought4 ,he advocated planting the largest and finest potatoes instead of the little ones1 as some farmers out of false ideas of economy still make the mistake of doing1 and he followed the same principle that the best will produce the best in selecting all seed4 ,he also appreciated the importance of getting just the right stand of grain--not too many plants and not too few--upon his fields and conducted investigations along this line4 ,he laboriously calculated the number of seed in a pound ,troy of various seeds and ascertained1 for example1 that the number of red clover was #ga1jjj1 of timothy #bih1jjj1 of ,new ,river ,grass #hdd1hjj and of barley #h1ibe4 ,knowing these facts1 he was able to calculate how much ought to be sowed of a given seed to the acre4 ,the spectacle of the former ,commander of the ,armies of a ,continent engaging in such minute labor is ridiculous or sublime1 according to the viewpoint6 ,in the spring of the year that he helped to frame the ,federal ,constitution he ,sowed the squares ,no4 #b #d at this place ,dogue ,run with oats in the following manner--viz--the ,east half of ,no4 #b with half a ,bushel of ,oats from ,george ,town--and the west half with a ,bushel of ,poland ,oats--,the east half of ,no4 #d with half a bushel of the ,poland ,oats and the west half with a bushel of the ,george ,town ,oats4 ,the objects1 and design of this experiment1 was to ascertn4 #c things--#ast4 which of these two kinds of ,oats were best the ,george ,town 7which was a good kind of the common ,oats7--#b;d4 whether two or four bushels to the ,acre was best--and #c;d4 the difference between ground dunged at the ,rate of #e load or #bjj bushels to the ,acre and ground undunged4 ,this experiment is typical of a great many others and it resulted1 of course1 in better yields on the manured ground and showed that two bushels of seed were preferable to four4 ,but if he ever set down the result of the experiment as regards the varieties1 the passage has escaped me4 ,while at ,fredericksburg this year visiting his mother and his sister ,betty ,lewis he learned of an interesting method of raising potatoes under straw and wrote down the details in his diary4 ,a little later when attending the ,federal ,convention he kept his eyes and ears open for agricultural information4 ,he learned how the ,pennsylvanians cultivated buckwheat and visited the farm of a certain ,jones1 who was getting good results from the use of plaster of ,paris4 ,with his usual interest in labor-saving machinery he inspected at ,benjamin ,franklin's a sort of ironing machine called a mangle1 well calculated1 he thought1 for ,table cloths such articles as have not pleats irregular foldings would be very useful in large families4 ,this year he had in wheat seven hundred acres1 in grass five hundred eighty acres1 in oats four hundred acres1 in corn seven hundred acres1 with several hundred more in buckwheat1 barley1 potatoes1 peas1 beans and turnips4 ,in #aghh he raised one thousand eighty-eight bushels of potatoes on one plantation1 but they were not dug till ,december and in consequence some were badly injured by the frost4 ,an experiment that year was one of transplanting carrots between rows of corn and it was not successful4 ,he worked hard in these years1 but1 as many another industrious farmer has discovered1 he found that he could do little unless nature smiled and fickle nature persisted in frowning4 ,in #aghe the rain seemed to forget how to fall1 and in #aghf how to stop falling4 ,some crops failed or were very short and soon he was so hard up that he was anxious to sell some lands or negroes to meet debts coming due4 ,in ,february1 #aghf1 in sending fifteen guineas to his mother1 he wrote3 ,i have now demands upon me for more than #ejj1 three hundred and forty odd of which is due for the tax of #aghf2 and ,i know not where or when ,i shall receive one shilling with which to pay it4 ,in the last two years ,i made no crops4 ,in the first ,i was obliged to buy corn1 and this year have none to sell1 and my wheat is so bad ,i can neither eat it myself nor sell it to others1 and tobacco ,i make none4 ,those who owe me money cannot or will not pay it without suits1 and to sue is to do nothing2 whilst my expenses1 not from any extravagance1 or an inclination on my part to live splendidly1 but for the absolute support of my family and the visitors who are constantly here1 are exceedingly high4 ,to bad crops were joined bad conditions throughout the country generally4 ,the government of the ,confederation was dying of inanition1 ,america was flooded with depreciated currency1 both state and ,continental4 ,in western ,massachusetts a rebellion broke out1 the rebels being largely discouraged debtors4 ,a state of chaos seemed imminent and would have resulted had not the ,federal ,convention1 of which ,washington was a member1 created a new government4 ,ultimately this government brought order and financial stability1 but all this took time and ,washington was so financially embarrassed in #aghi when he traveled to ,new ,york to be inaugurated ,president that he had to borrow money to pay the expenses of the journey4 ,after having set the wheels of government in motion he made an extended trip through ,new ,england and whenever public festivities would permit he examined into ,new ,england farm methods and took copious notes4 ,on the first day up from ,new ,york he saw good crops of corn mixed with pumpkins and met four droves of beef cattle1 some of which were very fine--also a ,flock of ,sheep4444 ,we scarcely passed a farm house that did not abd4 in ,geese4 ,his judgment of ,new ,england stock was that the cattle were of a good quality and their hogs large1 but rather long legged4 ,the shingle roofs1 stone and brick chimneys1 stone fences and cider making all attracted his attention4 ,the fact that wheat in that section produced an average of fifteen bushels per acre and often twenty or twenty-five was duly noted4 ,on the whole he seems to have considered the tour enjoyable and profitable in spite of the fact that on his return through ,connecticut the law against ,sabbath traveling compelled him to remain over ,sunday at ,perkins' ,tavern and to attend church twice1 where he heard very lame discourses from a ,mr4 ,pond4 ,about #aghe ,washington had begun a correspondence with ,arthur ,young and also began to read his periodical called the ,annals of ,agriculture4 ,the ,annals convinced him more than ever of the superiority of the ,english system of husbandry and not only gave him the idea for some of the experiments that have been mentioned1 but also made him very desirous of adopting a regular and systematic course of cropping in order to conserve his soil4 ,taking advantage of an offer made by ,young1 he ordered 7,august #f1 #aghf7 through him ,english plows1 cabbage1 turnip1 sainfoin1 rye-grass and hop clover seed and eight bushels of winter vetches2 also some months later1 velvet wheat1 field beans1 spring barley1 oats and more sainfoin seed4 ,he furthermore expressed a wish for a plan of the most complete and useful farmyard1 for farms of about #ejj acres4 ,in this ,i mean to comprehend the barn1 and every appurtenance which ought to be annexed to the yard4 ,young was as good as his word4 ,although ,english law forbade the exportation of some of these things--a fact of which ,washington was not aware--he and ,sir ,john ,sinclair prevailed upon ,lord ,grenville to issue a special permit and in due course everything reached ,mount ,vernon4 ,part of the seeds were somewhat injured by being put into the hold of the vessel that brought them over1 with the result that they overheated--a thing that troubled ,washington whenever he imported seeds--but on the whole the consignment was in fair order1 and our ,farmer was duly grateful4 ,the plows appeared excessively heavy to the ,virginians who looked them over1 but a trial showed that they worked exceedingly well4 ,to ,young's plan for a barn and barnyard ,washington made some additions and constructed the barn upon ,union ,farm1 building it of bricks that were made on the estate4 ,he later expressed a belief that it was the largest and most convenient one in this country4 ,it has now disappeared almost utterly1 but ,young's plan was subsequently engraved in the ,annals4 ,in return for the exertions of ,young and ,sinclair in his behalf ,washington sent over some ,american products and also took pains to collect information for them as to the state of ,american agriculture4 ,his letters show an almost pathetic eagerness to please these good friends and it is evident that in his farming operations he regarded himself as one of ,young's disciples4 ,he was no egotist who believed that because he had been a successful soldier and was now ,president of the ,united ,states he could not learn anything from a specialist4 ,the trait was most commendable and one that is sadly lacking in many of his countrymen1 some of whom take pride in declaring that these here scientific fellers caint tell me nothin' about raisin' corn6 ,young and ,sir ,john ,sinclair were by no means his only agricultural correspondents4 ,even ,noah ,webster dropped his legal and philological work long enough in #agij to propound a theory so startlingly modern in its viewpoint that it is worthy of reproduction4 ,said he3 ,while therefore ,i allow1 in its full extent1 the value of stable manure1 marl1 plaster of ,paris1 lime1 ashes1 sea-weed1 sea-shells salt1 in enriching land1 ,i believe none of them are absolutely necessary1 but that nature has provided an inexhaustible store of manure1 which is equally accessible to the rich and the poor1 which may be collected applied to land with very little labor and expense4 ,this store is the atmosphere1 the process by which the fertilizing substance may be obtained is vegetation4 ,he added that such crops as oats1 peas1 beans and buckwheat should be raised and plowed under to rot and that land should never be left bare4 ,as one peruses the letter he recalls that scientists of to-day tell us that the air is largely made up of nitrogen1 that plants are able to fix it1 and he half expects to find ,webster advocating soil innoculation and speaking of nodules and bacteria4 ,throughout the period after the ,revolution our ,farmer's one greatest concern was to conserve and restore his land4 ,when looking for a new manager he once wrote that the man must be1 above all1 ,midas like1 one who can convert everything he touches into manure1 as the first transmutation toward gold2 in a word1 one who can bring worn-out and gullied lands into good tilth in the shortest time4 ,he saved manure as if it were already so much gold and hoped with its use and with judicious rotation of crops to accomplish his object4 ,unless some such practice as this prevails1 he wrote in #agid1 my fields will be growing worse and worse every year1 until the ,crops will not defray the expense of the culture of them4 ,he drew up elaborate plans for the rotation of crops on his different farms4 ,not content with one plan1 he often drew up several alternatives2 calculated the probable financial returns from each1 allowing for the cost of seed1 cultivation and other expenses1 and commented upon the respective advantages from every point of view of the various plans4 ,the labor involved in such work was very great1 but ,washington was no shirker4 ,he was always up before sunrise1 both in winter and summer1 and seems to have been so constituted that he was most contented when he had something to do4 ,perhaps if he had had to engage in hard manual toil every day he would have had less inclination for such employment1 but he worked with his own hands only intermittently1 devoting his time mostly to planning and oversight4 ,one such plan for ,dogue ,run ,farm is given on the next page4 ,to understand it the reader should bear in mind that the farm contained five hundred twenty-five arable acres divided into seven fields1 each of which contained about seventy-five acres4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,no4 of ,fields #agic #agid #agie #agif #agig #agih #agii ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,corn ,buckwheat ,clover ,clover ,clover #c and ,wheat for ,wheat or or or ,potatoes ,manure ,grass ,grass ,grass ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,clover ,corn ,buckwheat ,clover ,clover #d or and ,wheat for ,wheat or or ,grass ,potatoes ,manure ,grass ,grass ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,clover ,clover ,corn ,buckwheat ,clover #e or or and ,wheat for ,wheat or ,grass ,grass ,potatoes ,manure ,grass ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,clover ,clover ,clover ,corn ,buckwheat #f or or or and ,wheat for ,wheat ,grass ,grass ,grass ,potatoes ,manure ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,clover ,clover ,clover ,corn ,buckwheat #g ,wheat or or or and ,wheat for ,grass ,grass ,grass ,potatoes ,manure ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,buckwheat ,clover ,clover ,clover ,corn #a for ,wheat or or or and ,wheat ,manure ,grass ,grass ,grass ,potatoes ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,buckwheat ,clover ,clover ,clover ,cornr #b ,wheat for ,wheat or or or and ,manure ,grass ,grass ,grass ,potatoes ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,of this rotation he noted that it favors the land very much2 inasmuch as there are but three corn crops i4e4 grain crops taken in seven years from any field1 the first of the wheat crops is followed by a ,buck ,wheat manure for the second ,wheat ,crop1 wch4 is to succeed it2 which by being laid to ,clover or ,grass continued therein three years will a ford much ,mowing or ,grassing1 according as the ,seasons happen to be1 besides being a restoration to the ,soil--,but the produce of the sale of the ,crops is small1 unless encreased by the improving state of the fields4 ,nor will the ,grain for the use of the ,farm be adequate to the consumption of it in this ,course1 and this is an essential object to attend to4 ,in a second table he estimated the amount of work that would be required each year to carry out this plan of rotation1 assuming that one plow would break up three-fourths of an acre per day4 ,this amount is hardly half what an energetic farmer with a good team of horses will now turn over in a day with an ordinary walking plow1 but the negro farmer lacked ambition1 the plows were cumbersome1 and much of the work was done with plodding oxen4 ,the table follows3 ,,illustration 7,,table73 ,,planting ,,chart ,he estimated that seventy-five acres of corn would yield1 at twelve and a half bushels per acre1 #icg-a_/b bushels1 worth at two shillings and sixpence per bushel #aag4c4i4 ,in this field potatoes would be planted between the rows of corn and would produce1 at twelve and a half bushels per acre1 #icg-a_/b bushels1 worth at one shilling per bushel #df4ag4f4 ,two fields in wheat1 a total of one hundred fifty acres1 at ten bushels per acre1 would yield one thousand five hundred bushels1 worth at five shillings per bushel three hundred seventy-five pounds4 ,three fields in clover and grass and the field of buckwheat to be turned under for manure would yield no money return4 ,in other words the whole farm would produce three thousand three hundred seventy-five bushels of grain and potatoes worth a total of #eci4a4c4 ,a second alternative plan would yield crops worth #fad4a4c2 a third1 about the same2 a fourth1 #fhi4a4c2 a fifth1 providing for two hundred twenty-five acres of wheat1 #hja4aa4j2 a sixth1 #gfd4 ,number five would be most productive1 but he noted that it would seriously reduce the land4 ,number six would be the #b;d4 most productive ,rotation1 but the fields receive no rest1 as it provided for neither grass nor pasture1 while the plowing required would exceed that of any of the other plans by two hundred eighty days4 ,on a small scale he tried growing cotton1 ,botany ,bay grass1 hemp1 white nankeen grass and various other products4 ,he experimented with deep soil plowing by running twice in the same furrow and also cultivated some wheat that had been drilled in rows instead of broadcasted4 ,in #agic he built a new sixteen-sided barn on the ,,illustration3 ,part of ,washington's ,plan for ,his ,sixteen-,sided ,barn ,dogue ,run ,farm4 ,the plan of this barn1 drawn by ,washington himself1 is still preserved and is reproduced herewith4 ,he calculated that one hundred and forty thousand bricks would be required for it and these were made and burnt upon the estate4 ,the barn was particularly notable for a threshing floor thirty feet square1 with interstices one and a half inches wide left between the floor boards so that the grain when trodden out by horses or beat out with flails would fall through to the floor below1 leaving the straw above4 ,this floor was to furnish an illustration of what ,washington called the almost impossibility of putting the overseers of this country out of the track they have been accustomed to walk in4 ,i have one of the most convenient barns in this or perhaps any other country1 where thirty hands may with great ease be employed in threshing4 ,half the wheat of the farm was actually stowed in this barn in the straw by my order1 for threshing2 notwithstanding1 when ,i came home about the middle of ,september1 ,i found a treading yard not thirty feet from the barn-door1 the wheat again brought out of the barn1 and horses treading it out in an open exposure1 liable to the vicissitudes of the weather4 ,i think we may safely conclude that this was one of those rare occasions when ,george lost his temper and went up in the air6 ,under any conditions treading or flailing out wheat was a slow and unsatisfactory process and1 as ,washington grew great quantities of this grain1 he was alert for a better method4 ,we know that he made inquiries of ,arthur ,young concerning a threshing machine invented by a certain ,winlaw and pictured and described in volume six of the ,annals1 and in #agij he watched the operation of ,baron ,poelnitz's mill on the ,winlaw model near ,new ,york ,city4 ,this mill was operated by two men and was capable of threshing about two bushels of wheat per hour--pretty slow work as compared with that of a modern thresher4 ,and the grain had to be winnowed1 or passed through a fan afterward to separate it from the chaff4 ,finally in #agig he erected a machine on plans evolved by ,william ,booker1 who came to ,mount ,vernon and oversaw the construction4 ,next ,april he wrote to ,booker that the machine has by no means answered your expectations or mine1 ,at first it threshed not quite fifty bushels per day1 then fell to less than twenty-five1 and ultimately got out of order before five hundred bushels had been threshed1 though it had used up two bands costing between eight and ten pounds4 ,booker replied that he had now greatly improved his invention and would come to ,mount ,vernon and make these additions1 but whether or not he ever did so ,i have failed to discover4 ,by #agic the burden of the estate had become so heavy that ,washington decided to rent all of it except the ,mansion ,house ,farm and accordingly he wrote to ,arthur ,young telling his desire in the hope that ,englishmen might be found to take it over4 ,one man1 ,parkinson1 of whom more hereafter1 came to ,america and looked at one of the farms1 but decided not to rent it4 ,washington's elaborate description of his land in his letter to ,young1 with an accompanying map1 forms one of our best sources of information regarding ,mount ,vernon1 so that we may be grateful that he had the intention even though nothing came of it4 ,the whole of ,mount ,vernon continued to be cultivated as before until the last year of his life when he rented ,dogue ,run ,farm to his nephew1 ,lawrence ,lewis4 ,as a public man he was anxious to improve the general state of ,american agriculture and in his last annual message to ,congress recommended the establishment of a board of agriculture to collect and diffuse information and by premiums and small pecuniary aids to encourage and assist a spirit of discovery and improvement4 ,in this recommendation the example of the ,english ,board of ,agriculture and the influence of his friend ,arthur ,young are discernible4 ,it would have been well for the country if ,congress had heeded the advice1 but public opinion was not then educated to the need of such a step and almost a century passed before anything of much importance was done by the national government to improve the state of ,american agriculture4 ,in farming as in politics ,washington was no standpatter4 ,notwithstanding many discouragements1 he could not be kept from trying new things1 and he furnished his farms with every kind of improved tool and implement calculated to do better work4 ,at his death he owned not only threshing machines and a ,dutch fan1 but a wheat drill1 a corn drill1 a machine for gathering clover seed and another for raking up wheat4 ,yet most of his countrymen remained content to drop corn by hand1 to broadcast their wheat1 to tread out their grain and otherwise to follow methods as old as the days of ,abel for at least another half century4 ,he was the first ,american conservationist4 ,he realized that man owes a duty to the future just as he owes a debt to the past4 ,he deplored the already developing policy of robber exploitation by which our soil and forests have been despoiled1 for he foresaw the bitter fruits which such a policy must produce1 and indeed was already producing on the fields of ,virginia4 ,he was no misanthropic cynic to exclaim1 ,what has posterity ever done for us that we should concern ourselves for posterity8 ,his care for the lands of ,mount ,vernon was evidence of the ,god-given trait imbedded in the best of men to transmit unimpaired to future generations what has been handed down to them4 ,his agricultural career has its lessons for us1 even though we should not do well to follow some of his methods4 ,the lessons lie rather in his conception of farming as an honorable occupation capable of being put on a better and more scientific basis by the application of brains and intelligence2 in his open-minded and progressive seeking after better ways4 ,many of his experiments failed1 it is true1 but for his time he was a great ,farmer1 just as he was a great ,patriot1 ,soldier and ,statesman4 ,patient1 hard-working1 methodical1 willing to sacrifice his own interests to those of the general good1 he was one of those men who have helped raise mankind from the level of the brute and his whole career reflects credit upon human nature4 ,peace hath its victories no less renowned than war1 and the picture of the ,american ,cincinnatus striving as earnestly on the green fields of ,mount ,vernon as he did upon the scarlet ones of ,monmouth and ,brandywine1 is one that the world can not afford to forget4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,stockman ,a various times in his career ,washington raised deer1 turkeys1 hogs1 cattle1 geese1 negroes and various other forms of live stock1 but his greatest interest seems to have been reserved for horses1 sheep and mules4 ,from his diaries and other papers that have come down to us it is easy to see that during his early married life he paid most attention to his horses4 ,in #agfj he kept a stallion both for his own mares and for those of his neighbors1 and we find many entries concerning the animal4 ,successors were ,leonidas1 ,samson1 ,steady1 ,traveller and ,magnolia1 the last a full-blooded ,arabian and probably the finest beast he ever owned4 ,when away from home ,washington now and then directed the manager to advertise the animal then reigning or to exhibit him in public places such as fairs4 ,mares brought to the stallion were kept upon pasture1 and foal was guaranteed4 ,many times the ,general complained of the difficulty of collecting fees4 ,during the ,revolution he bought twenty-seven worn-out army mares for breeding purposes and soon after he became ,president he purchased at ,lancaster1 ,pennsylvania1 thirteen fine animals for the same use4 ,these last cost him a total of #cag4ag4f1 the price of the highest being #be4g4f and of the cheapest #bb4aj4 ,these mares were unusually good animals1 as an ordinary beast would have cost only five or six pounds4 ,in ,november1 #aghe1 he had on his various ,mount ,vernon farms a total of one hundred thirty horses1 including the ,arabian already mentioned4 ,among the twenty-one animals kept at the ,mansion ,house were his old war horses ,nelson and ,blewskin1 who after bearing their master through the smoke and dangers of many battles lived in peace to a ripe old age on the green fields of ,virginia4 ,in his last days he bought two of the easy-gaited animals known as ,narragansetts1 a breed1 some readers will recall1 described at some length by ,cooper in ,the ,last of the ,mohicans4 ,a peculiarity of these beasts was that they moved both legs on a side forward at the same time1 that is1 they were pacers4 ,washington's two proved somewhat skittish1 and one of them was responsible for the only fall from horseback that we have any record of his receiving4 ,in company with ,major ,lewis1 ,mr4 ,peake1 young ,george ,washington ,custis and a groom he was returning in the evening from ,alexandria and dismounted for a few moments near a fire on the roadside4 ,when he attempted to mount again the horse sprang forward suddenly and threw him4 ,the others jumped from their horses to assist him1 but the old man got up quickly1 brushed his clothes and explained that he had been thrown only because he had not yet got seated4 ,all the horses meanwhile had run away and the party started to walk four miles home1 but luckily some negroes along the road caught the fugitives and brought them back4 ,washington insisted upon mounting his animal again and rode home without further incident4 ,this episode happened only a few weeks before his death4 ,like every farmer he found that his horses had a way of growing old4 ,those with which he had personal associations1 like ,blueskin and ,nelson1 he kept until they died of old age4 ,with others he sometimes followed a different course4 ,in #agib we find his manager1 ,whiting1 writing3 ,we have several ,old ,horses that are not worth keeping thro winter4 ,one at ,ferry has not done one days work these #ah ,months4 #b at ,muddy hole one a horse with the ,pole evil which ,i think will not get well the other an ,old ,mare was not capable of work last summer4 ,likewise the ,horse called old ,chatham and the ,lame ,horse that used to go in the ,waggon now in a one horse ,cart4 ,if any thing could be ,got for them it might be well but they are not worth keeping after ,christmas4 ,no doubt a sentimental person would say that ,washington ought to have kept these old servants1 but he had many other superannuated servants of the human kind upon his hands1 so he replied that ,whiting might dispose of the old horses as you judge best for my interest4 ,now and then his horses met with accidents4 ,thus on ,february #bb1 #agfj1 his horse ,jolly got his right foreleg mashed to pieces1 probably by a falling limb4 ,did it up as well as ,i could this night4 ,saturday1 ,feb4 #bc;d4 ,had the ,horse ,slung upon ,canvas and his leg fresh set1 following ,markleham's directions as well as ,i could4 ,two days later the horse fell out of the sling and hurt himself so badly that he had to be killed4 ,of ,washington's skill as a trainer of horses his friend ,de ,chastellux writes thus3 ,the weather being fair1 on the #bfth1 ,i got on horseback1 after breakfasting with the general--he was so attentive as to give me the horse he rode1 the day of my arrival1 which ,i had greatly commended--,i found him as good as he is handsome2 but above all1 perfectly well broke1 and well trained1 having a good mouth1 easy in hand1 and stopping short in a gallop without bearing the bit--,i mention these minute particulars1 because it is the general himself who breaks all his own horses2 and he is a very excellent and bold horseman1 leaping the highest fences1 and going extremely quick1 without standing upon his stirrups1 bearing on the bridle1 or letting his horse run wild1--circumstances which young men look upon as so essential a part of ,english horsemanship1 that they would rather break a leg or an arm than renounce them4 ,comparatively few farmers in ,virginia kept sheep1 yet as early as #ageh ,washington's overseer at ,mount ,vernon reported sixty-five old sheep and forty-eight lambs2 seven years later the total number was one hundred fifty-six4 ,the next year he records that he put my ,english ,ram ,lamb to #fe ,ewes1 so that evidently he was trying to improve the breed4 ,what variety this ram belonged to he does not say4 ,near the end of his career he had some of ,bakewell's breed1 an ,english variety that put on fat rapidly and hence were particularly desirable for mutton4 ,during his long absences from home his sheep suffered grievously1 for sheep require a skilled care that few of his managers or overseers knew how to give4 ,but sheep were an important feature of the ,english agriculture that he imitated1 and he persisted in keeping them4 ,in #agic he had over six hundred4 ,before ,i left home in the spring of #aghi1 he wrote to ,arthur ,young1 ,i had improved that species of my stock so much as to get #e-a_/d lbs of ,wool as the average of the fleeces of my whole flock1--and at the last shearing they did not yield me #b-a_/b lbs4--,by procuring 7if ,i am able7 good rams and giving the necessary attention1 ,i hope to get them up again for they are with me1 as you have declared them to be with you1 that part of my stock in which ,i most delight4 ,in #aghi1 by request1 he sent ,young a fleece of a midling size and quality4 ,young had this made up into cloth and returned it to the ,general4 ,in #agic we find our ,farmer giving such instructions to ,whiting as to cull out the unthrifty sheep and transform them into mutton and to choose a few of the best young males to keep as rams4 ,whiting1 however1 did not manage the flock well1 for the following ,february we find ,pearce1 the new manager1 writing3 ,i am sorry to have to inform you that the stock of sheep at ,both ,union and ,dogue ,run farms are ,some of them ,dicing ,every ,week-- a great many of ,them will be lost1 let what will be done--,since ,i came ,i have had shelters made for them ,troughs to feed them ,in to give them salt-- have attended to them myself was ,in hopes to have saved those that ,i found to be weak1 but they were too far gone--and ,several of the young ,cattle at ,dogue ,run was past all ,recovery when ,i come some have died already several more ,i am afraid must die before spring1 they are so very poor and weak4 ,washington1 according to his own account1 was the first ,american to attempt the raising of mules4 ,soon after the ,revolution he asked our representative in ,spain to ascertain whether it would be possible to procure permission to extract a ,jack ass of the best breed4 ,at that time the exportation of these animals from ,spain was forbidden by law1 but ,florida ,blanca1 the ,spanish minister of state1 brought the matter to the attention of the king1 who in a fit of generosity proceeded to send the ,american hero two jacks and two jennets4 ,one of the jacks died on the way over1 but the other animals1 in charge of a ,spanish caretaker1 reached ,boston1 and ,washington despatched an overseer to escort them to ,mount ,vernon1 where they arrived on the fifth of ,december1 #aghe4 ,an interpreter named ,captain ,sullivan was brought down from ,alexandria1 and through him the ,general propounded to the caretaker many grave inquiries regarding the care of the beasts1 the answers being carefully set down in writing4 ,,illustration3 ,bill of ,lading for ,royal ,gift ,royal ,gift1 as he was duly christened1 probably by the negro groom1 ,peter1 who seems to have considered it beneath his dignity to minister to any but royalty1 was a large animal4 ,according to careful measurements taken on the porch at ,mount ,vernon he was fifteen hands high1 and his body and limbs were very large in proportion to his height2 his ears were fourteen inches long1 and his vocal cords were good4 ,he was1 however1 a sluggish beast1 and the sea voyage had affected him so unfavorably that for some time he was of little use4 ,in letters to ,lafayette and others ,washington commented facetiously upon the beast's failure to appreciate republican enjoyment4 ,ultimately1 however1 ,royal ,gift recovered his strength and ambition and proved a valuable piece of property4 ,he was presently sent on a lour of the ,south1 and while in ,south ,carolina was in the charge of ,colonel ,william ,washington1 a hero of the ,cowpens and many other battles4 ,the profits from the tour amounted to #fgh4fd1 yet poor ,royal ,gift seems to have experienced some rough usage on the way thither1 arriving lame and thin and in a generally debilitated condition4 ,the ,general wrote to the ,colonel about it thus3 ,from accounts which ,i have received from some gentlemen in ,virginia he was most abominably treated on the journey by the man to whom he was entrusted2--for1 instead of moving him slowly and steadily along as he ought1 he was prancing 7with the ,jack7 from one public meeting or place to another in a gate which could not but prove injurious to an animal who had hardly ever been out of a walk before--and afterward1 ,i presume1 7in order to recover lost time7 rushed him beyond what he was able to bear the remainder of the journey4 ,no doubt the beast aroused great curiosity along the way among people who had never before set eyes upon such a creature4 ,we can well believe that the cry1 ,general ,washington's jackass is coming6 was always sufficient to attract a gaping crowd4 ,and many would be the sage comments upon the animal's voice and appearance4 ,in #aghf ,lafayette sent ,washington from the island of ,malta another jack and two jennets1 besides some ,chinese pheasants and partridges4 ,the animals landed at ,baltimore in ,november and reached ,mount ,vernon in good condition later in the month4 ,to ,campion1 the man who accompanied them1 ,washington gave #cj ,louis dores for his trouble4 ,the new jack1 the ,knight of ,malta1 as he was called1 was a smaller beast than ,royal ,gift1 and his ears measured only twelve inches1 but he was well formed and had the ferocity of a tiger4 ,by crossing the two strains ,washington ultimately obtained a jack called ,compound1 who united in his person the size and strength of the ,gift with the courage and activity of the ,knight4 ,the ,general also raised many mules1 which he found to be good workers and more cheaply kept in condition than horses4 ,henceforward the peaceful quiet of ,mount ,vernon was broken many times a day by sounds which1 if not musical or mellifluous1 were at least jubilant and joyous4 ,evidently the sounds in no way disturbed the ,general1 for in #aghh we find him describing the acquisitions in enthusiastic terms to ,arthur ,young4 ,he called the mules a very excellent race of animals1 cheap to keep and willing workers4 ,recalling1 perhaps1 that a king's son once rode upon a mule1 he proposes to breed heavy ones from ,royal ,gift for draft purposes and lighter ones from the ,knight for saddle or carriage4 ,he adds3 ,indeed in a few years1 ,i intend to drive no other in my carriage1 having appropriated for the sole purpose of breeding them1 upwards of twenty of my best mares4 ,ah1 friend ,george1 what would the world not give to see thee and thy wife ,martha driving in the ,mount ,vernon coach down ,pennsylvania ,avenue behind four such long-eared beasts6 ,in all his stock raising1 as in most other matters1 ,washington was greatly hampered by the carelessness of his overseers and slaves4 ,it is notorious that free negroes will often forget or fail to water and feed their own horses1 and it may easily be believed that when not influenced by fear1 slaves would neglect the stock of their master4 ,among the ,general's papers ,i have found a list of the animals that died upon his ,mount ,vernon estate from ,april #af1 #aghi1 to ,december #be1 #agij4 ,in that period of about twenty months he lost thirty-three horses1 thirty-two cattle and sixty-five sheep6 ,considering the number of stock he had1 a fifth of that loss would have been excessive4 ,during most of the period he was away from home looking after the affairs of the nation and in his absence his own affairs suffered4 ,hardly a report of his manager did not contain some bad news4 ,thus one of ,january1 #agia1 states that the ,young black ,brood ,mare1 with a long tail1 which ,came from ,pennsylvania1 said to be four ,years old next spring 444 was found with her thigh broke quite in two4 ,this happened on the ,mansion ,house farm4 ,on another farm a sheep was reported to have been killed by dogs while a second had died suddenly1 perhaps from eating some poisonous plant4 ,dogs1 in fact1 constituted an ever present menace to the sheep and it was only by constant watchfulness that the owner kept his negroes from overrunning the place with worthless curs4 ,in #agib he wrote to his manager3 ,i not only approve of your killing those ,dogs which have been the occasion of the late loss1 of thinning the ,plantations of others1 but give it as a positive order that after saying what dog1 or dogs shall remain1 if any negro presumes under any pretence whatsoever1 to preserve1 or bring one into the family1 that he shall be severely punished1 and the dog hanged4--,i was obliged to adopt this practice whilst ,i resided at home1 and from the same motive1 that is for the preservation of my ,sheep and ,hogs4444 ,it is not for any good purpose ,negroes raise1 and keep dogs2 but to aid them in their night robberies2 for it is astonishing to see the command under which the dogs are4 ,after the ,revolution1 in imitation of ,english farmers1 he made use of hurdles in pasturing sheep and milk cows4 ,thereby he secured more even distribution of the manure1 which was one of his main objects in raising stock4 ,washington's interest in cattle seems to have been less intense than was the case with some other kinds of stock4 ,he always had a great number of cows1 bulls1 oxen and calves upon his farms--in #agic over three hundred black cattle of all sorts4 ,he was accustomed to brand his cattle with the letters ,g4,w41 the location of the brand on the body indicating the farm on which the beast was raised4 ,to what extent he endeavored to improve the breed of his cattle ,i am unable to say1 but ,i have found that as early as #aggj he owned an ,english bull1 which in ,july he killed and sold to the crew of the ,british frigate ,boston1 which lay in the ,potomac off his estate4 ,in #agig he made inquiries looking toward the purchase of an improved bull calf from a cattle breeder named ,gough1 but upon learning that the price was two hundred dollars he decided not to invest4 ,gough1 however1 heard of ,washington's interest in his animals1 and being an admirer of the ,general1 gave him a calf4 ,an ,english farmer1 ,parkinson1 who saw the animal in #agih1 describes him in terms the reverse of enthusiastic1 and of this more hereafter4 ,a large part of the heavy work on all the farms was done by oxen4 ,in ,november1 #aghe1 there were thirteen yoke of these beasts on the ,mount ,vernon estate and the number was sometimes still larger4 ,in #aghf ,washington recorded putting a ,collar on a large ,bull in order to break him to the draft4--at first he was sulky and restive but came to by degrees4 ,the owner always aimed to have enough oxen broken so that none would have to be worked too hard1 but he did not always succeed in his aim4 ,when they attained the age of eight years the oxen were usually fattened and killed for beef4 ,the management of the milk cows seems to have been very poor4 ,in ,may1 #agic1 we find the absent owner writing to his manager3 ,if for the sake of making a little butter 7for which ,i shall get scarcely anything7 my calves are starved1 die1 it may be compared to stopping the spigot1 and opening the faucit4 ,evidently the making of butter was almost totally discontinued1 for in his last instructions1 completed only a few days before his death1 he wrote3 ,and ,it is hoped and will be expected1 that more effectual measures will be pursued to make butter another year2 for it is almost beyond belief1 that from #aja ,cows actually reported on a late enumeration of the ,cattle1 that ,i am obliged to buy butter for the use of my family4 ,in his later years he became somewhat interested in the best methods of feeding cattle and once suggested that the experiment be tried of fattening one bullock on potatoes1 another on corn1 and a third on a mixture of both1 keeping an exact account of the time they are fatting1 and what is eaten of each1 and of hay1 by the different steers2 that a judgment may be formed of the best and least expensive mode of stall feeding beef for market1 or for my own use4 ,during his early farming operations his swine probably differed little if at all from the razor-backs of his neighbors4 ,they ranged half wild in the woods in summer and he once expressed the opinion that fully half the pigs raised were stolen by the slaves1 who loved roast pork fully as well as did their master4 ,in the fall the shoats were shut up to fatten4 ,more than a hundred were required each year to furnish meat for the people on the estate2 the average weight was usually less than one hundred forty pounds4 ,farmers in the ,middle ,west would to-day have their ,poland ,chinas or ,durocs of the same age weighing two hundred fifty to three hundred pounds4 ,still the smallness of ,washington's animals does not necessarily indicate such bad management as may at first glance appear4 ,until of considerable size the pigs practically made their own living1 eating roots and mast in the woods1 and they did not require much grain except during fattening time4 ,and1 after all1 as the story has it1 what's time to a hawg8 ,in his later years he seems to have taken more interest in his pigs4 ,by #aghf he had decided that when fattening they ought to be put into closed pens with a plank floor1 a roof1 running water and good troughs4 ,a visitor to ,mount ,vernon in #agih says that he had about #aej of the ,guinea kind1 with short legs and hollow back1 so it is evident that he was experimenting with new breeds4 ,these ,guinea swine were red in color1 and it is said that the breed was brought to ,america from west ,africa by slave traders4 ,it was to these animals that ,washington fed the by-products of his distillery4 ,in the slaughtering of animals he tried experiments as he did in so many other matters4 ,in #agfh he killed a wether sheep which weighed one hundred three pounds gross4 ,he found that it made sixty pounds of meat worth three pence per pound1 five and a half of tallow at seven and a half pence1 three of wool at fifteen pence1 and the skin was worth one shilling and three pence1 a total of #a4c4e4 ,one object of such experiments was to ascertain whether it was more profitable to butcher animals or sell them on the hoof4 ,washington also raised chickens1 turkeys1 swans1 ducks1 geese and various other birds and beasts4 ,in #aghh ,gouverneur ,morris sent him two ,chinese pigs and with them a pair of ,chinese geese1 which are really the foolishest geese ,i ever beheld2 for they choose all times for setting but in the spring1 and one of them is even now ,november actually engaged in that business4 ,of some golden pheasants that had been brought from ,china the ,general said that before seeing the birds he had considered that pictures of them must be only works of fancy1 but now ,i find them to be only ,portraits4 ,the fact is that his friends and admirers sent him so many feathered or furred creatures that toward the end of his life he was the proprietor of a considerable zoo4 ,notwithstanding mismanagement by his employees and slaves1 ,washington accumulated much valuable domestic stock4 ,in his will1 made the year of his death1 he lists the following3 #a ,covering horse1 #e ,cob4 horses--#d ,riding do--,six brood mares--#bj working horses and mares1--#b ,covering jacks #c young ones #aj she asses--#db working mules--#ae younger ones4 #cbi head of horned cattle4 #fdj head of ,sheep1 and the large stock of hogs1 the precise number unknown4 ,he further states that his manager believes the stock worth seven thousand pounds1 but he conservatively sets it down at fifteen thousand six hundred fifty-three dollars4 ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,horticulturist ,,and ,,landscape ,,gardener ,washington's work as a horticulturist prior to the educating influences of the ,revolution was mostly utilitarian4 ,that he had a peach orchard as early as #agfj is proven by an entry in his diary for ,february #bb3 ,laid in part1 the ,worm of a fence round the ,peach orchard4 ,just where this orchard stood ,i am not quite certain1 but it was probably on the slope near the old tomb4 ,he learned how to propagate and wed his own trees and in #agfc was particularly active4 ,on ,march #bast he recorded that he had ,grafted #dj cherries1 viz #ab ,bullock ,hearts1 #ah very fine ,may ,cherry1 #aj ,coronation4 ,also grafted #ab ,magnum ,bonum ,plums4 ,also planted #d ,nuts of the ,mediterranean ,pame in the ,pen where the ,chestnut grows--sticks by ,east4 ,note1 the ,cherrys and ,plums came from ,collo4 ,masons ,nuts from ,mr4 ,green's4 ,set out #ee cuttings of the ,madeira ,grape4 ,a little later he grafted quinces on pear and apple stocks2 also he grafted ,spanish pairs1 ,butter pears1 ,bergamy ,pears1 ,newtown ,pippins1 #dc of the ,maryland ,red ,strick1 etc41 and transplanted thirty-five young crab scions4 ,these scions he obtained by planting the pumice of wild crab apples from which cider had been made4 ,they were supposed to make hardier stocks than those grown from ordinary seeds4 ,he grafted many cherries1 plums1 etc41 in ,march1 #agfd1 and yet again in the spring of #agfe1 when he put ,english mulberry scions on wild mulberry stocks4 ,in that year ,peter ,green came to me a ,gardener4 ,in #agfh and #agga he planted grapes in the inclosure below the vegetable garden and in ,march1 #agge1 he again grafted cherries and also planted peach seeds and seeds of the ,mississippi nut or pecan4 ,long before this he had begun to gather fruits from his early trees and vines4 ,being untroubled by ,san ,jose scale and many other pests that now make life miserable to the fruit grower1 he grew fine products and no doubt enjoyed them4 ,his esthetic sense was not yet fully developed1 but he was always desirous of having his possessions make a good appearance1 and by #agfh was beginning to think of beautifying his grounds4 ,in that year he expressed a wish that he later carried out1 namely to have about his mansion house every possible specimen of native tree or shrub noted for beauty of form1 leaf or flower4 ,even amid the trials of the ,revolution this desire was not forgotten4 ,in #aghb he directed ,lund ,washington1 his manager1 to plant locusts and other ornamental trees and shrubs at the ends of the house4 ,he wrote that such trees would be more likely to live if taken from the open fields than from the woods because the change of environment would be less pronounced4 ,to what extent the work was carried ,i have been unable to ascertain1 for1 as elsewhere stated1 very little of his correspondence with his manager during these years survives4 ,he returned from the ,revolution with a strong desire to beautify his estate1 a desire in part due no doubt to seeing beautiful homes elsewhere and to contact with cultured people1 both ,americans and foreigners4 ,one of his first tasks was to rebuild and enlarge his house4 ,from a small house of eight rooms he transformed ,mount ,vernon into the present large mansion1 ninety-six feet and four inches long by thirty-two feet in depth1 with two floors and an attic1 an immense cellar and the magnificent portico overlooking the ,potomac4 ,the plans and specifications he drew with his own hands1 and those who have visited the place will hardly deny that the mansion fits well into its setting and that1 architects tell us1 is a prime consideration4 ,the flagstones for the floor of the portico he imported from ,whitehaven1 ,england1 and these still remain in place1 though many are cracked or broken4 ,the portico runs the entire length of the house1 is over fourteen feet deep and its floor is one hundred twenty-four feet ten and one-half inches above high water-mark1 according to calculations made by ,washington himself4 ,from it one commands miles of the ,potomac and of the ,maryland shore and there are few such noble prospects in ,america4 ,washington owned a telescope and spy glasses and with them could watch the movements of ships and boats on the river4 ,the portico was a sort of trysting place for the family and visitors on summer afternoons and evenings1 and some of the thirty or so ,windsor chairs bought for it are still in existence4 ,illustration3 ,west ,front of ,mansion ,house1 ,showing ,bowling ,green and ,part of ,serpentine ,drive ,illustration3 ,experimental ,plot1 with ,servants' ,quarters 7restored7 in ,background ,this was the second time our ,farmer reconstructed his house1 as in #ageh-fj he had made numerous alterations#f4 ,in #ageh he paid ,john ,patterson #cbh4j4e for work done upon it1 and the whole house was pretty thoroughly renovated and remodeled in preparation for the reception of a new mistress4 ,in ,march1 #agfj1 we find the owner contracting with ,william ,triplett to build me two houses in front of my house 7plastering them also7 and running walls to them from the great house and from the great house to the washouse and kitchen also4 ,by the front he means the west front1 as that part toward the river is really the rear of the mansion4 ,hitherto the house had stood detached and these walls were the originals of the colonnades1 still a noticeable feature of the building4 #f ,in #agge a ,frenchman was engaged to panel the main hall and apply stucco ornaments to the ceilings of the parlor and dining-room4 ,owing to the absence of a diary of his home activities during #aghd we can not trace in detail his work that year upon either his house or grounds1 but we know such facts as that he was ordering materials for the house and that he had his ,french friend ,malesherbes and others collecting vines and plants for him4 ,with ,january #a1 #aghe1 he began a new diary1 and from it we ascertain that on the twelfth1 on a ride about his estate1 he observed many trees and shrubs suitable for transplanting4 ,thereafter he rarely rode out without noticing some crab1 holly1 magnolia1 pine or other young tree that would serve his purpose4 ,he was more alive to the beauties of nature than he had once been1 or at least more inclined to comment upon them4 ,on an ,april day he notes that the flower of the ,sassafras was fully out and looked well--an intermixture of this and ,red bud ,i conceive would look very pretty--the latter crowned with the former or vice versa4 ,he was no gushing spring poet1 but when the sap was running1 the flowers blooming and the birds singing he felt it all in his heart--perhaps more deeply than do some who say more about it4 ,on ,january #aith of this year he began laying out his grounds on a new plan4 ,this plan1 as completed1 provided for sunken walls or ,haw has6 at the ends of the mansion1 and on the west front a large elliptical lawn or bowling green such as still exists there4 ,along the sides of the lawn he laid out a serpentine drive or carriage way1 to be bordered with a great variety of shade trees on each side and a ,wilderness on the outside4 ,at the extreme west1 where the entrance stood1 the trees were omitted so that from the house one could see down a long vista1 cut through the oaks and evergreens1 the lodge gate three-quarters of a mile away4 ,on each side of the opening in the lawn stood a small artificial mound1 and just in front of the house a sun-dial by which each day1 when the weather was clear1 he set his watch4 ,a sun-dial stands on the same spot now but1 alas1 it is not the original4 ,that was given away or sold by one of the subsequent owners4 ,this same spring our ,farmer records planting ivy1 limes and lindens sent by his good friend ,governor ,clinton of ,new ,york2 lilacs1 mock oranges1 aspen1 mulberries1 black gums1 berried thorns1 locusts1 sassafras1 magnolia1 crabs1 service berries1 catalpas1 papaws1 honey locusts1 a live oak from ,norfolk1 yews1 aspens1 swamp berries1 hemlocks1 twelve horse chestnut sent by ,light ,horse ,harry ,lee1 twelve cuttings of tree box1 buckeye nuts brought by him the preceding year from the mouth of ,cheat ,river1 eight nuts from a tree called the ,kentucke ,coffee tree1 a row of shell bark hickory nuts from ,new ,york1 some filberts from sister ,lewis4 ,his brother ,john sent him four barrels of holly seeds1 which he sowed in the semicircle north of the front gate2 in the south semicircle1 from the kitchen to the south ,haw ha62 and from the servants' hall to the north ,haw ha6 ,nor did he neglect more utilitarian work1 for in ,april he grafted many cherries1 pears and other fruit trees4 ,such work was continued at intervals till his death4 ,in raising fruit1 as in many other things1 he was troubled by the thieving propensities of the slaves4 ,september tenth of this year he records that because of the scarcity of apples and the depredations that were being committed every ,night upon the few ,i have1 ,i found it necessary 7tho much too early7 to gather and put them up for ,winter use4 ,the spring of #aghe proved an exceptionally dry one and he was forced to be absent from home several days1 leaving the care of the trees and shrubs to his careless lazy servants4 ,he records that they said that they watered them according to directions1 but he seems to doubt it4 ,at all events1 ,most of my transplanted trees have a sickly look4--,the small ,pines in the ,wilderness are entirely dead4--,the larger ones in the ,walks1 for the most part appear to be alive 7as yet7--almost the whole of the ,holly are dead--many of the ,ivy1 wch4 before looked healthy well seem to be declining--few of the ,crab trees had put forth leaves2 not a single ,ash tree has unfolded its buds2 whether owing to the trees declining or any other cause1 ,i know not4444 ,the lime trees1 which had some appearance of ,budding when ,i went away1 are now withering--and the ,horse chestnut ,tree box from ,colo4 ,harry ,lee's discover little signs of shooting4--the ,hemlock is almost entirely dead1 bereft of their leaves2--and so are the live ,oak4--,in short half the ,trees in the ,shrubberies many in the ,walk are dead declining4 ,nevertheless he refused to be discouraged and proceeded to plant forty-eight mahogany tree seeds brought by his nephew1 ,george ,a4 ,washington1 from the ,west ,indies4 ,he also set out a ,palmetto ,royal in the garden and sowed or planted sandbox trees1 palmettos1 physic nuts1 pride of ,chinas1 live oaks1 accacias1 bird peppers1 ,caya pepper1 privet1 guinea grass1 and a great variety of ,chinese grasses1 the names of which1 such as ,in che fa1 all san fa se lon fa1 he gravely set down in his diary4 ,the dry weather continued and presently he notes that all the poplars1 black gums and pines1 most of the mulberries1 all of the crab apples and papaws1 most of the hemlock and sassafras1 and several of the cedars are dead1 while the tops of the live oaks are dead but shoots are coming up from the trunks and roots4 ,the ,chinese grasses are in a bad way1 and those that have come up are almost entirely destroyed either by insects or drought4 ,none of this grass survived the winter1 though he took the trouble to cover it with straw4 ,during the fall of #aghe and spring of #aghf he sowed the lawn with ,english grass seeds1 replaced the dead trees in the serpentine walks and shrubberies1 and sent two hundred and fifteen apple trees to his ,river ,plantation4 ,he made the two low mounds already mentioned and planted thereon weeping willows4 ,he set out stocks of imported hawthorns1 four yellow jessamines1 twenty-five of the ,palinurus for hedges1 forty-six pistacia nuts and seventy-five pyramidical cypress1 which last were brought to him by the botanist ,michaux from the ,king of ,france4 ,as #aghf was one of the wettest summers ever known1 his plants and trees lived better than they had done the preceding year4 ,during this period and until the end of his life he was constantly receiving trees and shrubs from various parts of the world4 ,thus in #agid he sent to ,alexandria by ,thomas ,jefferson a bundle of ,poccon pecan or ,illinois nut1 which in some way had come to him at ,philadelphia4 ,he instructed the gardener to set these out at ,mount ,vernon1 also to sow some seeds of the ,east ,india hemp that had been left in his care4 ,the same year thirty-nine varieties of tropical plants1 including the bread fruit tree1 came to him from a well wisher in ,jamaica4 ,at other times he sowed seeds of the cucumber tree1 chickory and colliflower and planted ivy and wild honeysuckle4 ,again he once more planted pecans and hickory nuts4 ,it can hardly be that at his advanced age he expected to derive any personal good from either of these trees1 but he was very fond of nuts1 eating great quantities for dessert1 and the liking inclined him to grow trees that produced them4 ,in this1 as in many other matters1 he planted for the benefit of posterity4 ,in order to care for his exotic plants he built adjoining the upper garden a considerable conservatory or hothouse4 ,in this he placed many of the plants sent to him as presents and also purchased many others from the collection of the celebrated botanist1 ,john ,bartram1 at ,philadelphia4 ,the structure1 together with the servants' quarters adjoining1 was burned down in ,december1 #ahce1 and when the historian ,lossing visited ,mount ,vernon in #aheh nothing remained of these buildings except bare walls crumbling to decay4 ,of the movable plants that had belonged to ,washington there remained in #aheh only a lemon tree1 a century plant and a sago palm1 all of which have since died4 ,the conservatory and servants' quarters have1 however1 been rebuilt and the conservatory restocked with plants such as ,washington kept in it4 ,the buildings probably look much as they did in his time4 ,one of the sights to-day at ,mount ,vernon is the formal garden1 which all who have visited the place will remember4 ,strangely enough it seems impossible to discover exactly when this was laid out as it now stands4 ,the guides follow tradition and tell visitors that ,washington set out the box hedge1 the principal feature1 after his marriage1 and that he told ,martha that she should be mistress of this flower garden and he the master of the vegetable garden4 ,it is barely possible that he did set out the hedges at that time1 but1 if so1 it must have been in #agei1 for no mention is made of it in the diary begun in #agfj4 ,in ,april1 #aghe1 we find by his diary that he planted twelve cuttings of the tree box and again in the spring of #aghg he planted in his shrubberies some holly trees1 also 444 some of the slips of the tree box4 ,but of box hedges ,i can find no mention in any of the papers ,i have seen4 ,one guess is about as good as another1 and ,i am inclined to believe that if they were planted in his time1 it was done during his presidency by one of his gardeners1 perhaps ,butler or the ,german1 ,ehler4 ,they may have been set out long after his death4 ,at all events the garden was modeled after the formal gardens of ,europe and the idea was not original with him4 ,east of the formal garden lies a plot of ground that he used for agricultural experiments4 ,the vegetable garden was south of the ,bowling ,green and separated from it by a brick wall4 ,here utility was lord and a great profusion of products was raised for the table4 ,washington took an interest in its management and ,i have found an entry in his diary recording the day that green peas were available for the first time that year4 ,evidently he was fond of them4 ,the bent of our ,farmer's mind was to the practical1 yet he took pride in the appearance of his estate4 ,i shall begrudge no reasonable expense that will contribute to the improvement and neatness of my farms1 he wrote one of his managers1 for nothing pleases me better than to see them in good order1 and everything trim1 handsome1 and thriving about them2 nor nothing hurts me more than to find them otherwise4 ,live hedges tend to make a place look well and it was probably this and his passion for trees that caused ,washington to go in extensively for hedges about his farms4 ,they took the place of wooden fences and saved trees and also grew more trees and bushes4 ,his ordinary course in building a fence was to have a trench dug on each side of the line and the dirt thrown toward the center4 ,upon the ridge thus formed he built a post and rail fence and along it planted cedars1 locusts1 pines1 briars or thorn bushes to discourage cattle and other stock4 ,the trenches not only increased the efficiency of the fence but also served as ditches4 ,in many places they are still discernible4 ,the lines of the hedges are also often marked in many places by trees which1 though few or none can be the originals1 are descended from the roots or seeds of those trees4 ,cedar and locust trees are particularly noticeable4 ,illustration3 ,first page of the ,diary for #agfj ,in #agid our ,farmer had five thousand white thorn sent from ,england for hedge purposes1 but they arrived late in the spring and few survived and even these did not thrive very well4 ,another time he sent from ,philadelphia two bushels of honey locust seed to be planted in his nursery4 ,these are only instances of his activities in this direction4 ,much of what he undertook as a planter of trees failed for one reason or another1 most of all because he attended to the business of his country at the expense of his own1 but much that he attempted succeeded and enough still remains to enable us to realize that by his efforts he made his estate attractive4 ,he was no ,barbarian or ,philistine4 ,he had a sense of beauty and it is only in recent years that his countrymen1 absorbed in material undertakings1 have begun to appreciate the things that he was enjoying so long ago4 ,the visitor at ,mount ,vernon still finds a charm no art alone could give1 in trees from various climes1 each a witness of the taste that sought1 or the love that sent them1 in fields which the desolating step of war reverently passed by1 in flowers whose root is not in graves1 yet tinged with the lifeblood of the heart that cherished them from childhood to old age4 ,on those acres we move beneath the shade or shelter of the invisible tree which put forth whatever meets the eye1 and has left some sign on each object1 large or small4 ,still planted beside his river1 he brings forth fruit in his season4 ,nor does his leaf wither4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,white ,,servants ,,and ,,overseers ,in colonial ,virginia1 as in most other new countries1 one of the greatest problems that confronted the settlers was that of labor4 ,it took human muscle to clear away the forest and tend the crops1 and the quantity of human muscle available was small4 ,one solution of the problem was the importation of black slaves1 and of this solution as it concerned ,washington something will be said in a separate chapter4 ,another solution was the white indentured servant4 ,some of these white servants were political offenders1 such as the followers of ,monmouth1 who were punished by transportation for a term of years or for life to the plantations4 ,others were criminals or unfortunate debtors who were sold in ,america instead of being sent to jail4 ,others were persons who had been kidnapped and carried across the sea into servitude4 ,yet others were men and women who voluntarily bound themselves to work for a term of years in payment of their passage to the colonies4 ,by far the largest number of the white servants in ,washington's day belonged to this last-mentioned class1 who were often called redemptioners4 ,some of these were ambitious1 well-meaning people1 perhaps skilled artisans1 who after working out their time became good citizens and often prospered4 ,a few were even well educated4 ,in favor of the convicts1 however1 little could be said4 ,in general they were ignorant and immoral and greatly lowered the level of the population in the ,southern ,states1 the section to which most of them were sent4 ,whether they came to ,america of their own free will or not such servants were subjected to stringent regulations and were compelled to complete their terms of service4 ,if they ran away1 they could be pursued and brought back by force1 and the papers of the day were full of advertisements for such absconders4 ,owing to their color and the ease with which they found sympathizers among the white population1 however1 the runaways often managed to make good their escape4 ,to give a complete list of ,washington's indentured servants1 even if it were possible1 would be tedious and tiresome4 ,for the most part he bought them in order to obtain skilled workmen4 ,thus in #agfj we find him writing to a ,doctor ,ross1 of ,philadelphia1 to purchase for him a joiner1 a brick-layer and a gardener1 if any ship with servants was in port4 ,as late as #aghf he bought the time of a ,dutchman named ,overdursh1 who was a ditcher and mower1 and of his wife1 a spinner1 washer and milker2 also their daughter4 ,the same year he received from on board the ,brig ,anna1 from ,ireland1 two servant men for whom ,i agreed yesterday--viz--,thomas ,ryan1 a shoemaker1 and ,cavan ,bowen a ,tayler ,redemptioners for #c years service by ,indenture4 ,these cost him twelve pounds each4 ,the story of his purchase of servants for his western lands is told in another place1 as is also that of his plan to import ,palatines for the same purpose4 ,on the day of ,lexington and ,concord1 but before the news of that conflict reached ,virginia1 two of his indentured servants ran away and he published a lengthy advertisement of them in the ,virginia ,gazette1 offering a reward of forty dollars for the return of both or twenty dollars for the return of either4 ,they were described as follows3 ,,thomas ,,spears1 a joiner1 born in ,bristol1 about #bj years of age1 #e feet #f inches and a half high1 slender made4 ,he has light grey or blueish colored eyes1 a little pock-marked1 and freckled1 with sandy colored hair1 cut short2 his voice is coarse1 and somewhat drawling4 ,he took with him a coat1 waistcoat1 and breeches1 of light brown duffil1 with black horn buttons1 a light colored cloth waistcoat1 old leather breeches1 check and oznabrig shirts1 a pair of old ribbed ditto1 new oznabrig trowsers1 and a felt hat1 not much the worse for wear4 ,,william ,,webster1 a brick maker1 born in ,scotland1 and talks pretty broad4 ,he is about #e feet six inches high and well made1 rather turned of #cj1 with light brown hair1 and roundish face4444 ,they went off in a small yawl1 with turpentine sides and bottom1 the inside painted with a mixture of tar and red lead4 ,in the course of his business career ,washington also employed a considerable number of free white men1 who likewise were usually skilled workers or overseers4 ,he commonly engaged them for the term of one year and by written contracts1 which he drew up himself1 a thing he had learned to do when a boy by copying legal forms4 ,many of these papers still survive and contracts with joiners and gardeners jostle inaugural addresses and opinions of cabinet meetings4 ,as a rule the hired employees received a house1 an allowance of corn1 flour1 meat and perhaps other articles1 the money payment being comparatively small4 ,some of the contracts contain peculiar stipulations4 ,that with a certain overseer provided3 ,and whereas there are a number of whiskey stills very contiguous to the said ,plantations1 and many idle1 drunken and dissolute ,people continually resorting the same1 priding themselves in debauching sober and well-inclined ,persons the said ,edd4 ,voilett doth promise as well for his own sake as his employers to avoid them as he ought4 ,probably most readers have heard of the famous contract with the gardener ,philip ,bater1 who had a weakness for the output of stills such as those mentioned above4 ,it was executed in #aghg and1 in consideration of ,bater's agreement not to be disguised with liquor except on times hereinafter mentioned1 provided that he should be given four dollars at ,christmas1 with which he may be drunk four days and four nights2 two dollars at ,easter to effect the same purpose2 two dollars at ,whitsuntide to be drunk for two days2 a dram in the morning1 and a drink of grog at dinner at noon4 ,washington's most famous white servant was ,thomas ,bishop1 who figures in some books as a negro4 ,he had been the personal servant of ,general ,braddock1 and tradition says that the dying ,general commended him to ,washington4 ,at all events ,washington took him into his service at ten pounds per year and1 except for a short interval about #agfj1 ,bishop remained one of his retainers until death4 ,it was ,bishop and ,john ,alton who accompanied ,washington on his trip to ,new ,york and ,boston in #agef--that trip in the course of which1 according to imaginative historians1 the young officer became enamored of the heiress ,mary ,phillipse4 ,doubtless the men made a brave show along the way1 for we know that ,washington had ordered for them #b complete livery suits for servants2 with a spare cloak and all other necessary trimmings for two suits more4 ,i would have you choose the livery by our arms1 only as the field of arms is white1 ,i think the clothes had better not be quite so1 but nearly like the inclosed4 ,the trimmings and facings of scarlet1 and a scarlet waist coat4 ,if livery lace is not quite disused1 ,i should be glad to have the cloaks laced4 ,i like that fashion best1 and two silver laced hats for the above servants4 ,when the ,revolution came ,bishop was too old to take the field and was left at home as the manager of a plantation4 ,he was allowed a house1 for he had married and was now the father of a daughter4 ,he lived to a great age1 but on fair days1 when the ,farmer was at home1 the old man always made it a point to grasp his cane and walk out to the road to see his master ride by1 to salute him and to pass a friendly word4 ,he seems to have thought of leaving ,mount ,vernon with his daughter in #agid1 for the ,president wrote to ,pearce3 ,old ,bishop must be taken care of whether he goes or stays4 ,he died the following ,january1 while ,washington was away in ,philadelphia4 ,custis tells an amusing story of ,bishop's daughter ,sally4 ,following the ,revolution two of ,washington's aides-de-camp1 ,colonels ,smith and ,humphreys1 the latter a poet of some pretensions1 spent considerable time at ,mount ,vernon arranging the ,general's military papers4 ,one afternoon ,smith strolled out from the ,mansion ,house for relaxation and came upon ,sally1 then in her teens and old enough to be interesting to a soldier1 milking a cow4 ,when she started for the house with the pail of milk the ,colonel gallantly stepped forward and asked to be permitted to carry it4 ,but ,sally had heard from her father dire tales of what befell damsels who had anything to do with military men and the fact that ,smith was a fine-looking young fellow in no way lessened her sense of peril4 ,in great panic she flung down the pail1 splashing the contents over the officer1 and ran screaming to the house4 ,smith followed1 intent upon allaying her alarm and ran plump into old ,bishop1 who at once accused him of attempting to philander with the girl1 turned a deaf ear to all the ,colonel's explanations1 and declared that he would bring word of the offense to his honor the ,general1 nay more1 to ,mrs4 ,washington6 ,in great alarm the ,colonel betook himself toward the ,mansion ,house pondering upon some way of getting himself out of the scrape he had fallen into4 ,at last he bethought himself of ,billy ,lee1 the mulatto body servant1 and these two old soldiers proceeded to hold a council of war4 ,smith said3 ,it's bad enough1 ,billy1 for this story to get to the ,general's ears1 but to those of the lady will never do2 and then there's ,humphreys1 he will be out upon me in a d--d long poem that will spread my misfortunes from ,dan to ,beersheba6 ,at last it was decided that ,billy should act as special ambassador to ,bishop and endeavor to divert him from his purpose4 ,meanwhile ,bishop had got out his old clothes--,cumberland cocked hat and all--of the period of the ,french ,war1 had dressed with great care and1 taking up his staff1 had laid his line of march straight to the ,mansion ,house4 ,billy met him midway upon the road and much skirmishing ensued1 ,billy taking two lines of attack3 first1 that ,smith was a perfect gentleman1 and1 second1 that ,bishop had no business to have such a devilishly pretty daughter4 ,finally these tactics prevailed1 ,bishop took the right about1 and a guinea dropped into the ambassador's palm completed the episode4 ,in due time ,sally lost her dreadful fear of men and married the plantation carpenter1 ,thomas ,green1 with whose shiftless ways1 described elsewhere1 ,washington put up for a long time for the sake of his family4 ,ultimately ,green quitted ,washington's service and seems to have deserted his wife or else died2 at all events she and her family were left in distressed circumstances4 ,she wrote a letter to ,washington begging assistance and he instructed his manager to aid her to the extent of #bj but to tell her that if she set up a shop in ,alexandria1 as she thought of doing1 she must not buy anything of his negroes4 ,he seems to have allowed her a little wood1 flour and meat at killing time and in #agif instructed ,pearce that if she and her family were really in distress1 as reported1 to afford them some relief1 but in my opinion it had better be in anything than money1 for ,i very strongly suspect that all that has1 and perhaps all that will be given to her in that article1 is applied more in rigging herself1 than in the purchase of real and useful necessaries for her family4 ,by his will ,washington left ,sally ,green and ,ann ,walker1 daughter of ,john ,alton1 each one hundred dollars in consideration of the attachment of their fathers to me4 ,alton entered ,washington's service even before ,bishop1 accompanying him as a body servant on the ,braddock campaign and suffering a serious illness4 ,he subsequently was promoted to the management of a plantation and enjoyed ,washington's confidence and esteem4 ,it was with a sad heart that ,washington penned in his diary for #aghe3 ,last night ,jno4 ,alton an ,overseer of mine in the ,neck--an old faithful ,servant who has lived with me #cj odd years died--and this evening the wife of ,thos4 ,bishop1 another old ,servant who had lived with me an equal number of years also died4 ,the adoption of ,mrs4 ,washington's two youngest grandchildren1 ,nelly ,custis and ,george ,washington ,custis1 made necessary the employment of a tutor4 ,one applicant was ,noah ,webster1 who visited ,mount ,vernon in #aghe1 but for some reason did not engage4 ,a certain ,william ,shaw had charge for almost a year and then in #aghf ,tobias ,lear1 a native of ,new ,hampshire and a graduate of ,harvard1 was employed4 ,it is supposed that some of the lessons were taught in the small circular building in the garden2 ,washington himself refers to it as the house in the ,upper ,garden called the ,school house4 ,lear's duties were by no means all pedagogical and ultimately he became ,washington's private secretary4 ,in ,philadelphia he and his family lived in the presidential mansion4 ,washington had for him a particular friendship1 an almost fatherly affection4 ,his interest in ,lear's little son ,lincoln was almost as great as he would have bestowed upon his own grandson4 ,apropos of the recovery of the child from a serious illness he wrote in #agic3 ,it gave ,mrs4 ,washington1 myself1 and all who knew him sincere pleasure to hear that our little favourite had arrived safe and was in good health at ,portsmouth--we sincerely wish him a long continuance of the latter--that he may be always as charming and promising as he now is--that he may live to be a comfort and blessing to you--and an ornament to his ,country4 ,as a token of my affection for him ,i send him a ticket in the lottery that's now drawing in the ,federal ,city2 if it should be his fortune to draw the ,hotel1 it will add to the pleasure ,i feel in giving it4 ,truly a rather singular gift for a child1 we would think in these days4 ,let us see how it turned out4 ,the next ,may ,washington wrote to ,lear1 then in ,europe on business for the ,potomac ,navigation ,company1 of which he had become president3 ,often1 through the medium of ,mr4 ,langdon1 we hear of your son ,lincoln1 and with pleasure1 that he continues to be the healthy and sprightly child he formerly was4 ,he declared if his ticket should turn up a prize1 he would go and live in the ,federal ,city4 ,he did not consider1 poor little fellow1 that some of the prizes would hardly build him a baby house nor foresee that one of these small tickets would be his lot1 having drawn no more than ten dollars4 ,lear's first wife had died the year before of yellow fever at the ,president's house in ,philadelphia1 and for his second he took the widow of ,george ,a4 ,washington--,fanny--who was a niece of ,martha ,washington1 being a daughter of ,anna ,dandridge ,bassett and ,colonel ,burwell ,bassett4 ,this alliance tended to strengthen the friendly relations between ,lear and the ,general4 ,in ,washington's last moments ,lear held his dying hand and later penned a noble description of the final scene that reveals a man of high and tender sentiments with a true appreciation of his benefactor's greatness4 ,washington willed him the use of three hundred sixty acres east of ,hunting ,creek during life4 ,when ,fanny ,lear died1 ,lear married ,frances ,dandridge ,henley1 another niece of ,mrs4 ,washington4 ,lear's descendants still own a quilt made by ,martha ,washington and given to this niece4 ,during part at least of ,washington's absence in the ,french war his younger brother ,john ,augustine1 described in the ,general's will as the intimate friend of my ripened age1 had charge of his business affairs and resided at ,mount ,vernon4 ,the relations with this brother were unusually close and ,washington took great interest in ,john's eldest son ,bushrod1 who studied law and became an associate justice of the ,federal ,supreme ,court4 ,to ,bushrod the ,general gave his papers1 library1 the ,mansion ,house ,farm and other land and a residuary share in the estate4 ,i am inclined to believe that during #ageg-eh ,john ,augustine did not have charge1 as ,mount ,vernon seems to have been under the oversight of a certain ,humphrey ,knight1 who worked the farm on shares4 ,he was evidently a good farmer1 for in #ageh ,william ,fairfax1 who kept a friendly eye upon his absent neighbor's affairs1 wrote3 ,you have some of the finest ,tobacco ,corn ,i have seen this year1 ,the summer was1 however1 exceedingly dry and the crop was good in a relative sense only4 ,knight tried to keep affairs in good running order and the men hard at work1 reporting as to ye ,carpentrs ,i have minded em all ,i posably could1 and has whipt em when ,i could see a fault4 ,knight died ,september #i1 #ageh1 a few months before ,washington's marriage4 ,washington's general manager during the ,revolution was ,lund ,washington1 a distant relative4 ,he was a man of energy and ability and retired against protests in #aghe4 ,unfortunately not much of the correspondence between the two has come down to us1 as ,lund destroyed most of the ,general's letters4 ,why he did so ,i do not know1 though possibly it was because in them ,washington commented freely about persons and sections4 ,in one that remains1 for example1 written soon after his assumption of command at ,cambridge1 the ,general speaks disparagingly of some ,new ,england officers and says of the troops that they may fight well1 but are dirty fellows4 ,when the ,british visited ,mount ,vernon in #agha ,lund conciliated them by furnishing them provisions1 thereby drawing down upon himself a rebuke from the owner1 who said that he would rather have had his buildings burned down than to have purchased their safety in such a way4 ,nevertheless the ,general appreciated ,lund's services and the two always remained on friendly terms4 ,lund was succeeded by ,major ,george ,augustine ,washington1 son of the ,general's brother ,charles4 ,from his youth ,george ,augustine had attached himself to his uncle's service and fought under him in the ,revolution1 a part of the time on the staff of ,lafayette4 ,the ,general had a strong affection for him and in #aghd furnished him with money to take a trip to the ,west ,indies for his health4 ,contrary to expectations1 he improved1 married ,fanny ,bassett1 and for several years resided at ,mount ,vernon4 ,but the disease1 consumption1 returned and1 greatly to his uncle's distress1 he died in #agib4 ,washington helped to care for the widow until she became the wife of ,tobias ,lear4 ,two other nephews1 ,robert ,lewis and ,howell ,lewis1 were in turn for short intervals in charge of affairs1 but presently the estate was committed to the care of an ,englishman named ,anthony ,whiting1 who was already overseer of two of the farms4 ,like his predecessor he was a victim of consumption and died in ,june1 #agic4 ,washington showed him great kindness1 repeatedly urging him not to overexert1 to make use of wines1 tea1 coffee and other delicacies that had been sent for the use of guests4 ,as ,whiting was also troubled with rheumatism1 the ,president dropped affairs of state long enough to write him that ,flannel next the skin is the best cure for1 preventative of the ,rheumatism ,i have ever tried4 ,yet after ,whiting's death the employer learned that he had been deceived in the man--that he drank freely--kept bad company at my house in ,alexandria--and was a very debauched person4 ,william ,pearce1 who followed ,whiting1 came from the eastern shore of ,maryland1 where he owned an estate called ,hopewell4 ,his salary was a hundred guineas a year4 ,a poor speller and grammarian1 he was nevertheless practical and one of the best of all the managers4 ,he resigned in #agig on account of rheumatism1 which he thought would prevent him from giving business the attention it deserved4 ,washington parted from him with much regret and gave him a certificate in which he spoke in the most laudatory terms of his honesty1 sobriety industry and skill and stated that his conduct had given entire satisfaction4 ,they later corresponded occasionally and exchanged farm and family news in the most friendly way4 ,the last manager1 ,james ,anderson1 was described by his employer as an honest1 industrious and judicious ,scotchman4 ,his salary was one hundred forty pounds a year4 ,though born in a country where slaves were unknown1 he proved adaptable to ,virginia conditions and assisted the overseers in some chastisements when needful4 ,as his employer retired from the presidency soon after he took charge he had not the responsibility of some who had preceded him1 for ,washington was unwilling to be reduced to a mere cipher on his own estate4 ,seeing the great profusion of cheap corn and rye1 ,anderson1 who was a good judge of whisky1 engaged the ,general in a distillery1 which stood near the grist mill4 ,the returns for #agih were #cdd4ab4g-c_/d1 with #gee-a_/d gallons still unsold4 ,washington's letters to his managers are filled with exhortations and sapient advice about all manner of things4 ,he constantly urged them to avoid familiarities with the blacks and preached the importance of example1 for1 be it good or bad1 it will be followed by all those who look up to you4--,keep every one in their place1 to their duty2 relaxation from1 or neglect in small matters1 lead to like attempts in matters of greater magnitude4 ,the absent owner was constantly complaining that his managers failed to inform him about matters concerning which he had inquired4 ,hardly a report reached him that did not fail to explain something in which he was interested4 ,this was one of the many disadvantages of farming at long range4 ,in #agic ,washington described his overseers to ,pearce1 who was just taking charge1 in great detail4 ,stuart is competent1 sober and industrious1 but talkative and conceited4 ,if he stirs early and works late 444 his talkativeness and vanity may be humored4 ,crow is active and possessed of good judgment1 but overly fond of visiting and receiving visits4 ,mc,koy is a sickly1 slothful and stupid fellow4 ,butler1 the gardener1 may mean well1 but he has no more authority over the ,negroes he is placed over than an old woman would have4 ,ultimately he dismissed ,butler on this ground1 but as the man could find no other job he was forced to give him assistance4 ,the owner's opinions of ,davy1 the colored overseer at ,muddy ,hole ,farm1 and of ,thomas ,green1 the carpenter1 are given elsewhere4 ,in the same letter he exhorted ,pearce to see what time the overseers turn out of a morning--for ,i have strong suspicions that this1 with some of them1 is at a late hour1 the consequences of which to the ,negroes is not difficult to foretell4 ,all these ,overseers as you will perceive by their agreements1 which ,i here with send1 are on standing wages2 and this with men who are not actuated by the principles of honor or honesty1 and not very regardful of their characters1 leads naturally to endulgences--as their profits whatever may be mine1 are the same whether they are at a horse race or on the farm4 ,from the above it will appear that he did not believe that the overseers were storing up any large treasury of good works4 ,in the ,revolution he wrote that one overseer and a confederate1 ,i believe1 divide the profits of my ,estate on the ,york ,river1 tolerably between them1 for the devil of anything do ,i get4 ,later he approved the course of ,george ,a4 ,washington in depriving an overseer of the privilege of killing four shoats1 as this gave him an excuse when caught killing a pig to say that it was one of those to which he was entitled4 ,even when honest1 the overseers were likely to be careless4 ,they often knew little about the stock under their charge and in making their weekly reports would take the number from old reports instead of actually making the count1 with the result that many animals could die or disappear long before those in charge became aware of it4 ,illustration3 ,part of ,manger's ,weekly ,report ,washington's carpenters were mostly slaves1 but he usually hired a white man to oversee and direct them4 ,in #agfh1 for example1 he engaged for this purpose a certain ,jonathan ,palmer1 who was to receive forty pounds a year1 four hundred pounds of meat1 twenty bushels of corn1 a house to live in1 a garden1 and also the right to keep two cows4 ,the carpenters were required not only to build houses1 barns1 sheds and other structures1 but also boats1 and had to hew out or whipsaw many of the timbers and boards used4 ,the carpenter whose name we meet oftenest was ,thomas ,green1 who married ,sally ,bishop4 ,i have seen a contract signed by ,green in #aghf1 by which he was to receive annually forty-five pounds in ,virginia currency1 five hundredweight of pork1 pasture for a cow1 and two hundred pounds of common flour4 ,he also had the right to be absent from the plantation half a day in every month4 ,he did not use these vacations to good advantage1 for he was a drunken incompetent and tried ,washington's patience sorely4 ,washington frequently threatened to dismiss him and as often relented and ,green finally1 in #agid1 quit of his own accord1 though ,washington thereafter had to assist his family4 ,the employment of white day labor at ,mount ,vernon was not extensive4 ,in harvest time some extra cradlers were employed1 as this was a kind of work at which the slaves were not very skilful4 ,payment was at the rate of about a dollar a day or a dollar for cutting four acres1 which was the amount a skilled man could lay down in a day4 ,the men were also given three meals a day and a pint of spirits each4 ,they slept in the barns1 with straw and a blanket for a bed4 ,with them worked the overseers1 cutting1 binding and setting up the sheaves in stools or shocks4 ,laziness in his employees gave our ,farmer a vast deal of unhappiness4 ,it was an enemy that he fought longer and more persistently than he fought the ,british4 ,in his early career a certain ,young ,stephens1 son of the miller1 seems to have been his greatest trial4 ,visited my ,plantations1 he confides to his diary4 ,severely reprimanded young ,stephens for his ,indolence1 and his father for suffering it4 ,visited my ,quarters ye ,mill according to custom found young ,stephens absent4 ,visited my ,plantations and found to my great surprise ,stephens constantly at work4 ,rid out to my ,plantn4 and to my ,carpenters4 ,found ,richard ,stephens hard at work with an ax--very extraordinary this6 ,to what extent the change proved permanent we do not know4 ,but even though the reformation was absolute1 it mattered little1 for each year produces a new crop of lazybones just as it does lambs and suckers4 ,enough has been said to show that our ,farmer was impatient1 perhaps even a bit querulous1 but innumerable incidents prove that he was also generous and just4 ,thus when paper currency depreciated to a low figure he1 of his own volition1 wrote to ,lund ,washington that he would not hold him to his contract1 but would pay his wages by a share in the crops1 and this at a time when his own debtors were discharging their indebtedness in the almost worthless paper4 ,if ever a square man lived1 ,washington was that man4 ,he believed in the ,golden ,rule and he practiced it--not only in church1 but in business4 ,it was not for nothing that as a boy he had written as his one hundred tenth ,rule of ,civility3 ,labor to keep alive in your ,breast that ,little ,spark of ,celestial fire called ,conscience4 ,in looking through his later letters ,i came upon one1 dated ,january #g1 #agif1 from ,pearce stating that ,davenport1 a miller whom ,washington had brought from ,pennsylvania1 was dead4 ,he had already received six hundred pounds of pork and more wages than were due him as advances for the coming year4 ,what should be done8 asked the manager4 ,his ,wife and ,children will be in a most ,distressed ,situation4 ,as ,i examined the papers that followed ,i said to myself3 ,i will see if ,i know what his answer will be4 ,i thought ,i did1 and so it proved4 ,back from ,philadelphia came the answer3 ,altho' she can have no right to the ,meat1 ,i would have none of it taken from her4--,you may also let her have middlings from the ,mill1--and until the house may become indispensably necessary for the succeeding ,miller1 let her remain in it4--,as she went from these parts she can have no friends 7by these ,i mean relations7 where she is4 ,if therefore she wishes to return back to his1 or her own relations1 aid her in doing so4 ,not always were his problems so somber as this4 ,consider1 for example1 the case of ,william ,m4 ,roberts1 an employee who feared that he was about to get the sack4 ,in your absence to ,richmond1 writes anxious ,william1 ,november #be1 #aghd1 ,my ,wife ,i have had a ,most ,unhappy falling out ,which ,i ,shall not ,trouble you with the ,praticlers ,no farther than ,this4 ,i hapened ,to ,git to ,drinking one ,night as ,she thought ,two ,much4 ,from one ,cros ,question to a nother ,matters weare ,carred to the ,langth it has been4 ,which ,mr4 ,lund ,washington will ,inform you ,for ,my part ,i am ,heartily ,sorry in my ,sole ,my ,wife appares to be the ,same ,i am of a pinion that ,we ,shall ,live ,more ,happy than ,we have ,don for the fewter4 ,in his dealings with servants ,washington was sometimes troubled with questions that worry us when we are trying to hire ,mary or ,bridget4 ,thus when ,mrs4 ,washington's ill health necessitated his engaging in #agig a housekeeper he made the following minute and anxious inquiries of ,bushrod ,washington at ,richmond concerning a certain ,mrs4 ,forbes3 ,what countrywoman is she8 ,whether ,widow or ,wife8 if the latter ,where her husband is8 ,what family she has8 ,what age she is8 ,of what temper8 ,whether active and spirited in the execution of her business8 ,whether sober and honest8 ,whether much knowledge in ,cookery1 and understands ordering and setting out a ,table8 ,what her appearance is8 ,with other matters which may occur to you to ask1--and necessary for me to know4 ,mrs4 ,forbes will have a warm1 decent and comfortable room to herself1 to lodge in1 and will eat of the victuals of our ,table1 but not set at it1 at any time with us1 be her appearance what it may1 for if this was once admitted1 no line satisfactory to either party1 perhaps1 could be drawn thereafter4--,it might be well for me to know however whether this was admitted at ,govr4 ,brookes or not4 ,considerate and just though he was1 his deliberate judgment of servants after a long and varied experience was that they are necessary plagues 444 they baffle all calculation in the accomplishment of any plan or repairs they are engaged in2 and require more attention to and looking after than can be well conceived4 ,perhaps the soundest philosophy upon this trying and much debated servant question is that of ,miles ,standish1 who proceeded1 however1 straightway to violate it4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,black ,,slaves ,it is one of the strange inconsistencies of history that one of the foremost champions of liberty of all time should himself have been the absolute owner and master of men1 women and children4 ,visitors at ,mount ,vernon saw many faces there1 but only a few were white faces1 the rest were those of black slaves4 ,on each farm stood a village of wooden huts1 where turbaned mammies crooned and piccaninnies gamboled in the sunshine4 ,the cooks1 the house servants1 the coachmen1 the stable boys1 almost all the manual workers were slaves4 ,even the ,mansion ,house grounds1 if the master was away1 were apt to be overrun with black children1 for though only the progeny of a few house servants were supposed to enter the precincts1 the others often disregarded the prohibition1 to the destruction of the ,farmer's flowers and rare shrubs4 ,from his father ,washington inherited ten or a dozen slaves and1 as occasion required or opportunity offered1 he added to the number4 ,by #agfj he paid taxes on forty-nine slaves1 in #aggj on eighty-seven and in #aggd on one hundred thirty-five4 ,presently he found himself overstocked and in #aggh expressed a wish to barter for land some ,negroes1 of whom ,i every day long more to get clear of#g4 ,still later he declared that he had more negroes than could be employed to advantage on his estate1 but was principled against selling any1 while hiring them out was almost as bad4 ,what then is to be done8 ,something or ,i shall be ruined4 #g ,in #aged he bought a fellow for #dj4e1 another named ,jack for #eb4e and a woman called ,clio for #ej4 ,two years later he acquired two negro men and a woman for #hf1 and from ,governor ,dinwiddie a woman and child for #fj4 ,in #ageh he got ,gregory for #fj4i4 ,mount ,vernon brought him eighteen more4 ,mrs4 ,washington was the owner of a great many slaves1 which he called the dower ,negroes1 and with part of the money she brought him he acquired yet others4 ,the year of his marriage he bought ,will for #ej1 another fellow for #fj1 ,hannah and child for #hj and nine others for #djf4 ,in #agfb he acquired two of ,fielding ,lewis for #aae1 seven of ,lee ,massey for #cjj1 also one-handed ,charles for #cj4 ,two years later he bought two men and a woman of the estate of ,francis ,hobbs for #abh4aj1 the woman being evidently of inferior quality1 for she cost only #bj4 ,another slave purchased that year from ,sarah ,alexander was more valuable1 costing #gf4 ,judy and child1 obtained of ,garvin ,corbin1 cost #fc4 ,two mulattoes1 ,will and ,frank1 bought of ,mary ,lee in #agfh1 cost #fa4ae and #ej1 and ,will became famous as a body servant2 ,adam and ,frank1 bought of the same owner1 cost #ch4 ,he bought five more slaves in #aggb4 ,some writers say that this was his last purchase1 but it is certain that thereafter he at least took a few in payment of debts4 ,in #aghf he took a census of his slaves on the ,mount ,vernon estate4 ,on the ,mansion ,house ,farm he had sixty-seven1 including ,will or ,billy ,lee1 who was his val de ,chambre1 two waiters1 two cooks1 three drivers and stablers1 three seamstresses1 two house maids1 two washers1 four spinners1 besides smiths1 a waggoner1 carter1 stock keeper1 knitters and carpenters4 ,two women were almost past service1 one of them being old and almost blind4 ,a man1 ,schomberg1 was past labour4 ,lame ,peter had been taught to knit4 ,twenty-six were children1 the youngest being ,delia and ,sally4 ,at the mill were ,miller ,ben and three coopers4 ,on the whole estate there were two hundred sixteen slaves1 including many dower negroes4 ,if our ,farmer took any special pains to develop the mental and moral nature of ,my ,people1 as he usually called his slaves1 ,i have found no record of it4 ,nor is there any evidence that their sexual relations were other than promiscuous--if they so desired4 ,marriage had no legal basis among slaves and children took the status of their mother4 ,instances occurred in which couples remained together and had an affection for their families1 but the reverse was not uncommon4 ,this state of affairs goes far toward explaining moral lapses among the negroes of to-day4 ,i have found only one or two lists of the increase of the slaves1 one being that transmitted by ,james ,anderson1 manager1 in ,february1 #agig1 to the effect that there are #c ,negro ,children ,born1 one dead--at ,river ,farm #a2 born at ,mansion house1 ,lina #a2 at ,union ,farm #a born one dead--,it was killed by ,worms4 ,medical assistance was called--,but the mothers are very inattentive to their ,young4 ,just why the managers1 when they carefully mentioned the arrival of calves1 colts1 lambs and mules1 did not also transmit news of the advent of the more valuable two-legged live stock1 is not apparent4 ,in many reports1 however1 in accounting for the time of slaves1 occur such entries as3 ,by ,cornelia in child bed #f days4 ,occasionally the fact and sex of the increase is mentioned1 but not often4 ,washington was much more likely to take notice of deaths than of increases4 ,dorcas1 daughter of ,phillis1 died1 which makes #d ,negroes lost this winter1 he wrote in #agfj4 ,he strove to safeguard the health of his slaves and employed a physician by the year to attend to them1 the payment1 during part of the time at least1 being fifteen pounds per annum4 ,in #agfj this physician was a certain ,james ,laurie1 evidently not a man of exemplary character1 for ,washington wrote1 ,april #i1 #agfj1 ,doctr4 ,laurie came here4 ,i may add ,drunk4 ,another physician was a ,doctor ,brown1 another ,doctor ,william ,rumney1 and in later years it was ,washington's old friend ,doctor ,craik4 ,i have noticed two instances of ,washington's sending slaves considerable distances for medical treatment4 ,one boy1 ,christopher1 bitten by a dog1 went to a specialist at ,lebanon1 ,pennsylvania1 for treatment to avert madness1 and another1 ,tom1 had an operation performed on his eyes1 probably for cataract4 ,when at home the ,farmer personally helped to care for sick slaves4 ,he had a special building erected near the ,mansion ,house for use as a hospital4 ,once he went to ,winchester in the ,shenandoah region especially to look after slaves ill with smallpox and found everything in the utmost confusion1 disorder1 and backwardness4 ,got ,blankets and every other requisite from ,winchester1 and settied things on the best footing ,i could4 ,as he had had smallpox when at ,barbadoes1 he had no fear of contagion4 ,among the entries in his diary are3 ,visited my ,plantations and found two negroes sick 444 ordered them to be blooded4 ,found that lightening had struck my quarters and near #aj ,negroes in it1 some very bad but by letting blood recovered4 ,found the new negro ,cupid ill of a pleurisy at ,dogue ,run ,quarter and had him brot home in a cart for better care of him4444 ,cupid extremely ill all this day and night4 ,when ,i went to bed ,i thought him within a few hours of breathing his last4 ,however1 ,cupid recovered4 ,in his contracts with overseers ,washington stipulated proper care of the slaves4 ,once he complained to his manager that the generality of the overseers seem to view the poor creatures in scarcely any other light than they do a draught horse or ox2 neglecting them as much when they are unable to work2 instead of comforting and nursing them when they lye on a sick bed4 ,again he wrote3 ,when ,i recommended care of and attention to my negros in sickness1 it was that the first stage of1 and the whole progress through the disorders with which they might be seized 7if more than a slight indisposition7 should be closely watched1 and timely applications and remedies be administered2 especially in the pleurisies1 and all inflammatory disorders accompanied with pain1 when a few day's neglect1 or want of bleeding might render the ailment incurable4 ,in such cases sweeten'd teas1 broths and 7according to the nature of the complaint1 and the doctor's prescription7 sometimes a little wine1 may be necessary to nourish and restore the patient2 and these ,i am perfectly willing to allow1 when it is requisite4 ,yet again he complains that the overseers seem to consider a ,negro much in the same light as they do the brute beasts1 on the farms1 and often times treat them as inhumanly4 ,his slaves by no means led lives of luxury and inglorious ease4 ,a friendly ,polish poet who visited ,mount ,vernon in #agih was shocked by the poor quarters and rough food provided for them4 ,he wrote3 ,we entered some negroes' huts--for their habitations cannot be called houses4 ,they are far more miserable than the poorest of the cottages of our peasants4 ,the husband and his wife sleep on a miserable bed1 the children on the floor4 ,a very poor chimney1 a little kitchen furniture amid this misery--a tea-kettle and cups4444 ,a small orchard with vegetables was situated close to the hut4 ,five or six hens1 each with ten or fifteen chickens1 walked there4 ,that is the only pleasure allowed to the negroes3 they are not permitted to keep either ducks or geese or pigs4 ,yet all the slaves he saw seemed gay and light-hearted and on ,sundays played at pitching the bar with an activity and zest that indicated that they managed to keep from being overworked and found some enjoyment in life4 ,to our ,farmer's orderly and energetic soul his shiftless lazy blacks were a constant trial4 ,in his diary for ,february1 #agfj1 he records that four of his carpenters had only hewed about one hundred twenty feet of timber in a day1 so he tried the experiment of sitting down and watching them4 ,they at once fell to with such energy and worked so rapidly that he concluded that each one ought to hew about one hundred twenty-five feet per day and more when the days were longer4 ,a later set of carpenters seem to have been equally trifling1 for of them he said in #agie3 ,there is not to be found so idle a set of ,rascals4--,in short1 it appears to me1 that to make even a chicken coop1 would employ all of them a week4 ,it is observed by the ,weekly ,report1 he wrote when ,president1 that the ,sowers make only ,six ,shirts a ,week1 and the last week ,caroline 7without being sick7 made only five2--,mrs4 ,washington says their usual task was to make nine with ,shoulder straps1 good sewing3--tell them therefore from me1 that what has been done shall be done by fair or foul means2 they had better make a choice of the first1 for their own reputation1 for the sake of peace and quietness otherwise they will be sent to the several ,plantations1 be placed at common labor under the ,overseers thereat4 ,their work ought to be well examined1 or it will be most shamefully executed1 whether little or much of it is done--and it is said1 the same attention ought to be given to ,peter 7 ,i suppose to ,sarah likewise7 or the ,stockings will be knit too small for those for whom they are intended2 such being the idleness1 deceit of those people4 ,what kind of sickness is ,betty ,davis's8 he demands on another occasion4 ,if pretended ailments1 without apparent causes1 or visible effects1 will screen her from work1 ,i shall get no work at all from her2--for a more lazy1 deceitful and impudent huzzy is not to be found in the ,united ,states than she is4 ,i observe what you say of ,betty ,davis ct1 he wrote a little later1 but ,i never found so much difficulty as you seem to apprehend in distinguishing between real and feigned sickness2--or when a person is much afflicted with pain4--,nobody can be very sick without having a fever1 nor will a fever or any other disorder continue long upon any one without reducing them4--,pain also1 if it be such as to yield entirely to its force1 week after week1 will appear by its effects2 but my people 7many of them7 will lay up a month1 at the end of which no visible change in their countenance1 nor the loss of an oz of flesh1 is discoverable2 and their allowance of provision is going on as if nothing ailed them4 ,he not only deemed his negroes lazy1 but he had also a low opinion of their honesty4 ,alexandria was full of low shopkeepers who would buy stolen goods from either blacks or whites1 and ,washington declared that not more than two or three of his slaves would refrain from filching anything upon which they could lay their hands4 ,illustration3 ,spinning ,house--,last ,building to the ,right ,illustration3 ,the ,butler's ,house and ,magnolia ,set out by ,washington the ,year of his ,death ,he found that he dared not leave his wine unlocked1 because the servants would steal two glasses to every one consumed by visitors and then allege that the visitors had drunk it all4 ,he even suspected the slaves of taking a toll from the clover and timothy seed given them to sow and adopted the practice of having the seed mixed with sand1 as that rendered it unsalable and also had the advantage of getting the seed sown more evenly4 ,corn houses and meat houses had to be kept locked1 apples picked early1 and sheep and pigs watched carefully or the slaves took full advantage of the opportunity4 ,nor can we at this distant day blame them very much or wax so indignant as did their master over their thieveries4 ,they were held to involuntary servitude and if now and then they got the better of their owner and managed to enjoy a few stolen luxuries they merely did a little toward evening the score4 ,but it was poor training for future freedom4 ,the black picture which ,washington draws of slavery--from the master's standpoint--is exceedingly interesting and significant4 ,the character he gives the slaves is commended to the attention of those persons who continually bemoan the fact that freedom and education have ruined the negroes4 ,one of the famous ,rules of ,civility1 which the boy ,washington so carefully copied1 set forth that persons of high degree ought to treat their inferiors with affibility ,courtesie1 without ,arrogancy4 ,there is abundant evidence that when he came to manhood he was reasonably considerate of his slaves1 and yet he was a ,master and ruled them in martinet fashion4 ,his advice to a manager was to keep the blacks at a proper distance1 for they will grow upon familiarity in proportion as you will sink in authority4 ,the ,english farmer ,parkinson records that the first time he walked with ,general ,washington among his negroes he was amazed at the rough manner in which he spoke to them4 ,this does not mean that ,washington cursed his negroes as the mate of a ,mississippi ,river boat does his roustabouts1 but ,i suspect that those who have heard such a mate can form an idea of the tone employed by our ,farmer that so shocked ,parkinson4 ,military officers still employ it toward their men4 ,corporal punishment was resorted to on occasion1 but not to extremes4 ,the ,master writes regarding a runaway3 ,let ,abram get his deserts when taken1 by way of example2 but do not trust to ,crow to give it to him2--for ,i have reason to believe he is swayed more by passion than by judgment in all his corrections4 ,tradition says that on one occasion he found an overseer brutally beating one of the blacks and1 indignant at the sight1 sprang from his horse and1 whip in hand1 strode up to the overseer1 who was so affrighted that he backed away crying loudly3 ,remember your character1 ,general1 remember your character6 ,the ,general paused1 reprimanded the overseer for cruelty and rode off4 ,among his slaves were some that were too unruly to be managed by ordinary means4 ,in the early seventies he had such a one on a plantation in ,york ,county1 ,will ,shag by name1 who was a persistent runaway1 and who whipped the overseer and was obstreperous generally4 ,another slave committed so serious an offense that he was tried under state law and vas executed4 ,when a bondman became particularly fractious he was threatened with being sent to the ,west ,indies1 a place held in as much dread as was down the river in later years4 ,in #agff ,washington sent such a fellow off and to the captain of the ship that carried the slave away he wrote3 ,with this letter comes a negro 7,tom7 which ,i beg the favor of you to sell in any of the islands you may go to1 for whatever he will fetch1 and bring me in return for him ,one hhd of best molasses ,one ditto of best rum ,one barrel of lymes1 if good and cheap ,one pot of tamarinds1 containing about #aj lbs4 ,two small ditto of mixed sweetmeats1 about #e lbs4 each4 ,and the residue1 much or little1 in good old spirits4 ,that this fellow is both a rogue and a runaway 7tho he was by no means remarkable for the former1 and never practiced the latter till of late7 ,i shall not pretend to deny4 ,but that he is exceedingly healthy1 strong1 and good at the hoe1 the whole neighborhood can testify1 and particularly ,mr4 ,johnson and his son1 who have both had him under them as foreman of the gang2 which gives me reason to hope that he may with your good management sell well1 if kept clean and trim'd up a little when offered for sale4 ,another misbehaving fellow named ,waggoner ,jack was sent off in #agia and was sold for one pipe and ,quarter ,cask of wine4 ,somewhat later 7#agic7 ,matilda's ,ben became addicted to evil courses and among other things committed an assault and battery on ,sambo1 for which he received corporal punishment duly approved by our ,farmer1 whose earnest desire it was that quarrels be stopped4 ,evidently the remedy was insufficient1 for not long after the absent owner wrote3 ,i am very sorry that so likely a fellow as ,matilda's ,ben should addict himself to such courses as he is pursuing4 ,if he should be guilty of any atrocious crime that would affect his life1 he might be given up to the civil authority for trial2 but for such offenses as most of his color are guilty of1 you had better try further correction1 accompanied by admonition and advice4 ,the two latter sometimes succeed where the first has failed4 ,he1 his father and mother 7who ,i dare say are his receivers7 may be told in explicit language1 that if a stop is not put to his rogueries and other villainies1 by fair means and shortly1 that ,i will ship him off 7as ,i did ,waggoner ,jack7 for the ,west ,indies1 where he will have no opportunity of playing such pranks as he is at present engaged in4 ,a few of the negroes occupied positions of some trust and responsibility4 ,one named ,davy was for many years manager of ,muddy ,hole ,farm1 and ,washington thought that he carried on his work as well as did the white overseers and more quietly than some1 though rather negligent of live stock4 ,each year at killing time he was allowed two or three hundredweight of pork as well as other privileges not accorded to the ordinary slave4 ,still his master did not entirely trust him1 for in #agie we find that ,washington suspected ,davy of having stolen some lambs that had been reported as lost4 ,the most famous of the ,mount ,vernon negroes was ,william ,lee1 better known as ,billy1 whose purchase from ,mary ,lee has already been noticed4 ,billy was ,washington's valet and huntsman and served with him throughout the ,revolution as a body servant1 rode with him at reviews and was painted by ,savage in the well-known group of the ,president and his family4 ,naturally ,billy put on airs and presumed a good deal upon his position4 ,on one occasion at ,monmouth the ,general and his staff were reconnoitering the ,british1 and ,billy and fellow valets gathered on an adjoining hill beneath a sycamore tree whence ,billy1 telescope in hand1 surveyed the enemy with much importance and interest4 ,washington1 with a smile1 called the attention of his aides to the spectacle4 ,about the same time the ,british1 noticing the group of horsemen and unable to distinguish the color of the riders1 paid their respects to ,billy and his followers in the shape of a solid shot1 which went crashing through the top of the tree1 whereupon there was a rapid recession of coat tails toward the rear4 ,billy was a good and faithful servant and his master appreciated the fact4 ,in #aghd we find ,washington writing to his ,philadelphia agent3 ,the mullatto fellow1 ,william1 who has been with me all the war1 is attached 7married he says7 to one of his own color1 a free woman1 who during the war1 was also of my family4 ,she has been in an infirm condition for some time1 and ,i had conceived that the connexion between them had ceased2 but ,i am mistaken it seems2 they are both applying to get her here1 and tho' ,i never wished to see her more1 ,i can not refuse his request 7if it can be complied with on reasonable terms7 as he has served me faithfully for many years4 ,after premising this much1 ,i have to beg the favor of you to procure her a passage to ,alexandria4 ,next year while ,billy and his master were engaged in surveying a piece of ground he fell and broke his knee pan1 with the result that he was crippled ever after4 ,when ,washington started to ,new ,york in #aghi to be inaugurated ,billy insisted upon accompanying him1 but gave out on the way and was left at ,philadelphia4 ,a little later1 by the ,president's direction1 ,lear wrote to return ,billy to ,mount ,vernon1 for he cannot be of any service here1 and perhaps will require a person to attend upon him constantly 444 but if he is still anxious to come on here the ,president would gratify him1 altho' he will be troublesome--,he has been an old and faithful ,servant1 this is enough for the ,president to gratify him in every reasonable wish4 ,when ,billy was at ,mount ,vernon he worked as a shoemaker4 ,he kept careful note of visitors to the place and if one arrived who had served in the ,revolution he invariably received a summons to visit the old negro and as invariably complied4 ,then would ensue a talk of war experiences which both would enjoy1 for between those who had experienced the cold at ,valley ,forge and the warmth of ,monmouth there were ties that reached beyond the narrow confines of caste and color4 ,and upon departure the visitor would leave a coin in ,billy's not unwilling palm4 ,as later noted in detail1 ,washington made special provision for ,billy in his will1 and for years the old negro lived upon his annuity4 ,he was much addicted to drink and now and then1 alas1 had attacks in which he saw things that were not4 ,on such occasions it was customary to send for another mulatto named ,westford1 who would relieve him by letting a little blood4 ,there came a day when ,westford arrived and proceeded to perform his customary office1 but the blood refused to flow4 ,billy was dead4 ,washington's kindness to ,billy was more or less paralleled by his treatment of other servants4 ,even when ,president he would write letters for his slaves to their wives and ,tel ,bosos and would inclose them with his own letters to ,mount ,vernon4 ,he appreciated the fact that slaves were capable of human feelings like other men and in #aghg1 when trying to purchase a mason1 he instructed his agent not to buy if by so doing he would hurt the man's feelings by breaking family ties4 ,even when dying1 noting black ,cristopher by his bed1 he directed him to sit down and rest4 ,it was a little thing1 but kindness is largely made up of little things4 ,the course taken by him in training a personal servant is indicated by some passages from his correspondence4 ,writing from the ,capital to ,pearce1 ,december1 #agie1 regarding a young negro1 ,washington says3 ,if ,cyrus continues to give evidence of such qualities as would fit him for a waiting man1 encourage him to persevere in them2 and if they should appear to be sincere and permanent1 ,i will receive him in that character when ,i retire from public life if not sooner4--,to be sober1 attentive to his duty1 honest1 obliging and cleanly1 are the qualifications necessary to fit him for my purposes4--,if he possess these1 or can acquire them--he might become useful to me1 at the same time that he would exalt1 and benefit himself4 ,i would have you again stir up the pride of ,cyrus1 he wrote the next ,may1 that he may be the fitter for my purposes against ,i come home2 sometime before which 7that is as soon as ,i shall be able to fix on time7 ,i will direct him to be taken into the house1 and clothes to be made for him4--,in the meanwhile1 get him a strong horn comb and direct him to keep his head well combed1 that the hair1 or wool may grow long4 ,once when ,president word reached his ears that he was being criticized for not furnishing his slaves with sufficient food4 ,he hurriedly directed that the amount should be increased and added3 ,i will not have my feelings hurt with complaints of this sort1 nor lye under the imputation of starving my negros1 and thereby driving them to the necessity of thieving to supply the deficiency4 ,to prevent waste or embezzlement is the only inducement to allowancing them at all--for if1 instead of a peck they could eat a bushel of meal a week fairly1 and required it1 ,i would not withold or begrudge it them4 ,there is good reason to believe that ,washington was respected and even beloved by many of his ,people4 ,colonel ,humphreys1 who was long at ,mount ,vernon arranging the ,general's papers1 wrote descriptive of the return at the close of the ,revolution3 ,when that foul stain of manhood1 slavery1 flowed1 ,through ,afric's sons transmitted in the blood2 ,hereditary slaves his kindness shar'd1 ,for manumission by degrees prepared3 ,return'd from war1 ,i saw them round him press ,and all their speechless glee by artless signs express4 ,on the whole we must conclude that the lot of the ,mount ,vernon slaves was a reasonably happy one4 ,the regulations to which they had to conform were rigorous4 ,their ,master strove to keep them at work and to prevent them from night walking1 that is running about at night visiting4 ,their work was rough1 and even the women were expected to labor in the fields plowing1 grubbing and hauling manure as if they were men4 ,but they had rations of corn meal1 salt pork and salt fish1 whisky and rum at ,christmas1 chickens and vegetables raised by themselves and now and then a toothsome pig sequestered from the ,master's herd4 ,when the annual races were held at ,alexandria they were permitted to go out into the world and gaze and gabble to their heart's content4 ,and1 not least of all1 an inscrutable ,providence had vouchsafed to ,ham one great compensation that whatever his fortune or station he should usually be cheerful4 ,the negro has not that sad lucidity of mind that curses his white cousin and leads to general mental wretchedness and suicide4 ,some of the ,mount ,vernon slaves were of course more favored than were others4 ,the domestic and personal servants lived lives of culture and inglorious ease compared with those of the field hands4 ,they formed the aristocracy of colored ,mount ,vernon society and gave themselves airs accordingly4 ,nominally our ,farmer's slaves were probably all ,christians1 though ,i have found no mention in his papers of their spiritual state4 ,but tradition says that some of them at ,dogue ,run at least were ,voudoo or conjuring negroes4 ,washington owned slaves and lived his life under the institution of slavery1 but he loved it not4 ,he was too honest and keen-minded not to realize that the institution did not square with the principles of human liberty for which he had fought1 and yet the problem of slavery was so vast and complicated that he was puzzled how to deal with it4 ,but as early as #aghf he wrote to ,john ,f4 ,mercer1 of ,virginia3 ,i never mean1 unless some particular circumstances should compel me to it1 to possess another slave by purchase1 it being among my first wishes to see some plan adopted by which slavery in this country may be abolished by law4 ,the running away of his colored cook a decade later subjected him to such trials that he wrote that he would probably have to break his resolution4 ,he did1 in fact1 carry on considerable correspondence to that end and seems to have taken one man on trial1 but ,i have found no evidence that he discovered a negro that suited him4 ,in #agid1 in explaining to ,tobias ,lear his reasons for desiring to sell some of his western lands1 he said3 ,besides these ,i have another motive which makes me earnestly wish for these things--it is indeed more powerful than all the rest--namely to liberate a certain species of property which ,i possess very repugnantly to my own feelings2 but which imperious necessity compels1 and until ,i can substitute some other expedient1 by which expenses1 not in my power to avoid 7however well ,i may be disposed to do it7 can be defrayed4 ,later in the same year he wrote to ,general ,alexander ,spotswood3 ,with respect to the other species of property1 concerning which you ask my opinion1 ,i shall frankly declare to you that ,i do not like even to think1 much less to talk of it4--,however1 as you have put the question1 ,i shall1 in a few words1 give my ideas about it4--,were it not then1 that ,i am principled agt4 selling negroes1 as you would cattle at a market1 ,i would not in twelve months from this date1 be possessed of one as a slave4--,i shall be happily mistaken1 if they are not found to be a very troublesome species of property ere many years pass over our heads4 ,i wish from my soul that the ,legislature of the ,state could see the policy of a gradual abolition of slavery1 he wrote to ,lawrence ,lewis three years later4 ,it might prevent much future mischief4 ,his ideas on the subject were in accord with those of many other great ,southerners of his day such as ,madison and ,jefferson4 ,these men realized the inconsistency of slavery in a republic dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal1 and vaguely they foresaw the irrepressible conflict that was to divide their country and was to be fought out on a hundred bloody battle-fields4 ,they did not attempt to defend slavery as other than a temporary institution to be eliminated whenever means and methods could be found to do it4 ,not until the cotton gin had made slavery more profitable and radical abolitionism arose in the ,north did ,southerners of prominence begin to champion slavery as praiseworthy and permanent4 ,and yet1 though ,washington in later life deplored slavery1 he was human and illogical enough to dislike losing his negroes and pursued runaways with energy4 ,in ,october1 #agfj1 he spent seven shillings in advertising for an absconder1 and the next year paid a minister named ,green four pounds for taking up a runaway4 ,in #agff he advertised rewards for the capture of ,negro ,tom1 evidently the man he later sold in the ,west ,indies4 ,the return of ,henry in #agga cost him #a4af4 ,several slaves were carried away by the ,british during the ,revolution and seem never to have been recovered1 though the treaty of peace provided for the return of such slaves1 and ,washington made inquiries concerning them4 ,in #agif1 apropos of a girl who had absconded to ,new ,england1 he excused his desire to recapture her on the ground that as long as slavery was in existence it was hardly fair to allow some to escape and to hold others4 ,a rather peculiar situation arose in #agia with regard to some of his ,people1 ,his attorney general1 ,randolph1 had taken some slaves to ,philadelphia1 and the blacks took advantage of the fact that under ,pennsylvania law they could not be forced to leave the state against their will4 ,fearing that some of his own servants might do likewise1 ,washington directed ,lear to get the slaves back to ,mount ,vernon and to accomplish it under pretext that may deceive both them and the ,public1 which goes to show that even ,george ,washington had some of the guile of the serpent4 ,during this period he was loath to bring the fact that he was a slaveholder too prominently before the public1 for he realized the prejudice already existing against the institution in the ,north4 ,when one of his men absconded in #agie he gave instructions not to let his name appear in any advertisement of the runaway1 at least not north of ,virginia4 ,his final judgment on slavery is expressed in his will4 ,upon the decease of my wife it is my will and desire1 he wrote1 that all the slaves which ,i hold in my own right shall receive their freedom--,to emancipate them during her life1 would tho earnestly wished by me1 be attended with such insuperable difficulties1 on account of their intermixture by marriages with the ,dower negroes as to excite the most painful sensations1--if not disagreeable consequences from the latter1 while both descriptions are in the occupancy of the same proprietor1 it not being in my power under the tenure by which the dower ,negroes are held to manumit them4 ,the number of his own slaves at the time of his death was one hundred twenty-four4 ,of dower negroes there were one hundred fifty-three1 and besides he had forty leased from a ,mrs4 ,french4 ,he expressly forbade the sale of any slave or his transportation out of ,virginia1 and made provision for the care of the aged1 the young and the infirm4 ,he gave immediate freedom to his mulatto man1 calling himself ,william ,lee1 or if he should prefer it1 being physically incapacitated1 he might remain in slavery4 ,in either case he was to have an annuity of thirty dollars and the victuals and cloaths he has been accustomed to receive4 ,this ,i give him as a testimony of my sense of his attachment to me and for his faithful services during the revolutionary ,war4 ,as a matter of fact1 ,mrs4 ,washington preferred to free her own and the ,general's negroes as soon as possible and it was accordingly done before her death1 which occurred in #ahjb4 ,one of the servants thus freed1 by name ,cary1 lived to the alleged age of one hundred fourteen years and finally died in ,washington ,city4 ,he was a personage of considerable importance among the colored population of the ,capital1 and on ,fourth of ,july and other parades would always appear in an old military coat1 cocked hat and huge cockade presented by his ,master4 ,his funeral was largely attended even by white persons4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,the ,,farmer',s ,,wife ,martha ,dandridge's first husband was a man much older than herself and her second was almost a year younger4 ,before she embarked upon her second matrimonial venture she had been the mother of four children1 and having lost two of these1 her husband1 her father and mother1 she had known1 though only twenty-seven1 most of the vital experiences that life can give4 ,perhaps it was well1 for thereby she was better fitted to be the mate of a man sober and sedate in disposition and created by ,nature to bear heavy burdens of responsibility4 ,in view of the important places her husband filled1 it is astonishing how little we really know of her4 ,washington occasionally refers to her in his letters and diaries1 but usually in an impersonal way that gives us little insight into her character or activities4 ,she purposely destroyed almost all the correspondence that passed between her and her husband and very little else remains that she wrote4 ,from the few letters that do survive it is apparent that her education was slender1 though no more so than that of most women of her day even in the upper class4 ,she had a fondness for phonetic spelling1 and her verbs and subjects often indulged in family wrangles4 ,she seems to have been conscious of her deficiencies in this direction or at least to have disliked writing1 for not infrequently the ,general acted as her amanuensis4 ,but she was well trained in social and domestic accomplishments1 could dance and play on the spinet--in short1 was brought up a gentlewoman4 ,that she must in youth have possessed charm of person and manners is indicated by her subjugation of ,daniel ,parke ,custis1 a man of the world and of much greater fortune than herself1 and by her later conquest of ,washington1 for1 though it be admitted in the latter case that ,george may not have objected to her fortune1 we can not escape the conclusion that he truly loved her4 ,in fact1 the match seems to have been ideally successful in every respect except one4 ,the contracting parties remained reasonably devoted to each other until the end and though tradition says that ,martha would sometimes read ,george a curtain lecture after they had retired from company1 there remains no record of any serious disagreement4 ,though not brilliant nor possessed of a profound mind1 she was a woman of much good sense with an understanding heart4 ,nor did she lack firmness or public spirit4 ,edmund ,pendleton relates that when on his way to the ,continental ,congress in #aggd he stopped at ,mount ,vernon1 ,she talked like a ,spartan mother to her son on going to battle4 ',i hope you will all stand firm--,i know ,george will1' she said4 ,the poorest artisan in ,boston with nothing to lose but his life did not embrace the patriot cause with any greater eagerness than did these ,washingtons with their broad acres and thousands of pounds on bond4 ,there is every reason to believe that ,martha ,washington was helpful to her husband in many ways4 ,at home she was a good housewife and when ,washington was in public life she played her part well4 ,no brilliant sallies of wit spoken by her on any occasion have come down to us1 but we know that at ,valley ,forge she worked day and night knitting socks1 patching garments and making shirts for the loyal band of winter patriots who stood by their leader and their cause in the darkest hour of the ,revolution4 ,a ,norristown lady who paid her a call in the little stone house that still stands beside the ,schuylkill relates that as she was said to be so grand a lady1 we thought we must put on our best bibs and bands4 ,so we dressed ourselves in our most elegant ruffles and silks1 and were introduced to her ladyship4 ,and don't you think we found her knitting with a specked apron on6 ,she received us very graciously1 and easily1 but after the compliments were over1 she resumed her knitting4 ,but the marriage was a failure in that there were no children4 ,no doubt both wanted them1 for ,washington was fond of young people and many anecdotes are handed down of his interest in little tots4 ,some one has remarked that he was deprived of offspring in order that he might become the ,father of ,his ,country4 ,toward those near and dear to her ,martha ,washington was almost foolishly affectionate4 ,in one of her letters she tells of a visit in ,westmoreland whare ,i spent a weak very agreabley4 ,i carred my little patt with me and left ,jackey at home for a trial to see how well ,i coud stay without him though we ware gon but won fortnight ,i was quite impatiant to get home4 ,if ,i at aney time heard the doggs barke or a noise out1 ,i thought thair was a person sent for me4 ,i often fancied he was sick or some accident had happened to him so that ,i think it is impossible for me to leave him as long as ,mr4 ,washington must stay when he comes down4 ,any parent who has been absent from home under similar circumstances and who has imagined the infinite variety of dreadful things that might befall a loved child will sympathize with the mother's heart--in spite of the poor spelling6 ,patty ,custis was an amiable and beautiful girl who when she grew up came to be called the dark lady4 ,but she was delicate in health4 ,some writers have said that she had consumption1 but as her stepfather repeatedly called it ,fits1 ,i think it is certain that it was some form of epilepsy4 ,her parents did everything possible to restore her1 but in vain4 ,once they took her to ,bath1 now ,berkeley ,springs1 for several weeks and the expenses of that journey we find all duly set down by ,colonel ,washington in the proper place4 ,as ,paul ,leicester ,ford remarks1 some of the remedies tried savored of quackery4 ,in the diary1 for ,february #af1 #aggj1 we learn that ,joshua ,evans who came here last ,night put an iron ,ring upon ,patey and went away after ,breakfast4 ,perhaps ,evans failed to make the ring after the old medieval rule from three nails or screws that had been taken from a disinterred coffin4 ,at any rate the ring did poor ,patty little good and a year later ,mr4 ,jno4 ,johnson who has a nostrum for ,fits came here in the afternoon4 ,in the spring of #aggc the dark lady died4 ,her death added considerably to ,washington's possessions1 but there is every evidence that he gave no thought to that aspect of the matter4 ,her delicate health1 or perhaps her fond affection for the only father she had ever known1 so endeared her to the 'general'1 that he knelt at her dying bed1 and with a passionate burst of tears prayed aloud that her life might be spared1 unconscious that even then her spirit had departed4 ,the next day he wrote to his brother-in-law3 ,it is an easier matter to conceive than describe the distress of this ,family3 especially that of the unhappy ,parent of our ,dear ,patey ,custis1 when ,i inform you that yesterday removed the ,sweet ,innocent ,girl who ,entered into a more happy peaceful abode than any she has met with in the afflicted ,path she hitherto has trod4 ,before this ,john ,parke ,custis1 or ,jacky1 had given his stepfather considerable anxiety4 ,jacky's mind turned chiefly from study to dogs1 horses and guns and1 in an effort1 to make him fit for more useful purposes than horse races1 ,washington put him under the tutorship of an ,anglican clergyman named ,jonathan ,boucher1 who endeavored to instruct some of the other gilded ,virginia youths of his day4 ,but ,latin and ,greek were far less interesting to the boy than the pretty eyes of ,eleanor ,calvert and the two entered into a clandestine engagement4 ,in all respects save one the match was eminently satisfactory1 for the ,calvert family1 being descended from ,lord ,baltimore1 was as good as any in ,america1 and ,miss ,nelly's amiable qualities1 wrote ,washington1 had endeared her to her prospective relations1 but both were very young1 ,jack being about seventeen1 and the girl still younger4 ,while consenting to the match1 therefore1 ,washington insisted that its consummation should be postponed for two years and packed the boy off to ,king's ,college1 now ,columbia4 ,but ,martha ,washington was a fond and doting mother and1 as ,patty's death occurred almost immediately1 ,jack's absence in distant ,new ,york was more than she could bear4 ,he was1 therefore1 allowed to return home in three months instead of two years1 and in ,february1 #aggd1 was wedded to the girl of his choice4 ,mrs4 ,washington felt the loss of her daughter too keenly to attend1 but sent this message by her husband3 ,,my ,,dear ,,nelly4--,god took from me a ,daughter when ,june ,roses were blooming--,he has now given me another ,daughter about her ,age when ,winter winds are blowing1 to warm my ,heart again4 ,i am as ,happy as ,one so ,afflicted and so ,blest can be4 ,pray receive my ,benediction and a wish that you may long live the ,loving ,wife of my happy ,son1 and a ,loving ,daughter of ,your affectionate ,mother1 ,m4 ,,washington4 ,the marriage1 it may be added here1 sobered ,john ,custis4 ,he and his bride established themselves at ,abingdon on the ,potomac1 not far from ,mount ,vernon1 and with their little ones were often visitors1 especially when the ,general was away to the war and ,mrs4 ,washington was alone4 ,toward the close of the war ,jack himself entered the army1 rose to the rank of colonel and died of fever contracted in the siege of ,yorktown4 ,thus again was the mother's heart made sorrowful1 nor did the ,general himself accept the loss unmoved4 ,he at once adopted the two youngest children1 ,eleanor and ,george ,washington ,parke1 and brought them up in his own family4 ,eleanor ,custis1 or ,nelly1 as she was affectionately called1 grew up a joyous1 beautiful cultured girl1 who won the hearts of all who saw her4 ,the ,polish poet1 ,julian ,niemcewicz1 who visited ,mount ,vernon in #agih1 wrote of her as the divine ,miss ,custis4444 ,she was one of those celestial beings so rarely produced by nature1 sometimes dreamt of by poets and painters1 which one cannot see without a feeling of ecstacy4 ,as already stated1 she married the ,general's nephew1 ,lawrence ,lewis4 ,in ,september1 #agii1 ,washington told the pair that they might build a house on ,grey's ,heights on the ,dogue ,run ,farm and rent the farm1 by all odds the best and most productive ,i possess1 promising that on his death the place should go to them4 ,death came before the house was built1 but later the pair erected on the ,heights ,woodlawn1 one of the most beautiful and pretentious places in ,fairfax ,county4 ,george ,washington ,parke ,custis grew up much such a boy as his father was4 ,he took few matters seriously and neglected the educational opportunities thrown in his way4 ,washington said of him that from his infancy ,i have discovered an almost unconquerable disposition to indolence in everything that did not tend to his amusements4 ,but he loved the boy1 nevertheless1 and late in life ,custis confessed1 we have seen him shed tears of parental solicitude over the manifold errors and follies of our unworthy youth4 ,the boy had a good heart1 however1 and if he was the source of worry to the great man during the great man's life1 he at least did what he could to keep the great man's memory green4 ,he wrote a book of recollections full of filial affection and ,latin phrases and painted innumerable war pictures in which ,washington was always in the foreground on a white horse with the ,british streaking it4 ,washington bequeathed to him a square in the ,city of ,washington and twelve hundred acres on ,four ,mile ,run in the vicinity of ,alexandria4 ,upon land near by inherited from his father ,custis built the famous ,arlington mansion1 almost ruining himself financially in doing so4 ,upon his death the estate fell to his daughter1 ,mrs4 ,robert ,e4 ,lee1 and it is now our greatest national cemetery4 ,mrs4 ,washington not only managed the ,mount ,vernon household1 but she looked after the spinning of yarn1 the weaving of cloth and the making of clothing for the family and for the great horde of slaves4 ,at times1 particularly during the ,revolution and the non-importation days that preceded it1 she had as many as sixteen spinning-wheels in operation at once4 ,the work was done in a special spinning house1 which was well equipped with looms1 wheels1 reels1 flaxbrakes and other machinery4 ,most of the raw material1 such as wool and flax and sometimes even cotton1 was produced upon the place and never left it until made up into the finished product4 ,in #agfh the white man and five negro girls employed in the work produced #hae-c_/d yards of linen1 #cfe-a_/d yards of woolen cloth1 #add yards of linsey and #dj yards of cotton cloth4 ,with his usual pains ,washington made a comparative statement of the cost of this cloth produced at home and what it would have cost him if it had been purchased in ,england1 and came to the conclusion that only #bc4ai4aa would be left to defray the expense of spinning1 hire of the six persons engaged1 cloathing1 victualling1 wheels1 c4 ,still the work was kept going4 ,a great variety of fabrics were produced3 striped woolen1 wool plaided1 cotton striped1 linen1 wool-birdseye1 cotton filled with wool1 linsey1 ,m's and ,o's1 cotton ,indian dimity1 cotton jump stripe1 linen filled with tow1 cotton striped with silk1 ,roman ,m41 janes twilled1 huccabac1 broadcloth1 counter-pain1 birdseye diaper1 ,kirsey wool1 barragon1 fustian1 bed-ticking1 herring-box1 and shalloon4 ,in non-importation days ,mrs4 ,washington even made the cloth for two of her own gowns1 using cotton striped with silk1 the latter being obtained from the ravellings of brown silk stockings and crimson damask chair covers4 ,the housewife believed in good cheer and an abundance of it1 and the larders at ,mount ,vernon were kept well filled4 ,once the ,general protested to ,lund ,washington because so many hogs had been killed1 whereupon the manager replied that when he put up the meat he had expected that ,mrs4 ,washington would have been at home and that he knew there would be need for it because her charitable disposition is in the same proportion as her meat house4 ,illustration3 ,weekly ,report on the ,work of the ,spinners ,she had a swarm of relatives by blood and marriage and they visited her long and often4 ,the ,burwells1 the ,bassetts1 the ,dandridges and all the rest came so frequently that hardly a week passed that at least one of them did not sleep beneath the hospitable roof4 ,even her stepmother paid her many visits and1 what is more1 was strongly urged by the ,general to make the place her permanent home4 ,when ,mrs4 ,washington was at home during the ,revolution her son and her daughter-in-law spent most of their time there4 ,after the ,revolution her two youngest grandchildren resided at ,mount ,vernon1 and the two older ones1 ,elizabeth and ,martha1 were often there1 as was their mother1 who married as her second husband ,doctor ,stuart1 a man whom ,washington highly esteemed4 ,it would be foolish to deny that ,mrs4 ,washington did not take pleasure in the honors heaped upon her husband or that she did not enjoy the consideration that accrued to her as ,first ,lady of the ,land4 ,yet public life at times palled upon her and she often spoke of the years of the presidency as her lost days4 ,new ,york and ,philadelphia1 she said1 were not home1 only a sojourning4 ,the ,general and ,i feel like children just released from school or from a hard taskmaster4444 ,how many dear friends ,i have left behind6 ,they fill my memory with sweet thoughts4 ,shall ,i ever see them again8 ,not likely unless they come to me1 for the twilight is gathering around our lives4 ,i am again fairly settled down to the pleasant duties of an old-fashioned ,virginia-housekeeper1 steady as a clock1 busy as a bee1 and cheerful as a cricket4 ,that she did not overdraw her account of her industry is borne out by a ,mrs4 ,carrington1 who1 with her husband1 one of the ,general's old officers1 visited ,mount ,vernon about this time4 ,she wrote3 ,let us repair to the ,old ,lady's room1 which is precisely in the style of our good old ,aunt's--that is to say1 nicely fixed for all sorts of work--,on one side sits the chambermaid1 with her knitting--on the other1 a little colored pet learning to sew1 an old decent woman1 with her table and shears1 cutting out the negroes' winter clothes1 while the good old lady directs them all1 incessantly knitting herself and pointing out to me several pair of nice colored stockings and gloves she had just finished1 and presenting me with a pair half done1 which she begs ,i will finish and wear for her4 ,her netting too is a great source of amusement and is so neatly done that all the family are proud of trimming their dresses with it4 ,this domestic life was dear to the heart of our ,farmer's wife1 yet the home-coming did not fail to awaken some melancholy memories4 ,to ,mrs4 ,george ,fairfax in ,england she wrote1 or rather her husband wrote for her3 ,the changes which have taken place in this country since you left it 7and it is pretty much the case in all other parts of this ,state7 are1 in one word1 total4 ,in ,alexandria1 ,i do not believe there lives at this day a single family with whom you had the smallest acquaintance4 ,in our neighborhood ,colo4 ,mason1 ,colo4 ,mc,carty and wife1 ,mr4 ,chickester1 ,mr4 ,lund ,washington and all the ,wageners1 have left the stage of human life2 and our visitors on the ,maryland side are gone and going likewise4 ,how many people have had like thoughts6 ,one of the many sad things about being the last leaf upon the tree is having to watch the other leaves shrivel and drop off and to be left at last in utter loneliness4 ,like her husband1 ,mrs4 ,washington was an early riser1 and it was a habit she seems to have kept up until the end4 ,she rose with the sun and after breakfast invariably retired to her room for an hour of prayer and reading the ,scriptures4 ,her devotions over she proceeded with the ordinary duties of the day4 ,she seems to have been somewhat fond of ceremony and to have had a considerable sense of personal dignity4 ,a daughter of ,augustine ,washington1 who when twelve years of age spent several weeks at ,mount ,vernon1 related when an old woman that every morning precisely at eleven o'clock the mistress of the mansion expected her company to assemble in the drawing-room1 where she greeted them with much formality and kept them an hour on their good behavior4 ,when the clock struck twelve she would rise and ascend to her chamber1 returning thence precisely at one1 followed by a black servant carrying an immense bowl of punch1 from which the guests were expected to partake before dinner4 ,some of the younger girls became curious to discover why her ,ladyship retired so invariably to her room1 so they slipped out from where she was entertaining their mothers1 crept upstairs and hid under her bed4 ,presently ,lady ,washington entered and took a seat before a large table4 ,a man-servant then brought a large empty bowl1 also lemons1 sugar1 spices and rum1 with which she proceeded to prepare the punch4 ,the young people under the bed thereupon fell to giggling until finally she became aware of their presence4 ,much offended1 or at least pretending to be1 she ordered them from the room4 ,they retired with such precipitancy that one of them fell upon the stairway and broke her arm4 ,another story is to the effect that one morning ,nelly ,custis1 ,miss ,dandridge and some other girls who were visiting ,nelly came down to breakfast dressed dishabille and with their hair done up in curl papers4 ,mrs4 ,washington did not rebuke them and the meal proceeded normally until the announcement was made that some ,french officers of rank and young ,charles ,carroll1 of ,carrollton1 who was interested in ,miss ,custis1 had driven up outside1 whereupon the foolish virgins sprang up to leave the room in order to make more conventional toilets4 ,but ,mrs4 ,washington forbade their doing so1 declaring that what was good enough for ,general ,washington was good enough for any guest of his4 ,she spoiled ,george ,washington ,custis as she had his father1 but was more severe with ,eleanor or ,nelly4 ,washington bought the girl a fine imported harpsichord1 which cost a thousand dollars and which is still to be seen at ,mount ,vernon1 and the grandmother made ,nelly practise upon it four or five hours a day4 ,the poor girl1 relates her brother1 would play and cry1 and cry and play1 for long hours1 under the immediate eye of her grandmother4 ,for no shirking was allowed4 ,the truth would seem to be that ,lady ,washington was more severe with the young--always excepting ,jacky and ,george--than was her husband4 ,he would often watch their games with evident enjoyment and would encourage them to continue their amusements and not to regard him4 ,he was the confidant of their hopes and fears and even amid tremendous cares of state found time to give advice about their love affairs4 ,for he was a very human man1 after all1 by no means the marble statue sculptured by some historians4 ,yet no doubt ,mrs4 ,washington's severity proceeded from a sense of duty and the fitness of things rather than from any harshness of heart4 ,the little old lady who wrote3 ,kiss ,marie4 ,i send her two handkerchiefs to wipe her nose1 could not have been so very terrible6 ,she was beloved by her servants and when she left ,mount ,vernon for ,new ,york in #aghi young ,robert ,lewis reported that numbers of these poor wretches seemed most affected1 my aunt equally so4 ,at ,alexandria she stopped at ,doctor ,stuart's1 the home of two of her grandchildren1 and next morning there was another affecting scene1 such as ,lewis never again wished to witness--the family in tears--the children a-bawling-- everything in the most lamentable situation4 ,although she was not the paragon that some writers have pictured1 she was a splendid home-loving ,american woman1 brave in heart and helpful to her husband1 neither a drone nor a drudge--in the true ,scriptural sense a worthy woman who sought wool and flax and worked willingly with her hands4 ,as such her price was far beyond rubies4 ,as has been remarked before1 no brilliant sayings from her lips have been transmitted to posterity4 ,but ,i suspect that the shivering soldiers on the bleak hillsides at ,valley ,forge found more comfort in the warm socks she knitted than they could have in the bon mots of a ,madame de ,stael or in the grace of a ,josephine and that her homely interest in their welfare tied their hearts closer to their ,leader and their ,country4 ,it is not merely because she was the wife of the ,hero of the ,revolution and the first ,president of the ,republic that she is the most revered of all ,american women4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,a ,,farmer',s ,,amusements ,no one would ever think of characterizing ,george ,washington as frivolous minded1 but from youth to old age he was a believer in the adage that all work and no play makes ,jack a dull boy--a saying that many an overworked farmer of our own day would do well to take to heart4 ,like most ,virginians he was decidedly a social being and loved to be in the company of his kind4 ,this trait was noticeable in his youth and during his early military career1 nor did it disappear after he married and settled down at ,mount ,vernon4 ,until the end he and ,mrs4 ,washington kept open house1 and what a galaxy of company they had6 ,scarcely a day passed without some guest crossing their hospitable threshold1 nor did such visitors come merely to leave their cards or to pay fashionable five-minute calls4 ,they invariably stayed to dinner and most generally for the night2 very often for days or weeks at a time4 ,after the ,revolution the number of guests increased to such an extent that ,mount ,vernon became little better than a well-resorted inn4 ,artists came to paint the great man's picture2 the sculptor ,houdon to take the great man's bust1 arriving from ,alexandria1 by the way1 after the family had gone to bed2 the ,marquis de ,lafayette to visit his old friend2 ,mrs4 ,macaulay ,graham to obtain material for her history2 ,noah ,webster to consider whether he would become the tutor of young ,custis2 ,mr4 ,john ,fitch1 ,november #d1 #aghe1 to propose a draft ,model of a machine for promoting ,navigation by means of a ,steam2 ,charles ,thomson1 secretary of the ,continental ,congress1 to notify the ,general of his election to the presidency2 a host of others1 some out of friendship1 others from mere curiosity or a desire for free lodging4 ,the visit of ,lafayette was the last he made to this country while the man with whose fame his name is inseparably linked remained alive4 ,he visited ,mount ,vernon in ,august1 #aghd1 and again three months later4 ,when the time for a final adieu came ,washington accompanied him to ,annapolis and saw him on the road to ,baltimore4 ,the generous young benefactor of ,america was very dear to ,washington1 and the parting affected him exceedingly4 ,soon after he wrote to the departed friend a letter in which he showed his heart in a way that was rare with him4 ,in the moment of our separation1 said he1 upon the road as ,i travelled1 and every hour since1 ,i have felt all the love1 respect1 and attachment for you with which length of years1 close connextion1 and your merits have inspired me4 ,i have often asked myself1 as our carriages separated1 whether that was the last sight ,i ever should have of you4 ,it was a true foreboding4 ,often in times that followed ,washington was to receive tidings of his friend's triumphs and perilous adventures amid the bloody turmoil of the ,french ,revolution1 was to entertain his son at ,mount ,vernon when the father lay in the dark dungeons of ,olmtz1 but was never again to look into his face4 ,years later the younger man1 revisiting the grateful ,republic he had helped to found1 was to turn aside from the acclaiming plaudits of admiring multitudes and stand pensively beside the ,tomb of his ,leader and reflect upon the years in which they had stood gloriously shoulder to shoulder in defense of a noble cause4 ,even when ,washington was at the seat of government many persons stopped at ,mount ,vernon and were entertained by the manager4 ,several times the absent owner sent wine and other luxuries for the use of such guests4 ,when he was at home friends1 relatives1 diplomats1 delegations of ,indians to visit the ,great ,white ,father swarmed thither in shoals4 ,in #agig young ,lafayette and his tutor1 ,monsieur ,frestel1 whom ,washington thought a very sensible man1 made the place1 by invitation1 their home for several months4 ,in the summer of that year ,washington wrote to his old secretary1 ,tobias ,lear3 ,i am alone at present1 and shall be glad to see you this evening4 ,unless some one pops in unexpectedly--,mrs4 ,washington and myself will do what ,i believe has not been done within the last twenty ,years by us1--that is to set down to dinner by ourselves4 ,washington was the soul of hospitality4 ,he enjoyed having people in his house and eating at his board1 but there is evidence that toward the last he grew somewhat weary of the stream of strangers4 ,but neither then nor at any other time in his life did he show his impatience to a visitor or turn any man from his door4 ,his patience1 was sorely tried at times4 ,for example1 we find in his diary under date of ,september #g1 #aghe3 ,at ,night1 a ,man of the name of ,purdie1 came to offer himself to me as a ,housekeeper or ,household ,steward--he had some testimonials respecting his character--but being intoxicated1 and in other respects appearing in an unfavorable light ,i informed him that he would not answer my purpose1 but that he might stay all night4 ,no matter how many visitors came the ,farmer proceeded about his business as usual1 particularly in the morning1 devoting dinner time and certain hours of the afternoon and evening to those who were sojourning with him4 ,he was obliged1 in self-defense1 to adopt some such course4 ,he wrote3 ,my manner of living is plain1 and ,i do not mean to be put out by it4 ,a glass of wine and a bit of mutton are always ready1 and such as will be content to partake of them are always welcome4 ,those who expect more will be disappointed4 ,after his retirement from the presidency he induced his nephew ,lawrence ,lewis to come to ,mount ,vernon and take over some of the duties of entertaining guests1 particularly in the evening1 as ,washington had reached an age when he was averse to staying up late4 ,lewis not only performed the task satisfactorily1 but found incidental diversion that led to matrimony4 ,every visitor records that the ,farmer was a kind and considerate host4 ,elkanah ,watson relates that one bitter winter night at ,mount ,vernon1 having a severe cold that caused him to cough incessantly1 he heard the door of his chamber open gently and there stood the ,general with a candle in one hand and a bowl of hot tea in another4 ,doubtless ,george and ,martha had heard the coughing and in family council had decided that their guest must have attention4 ,washington was a ,cavalier1 not a ,puritan1 and had none of the old ,new ,england prejudice against the theater4 ,in fact1 it was one of his fondest pleasures from youth to old age4 ,in his ,barbadoes journal he records being treated with a play ticket by ,mr4 ,carter to see the ,tragedy of ,george ,barnwell acted4 ,in #ageb he attended a performance at ,fredericksburg and thereafter1 whenever occasion offered1 which during his earlier years was not often1 he took advantage of it4 ,he even expressed a desire to act himself4 ,after his resignation and marriage opportunities were more frequent and in his cash memorandum books are many entries of expenditures for tickets to performances at ,alexandria and elsewhere4 ,thus on ,september #bj1 #agfh1 in his daily record of ,where how my time is ,spent he writes that he ,mrs4 ,washington ye two children were up to ,alexandria to see the ,inconstant or way to win him acted4 ,next day he ,stayd in ,town all day saw the ,tragedy of ,douglas playd4 ,such performances were probably given by strolling players who had few accessories in the way of scenery to assist them in creating their illusions4 ,in ,september1 #agga1 when at ,annapolis to attend the races1 he went to plays four times in five days1 the fifth day being ,sunday4 ,two years later1 being in ,new ,york ,city1 he saw ,hamlet and ,cross ,purposes4 ,on many occasions both in this period of his life and later he went to sleight of hand performances1 wax works1 puppet shows1 animal shows1 to hear the ,armonica1 concerts and other entertainments4 ,the association resolutions of frugality and self-denial by the ,continental ,congress put an end temporarily to plays in the colonies outside the ,british lines and put ,washington into a greater play1 not1 as he once wished1 as a performer1 but as a character4 ,there were amateur performances at ,valley ,forge1 but they aroused the hostility of the puritanical1 and ,congress forbade them4 ,washington seems1 however1 to have disregarded the interdiction after ,yorktown4 ,he had few opportunities to gratify his fondness for performances in the period of #aghd-hi1 but during his presidency1 while residing in ,new ,york and ,philadelphia1 he was a regular attendant4 ,he gave frequent theater parties1 sending tickets to his friends4 ,word that he would attend a play always insured a full house1 and upon his entrance to his box the orchestra would play ,hail ,columbia and ,washington's ,march amid great enthusiasm4 ,the ,federal ,gazette described a performance of ,the ,maid of the ,mill1 which he attended in #agib1 as follows3 ,when ,mr4 ,hodgkinson as ,lord ,ainsworth exhibited nobleness of mind in his generosity to the humble miller and his daughter1 ,patty2 when he found her blessed with all the qualities that captivate and endear life1 and knew she was capable of adorning a higher sphere2 when he had interviews with her upon the subject in which was painted the amiableness of an honorable passion2 and after his connection1 when he bestowed his benefactions on the relatives1 etc41 of the old miller1 the great and good ,washington manifested his approbation of this interesting part of the opera by the tribute of a tear4 ,another amusement that both the ,farmer and his wife enjoyed greatly was dancing4 ,in his youth he attended balls and routs whenever possible and when fighting ,french and ,indians on the frontier he felt as one of his main deprivations his inability to attend the ,assemblies4 ,after his marriage he and his wife went often to balls in ,alexandria1 attired no doubt in all the bravery of imported ,english clothes4 ,he describes a ball of #agfj in these terms3 ,went to a ball at ,alexandria1 where ,musick and dancing was the chief entertainment1 however1 in a convenient room detached for the purpose abounded great plenty of bread and butter1 some biscuits1 with tea and coffee1 which the drinkers of could not distinguish from hot water sweet'ned--,be it remembered that pocket handkerchiefs served the purposes of ,table cloths ,napkins and that no apologies were made for either4 ,i shall therefore distinguish this ball by the stile and title of the ,bread ,butter ,ball4 ,a certain ,mr4 ,christian conducted a dancing school which met at the homes of the patrons1 and the ,custis children1 ,john ,parke and ,martha1 were members1 as were ,elizabeth ,french of ,rose ,hill1 ,milly ,posey and others of the neighborhood young people4 ,in #aggj the class met four times at ,mount ,vernon and we can not doubt that occasionally the host danced with some of the young misses and enjoyed it4 ,an established institution was the election ball1 which took place on the night following the choice of the delegate to the ,burgesses4 ,washington often contributed to the expenses of these balls1 particularly when he was himself elected4 ,no doubt they were noisy1 hilarious and perhaps now and then a bit rough4 ,much has been written of the dances by which ,washington and his officers and their ladies helped to while away the tedium of long winters during the ,revolution1 but the story of these has been often told and besides lies outside the limits of this book1 as does the dancing at ,new ,york and ,philadelphia during his presidency4 ,there is much conflicting evidence regarding ,washington's later dancing exploits4 ,some writers say that he never tripped the light fantastic after the ,revolution and that one of his last participations was at the ,fredericksburg ball after the capture of ,cornwallis when he went down some dozen couple in the contra dance4 ,it is certain1 however1 that long afterward he would at least walk through one or two dances1 even though he did not actually take the steps4 ,one good lady who knew him well asserts that he often danced with ,nelly ,custis1 and he seems to have danced in #agif when he was sixty-four4 ,but to the invitation to the ,alexandria assembly early in #agii he replied3 ,mrs4 ,washington and myself have been honored with your polite invitation to the assemblies of ,alexandria this winter1 and thank you for this mark of your attention4 ,but1 alas6 our dancing days are no more4 ,we wish1 however1 all those who have a relish for so agreeable and innocent an amusement all the pleasure the season will afford them4 ,nor was he puritanical in respect to cards4 ,from his account books we find that he ordered them by the dozen packs1 and his diaries contain such entries as ,at home all day over cards1 it snowing4 ,to increase the interest he not infrequently played for money1 though rarely for a large amount4 ,loo and whist seem to have been the games played1 but not bridge or draw poker1 which were then unknown4 ,from entries in his cash memorandum books it is evident that he loved a quiet game rather frequently4 ,thus in his memorandum for #aggb ,i find the entry for ,september five3 ,to ,cash won at cards #a4e4 ,four days later he writes3 ,to ,cash won at ,cards at ,mrs4 ,calverts ten shillings4 ,but on ,september #agth he lost #a4e2 on ,september #cjth1 #b1 and on ,october #eth1 six shillings4 ,two days later his luck changed and he won #b4e1 while on the seventh he won #ab4h4 ,this was the most serious game that ,i have found a record of1 and the cards must either have run well for him or else he had unskilful opponents4 ,the following ,march1 when attending the ,burgesses at ,williamsburg1 he got into a game1 probably at ,mrs4 ,campbell's tavern1 where he took his meals1 and dropped #g4aj4 ,in one of his account books ,i find two pages devoted to striking a balance between what he won and what he lost from ,january #g1 #aggb1 to ,january #a1 #agge4 ,in that time he won #gb4b4f and lost #gh4e4i4 ,hence we find the entry3 ,by balance against ,play from ,jany4 #aggb to this date 444 #f4c4c4 ,but he must have had a lot of fun at a cost of that six pounds three shillings and three pence6 ,it should be remarked here that gaming was then differently regarded in ,virginia from what it is now4 ,many even of the ,episcopal clergymen played cards for money and still kept fast hold upon their belief that they would go to ,heaven4 ,the same may also be said of lotteries1 in which ,washington now and then took a flier4 ,many of the churches of that day1 even in ,new ,england1 were built partly or wholly with money raised in that way4 ,january #e1 #aggc1 ,washington states that he has received sixty tickets in the ,delaware lottery from his friend ,lord ,stirling and that he has put #ab of the above ,sixty into the ,hands of the ,revd4 ,mr4 ,magowan to sell4 ,and the ,revd4 sold them too6 ,in his journal of the trip to ,barbadoes taken with his brother ,lawrence we find that on his way home he attended a ,great ,main of cks cocks fought in ,yorktown between ,gloucester ,york for #e pistoles each battle #aj ye4 odd4 ,occasionally he seems to have witnessed other mains1 but ,i have found no evidence that he made the practice in any sense a habit4 ,as a counterweight to his interest in so brutal a sport ,i must state that he was exceedingly fond of afternoon teas and of the social enjoyments connected with tea drinking4 ,tea was regularly served at his army headquarters and in summer afternoons on the ,mount ,vernon veranda4 ,there is abundant evidence that he also enjoyed horse racing4 ,in ,september1 #agfh1 he mentions going to a ,purse race at ,accotinck1 a hamlet a few miles below ,mount ,vernon where a race track was maintained4 ,in #aggb he attended the ,annapolis races1 being a guest of the ,governor of ,maryland1 and he repeated the trip in #aggc4 ,in the following ,may he went to a race and barbecue at ,johnson's ,ferry4 ,george ,washington ,custis tells us that the ,farmer kept blooded horses and that his colt ,magnolia once ran for a purse1 presumably losing1 as if the event had been otherwise we should probably have been informed of the fact4 ,in #aghf ,washington went to ,alexandria to see the ,jockey ,club purse run for1 and ,i have noticed a few other references to races1 but ,i conclude that he went less often than some writers would have us believe4 ,washington was decidedly an outdoor man4 ,being six feet two inches tall1 and slender rather than heavily made1 he was well fitted for athletic sports4 ,tradition says that he once threw a stone across the ,rappahannock at a spot where no other man could do it1 and that he could outjump any one in ,virginia4 ,he also excelled in the game of putting the bar1 as a story related by the artist ,peale bears witness4 ,of outdoor sports he seems to have enjoyed hunting most4 ,he probably had many unrecorded experiences with deer and turkeys when a surveyor and when in command upon the western border1 but his main hunting adventure after big game took place on his trip to the ,ohio in #aggj4 ,though the party was on the move most of the time and was looking for rich land rather than for wild animals1 they nevertheless took some hunts4 ,on ,october twenty-second1 in descending the stretch of the ,ohio near the mouth of ,little ,beaver ,creek and above the ,mingo ,town1 they saw many wild geese and several kinds of duck and killed five wild turkeys4 ,three days later they saw innumerable quantities of turkeys1 and many deer watering and browsing on the shore side1 some of which we killed4 ,he does not say whether they shot this game from the canoe or not1 but probably on sighting the game they would put to shore and then one or more would steal up on the quarry4 ,their success was probably increased by the fact that they had two ,indians with them4 ,few people are aware of the fact that what is now ,west ,virginia and ,ohio then contained many buffaloes4 ,below the mouth of the ,great ,hockhocking the voyagers came upon a camp of ,indians1 the chief of which1 an old friend who had accompanied him to warn out the ,french in #agec1 gave ,washington a quarter of very fine buffalo4 ,a creek near the camp1 according to the ,indians1 was an especial resort for these great beasts4 ,fourteen miles up the ,great ,kanawha the travelers took a day off and went a hunting2 killed five buffaloes and wounded some others1 three deer1 c4 ,this country abounds in buffaloes and wild game of all kinds2 as also in all kinds of wild fowls1 there being in the bottoms a great many small grassy ponds1 or lakes1 which are full of swans1 geese1 and ducks of different kinds4 ,how many of the buffaloes fell to his gun ,washington does not record1 but it is safe to assume that he had at least some shots at them4 ,and beyond question he helped to devour the delicious buffalo humps1 these being1 with the flesh of the bighorn sheep1 the ne plus ultra of ,american big game delicacies4 ,the region in which these events took place was also notable for its big trees4 ,near the mouth of the ,kanawha they met with a sycamore about sixty yards from the river of a most extraordinary size1 it measuring1 three feet from the ground1 forty-five feet round almost fifteen feet through1 lacking two inches2 and not fifty yards from it was another1 thirty-one feet round4 ,when at home1 ,washington now and then took a gun and went out after ducks1 hairs1 wild turkeys and other game1 and occasionally he records fair bags of mallards1 teal1 bald faces and blew wings1 one of the best being that of ,february #ah1 #agfh1 when he went a ducking between breakfast and dinner killed #b mallards #e bald faces4 ,it is doubtful whether he was at all an expert shot4 ,in fact1 he much preferred chasing the fox with dogs to hunting with a gun4 ,fox hunting in the ,virginia of that day was a widely followed sport4 ,it was brought over from ,england and perhaps its greatest devotee was old ,lord ,fairfax1 with whom ,washington hunted when still in his teens4 ,fairfax1 whose seat was at ,greenway ,court in the ,shenandoah ,valley1 was so passionately fond of it that if foxes were scarce near his home he would go to a locality where they were plentiful1 would establish himself at an inn and would keep open house and welcome every person of good character and respectable appearance who cared to join him4 ,the following are some typical entries from ,washington's ,where how my time is ,spent3 ,jany4 #ast4 7#agfh7 ,fox huntg4 in my own ,neck with ,mr4 ,robt4 ,alexander and ,mr4 ,colville--catchd nothing--,captn4 ,posey with us4 ,there were many similar failures and no successes in the next six weeks1 but on ,february twelfth he records joyfully1 ,catchd two foxes1 and on the thirteenth catch #b more foxes4 ,march #b1 #agfh1 ,hunting again1 catchd a fox with a bobd ,tail cut ,ears1 after #g hours chase in wch4 most of the dogs were worsted4 ,march twenty-ninth1 ,fox ,hunting with ,jacky ,custis ,ld4 ,lund ,washington--,catchd a fox after #c hrs4 chase4 ,november twenty-second1 ,went a fox huntg4 with ,lord ,fairfax ,colo4 ,fairfax my ,br4 ,catchd #b ,foxes4 ,for two weeks thereafter they hunted almost every day with varying success4 ,september #cj1 #agfi1 he records3 catchd a ,rakoon4 ,on ,january #bg1 #aggj1 the dogs ran a deer out of the ,neck and some of them did not get home till next day4 ,the finding of a deer was no uncommon experience1 but on no occasion does the chase seem to have been successful1 as1 when hard pressed1 the fugitive would take to the water where the dogs could not follow4 ,january #d1 #aggb1 the hunters found both a ,bear and a ,fox but got neither4 ,bear and deer were still fairly plentiful in the region1 and the fact serves to indicate that the country was not yet thickly settled1 nor is it to this day4 ,in ,november1 #agga1 ,washington and ,jack ,custis went to ,colonel ,mason's at ,gunston ,hall1 a few miles below ,mount ,vernon1 to engage in a grand deer drive in which many men and dogs took part4 ,mason had an estate of ten thousand acres which was favorably located for such a purpose1 being nearly surrounded by water1 with peninsulas on which the game could be cornered and forced to take to the river4 ,on the first day they killed two deer1 but on the second they killed nothing4 ,no doubt they had a hilarious time of it1 dogs baying1 horsemen dashing here and there shouting at the top of their voices1 and with plenty of fat venison and other good cheer at the ,hall that night4 ,washington's most remarkable hunting experience occurred on the twenty-third of ,january1 #aggj1 when he records3 ,went a hunting after breakfast found a ,fox at ,muddy hole killed her 7it being a ,bitch7 after a chase of better than two hours after treeing her twice the last of which times she fell dead out of the ,tree after being therein sevl4 minutes apparently well4 ,lest he may be accused of nature faking1 it should be explained that the tree was a leaning tree4 ,occasionally the foxes also took refuge in hollow trees1 up which they could climb4 ,the day usually ended by all the hunters riding to ,mount ,vernon1 ,belvoir1 ,gunston ,hall1 or some other mansion for a bountiful dinner4 ,mighty then were the gastronomic feats performed1 and over the ,madeira the incidents of the day were discussed as ,nimrods in all ages are wont to do4 ,being so much interested in fox hunting1 our ,farmer proceeded1 with his usual painstaking care1 to build up a pack of hounds4 ,the year #agfh was probably the period of his greatest interest in the subject and his diary is full of accounts of the animals4 ,hounds were now1 in fact1 his hobby1 succeeding in interest his horses4 ,he did his best to breed according to scientific principles1 but several entries show that the dogs themselves were inclined blissfully to ignore the laws of eugenics as applied to hounds4 ,among his dogs in this period were ,mopsey1 ,taster1 ,tipler1 ,cloe1 ,lady1 ,forester and ,captain4 ,august #f1 #agfh1 we learn that ,lady has four puppies1 which are to be called ,vulcan1 ,searcher1 ,rover1 and ,sweetlips4 ,like all dog owners he had other troubles with his pets4 ,once we find him anointing all the hounds that had the mange with ,hogs ,lard ,brimstone4 ,again his pack is menaced by a suspected mad dog1 which he shoots4 ,the ,revolution broke rudely in upon the ,farmer's sports1 but upon his return to ,mount ,vernon he soon took up the old life4 ,knowing his bent1 ,lafayette sent him a pack of ,french hounds1 two dogs and three bitches1 and ,washington took much interest in them4 ,according to ,george ,washington ,custis they were enormous brutes1 better built for grappling stags or boars than chasing foxes1 and so fierce that a huntsman had to preside at their meals4 ,their kennel stood a hundred yards south of the old family vault1 and ,washington visited them every morning and evening4 ,according to ,custis1 it was the ,farmer's desire to have them so evenly matched and trained that if one leading dog should lose the scent1 another would be at hand to recover it and thus in full cry you might cover the pack with a blanket4 ,the biggest of the ,french hounds1 ,vulcan1 was so vast that he was often ridden by ,master ,custis and he seems to have been a rather privileged character4 ,once when company was expected to dinner ,mrs4 ,washington ordered that a lordly ham should be cooked and served4 ,at dinner she noticed that the ham was not in its place and inquiry developed that ,vulcan had raided the kitchen and made off with the meat4 ,thereupon1 of course1 the mistress scolded and equally1 of course1 the master smiled and gleefully told the news to the guests4 ,billy ,lee1 the colored valet who had followed the ,general through the ,revolution1 usually acted as huntsman and1 mounted on ,chinkling or some other good steed1 with a ,french horn at his back1 strove hard to keep the pack in sight1 no easy task among the rough timber-covered hills of ,fairfax ,county4 ,on a hunting day the ,farmer breakfasted by candlelight1 generally upon corn cakes and milk1 and at daybreak1 with his guests1 ,billy and the hounds1 sallied forth to find a fox4 ,washington always rode a good horse and sometimes wore a blue coat1 scarlet waistcoat1 buckskin breeches1 top boots and velvet cap and carried a whip with a long thong4 ,when a fox was started none rode more gallantly or cheered more joyously than did he and as a rule he was in at the death1 for1 as ,jefferson asserts1 he was the best horseman of his age1 and the most magnificent figure that could be seen on horseback4 ,the fox that was generally hunted was the gray fox1 which was indigenous to the country4 ,after the ,revolution the red fox began to be seen occasionally4 ,they are supposed to have come from the ,eastern ,shore1 and to have crossed ,chesapeake ,bay on the ice in the hard winter of #aggi-hj4 ,custis tells of a famous black fox that would go ten or twenty miles before the hounds and return to the starting-point ready for another run next day4 ,after many unsuccessful chases ,billy recommended that the black reynard be let alone1 saying he was near akin to another sable and wily character4 ,thereafter the huntsman was always careful to throw off the hounds when he suspected that they were on the trail of the black fox4 ,this story may or may not be true2 all that ,i can say is that ,i have found no confirmation of it in ,washington's own writings4 ,neither have ,i found there any confirmation of the story that ,mrs4 ,washington and other ladies often rode out to see the hunts4 ,washington had avenues cut through some of his woods to facilitate the sport and possibly to make the riding easier for the ladies4 ,upon the whole1 however1 ,i incline to the opinion that generally at least ,martha stayed at home visiting with lady friends1 attending to domestic concerns and superintending the preparation of delectable dishes for the hungry hunters4 ,i very much doubt whether she would have enjoyed seeing a fox killed4 ,the ,french hounds were1 at least at first1 rather indifferent hunters4 ,went out after ,breakfast with my hounds from ,france1 two which were lent me1 yesterday1 by ,mr4 ,mason1 says the ,farmer the day of the first trial2 found a ,fox which was run tolerably well by two of the ,frh4 ,bitches one of ,mason's ,dogs--the other ,french dogs shewed but little disposition to follow--and with the second ,dog of ,mason's got upon another ,fox which was followed slow and indifferently by some not at all by the rest until the sent became so cold it cd4 not be followed at all4 ,two days later the dogs failed again and the next time they ran two foxes and caught neither1 but their master thought they performed better than hitherto1 ,december #abth3 ,after an early breakfast my nephew ,george ,washington1 ,mr4 ,shaw and ,myself went into the ,woods back of the ,muddy hole ,plantation a hunting and were joined by ,mr4 ,lund ,washington and ,mr4 ,william ,peake4 ,about half after ten ,o'clock 7being first plagued with the ,dogs running ,hogs7 we found a fox near ,colo ,masons ,plantation on little ,hunting ,creek 7,west fork7 having followed on his ,drag more than half a ,mile2 and run him with ,eight ,dogs 7the other #d getting1 as was supposed after a ,second ,fox7 close and well for an hour4 ,when the ,dogs came to a fault and to cold ,hunting until #bj minutes after when being joined by the missing ,dogs they put him up afresh and in about #ej ,minutes killed up in an open field of ,colo ,mason's every ,rider every ,dog being present at the ,death4 ,eight days later the pack chased two foxes1 but caught neither4 ,the next hunt is described as follows3 ,went a ,fox hunting with the ,gentlemen who came here yesterday with ,ferdinando ,washington and ,mr4 ,shaw1 after a very early breakfast4--found a ,fox just back of ,muddy hole ,plantation and after a ,chase for an hour and a quarter with my ,dogs1 eight couple of ,doctor ,smiths 7brought by ,mr4 ,phil ,alexander7 we put him into a hollow tree1 in which we fastened him1 and in the ,pincushion put up another ,fox which1 in an hour and #ac ,minutes was killed--,we then after allowing the ,fox in the hole half an hour put the ,dogs upon his ,trail in half a ,mile he took to another hollow tree and was again put out of it but he did not go #fjj yards before he had recourse to the same shift--finding therefore that he was a conquered ,fox we took the ,dogs off1 and came home to dinner4 ,illustration3 ,the ,flower ,garden1 ,by permission of the ,mount ,vernon ,ladies' ,association ,custis asserts that ,washington took his last hunt in #aghe1 but in the diary under date of ,december #bb1 #aghg1 ,i find that he went out with ,major ,george ,a4 ,washington and others on that day1 but found nothing1 and that he took still another hunt in ,january1 #aghh1 and chased a fox that had been captured the previous month4 ,this1 however1 is the last reference that ,i have discovered4 ,no doubt he was less resilient than in his younger days and found the sport less delightful than of yore1 while the duties of the presidency1 to which he was soon called1 left him little leisure for sport4 ,he seems to have broken up his kennels and to have given away most or all of his hounds4 ,later he acquired a pair of tarriers and took enough interest in them to write detailed instructions concerning them in #agif4 ,washington's fishing was mostly done with a seine as a commercial proposition1 but he seems to have had a mild interest in angling4 ,occasionally he took trips up and down the ,potomac in order to fish1 sometimes with a hook and line1 at other times with seines and nets4 ,he and ,doctor ,craik took fishing tackle with them on both their western tours and made use of it in some of the mountain streams and also in the ,ohio4 ,while at the ,federal ,convention in #aghg he and ,gouverneur ,morris went up to ,valley ,forge partly perhaps to see the old camp1 but ostensibly to fish for trout4 ,they lodged at the home of a widow named ,moore4 ,on the trip the ,farmer learned the ,pennsylvania way of raising buckwheat and1 it must be confessed1 wrote down much more about this topic than about trout4 ,a few days later1 with ,gouverneur ,morris and ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,robert ,morris1 he went up to ,trenton and in the evening fished1 with what success he does not relate4 ,when on his eastern tour of #aghi he went outside the harbor of ,portsmouth to fish for cod1 but the tide was unfavorable and they caught only two4 ,more fortunate was a trip off ,sandy ,hook the next year1 which was thus described by a newspaper3 ,yesterday afternoon the ,president of the ,united ,states returned from ,sandy ,hook and the fishing banks1 where he had been for the benefit of the sea air1 and to amuse himself in the delightful recreation of fishing4 ,we are told he has had excellent sport1 having himself caught a great number of sea-bass and black fish--the weather proved remarkably fine1 which1 together with the salubrity of the air and wholesome exercise1 rendered this little voyage extremely agreeable4 ,our ,farmer was extremely fond of fish as an article of diet and took great pains to have them on his table frequently4 ,at ,mount ,vernon there was an ancient black man1 reputed to be a centenarian and the son of an ,african ,king1 whose duty it was to keep the household supplied with fish4 ,on many a morning he could be seen out on the river in his skiff1 beguiling the toothsome perch1 bass or rock-fish4 ,not infrequently he would fall asleep and then the impatient cook1 who had orders to have dinner strictly upon the hour1 would be compelled to seek the shore and roar at him4 ,old ,jack would waken and upon rowing to shore would inquire angrily3 ,what you all mek such a debbil of a racket for hey8 ,i wa'nt asleep1 only noddin'4 ,another colored factotum about the place was known as ,tom ,davis1 whose duty it was to supply the ,mansion ,house with game4 ,with the aid of his old ,british musket and of his ,newfoundland dog ,gunner he secured many a canvasback and mallard1 to say nothing of quails1 turkeys and other game4 ,after the ,revolution ,washington formed a deer park below the hill on which the ,mansion ,house stands4 ,the park contained about one hundred acres and was surrounded by a high paling about sixteen hundred yards long4 ,at first he had only ,virginia deer1 but later acquired some ,english fallow deer from the park of ,governor ,ogle of ,maryland4 ,both varieties herded together1 but never mixed blood4 ,the deer were continually getting out and in ,february1 #aghf1 one returned with a broken leg1 supposed to be by a shot4 ,seven years later an ,english buck that had broken out weeks before was killed by some one4 ,the paddock fence was neglected and ultimately the deer ran half wild over the estate1 but in general stayed in the wooded region surrounding the ,mansion ,house4 ,the gardener frequently complained of damage done by them to shrubs and plants1 and ,washington said he hardly knew whether to give up the ,shrubs or the ,deer6 ,the spring before his death we find him writing to the brothers ,chickesters warning them to cease hunting his deer and he hints that he may come to the disagreeable necessity of resorting to other means4 ,george ,washington ,custis1 being like his father ,jacky an enthusiastic hunter1 long teased the ,general to permit him to hunt the deer and at last won consent to shoot one buck4 ,the lad accordingly loaded an old ,british musket with two ounce-balls1 sallied forth and wounded one of the patriarchs of the herd1 which was then chased into the ,potomac and there slain4 ,next day the buck was served up to several guests1 and ,custis long afterward treasured the antlers at ,arlington ,house1 the residence he later built across the ,potomac from the ,federal ,city4 ,upon the whole we must conclude that ,washington was one of the best sportsmen of all our ,presidents4 ,he was not so much of an ,izaak ,walton as was one of his successors1 nor did he pursue the lion and festive bongo to their ,african lairs as did another1 but he had a keen love of nature and the open country and would have found both the ,mighty ,hunter and the ,mighty ,angler kindred spirits4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,a ,,critical ,,visitor ,,at ,,mount ,,vernon ,about thirty miles down the river ,potomac1 a gentleman1 of the name of ,grimes1 came up to us in his own boat#h4 ,he had some little time before shot a man who was going across his plantation2 and had been tried for so doing1 but not punished4 ,he came aboard1 and behaved very politely to me3 and it being near dinner time1 he would have me go ashore and dine with him3 which ,i did4 ,he gave me some grape-juice to drink1 which he called ,port wine1 and entertained me with saying he made it himself3 it was not to my taste equal to our ,port in ,england1 nor even strong beer2 but a hearty welcome makes everything pleasant1 and this he most cheerfully gave me4 ,he showed me his garden2 the produce of which1 he told me1 he sold at ,alexandria1 a distance of thirty miles4 ,his garden was in disorder3 and so was everything else ,i saw about the place2 except a favourite stallion1 which was in very good condition--a pretty figure of a horse1 and of proper size for the road1 about fifteen hands high4 ,he likewise showed me some other horses1 brood-mares and foals1 young colts1 c4 of rather an useful kind4 ,his cattle were small1 but all much better than the land4 #h ,this chapter is taken from ,a ,tour of ,america in #agih1 #agii1 and #ahjj1 by ,richard ,parkinson1 who has already been several times quoted4 ,parkinson had won something of a name in ,england as a scientific agriculturist and had published a book called the ,experienced ,farmer4 ,he negotiated by letter with ,washington for the rental of one of the ,mount ,vernon farms1 and in #agih1 without having made any definite engagement1 sailed for the ,potomac with a cargo of good horses1 cattle and hogs4 ,his plan for renting ,washington's farm fell through1 by his account because it was so poor1 and ultimately he settled for a time near ,baltimore1 where he underwent such experiences as an opinionated ,englishman with new methods would be likely to meet4 ,soured by failure1 he returned to ,england1 and published an account of his travels1 partly with the avowed purpose of discouraging emigration to ,america4 ,his opinion of the country he summed up thus3 ,if a man should be so unfortunate as to have married a wife of a capricious disposition1 let him take her to ,america1 and keep her there three or four years in a country-place at some distance from a town1 and afterwards bring her back to ,england2 if she do not act with propriety1 he may be sure there is no remedy4 ,i have rearranged his account in such a way as to make it consecutive1 but otherwise it stands as originally published4 ,he praised the soil very highly4 ,i asked him if he was acquainted with the land at ,mount ,vernon4 ,he said he was2 and represented it to be rich land1 but not so rich as his4 ,yet his ,i thought very poor indeed2 for it was 7as is termed in ,america7 gullied2 which ,i call broken land4 ,this effect is produced by the winter's frost and summer's rain1 which cut the land into cavities of from ten feet wide and ten feet deep 7and upwards7 in many places2 and1 added to this1 here and there a hole1 which makes it look altogether like marlpits1 or stone-quarries1 that have been carried away by those hasty showers in the summer1 which no man who has not seen them in this climate could form any idea of or believe possible4444 ,in two days after we left this place1 we came in sight of ,mount ,vernon2 but in all the way up the river1 ,i did not see any green fields4 ,the country had to me a most barren appearance4 ,there were none but snake-fences2 which are rails laid with the ends of one upon another1 from eight to sixteen in number in one length4 ,the surface of the earth looked like a yellow-washed wall2 for it had been a very dry summer2 and there was not any thing that ,i could see green1 except the pine trees in the woods1 and the cedars1 which made a truly picturesque view as we sailed up the ,potomac4 ,it is indeed a most beautiful river4 ,when we arrived at ,mount ,vernon1 ,i found that ,general ,washington was at ,philadelphia2 but his steward#i had orders from the ,general to receive me and my family1 with all the horses1 cattle1 c4 which ,i had on board4 ,a boat was1 therefore1 got ready for landing them2 but that could not be done1 as the ship must be cleared out at some port before anything was moved3 so1 after looking about a few minutes at ,mount ,vernon1 ,i returned to the ship1 and we began to make way for ,alexandria4444 #i ,no doubt ,anderson1 ,washington's last manager4 ,when ,i had been about seven days at ,alexandria1 ,i hired a horse and went to ,mount ,vernon1 to view my intended farm2 of which ,general ,washington had given me a plan1 and a report along with it--the rent being fixed at eighteen hundred bushels of wheat for twelve hundred acres1 or money according to the price of that grain4 ,i must confess that if he would have given me the inheritance of the land for that sum1 ,i durst not have accepted it1 especially with the incumbrances upon it2 viz4 one hundred seventy slaves young and old1 and out of that number only twenty-seven#aj in a condition to work1 as the steward represented to me4 ,i viewed the whole of the cultivated estate--about three thousand acres2 and afterward dined with ,mrs4 ,washington and the family4 ,here ,i met a ,doctor ,thornton1 who is a very pleasant agreeable man1 and his lady2 with a ,mr4 ,peters and his lady1 who was a grand-daughter of ,mrs4 ,washington4 ,doctor ,thornton living at the city of ,washington1 he gave me an invitation to visit him there3 he was one of the commissioners of the city4 #aj ,most certainly a mistake4 ,i slept at ,mount ,vernon1 and experienced a very kind and comfortable reception2 but did not like the land at all4 ,i saw no green grass there1 except in the garden3 and this was some ,english grass1 appearing to me to be a sort of couch-grass2 it was in drills4 ,there were also six saintfoin plants1 which ,i found the ,general valued highly4 ,i viewed the oats which were not thrashed1 and counted the grains upon each head2 but found no stem with more than four grains1 and these a very light and bad quality1 such as ,i had never seen before3 the longest straw was of about twelve inches4 ,the wheat was all thrashed1 therefore ,i could not ascertain the produce of that3 ,i saw some of the straw1 however1 and thought it had been cut and prepared for the cattle in the winter2 but ,i believe ,i was mistaken1 it being short by nature1 and with thrashing out looked like chaff1 or as if chopped with a bad knife4 ,the ,general had two thrashing machines1 the power given by horses4 ,the clover was very little in bulk1 and like chaff2 not more than nine inches long1 and the leaf very much shed from the stalk4 ,by the stubbles on the land ,i could not tell which had been wheat1 or which had been oats or barley2 nor could ,i see any clover-roots where the clover had grown4 ,the weather was hot and dry at that time2 it was in ,december4 ,the whole of the different fields were covered with either the stalks of weeds1 corn-stalks1 or what is called sedge--something like spear-grass upon the poor limestone in ,england2 and the steward told me nothing would eat it1 which is true4 ,indeed1 he found fault with everything1 just like a foreigner2 and even told me many unpleasant tales of the ,general1 so that ,i began to think he feared ,i was coming to take his place4 ,but 7,god knows67 ,i would not choose to accept of it3 for he had to superintend four hundred slaves1 and there would be more now4 ,this part of his business especially would have been painful to me2 it is1 in fact1 a sort of trade of itself4 ,i had not in all this time seen what we in ,england call a corn-stack1 nor a dung-hill4 ,there were1 indeed1 behind the ,general's barns1 two or three cocks of oats and barley2 but such as an ,english broad-wheeled waggon would have carried a hundred miles at one time with ease4 ,neither had ,i seen a green plant of any kind3 there was some clover of the first year's sowing3 but in riding over the fields ,i should not have known it to be clover1 although the steward told me it was2 only when ,i came under a tree ,i could1 by favour of the shade1 perceive here and there a green leaf of clover1 but ,i do not remember seeing a green root4 ,i was shown no grass-hay of any kind2 nor do ,i believe there was any4 ,the cattle were very poor and ordinary1 and the sheep the same2 nor did ,i see any thing ,i liked except the mules1 which were very fine ones1 and in good condition4 ,mr4 ,gough had made a present to ,general ,washington of a bull calf4 ,the animal was shown to me when ,i first landed at ,mount ,vernon1 and was the first bull ,i saw in the country4 ,he was large1 and very strong-featured2 the largest part was his head1 the next his legs4 ,the ,general's steward was a ,scotchman1 and no judge of animals--a better judge of distilling whiskey4 ,i saw here a greater number of negroes than ,i ever saw at one time1 either before or since4 ,the house is a very decent mansion3 not large1 and something like a gentleman's house in ,england1 with gardens and plantations2 and is very prettily situated on the banks of the river ,potowmac1 with extensive prospects4444 ,the roads are very bad from ,alexandria to ,mount ,vernon4 ,the ,general still continuing at ,philadelphia1 ,i could not have the pleasure of seeing him2 therefore ,i returned to ,alexandria4 ,i returned to ,mount ,vernon some weeks later 444 to see ,general ,washington4 ,i dined with him2 and he showed me several presents that had been sent him1 viz4 swords1 china1 and among the rest the key of the ,bastille4 ,i spent a very pleasant day in the house1 as the weather was so severe that there were no farming objects to see1 the ground being covered with snow4 ,would ,general ,washington have given me the twelve hundred acres ,i would not have accepted it1 to have been confined to live in that country2 and to convince the ,general of the cause of my determination1 ,i was compelled to treat him with a great deal of frankness4 ,the ,general1 who had corresponded with ,mr4 ,arthur ,young and others on the subject of ,english farming and soils1 and had been not a little flattered by different gentlemen from ,england1 seemed at first to be not well pleased with my conversation2 but ,i gave him some strong proofs of his mistakes1 by making a comparison between the lands in ,america and those of ,england in two respects4 ,first1 in the article of sheep4 ,he supposed himself to have fine sheep1 and a great quantity of them4 ,at the time of my viewing his five farms1 which consisted of about three thousand acres cultivated1 he had one hundred sheep1 and those in very poor condition4 ,this was in the month of ,november4 ,to show him his mistake in the value and quality of his land1 ,i compared this with the farm my father occupied1 which was less than six hundred acres4 ,he clipped eleven hundred sheep1 though some of his land was poor and at two shillings and sixpence per acre--the highest was at twenty shillings2 the average weight of the wool was ten pounds per fleece1 and the carcases weighed from eighty to one hundred twenty pounds each3 while in the ,general's hundred sheep on three thousand acres1 the wool would not weigh on an average more than three pounds and a half the fleece1 and the carcases at forty-eight pounds each4 ,secondly1 the proportion of the produce in grain was similar4 ,the ,general's crops were from two to three#aa bushels of wheat per acre2 and my father's farm1 although poor clay soil1 gave from twenty to thirty bushels4 #aa ,a misstatement1 of course4 ,during this conversation ,colonel ,lear1 aide-de-camp to the ,general1 was present4 ,when the ,general left the room1 the ,colonel told me he had himself been in ,england1 and had seen ,arthur ,young 7who had been frequently named by the ,general in our conversation72 and that ,mr4 ,young having learnt that he was in the mercantile line1 and was possessed of much land1 had said he thought he was a great fool to be a merchant and yet have so much land2 the ,colonel replied1 that if ,mr4 ,young had the same land to cultivate1 it would make a great fool of him4 ,the ,colonel did me the honour to say ,i was the only man he ever knew to treat ,general ,washington with frankness4 ,the ,general's cattle at that time were all in poor condition3 except his mules 7bred from ,american mares71 which were very fine1 and the ,spanish ass sent to him as a present by the king of ,spain4 ,i felt myself much vexed at an expression used at dinner by ,mrs4 ,washington4 ,when the ,general and the company at table were talking about the fine horses and cattle ,i had brought from ,england1 ,mrs4 ,washington said1 ,i am afraid1 ,mr4 ,parkinson1 you have brought your fine horses and cattle to a bad market2 ,i am of opinion that our horses and cattle are good enough for our land4 ,i thought that if every old woman in the country knew this1 my speculation would answer very ill3 as ,i perfectly agreed with ,mrs4 ,washington in sentiment2 and wondered much1 from the poverty of the land1 to see the cattle good as they were4 ,the ,general wished me to stay all night2 but having some other engagement1 ,i declined his kind offer4 ,he sent ,colonel ,lear out after ,i had parted with him1 to ask me if ,i wanted any money2 which ,i gladly accepted4 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,profit ,,and ,,loss ,a biographer whose opinions about ,washington are usually sound concludes that the ,general was a failure as a farmer4 ,with this opinion ,i am unable to agree and ,i am inclined to think that in forming it he had in mind temporary financial stringencies and perhaps a comparison between ,washington and the scientific farmers of to-day instead of the juster comparison with the farmers of that day4 ,for if ,washington was a failure1 then nine-tenths of the ,southern planters of his day were also failures1 for their methods and results were much worse than his4 ,it must be admitted1 however1 that comparatively little of his fortune1 which amounted at his death to perhaps three-quarters of a million dollars1 was made by the sale of products from his farm4 ,few farmers have grown rich in that way4 ,washington's wealth was due in part to inheritance and a fortunate marriage1 but most of all to the increment on land4 ,part of this land he received as a reward for military services1 but much of it he was shrewd enough to buy at a low rate and hold until it became more valuable4 ,the task of analyzing his fortune and income in detail is an impossible one for a number of reasons4 ,we do not have all the facts of his financial operations and even if we had there are other difficulties4 ,a farmer1 unlike a salaried man1 can not tell with any exactness what his true income is4 ,the salaried man can say1 ,this year ,i received four thousand dollars1 ,the farmer can only say--if he is the one in a hundred who keeps accounts--,last year ,i took in two thousand dollars or five thousand dollars1 as the case may be4 ,from this sum he must deduct expenses for labor1 wear and tear of farm machinery1 pro rata cost of new tools and machinery1 loss of soil fertility1 must take into account the fact that some of the stock sold has been growing for one1 two or more years1 must allow for the butter and eggs bartered for groceries and for the value of the two cows he traded for a horse1 must add the value of the rent of the house and grounds he and his family have enjoyed1 the value of the chickens1 eggs1 vegetables1 fruit1 milk1 meat and other produce of the farm consumed--as he proceeds the problem becomes infinitely more complex until at last he gives it up as hopeless4 ,this much1 however1 is plain--a farmer can handle much less money than a salaried man and yet live infinitely better1 for his rent1 much of his food and many other things cost him nothing4 ,in ,washington's case the problem is further complicated by a number of circumstances4 ,as a result of his marriage he had some money upon bond4 ,for his military services in the ,french war he received large grants of land and the payment during the ,revolution of his personal expenses1 and as ,president he had a salary of twenty-five thousand dollars a year4 ,yet another difficulty discloses itself when we come to examine his cash accounts4 ,we find1 for example1 that from ,august #c1 #agge1 to ,september1 #aghc1 leaving out of the reckoning his military receipts1 he took in a total of about eighty thousand one hundred sixty-seven pounds4 ,what then more simple than to divide this sum by seven and ascertain his average receipts during the years of the ,revolution8 ,but when we come to examine some of the details more closely we are brought to pause4 ,we discover such facts as that in #aghj a small steer1 supposed to weigh about three hundred pounds1 brought five hundred pounds in money6 ,a sheep sold for one hundred pounds2 six thousand five hundred sixty-nine pounds of dressed beef brought six thousand five hundred sixty-nine pounds2 the stud fee for ,steady was sixty pounds4 ,in other words1 the accounts in these years were in depreciated paper and utterly worthless for our purposes4 ,washington himself gave the puzzle up in despair toward the end of the war and paid his manager in produce1 not money4 ,we of to-day have1 in fact1 not the faintest conception of the blessing we enjoy in a uniform and fairly stable monetary system4 ,even before the days of the ,continentals there was depreciated paper afloat that had been issued by the colonial governments and1 unless the fact is definitely stated1 when we come upon figures of that period we can never be sure whether they refer to pounds sterling or pounds paper1 or1 if the latter1 what kind of paper4 ,people had to be constantly figuring the real value of ,pennsylvania money1 or ,virginia money or ,massachusetts money1 and one meets with many such calculations on the blank leaves of ,washington's account books4 ,even metallic money was a ,chinese puzzle except to the initiated1 there were so many kinds of it afloat4 ,among our ,farmer's papers ,i have found a list of the money that he took with him to ,philadelphia on one occasion--#f joes1 #fg half joes1 #b one-eighteenth joes1 #c doubloons1 #a pistole1 #b moidores1 #a half moidore1 #b double louis d'or1 #c single louis d'or1 #hj guineas1 #g half guineas1 besides silver and bank-notes4 ,the depreciation of the paper currency during the ,revolution proved disastrous to him in several ways4 ,when the war broke out much of the money he had obtained by marriage was loaned out on bond1 or1 as we would say to-day1 on mortgage4 ,i am now receiving1 he soon wrote1 a shilling in the pound in discharge of ,bonds which ought to have been paid me1 would have been realized before ,i left ,virginia1 but for my indulgences to the debtors4 ,in #aggh he said that six or seven thousand pounds that he had in bonds upon interest had been paid in depreciated paper1 so that the real value was now reduced to as many hundreds4 ,some of the paper money that came into his hands he invested in government securities1 and at least ten thousand pounds of these in ,virginia money were ultimately funded by the federal government for six thousand two hundred and forty-six dollars in three and six per cent4 bonds4 ,and yet1 by examining ,washington's accounts1 one is able to estimate in a rough way the returns he received from his estate1 landed and otherwise4 ,we find that in ten months of #agei he took in #a1hci2 from ,january #a1 #agfj1 to ,january #aj1 #agfa1 about #b1ece2 in #aggb1 #c1bac2 from ,august #c1 #agge1 to ,august #cj1 #aggf1 #b1aai2 in #aghf1 #b1jbe2 in #agia1 about #b1jbe4 ,included in some of these entries1 particularly the earlier ones1 are payments of interest and principal on his wife's share of the ,custis estate4 ,of the later ones1 that for #aghf--;a bad farming year--includes rentals on more than a score of parcels of land amounting to #bhb4ae1 #be rental on his fishery1 payments for flour1 stud fees1 etc4 ,upon the average1 therefore1 ,i am inclined to believe that his annual receipts were roughly in the neighborhood of ten thousand dollars to fifteen thousand dollars a year from his estate4 ,as regards ,mount ,vernon alone1 he sometimes made estimates of what the crop returns ought to be2 in other words1 counted his chickens before they were hatched4 ,thus in #aghi he drew up alternative plans and estimated that one of these1 if adopted1 ought to produce crops worth a gross of #c1jia1 another #c1hca1 and a third #d1ddi1 but that from these sums #a1ceg1 #a1cid and #a1dde respectively would have to be deducted for seed1 food for man and beasts1 and other expenses4 ,a much better idea of the financial returns from his home estate can be obtained from his actual balances of gain and loss4 ,one of these1 namely for #agih1 which was a poor year1 was as follows3 ,,balance ,,of ,,gain ,,and ,,loss1 #agih ,,dr4 ,,gained ,,cr4 ,,lost ,dogue ,run ,farm #cig4aa4b ,mansion ,house 44 #dff4ah4 #b-a_/b ,union ,farm 4444 #ebi4aj4aa-a_/b ,muddy ,hole ,farm #fj4 #a4 #c-a_/b ,river ,farm 4444 #bcd4 #d4aa ,spinning 4444444 #ea4 #b4 #j ,smith's ,shop 44 #cd4ab4ji-a_/b ,hire of ,head ,distillery 4444 #hc4ac4 #a overseer 44444 #adj4 #j4 #j ,jacks 444444444 #ef4a ,traveler 444444 #i4ag 7stud horse7 ,shoemaker 44444 #bh4ag4 #a ,fishery 4444444 #afe4ab4 #j-a_/d ,by clear gain on ,dairy 444444444 #cj4ab4 #c the ,estate44444#hih4af4 #d-a_/d ,mr4 ,paul ,leicester ,ford considered this a pretty poor showing for an estate and negroes which had certainly cost him over fifty thousand dollars1 and on which there was live stock which at the lowest estimation was worth fifteen thousand dollars more4 ,in some respects it was a poor showing4 ,yet the profit ,washington sets down is about seven per cent4 upon sixty-five thousand dollars1 and seven per cent4 is more than the average farmer makes off his farm to-day except through the appreciation in the value of the land4 ,the truth is1 however1 that ,mount ,vernon1 including the live stock and slaves1 was really worth in #agih nearer two hundred thousand dollars than sixty-five thousand1 so that the actual return would only be about two and a fourth per cent4 ,but ,washington failed to include in his receipts many items1 such as the use of a fine mansion for himself and family1 the use of horses and vehicles1 and the added value of slaves and live stock by natural increase4 ,besides in some other years the profits were much larger4 ,and lastly1 in judging a man's success or failure as a farmer1 allowance must be made for the kind of land that he has to farm4 ,the ,mount ,vernon land was undoubtedly poor in quality1 and it is probable that ,washington got more out of it than has ever been got out of it by any other person either before or since4 ,much of it to-day must not pay taxes4 ,washington died possessed of property worth about three-quarters of a million1 although he began life glad to earn a doubloon a day surveying4 ,the main sources of this wealth have already been indicated1 but when all allowance is made in these respects1 the fact remains that he was compelled to make a living and to keep expenses paid during the forty years in which the fortune was accumulating1 and the main source he drew from was his farms4 ,not much of that living came from the ,custis estate1 for1 as we have seen1 a large part of the money thus acquired was lost4 ,during his eight years as ,commander-in-,chief he had his expenses--no more4 ,of the eight years of his presidency much the same can be said1 for all authorities agree that he expended all of his salary in maintaining his position and some say that he spent more4 ,yet at the end of his life we find him with much more land than he had in #agfj1 with valuable stocks and bonds1 a house and furniture infinitely superior to the eight-room house he first owned1 two houses in the ,federal ,city that had cost him about #ae1jjj1 several times as many negroes1 and live stock estimated by himself at #ae1fec and by his manager at upward of twice that sum4 ,such being the case--and as no one has ever ventured even to hint that he made money corruptly out of his official position--the conclusion is irresistible that he was a good business man and that he made farming pay1 particularly when he was at home4 ,it is true that only three months before his death he wrote3 ,the expense at which ,i live1 and the unproductiveness of my estate1 will not allow me to lessen my income while ,i remain in my present situation4 ,on the contrary1 were it not for occasional supplies of money in payment for lands sold within the last four or five years1 to the amount of upwards of fifty thousand dollars1 ,i should not be able to support the former without involving myself in debt and difficulties1 ,this must be taken1 however1 to apply to a single period of heavy expense when foreign complications and other causes rendered farming unprofitable1 rather than to his whole career4 ,furthermore1 his landed investments from which he could draw no returns were so heavy that he had approached the condition of being land poor and it was only proper that he should cut loose from some of them4 ,,chapter ,,xvii ,,odds ,,and ,,ends ,in an age when organized charity was almost unknown the burden of such work fell mainly upon individuals4 ,being a man of great prominence and known to be wealthy1 the proprietor of ,mount ,vernon was the recipient of many requests for assistance4 ,ministers wrote to beg money to rebuild churches or to convert the heathen2 old soldiers wrote to ask for money to relieve family distresses or to use in business2 from all classes and sections poured in requests for aid1 financial and otherwise4 ,it was inevitable that among these requests there should be some that were unusual4 ,perhaps the most amusing that ,i have discovered is one written by a young man named ,thomas ,bruff1 from the ,fountain ,inn1 ,georgetown4 ,he states that this is his second letter1 but ,i have not found the first4 ,in the letter we have he sets forth that he has lost all his property and desires a loan of five hundred pounds4 ,his need is urgent1 for he is engaged to a beautiful and amiable young lady1 possessed of an ,estate that will render me ,independent4 ,whom ,i cannot ,marry in my present situation4444 ,all my ,happyness is now depending upon your ,goodness and without your kind assistance ,i must be forever miserable--,i should have never thought of making application to you for this favor had it not been in ,consequence of a vision by ,night since my ,fathers ,death who appeared to me in a ,dream in my ,misfortunes three times in one ,night telling me to make applycation to you for ,money and that you would relieve me from my distresses4 ,he appeared the other night again and asked me if ,i had obeyed his commands ,i informed him that ,i had ,wrote to you some time ago but had ,received no answer nor no information ,relative to the ,business he then observed that he expected my letter had not come to hand and toald me to ,write again ,i made some ,objections at first and toald him ,i thought it presumption in me to trouble your ,excellency again on the subject he then in a ,rage drew his ,small ,sword and toald me if ,i did not he would run me through4 ,i immediately in a fright consented4 ,one might suppose that so ingenious a request1 picturing the deadly danger in which a young man stood from the shade of his progenitor1 especially a young man who was thereby forced to keep a young lady waiting1 would have aroused ,washington's most generous impulses and caused him to send perhaps double the amount desired4 ,possibly he was hard up at the time4 ,at all events he indorsed the letter thus3 ,without date and without success4 ,many times1 however1 our ,farmer was open-handed to persons who had no personal claim on him4 ,for example1 he loaned three hundred and two pounds to his old comrade of the ,french ,war--,robert ,stewart--the purpose being to buy a commission in the ,british army4 ,so far as ,i can discover it was never repaid2 in fact1 ,i am not sure but that he intended it as a gift4 ,another advance was that made to ,charles ,l4 ,carter1 probably the young man who later married a daughter of ,washington's sister1 ,betty ,lewis4 ,most of the story is told in the following extract from a letter written by ,carter from ,fredericksburg1 ,june #b1 #agig3 ,with diffidence ,i now address you in consequence of having failed after my first voyage from ,china1 to return the two hundred ,dollars you favored me with the ,loan of4 ,be assured ,dr4 ,sir that ,i left goods unsold at the time of my ,departure from ,philadelphia on the second voyage1 directed that the money arising therefrom should be paid to you1 but the integrity of my agent did not prove to be so uncorrupted as ,i had flattered myself4 ,i have1 at this late period1 sent by ,mr4 ,g4 ,tevis the sum of two hundred ,dollars with interest therefrom from the #aeth of ,march #agie to the #ast ,june1 #agig4 ,that sum has laid the foundation of a pretty fortune1 for which ,i shall ever feel myself indebted to you4 ,he added that he had been refused the loan by a near relation before ,washington had so kindly obliged him and that his mother1 who was evidently acquainted with ,washington1 joined in hearty thanks for the benefit received4 ,washington had experienced enough instances of ingratitude to be much pleased with the outcome of this affair4 ,he replied in the kindest terms1 but declined to receive the interest1 saying that he had not made the loan as an investment and that he did not desire a profit from it4 ,another recipient of ,washington's bounty was his old neighbor1 ,captain ,john ,posey4 ,posey sold ,washington not only his ,ferry ,farm but also his claim to western lands4 ,he became financially embarrassed1 in fact1 ruined2 his family was scattered1 and he made frequent applications to ,washington for advice and assistance4 ,washington helped to educate a son1 ,st4 ,lawrence1 who had been reduced to the hard expedient of tending bar in a tavern1 and he also kept a daughter1 ,milly1 at ,mount ,vernon1 perhaps as a sort of companion to ,mrs4 ,washington4 ,the ,captain once wrote3 ,i could have been able to have ,satisfied all my old ,arrears1 some months ,a,goe1 by marrying an old widow woman in this ,county4 ,she has large soms of cash by her1 and ,prittey good ,est4--,she is as thick as she is high---,and gits drunk at ,least three or foure times a weak---which is ,disagreable to me--has ,viliant ,sperrit when ,drunk--its been a great ,dispute in my mind what to ,doe1--,i beleave ,i shu'd ,run all ,resks--if my ,last wife1 had been an ,even temper'd woman1 but her ,sperrit1 has ,given me such a ,shock--that ,i am afraid to ,run the ,resk again4 ,evidently the ,captain did not find a way out of his troubles by the matrimonial route1 for somewhat later he was in jail at ,queenstown1 presumably for debt1 and we find in one of ,washington's cash memorandum books under date of ,october #ae1 #aggc3 ,by ,charity--given ,captn4 ,posey1 four pounds4 ,one of the sons later settled in ,indiana1 and the ,pocket county is named after him4 ,another boy toward whose education ,washington contributed was the son of ,doctor ,james ,craik--the boy being a namesake4 ,doctor ,craik was one of ,washington's oldest and dearest friends4 ,he was born in ,scotland two years before ,washington saw the light at ,wakefield1 graduated from ,edinburgh ,university1 practised medicine in the ,west ,indies for a short time and then came to ,virginia4 ,he was ,washington's comrade in arms in the ,fort ,necessity campaign1 was subsequently surgeon general in the ,continental ,army1 and accompanied ,washington to the ,ohio both in #aggj and #aghd4 ,he married ,mariane ,ewell1 a relative of ,washington's mother1 and resided many years in ,alexandria4 ,he was a frequent visitor at ,mount ,vernon both as a friend and in a professional capacity1 and ,washington declared that he would rather trust him than a dozen other doctors4 ,few men were so close to the great man as he1 and he was one of the few who in his letters ventured to tell chatty matters of gossip4 ,thus1 in ,august1 #agia1 he wrote a letter apropos of the bad health of ,george ,a4 ,washington and added3 ,my daughter ,nancy is there ,mt4 ,vernon by way of ,amusement awhile4 ,she begins to be tired of her ,fathers house and ,i believe intends taking an old ,batchelor ,mr4 ,hn4 for a mate shortly4 ,another young lady1 ,miss ,muir1 who had recently gone to ,long ,island for the benefit of the sea baths was pursued by a ,mr4 ,donaldson and the latter now writes that he shall bring back a wife with him4 ,craik was a thorough believer in ,washington's destiny1 and in the dark days of the ,revolution would hearten up his comrades by the story of the ,indian chieftain met upon the ,ohio in #aggj who had vainly tried to kill ,washington in the battle of the ,monongahela and had finally desisted in the belief that he was invulnerable4 ,to friends1 family1 church1 education and strangers our ,farmer was open-handed beyond most men of his time4 ,his manager had orders to fill a corn-house every year for the sole use of the poor in the neighborhood and this saved numbers of poor women and children from extreme want4 ,he also allowed the honest poor to make use of his fishing stations1 furnishing them with all necessary apparatus for taking herring1 and if they were unequal to the task of hauling the seine1 assistance was rendered them by the ,general's servants4 ,to ,lund ,washington he wrote from the camp at ,cambridge3 ,let the hospitality of the house1 with respect to the poor1 be kept up4 ,let no one go hungry away4 ,if any of this kind of people should be in want of corn1 supply their necessaries1 provided that it does not encourage them to idleness2 and ,i have no objection to you giving my money in charity to the amount of forty or fifty pounds a year1 when you think it well bestowed4 ,what ,i mean by having no objection is1 that it is my desire it should be done4 ,you are to consider that neither myself nor wife is now in the way to do these good offices4 ,his relations with his own kindred were patriarchal in character4 ,his care of ,mrs4 ,washington's children and grandchildren has already been described4 ,he gave a phaeton and money to the extent of two thousand five hundred dollars to his mother and did not claim possession of some of the land left him by his father's will4 ,to his sister ,betty ,lewis he gave a mule and many other presents1 as well as employment to several of her sons4 ,he loaned his brother ,samuel 7five times married7 considerable sums1 which he forgave in his will1 spent near five thousand dollars on the education of two of his sons1 and cared for several years for a daughter ,harriot1 notwithstanding the fact that she had no disposition 444 to be careful of her cloaths4 ,to his nephew1 ,bushrod ,washington1 he gave money and helped him to obtain a legal education1 and he assisted another nephew1 ,george ,a4 ,washington1 and his widow and children1 in ways already mentioned4 ,over forty relatives were remembered in his will1 many of them in a most substantial manner4 ,in the matter of eating and drinking ,washington was abstemious4 ,for breakfast he ordinarily had tea and ,indian cakes with butter and perhaps honey1 of which he was very fond4 ,his supper was equally light1 consisting of perhaps tea and toast1 with wine1 and he usually retired promptly at nine o'clock4 ,dinner was the main meal of the day at ,mount ,vernon1 and was served punctually at two o'clock4 ,one such meal is thus described by a guest3 ,he thanked us1 desired us to be seated1 and to excuse him a few moments4444 ,the ,president came and desired us to walk in to dinner and directed us where to sit1 7no grace was said74444 ,the dinner was very good1 a small roasted pigg1 boiled leg of lamb1 roasted fowls1 beef1 peas1 lettice1 cucumbers1 artichokes1 etc41 puddings1 tarts1 etc4 etc4 ,we were desired to call for what drink we chose4 ,he took a glass of wine with ,mrs4 ,law first1 which example was followed by ,dr4 ,croker ,crakes and ,mrs4 ,washington1 myself and ,mrs4 ,peters1 ,mr4 ,fayette and the young lady whose name is ,custis4 ,when the cloth was taken away the ,president gave 'all our ,friends4' ,the ,general ordinarily confined himself to a few courses and if offered anything very rich would reply1 ,that is too good for me4 ,he often drank beer with the meal1 with one or two glasses of wine and perhaps as many more afterward1 often eating nuts1 another delicacy with him1 as he sipped the wine4 ,he was1 in fact1 no prohibitionist1 but he was a strong believer in temperance4 ,he and the public men of his time1 being aristocrats1 were wine drinkers and few of them were drunkards4 ,the political revolution of #ahcj1 ushered in by ,jackson1 brought in a different type--,westerners who drank whisky and brandy1 with the result that drunkenness in public station was much more common4 ,many of the ,virginia gentlemen of ,washington's day spent a fourth or even a third of their income upon their cellars4 ,he was no exception to the rule1 and from his papers we discover many purchases of wine4 ,one of the last bills of lading ,i have noticed among his papers is a bill for ,two pipes of fine old ,london particular ,madeira ,wine1 shipped to him from the island of ,madeira1 ,september #bj1 #agii4 ,one wonders whether he got to toast ,all our ,friends out of it before he died4 ,illustration3 ,one of ,washington's ,tavern ,bills ,his sideboard and table were well equipped with glasses and silver wine coolers of the most expensive construction4 ,as in many other matters1 his inventive bent turned in this direction4 ,having noticed the confusion that often arose from the passing of the bottles about the table he designed when ,president a sort of silver caster capable of holding four bottles4 ,they were used with great success on state occasions and were so convenient that other people adopted the invention1 so that wine coasters1 after the ,washington design1 became a part of the furniture of every fashionable sideboard4 ,to cool wine1 meat and other articles1 ,washington early adopted the practice of putting up ice1 a thing then unusual4 ,in ,january1 #aghe1 he prepared a dry well under the summer house and also one in his new cellar and in due time had both filled4 ,june fifth he ,opened the well in my ,cellar in which ,i had laid up a store of ,ice1 but there was not the smallest particle remaining4--,i then opened the other ,repository 7call the dry ,well7 in which ,i found a large store4 ,later he erected an ice house to the eastward of the flower garden4 ,his experience with the cellar well was hardly less successful than that of his friend1 ,james ,madison1 on a like occasion4 ,madison had an ice house filled with ice1 and a skeptical overseer wagered a turkey against a mint julep that by the fourth of ,july the ice would all have disappeared4 ,the day came1 they opened the house1 and behold there was enough ice for exactly one julep6 ,truly a sad situation when there were two ,virginia gentlemen4 ,mention of ,madison in this connection calls to mind the popular notion that it was his wife ,dolly who invented ice-cream4 ,i believe that her biographers claim for her the credit of the discovery4 ,the rle of the iconoclast is a thankless one and ,i confess to a liking for ,dolly1 but ,i have discovered in ,washington's cash memorandum book under date of ,may #ag1 #aghd1 the entry3 ,by a ,cream ,machine for ,ice1 #a4ac4d--that is an ice-cream freezer4 ,the immortal ,dolly was then not quite twelve years old4 ,washington seems to have owned three coaches4 ,the first he ordered in ,london in #ageh in preparation for his marriage4 ,it was to be fashionable1 genteel and of seasoned wood2 the body preferably green1 with a light gilding on the mouldings1 with other suitable ornaments including the ,washington arms4 ,it was sent with high recommendations1 but proved to be of badly seasoned material1 so that the panels shrunk and slipped out of the mouldings within two months and split from end to end1 much to his disgust4 ,such a chariot was driven not with lines from a driver's box1 but by liveried postillions riding on horseback1 one horseman to each span4 ,the second coach he had made in ,philadelphia in #aghj at a cost of two hundred and ten pounds in specie4 ,it was decidedly better built4 ,the last was a coach1 called the ,white ,chariot1 bought second hand soon after he became ,president4 ,it was built by ,clarke1 of ,philadelphia1 and was a fine vehicle1 with a cream-colored body and wheels1 green ,venetian blinds and the ,washington arms painted upon the doors4 ,in this coach1 drawn by six horses1 he drove out in state at ,philadelphia and rode to and from ,mount ,vernon1 occasionally suffering an upset on the wretched roads4 ,it was strong and of good workmanship and its maker heard with pride that it had made the long southern tour of #agia without starting a nail or a screw4 ,this coach was purchased at the sale of the ,general's effects by ,george ,washington ,parke ,custis and later in a curious manner fell into the possession of ,bishop ,meade1 who ultimately made it up into walking sticks1 picture frames1 snuff boxes and such mementoes4 ,at ,mount ,vernon to-day the visitor is shown a coach which the official ,handbook states is vouched for as the original ,white ,chariot4 ,in reality it seems to be the coach once owned by the ,powell family of ,philadelphia4 ,it is said to have been built by the same maker and on the same lines1 and ,washington may have ridden in it1 but it never belonged to him4 ,most people think of ,washington as a marble statue on a pedestal rather than as a being of flesh and blood with human feelings1 faults and virtues4 ,he was self-contained1 he was not voluble1 he had a sense of personal dignity1 but underneath he was not cold4 ,he was really hot-tempered and on a few well-authenticated occasions fell into passions in which he used language that would have blistered the steel sides of a dreadnaught4 ,yet he was kind-hearted1 he pitied the weak and sorrowful1 and the list of his quiet benefactions would fill many pages and cost him thousands of pounds4 ,he was even full of sentiment in some matters2 on more than one occasion he provided positions that enabled young friends or relatives to marry1 and ,i shrewdly suspect that he engineered matters so that the beloved ,nelly ,custis obtained a good husband in the person of his nephew1 ,lawrence ,lewis4 ,i might say much more tending to show his human qualities1 but ,i shall add only this3 ,having for many years studied his career from every imaginable point of view1 ,i give it as my deliberate opinion that perhaps no man ever lived who was more considerate of the rights and feelings of others4 ,not even ,lincoln had a bigger heart4 ,,chapter ,,xviii ,,the ,,vale ,,of ,,sunset ,washington looked forward to the end of his presidency as does the weariest traveler1 who sees a resting-place1 and is bending his body to lay thereon4 ,methought ,i heard him say1 ',ay4' ,i am fairly out1 and you are fairly in2 see which of us is the happiest1 wrote ,john ,adams to his wife ,abigail4 ,and from ,mount ,vernon ,nelly ,custis informed a friend that grandpapa is very well and much pleased with being once more ,farmer ,washington4 ,the eight years of toilsome work1 which had been rendered all the harder by much bitter criticism1 had aged him greatly and this helped to make him doubly anxious to return to the peace and quiet of home for his final days4 ,and yet he was affected by his parting from his friends and associates4 ,a few partisan enemies openly rejoiced at his departure1 but there were not wanting abundant evidences of the people's reverence and love for him4 ,it is a source of satisfaction to us now that his contemporaries realized he was one of the great figures of history and that they did not withhold the tribute of their praise until after his death4 ,as we turn the thousands of manuscripts that make up his papers we come upon scores of private letters and public resolutions in which1 in terms often a bit stilted but none the less sincere1 a country's gratitude is laid at the feet of its benefactor4 ,the ,mount ,vernon to which he returned was perhaps in better condition than was that to which he retired at the end of the ,revolution1 for he had been able each summer to give the estate some personal oversight2 nevertheless it was badly run down and there was much to occupy his attention4 ,in ,april he wrote3 ,we are in the midst of litter and dirt1 occasioned by joiners1 masons1 painters1 and upholsterers1 working in the house1 all parts of which1 as well as the outbuildings1 are much out of repair4 ,anderson remained with him1 but ,washington gave personal attention to many matters and exercised a general oversight over everything4 ,like most good farmers he began his diurnal course with the sun1 and if his slaves and hirelings were not in place by that time he sent them messages of sorrow for their indisposition4 ,having set the wheels of the estate in motion1 he breakfasted4 ,this being over1 ,i mount my horse and ride around my farms1 which employs me until it is time for dinner1 at which ,i rarely miss seeing strange faces4444 ,the usual time of sitting at table1 a walk1 and tea bring me within the dawn of candlelight2 previous to which1 if not prevented by company1 ,i resolve that1 as soon as the glimmering taper supplies the place of the great luminary1 ,i will retire to my writing table and acknowledge the letters ,i have received1 but when the lights are brought ,i feel tired and disinclined to engage in this work1 conceiving that the next night will do as well4 ,the next night comes1 and with it the same causes of postponement1 and so on4444 ,i have not looked into a book since ,i came home2 nor shall ,i be able to do it until ,i have discharged my workmen1 probably not before the nights grow longer1 when possibly ,i may be looking in ,doomsday ,book4 ,he had his usual troubles with servants and crops1 with delinquent tenants and other debtors2 he tried ,booker's threshing machine1 experimented with white ,indian peas and several varieties of wheat1 including a yellow bearded kind that was supposed to resist the fly1 and built two houses1 or rather a double house1 on property owned in the ,federal ,city--he avoided calling the place ,washington4 ,a picture of the ,farmer out upon his rounds in these last days has been left us by his adopted son1 ,george ,washington ,parke ,custis4 ,custis relates that one day when out with a gun he met on the forest road an elderly gentleman on horseback who inquired where he could find the ,general4 ,the boy told the stranger1 who proved to be ,colonel ,meade1 once of ,washington's staff1 that the ,general was abroad on the estate and pointed out what direction to take to come upon him4 ,you will meet1 sir1 with an old gentleman riding alone in plain drab clothes1 a broad-brimmed white hat1 a hickory switch in his hand1 and carrying an umbrella with a long staff1 which is attached to his saddle-bow--that person1 sir1 is ,general ,washington4 ,those were pleasant rides the old ,farmer took in the early morning sunshine1 with the birds singing about him1 the dirt lanes soft under his horse's feet1 and in his nostrils the pure air fragrant with the scent of pines1 locust blossoms or wild honeysuckle4 ,when he grew thirsty he would pause for a drink at his favorite gum spring1 and as he made his rounds would note the progress of the miller1 the coopers1 the carpenters1 the fishermen1 and the hands in the fields1 how the corn was coming up or the wheat was ripening1 what fences needed to be renewed or gaps in hedges filled1 what the increase of his cattle would be1 whether the stand of clover or buckwheat was good or not4 ,he was the owner of all this great estate1 he was proud of it2 it was his home1 and he was glad to be back on it once more4 ,for he had long since realized that there are deeper and more satisfying pleasures than winning battles or enjoying the plaudits of multitudes4 ,an ,english actor named ,john ,bernard who happened to be in ,virginia in this period has left us a delightfully intimate picture of the ,farmer on his rounds4 ,bernard had ridden out below ,alexandria to pay a visit and on his return came upon an overturned chaise containing a man and a woman4 ,about the same time another horseman rode up from the opposite direction4 ,the two quickly ascertained that the man was unhurt and managed to restore the wife to consciousness1 whereupon she began to upbraid her husband for carelessness4 ,the horse1 continues ,bernard1 was now on his legs1 but the vehicle was still prostrate1 heavy in its frame and laden with at least half a ton of luggage4 ,my fellow-helper set me an example of activity in relieving it of internal weight2 and when all was clear we grasped the wheel between us and to the peril of our spinal columns righted the conveyance4 ,the horse was then put in and we lent a hand to help up the luggage4 ,all this helping1 hauling and lifting occupied at least half an hour under a meridian sun1 in the middle of ,july1 which fairly boiled the perspiration out of our foreheads4 ,after the two ,samaritans had declined a pressing invitation to go to ,alexandria and have a drop of something1 the unknown1 a tall man past middle age1 wearing a blue coat and buckskin breeches1 exclaimed impatiently at the heat and then offered very courteously1 says ,bernard1 to dust my coat1 a favor the return of which enabled me to take a deliberate survey of his person4 ,the stranger then called ,bernard by name1 saying that he had seen him play in ,philadelphia1 and asked him to accompany him to his house and rest1 at the same time pointing out a mansion on a distant hill4 ,not till then did ,bernard realize with whom he was speaking4 ,mt4 ,vernon6 he exclaimed4 ,have ,i the honor of addressing ,general ,washington8 ,with a smile ,washington extended his hand and said3 ,an odd sort of introduction1 ,mr4 ,bernard2 but ,i am pleased to find that you can play so active a part in private and without a prompter4 ,then they rode up to the ,mansion ,house and had a pleasant chat#ab4 #ab ,this anecdote is accepted by ,mr4 ,lodge in his life of ,washington1 but doubt is cast upon it by another historian4 ,all that can be said is that there is nothing to disprove it and that it is not inherently improbable4 ,upon his retirement from the presidency our ,farmer had told ,oliver ,wolcott that he probably would never again go twenty miles from his own vine and fig tree1 but the troubles with ,france resulted in a quasi-war and he was once more called from retirement to head an army1 most of which was never raised4 ,he accepted the appointment with the understanding that he was not to be called into the field unless his presence should be indispensable1 but he found that he must give much of his time to the matter and be often from home1 while a quarrel between his friends ,knox and ,hamilton over second place joined with ,republican hostility to war measures to add a touch of bitterness to the work4 ,happily war was avoided and1 though an adjustment of the international difficulties was not reached until #ahjj1 ,washington was able to spend most of the last months of his life at ,mount ,vernon comparatively undisturbed4 ,yet things were not as once they were4 ,mrs4 ,washington had aged greatly and was now a semi-invalid often confined to her bed4 ,the ,farmer himself came of short-lived stock and realized that his pilgrimage would not be greatly prolonged4 ,twice during the year he was seriously ill1 and in ,september was laid up for more than a week4 ,his brother ,charles died and in acknowledging the sad news he wrote3 ,i was the first1 and am1 now1 the last of my father's children by the second marriage1 who remain4 ,when ,i shall be called upon to follow them is known only to the ,giver of ,life4 ,when the summons comes1 ,i shall endeavor to obey it with good grace4 ,and yet there were gleams of joy and gladness4 ,about candlelight on his birthday in #agii ,nelly ,custis and his nephew1 ,lawrence ,lewis1 were wedded4 ,the bride wished him to wear his gorgeous new uniform1 but when he came down to give her away he wore the old ,continental buff and blue and no doubt all loved him better so4 ,often thereafter the pair were at ,mount ,vernon and there on ,november twenty-seventh a little daughter came as the first pledge of their affection4 ,as always there was much company4 ,in ,august came a gallant kinsman from ,south ,carolina1 once ,colonel but now ,general ,william ,washington of ,cowpens fame1 and for three days the house was filled with guests and there was feasting and visiting4 ,november fifteenth ,washington ,rode to visit ,mr4 now ,lord ,fairfax1 who was back from ,england with his family1 and the renewal of old friendships proved so agreeable that in the next month the families dined back and forth repeatedly4 ,nor did the ,farmer cease to labor or to lay plans for the future4 ,he entered into negotiations for the purchase of more land to round out ,mount ,vernon and surveyed some tracts that he owned4 ,on the tenth of ,december he inclosed with a letter to ,anderson a long set of ,instructions for my manager which were to be most strictly and pointedly attended to and executed4 ,he had rented one of the farms to ,lawrence ,lewis1 also the mill and distillery1 and was desirous of renting the fishery in order to have less work and fewer hands to attend to2 in fact1 an entire new scene was to be enacted4 ,the instructions were exceedingly voluminous1 consisting of thirty closely written folio pages1 and they contain plans for the rotation of crops for several years1 as well as specific directions regarding fencing1 pasturage1 composts1 feeding stock1 and a great variety of other subjects4 ,in them one can find our ,farmer's final opinions on certain phases of agriculture4 ,to draw them up must have cost him days of hard labor and that he found the task wearing is indicated by the fact that in two places he uses the dates #aghb and #aghc when he obviously meant #ahjb and #ahjc4 ,there was no hunting now nor any of those other active outdoor sports in which he had once delighted and excelled1 while ,alas6 our dancing days are no more4 ,happily he was able to ride and labor to the last1 yet more and more of his time had to be spent quietly1 much of it1 we may well believe1 upon the splendid broad veranda of his home4 ,unimaginative and unromantic though he was1 what visions must sometimes have swept through the brain of that simple farmer as he gazed down upon the broad shining river or beyond at the clustered ,maryland hills glorified by the descending sun4 ,perchance in those visions he saw a youthful envoy braving hundreds of miles of savage wilderness on an errand from which the boldest might have shrunk without disgrace4 ,then with a handful of men in forest green it is given to that youth to put a ,continent in hazard and to strike on the slopes of ,laurel ,hill the first blow in a conflict that is fought out upon the plains of ,germany1 in far away ,bengal and on most of the ,seven ,seas4 ,for an instant there rises the delirium of that fateful day with ,braddock beside the ford of the ,monongahela when ,down the long trail from the ,fort to the ford1 ,naked and streaked1 plunge a moccasined horde3 ,huron and ,wyandot1 hot for the bout2 ,shawnee and ,ottawa1 barring him out4 ',twixt the pit and the crest1 'twixt the rocks and the grass1 ,where the bush hides the foe and the foe holds the pass1 ,beaujeu and ,pontiac1 striving amain2 ,huron and ,wyandot1 jeering the slain1 ,the years pass and the same figure grown older and more sedate is taking command of an army of peasantry at war with their ,king4 ,dorchester ,heights1 ,brooklyn1 ,fort ,washington1 ,trenton1 ,princeton1 ,brandywine1 ,valley ,forge1 ,monmouth1 ,morristown1 the sun of ,yorktown2 ,green1 ,gates1 ,arnold1 ,morgan1 ,lee1 ,lafayette1 ,howe1 ,clinton1 ,cornwallis--what memories6 ,lastly1 a ,cincinnatus grown bent and gray in service leaves his farm to head his country's civil affairs and give confidence and stability to an infant government by his wisdom and character4 ,here1 with bared heads1 let us take leave of him--a farmer1 but the greatest of good men and the best of great men4 ,,the ,,end ,,index ,adams1 ,abigail1 letter of husband to about ,washington's retirement1 #cjf4 ,adams1 ,john3 believes ,washington was made by marriage with ,custis money1 #af2 on ,washington's retirement1 #cjf4 ,ague1 prevalence of along the ,potomac1 #fe4 ,alfalfa1 see ,lucerne4 ,alton1 ,john1 a servant of ,washington's1 #agj1 #agd1 #age4 ,anderson1 ,james3 manager of ,mount ,vernon1 #aha1 #ahb2 sends list of the increase of slaves1 #aid2 mentioned by ,parkinson1 #bgf2 remains with ,washington1 #cjg2 final instructions to1 #cae4 ,anna1 brings indentured servants from ,ireland1 #afg4 ,annals of ,agriculture used by ,washington1 #ga1 #gb2 nature of1 #gd2 plan of drill published in1 #ajg2 ,washington begins to read1 #aaf2 plan of barn in1 #aag2 threshing machine described in1 #abf4 ,a ,practical ,treatise of ,husbandry3 used by ,washington1 #ga2 its author1 #gc4 ,barrel plough3 ,washington makes one1 #ajg2 operation of1 #ajh-aaj4 ,bartram1 ,john1 ,washington obtains plants from1 #aei4 ,bassett1 ,fanny1 matrimonial adventures of1 #agg1 #ahj4 ,bater1 ,philip1 ,washington agrees to let him get drunk on certain days1 #afi4 ,bath 7,berkeley ,springs73 ,washington's land at1 #bh2 ,patty ,custis taken to1 #bbc4 ,bear1 one chased by the hounds1 #beg4 ,belvoir1 fox hunting dinners at1 #beh4 ,bernard1 ,john1 peculiar meeting of with ,washington1 #caj-cab4 ,bishop1 ,sally3 ,custis' story of1 #aga-agc2 marries ,thomas ,green1 #agc2 later history of1 #agd4 ,bishop1 ,thomas1 history of1 #agj-agc4 ,bixby1 ,thomas ,k41 owns the ,lear papers1 #hf4 ,blueskin1 one of ,washington's war horses1 #acb1 #acc4 ,board of ,agriculture3 ,washington elected honorary member of1 #hd2 he is influenced by example of1 #abh4 ,booker1 ,william3 makes threshing machine for ,washington1 #abf1 #abg2 mentioned1 #cjh4 ,boston ,athenaeum1 buys ,washington relics1 #hf4 ,boston1 ,british frigate1 ,washington sells bull to1 #add4 ,botanical ,garden3 used for experimental purposes1 #ajf2 location of1 #afa4 ,boucher1 ,jonathan1 teaches ,john ,parke ,custis1 #bbe4 ,bowen1 ,cavan1 indentured servant1 bought1 #afg4 ,bowling ,green3 laid out by ,washington1 #aed2 mentioned1 #afa4 ,box hedge1 doubtful history of1 #afj1 #afa4 ,braddock1 ,gen4 ,edward3 ,washington joins staff of1 #d1 #e2 ,bishop his servant1 #agj2 mentioned1 #ab1 #caf4 ,brents1 ,washington purchases1 #ag4 ,bruff1 ,thomas1 amusing request for a loan1 #bia-bic4 ,bullskin ,plantation1 ,washington patents1 #i4 ,burbank1 ,luther1 mentioned1 #ajg4 ,burnes1 ,david1 quizzes ,washington about his marriage1 #af4 ,butler1--3 a gardener1 #afa2 dismissed1 #ahc4 ,calvert1 ,eleanor3 love affair with ,john ,parke ,custis1 #bbe2 letter of ,martha ,washington to1 #bbf2 for second husband marries ,doctor ,stuart1 #bca4 ,campbell's tavern1 ,washington in card game at1 #bej4 ,campion1--1 brings ,knight of ,malta1 #adj4 ,cape of ,good ,hope wheat1 ,washington experiments with1 #aje4 ,carrington1 ,mrs4 ,edward1 describes ,martha ,washington's sewing activities1 #bcb1 #bcc4 ,carroll1 ,charles1 interested in ,nelly ,custis1 #bce4 ,carter1 ,charles ,h41 returns a loan1 #bic1 #bid4 ,gary1 freedman1 death of at great age1 #bah4 ,cattle3 poor quality of1 #ef1 #eg2 number lost in twenty months1 #adb2 ,washington's experiences with1 #adc et seq42 number owned in #agii1 #adh2 ,parkinson's poor opinion of1 #bgf1 #bgi4 ,chastellux1 ,marquis de3 ,washington describes to him the delights of his retirement1 #e2 letter of ,washington to about inland navigation1 #bf2 on ,washington's horsemanship1 #bce4 ,chinch bugs1 a bad year for1 #ajd4 ,chinese geese1 ,gouverneur ,morris sends some to ,washington1 #adg4 ,chinese pigs1 a gift to ,washington1 #adg4 ,christian1 ,mr41 dancing master1 #bdg1 #bdh4 ,cincinnatus3 ,washington did not affect rle of1 #f2 picture of the ,american at ,mount ,vernon1 #aca2 mentioned1 #cag4 ,clifton1--1 fails to abide by a bargain with ,washington1 #ag4 ,clinton1 ,george3 in partnership with ,washington in a land speculation1 #bf2 sends young trees and vines to ,washington1 #aee4 ,coaches3 ,washington's experiences with1 #cjc1 #cjd2 mentioned1 #ada4 ,compost1 ,washington experiments with1 #ib-id4 ,compound1 a jackass1 #adj4 ,congress1 ,washington recommends establishment of a board of agriculture to1 #abg1 #abh4 ,conservationist1 ,washington the first1 #abi4 ,copy-book1 ,washington's1 verses quoted from1 #e4 ,corn3 some raised in ,virginia1 #ea1 #eb2 chief food of laborers and horses1 #ec2 ,washington's experience growing1 #fi2 his opinion as to the proper time for planting1 #aje4 ,craik1 ,dr4 ,james3 tours western country with ,washington1 #bj et seq41 #bg et seq42 physician to ,mount ,vernon1 #aie2 fishes with ,washington1 #bfe2 relations of ,washington with1 #bif1 #big4 ,craik1 ,william1 accompanies ,washington on western trip of #aghd1 #bh4 ,crawford1 ,captain ,william3 ,washington's western agent1 #ai2 descends the ,ohio with ,washington1 #bj2 locates lands for ,washington1 #bb2 trouble of with squatters1 #bc2 burnt at stake1 #bc2 buys ,great ,meadows for ,washington1 #bi4 ,cross ,purposes1 ,washington sees performance of1 #bde4 ,crow1--3 overseer1 #ahc2 not to be trusted with punishing slaves1 #bjc4 ,cupid1 near death of pleurisy1 #aif4 ,custis children3 ,washington guardian of1 #ad1 #ae2 his accounts with the estate of1 #ha4 ,custis1 ,daniel ,parke1 first husband of ,martha ,washington1 #ab1 #bbj4 ,custis1 ,elizabeth1 frequent visitor at ,mount ,vernon1 #bca4 ,custis1 ,george ,washington ,parke3 sees ,washington fall from a horse1 #acc2 story of ,sally ,bishop1 #aga2 adopted1 #age2 biography of1 #bbg-bbi2 spoiled by his grandmother1 #bcf2 says ,magnolia ran in a race1 #beb2 account of ,french hounds1 #bei et seq42 slays a stag1 #bfh2 story of a black fox1 #bfb2 in error as to ,washington's last hunt1 #bfd2 leaves word picture of ,washington out on his rounds1 #cji4 ,custis1 ,john ,parke3 biography of1 #bbe1 #bbf2 member of dancing class1 #bdh2 fox hunting with ,washington1 #bef2 deer hunting at ,mason's1 #beg4 ,custis1 ,martha 7,patty73 hairpin of mended1 #ae2 taken to ,bath for her health1 #bh2 biography of1 #bbb-bbe2 member of dancing class1 #bdh4 ,custis1 ,martha1 a frequent visitor at ,mount ,vernon1 #bca4 ,custis1 ,nelly3 builds ,woodlawn1 #fc2 adopted by ,washington1 #age2 is given ,dogue ,run ,farm1 #bbg2 rebuked by grandmother1 #bce2 compelled to practise music1 #bcf2 ,washington dances with1 #bdi2 mentioned1 #cjj2 secures a good husband1 #cje2 says ,washington is pleased with being once more a farmer1 #cjf2 marriage of1 #cad4 ,cyrus1 to be made a waiting man1 #baj4 ,dandridge1 ,martha1 see ,martha ,washington #bai4 ,darrell1--3 ,washington buys land from1 #i2 mentioned1 #ag4 ,davenport1--1 dies and leaves family in distress1 #ahg1 #ahh4 ,davis1 ,betty1 a lazy impudent huzzy1 #aii1 #bjj4 ,davis1 ,tom1 ,mount ,vernon hunter1 #bfg4 ,davy3 colored overseer of ,muddy ,hole ,farm1 #ahc2 suspected of stealing lambs1 #bjf4 ,deer3 ,washington's tame animals1 #aca1 #bfg2 deer seen on ,ohio1 #bec2 deer hunt at ,george ,mason's1 #beg1 #beh2 ,custis shoots a buck1 #bfh1 #bfi4 ,dismal ,swamp ,company1 ,washington's interest in1 #ai1 #cc4 ,dogs1 kill sheep1 #ee1 #adb1 #adc4 ,see also ,hounds4 ,dogue ,run1 used as a mill stream1 #ig4 ,dogue ,run ,farm3 described1 #fb1 #fc2 rotation plans for1 #abj2 sixteen-sided barn built upon1 #abd2 excellent threshing floor of this barn1 #abe2 rented to ,lawrence ,lewis1 #abg2 conjuring negroes at1 #bac2 given to ,lawrence ,lewis and his wife1 #bbg2 financial return from in #agih1 #bhg4 ,dower negroes3 belong to ,custis estate1 #ad2 number of in #agii1 #bah4 ,drill1 see ,barrel ,plough4 ,duhamel du ,monceau1 ,henri ,louis1 his treatise on husbandry abstracted by ,washington1 #ga1 #gc1 #gd4 ,dunmore1 ,lord1 issues a land patent to ,washington1 #be4 ,dutch fan1 one owned by ,washington at the time of his death1 #abh4 ,eastern ,shore oats1 wild onions picked out of1 #aaa4 ,eastern ,shore peas1 experiment with1 #aje4 ,evans1 ,joshua1 puts iron ring on ,patty ,custis1 #bbd4 ,everett1 ,edward1 buys the ,pearce papers1 #hf4 ,fairfax1 ,anne3 wife of ,lawrence ,washington1 #aj2 marries ,george ,lee and sells her life interest in ,mount ,vernon to ,george ,washington1 #aa4 ,fairfax1 ,lord ,thomas3 employs ,george ,washington as a surveyor1 #i2 vast land holdings of1 #ch2 fondness of fox hunting1 #bee2 hunts with ,washington1 #bef4 ,fairfax1 ,sir ,william1 father of wife of ,lawrence ,washington1 #aa4 ,farmer's ,compleat ,guide3 used by ,washington1 #ga2 abstracts from1 #gb4 ,federal ,gazette1 describes theatrical performance witnessed by ,washington1 #bdf4 ,ferry1 bought of ,posey1 #ag4 ,ferry ,farm1 bought by ,washington1 #ag1 #bie4 ,fertilizer3 experiments with marl1 #ie1 #ii1 #aje2 with mud1 #ajb-ajd2 experiment fertilizing oats1 #aab2 ,noah ,webster's advanced ideas regarding1 #aah1 #aai2 ,washington wants a manager who can convert everything he touches into manure1 #aai2 see also ,compost and ,rotation of ,crops4 ,fishery3 bought of ,posey1 #ag2 description of1 #fe1 #ff2 returns from in #agih1 #bhg4 ,fitch1 ,john1 visits ,washington to interest him in steam navigation1 #bdj4 ,fitzpatrick1 ,john ,c1 on handwriting of the digest from the ,compleat ,guide1 #gb4 ,florida ,blanca1 helps ,washington obtain a jackass1 #acg1 #ach4 ,flour3 ,washington's classification of1 #ih2 excellent quality of1 #ih4 ,forbes1 ,mrs41 ,washington's inquiries about1 #ahi1 #aij4 ,ford1 ,paul ,leicester3 opinion of remedies tried on ,patty ,custis1 #bbc2 on ,washington's success as a farmer1 #bhg4 ,fox hunting3 account of ,washington's experiences at1 #bee-bfe2 mentioned1 #ajj4 ,franklin1 ,benjamin3 gives ,washington a cane1 #hg2 ,washington inspects mangle belonging to1 #aac4 ,frederick the ,great1 mythical story of his sending a sword to ,washington1 #hf4 ,french1 ,daniel1 breaks contract for sale of corn1 #gi1 #hj4 ,french1 ,mrs4 ,daniel1 ,washington hires slaves from1 #bag4 ,french1 ,elizabeth1 member of dancing class1 #bdh4 ,frestel1 ,monsieur1 accompanies ,george ,w4 ,lafayette to ,mount ,vernon1 #bdb4 ,garden3 doubtful history of part of the flower garden1 #afj2 the vegetable garden1 #afa4 ,gentleman ,farmer1 used by ,washington1 #ga4 ,george ,barnwell1 ,washington sees tragedy of acted1 #bdd4 ,george1 ,prince1 compared with ,washington by ,thackeray1 #hh4 ,george ,,iii1 contributes to ,annals of ,agriculture under pen name of ,ralph ,robinson1 #gd4 ,george ,town oats1 sown1 #aab4 ,golden pheasants1 ,washington astonished by1 #adh4 ,gough1--3 gives ,washington a bull calf1 #add2 ,parkinson thinks it a poor animal1 #bgf4 ,graham1 ,mrs4 ,macaulay1 visits ,mount ,vernon1 #bdj4 ,great ,kanawha3 ,washington visits1 #ba2 land of upon1 #ba2 hunts buffaloes near1 #bed1 #bee4 ,great ,meadows1 owned by ,washington1 #bi4 ,greer1 ,thomas3 marries ,sally ,bishop1 #agc2 his laziness1 #ahe2 mentioned1 #ahc4 ,grenville1 ,lord1 issues special permit for sending seeds to ,washington1 #aag4 ,guinea swine1 some owned by ,washington1 #adg4 ,gunner1 a hunting dog1 #bfg4 ,gunston ,hall1 fox hunting dinners at1 #beh4 ,hamlet1 ,washington sees performance of1 #bde4 ,haw has3 constructed at ends of ,mansion ,house1 #aed2 mentioned1 #aef4 ,hedgerows1 lines of still visible1 #fd4 ,hedges3 traces of still discernible1 #fd1 #afb2 history of1 #afb1 #afc2 see also ,box hedge4 ,henley1 ,frances ,dandridge1 marries ,tobias ,lear1 #agg4 ,hessian fly3 ,washington experiments to protect his wheat from1 #ie2 plays into hands of by early sowing1 #ajf4 ,hippopotamus1 dredge used on ,delaware ,river1 #ajc4 ,hogs3 described by ,parkinson1 #eg1 #eh2 ,washington's1 #aca1 #ade-adg2 large stock of in #agih1 #adh4 ,home1--1 his book on farming digested by ,washington1 #ga4 ,horse-,hoeing ,husbandry3 used by ,washington1 #ga2 an epoch-making work1 #gc4 ,horses3 in ,virginia1 #ec1 #ed2 ,american described by ,parkinson1 #ed1 #ee2 ,washington's stallions1 #aca2 brood mares bought by him1 #acb2 his war horses1 #acb2 thrown from a ,narragansett1 #acc2 his worn-out animals1 #acd2 accidents to1 #acd2 his skill as a trainer of described by ,de ,chastellux1 #acd1 #ace2 losses of in twenty months1 #adb2 number of in #agii1 #adh4 ,horticulture1 ,washington's activities in1 #adi et seq4 ,hounds3 ,washington builds up a pack of1 #beh et seq42 names of some of them1 #bei2 the ,french hounds1 #bei et seq4 ,humphreys1 ,colonel3 at ,mount ,vernon1 #aga2 ,smith fears he will write a poem1 #agc2 poem of about ,washington's slaves quoted1 #baa4 ,hunt1 ,gaillard1 on ,washington manuscripts in the ,library of ,congress1 #hg4 ,ice house1 ,washington's1 #cja1 #cjb4 ,indentured servants3 classes of1 #afe2 ,washington's dealings with1 #aff-afh4 ,jack1 ,mount ,vernon fisherman1 #bfg4 ,jackasses3 ,washington's1 #acg et seq41 #adh2 stud fees of in #agih1 #bhg4 ,jackson1 ,andrew1 ushers in an era of whisky drinkers1 #cjj4 ,jefferson1 ,thomas3 explains why land is misused1 #ec2 agricultural correspondence with ,washington1 #hc2 carries bundle of pecan trees to ,alexandria for ,washington1 #aei2 opposed to slavery1 #bae4 ,johnson1 ,john1 brings nostrum for fits1 #bbd4 ,johnston1 ,george1 sells land to ,washington1 #i4 ,jolly1 a horse1 gets leg broken1 #acd4 ,jones1--1 ,washington visits farm of1 #aac4 ,knight1 ,humphrey1 manages ,mount ,vernon1 #agh4 ,knight of ,malta1 a jackass1 his history1 #adj1 #ada4 ,knox1 ,thomas1 one of ,washington's ,english agents1 #de1 #df4 ,lady1 has four puppies1 #bei4 ,lafayette1 ,george ,w41 stay of at ,mount ,vernon1 #bda1 #bdb1 #cjj4 ,lafayette1 ,marquis de3 visits ,washington1 #bg2 ,washington's letter to regarding ,royal ,gift1 #ach2 sends ,washington a jackass and two jennets1 #adj2 last visit to ,washington1 #bdj2 sends ,washington some hounds1 #bei4 ,lame ,peter1 taught to knit1 #aic4 ,laurie1 ,dr4 ,james1 comes to ,mount ,vernon drunk1 #aie4 ,lear1 ,lincoln1 ,washington's interest in1 #age-agg4 ,lear1 ,tobias3 correspondence of with ,washington published1 #hf2 biography of1 #age-agg2 marries widow of ,george ,a4 ,washington1 #agg1 #ahj2 writes directions about ,billy ,lee1 #bjh2 ,washington explains to him his desire for selling western lands1 #bac2 directed to get slaves out of ,pennsylvania1 #baf2 letter of ,washington to1 #bdb2 ,parkinson's conversation with1 #bgi2 gives ,parkinson money1 #bhj4 ,lee1 ,general ,charles3 story of ,washington's loans to1 #ha1 #hb2 mentioned1 #cag4 ,lee1 ,george1 marries widow of ,lawrence ,washington1 #aa4 ,lee1 ,henry3 sends ,washington cuttings of the tree box1 #aee2 they show little signs of growing1 #aeg4 ,lee1 ,robert ,e41 ,jr41 administrator de bonis non of ,washington's estate1 #ce4 ,lee1 ,william 7,billy73 accompanies ,washington to the ,ohio1 #bj2 breeches bought for1 #hb2 helps get ,colonel ,smith out of a scrape1 #agb-agd2 val de chambre1 #aic2 history of1 #bjf-bji2 freed1 #bah2 acts as huntsman1 #bfj1 #bfa4 ,leonidas1 a stallion1 #aca4 ,lewis1 ,betty3 visit of ,washington to1 #aab2 sends brother some filberts1 #aee2 ,washington gives her a mule1 #bih2 mentioned1 #bic4 ,lewis1 ,howell1 manages ,mount ,vernon1 #ahj4 ,lewis1 ,lawrence3 builds ,woodlawn1 #fc2 rents ,dogue ,run ,farm1 #abg1 #cae2 with uncle on a ride1 #acc2 ,washington expresses wish to that ,virginia would abolish slavery1 #bae2 helps ,washington entertain guests1 #bdc1 #bdd2 possible part of ,washington in furthering love affair of1 #cje2 marriage of1 #cad4 ,lewis1 ,nelly ,custis1 see ,nelly ,custis4 ,lewis1 ,robert3 manages ,mount ,vernon1 #ahj2 describes tearful scenes on departure of ,martha ,washington1 #bcg4 ,library of ,congress1 ,washington papers in1 #e1 #he1 #hg1 #ij4 ,little ,miami ,river1 history of ,washington's lands upon1 #cd-cf4 ,long ,island ,historical ,society1 ,pearce-,washington papers in1 #hf4 ,lossing1 ,benson ,j41 visit of to ,mount ,vernon1 #afj4 ,lucerne1 ,washington experiments with1 #ia1 #ib4 ,mc,cracken1 ,washington buys land from1 #i4 ,mc,koy1--1 overseer1 #ahc4 ,madison1 ,dolly1 did not invent ice cream1 #cjb1 #cjc4 ,madison1 ,james3 story of his ice house1 #cjb2 opposed to slavery1 #bae4 ,magnolia3 a blooded ,arabian stallion1 #aca1 #acb2 in a race1 #beb4 ,magowan1 ,rev4 ,mr41 sells lottery tickets1 #bea4 ,maid of the ,mill1 ,washington witnesses performance of1 #bdf4 ,mansion ,house3 view from porch of1 #fd2 bequeathed to ,bushrod ,washington1 #hd2 ,bishop starts for1 #agb2 grounds of overrun with negro children1 #aia2 hospital for slaves built near1 #aie2 mentioned1 #fc1 #bfg1 #bfh2 ,bernard visits1 #cab4 ,mansion ,house ,farm3 described1 #fa2 ,washington will not rent1 #abg2 bequeathed to ,bushrod ,washington1 #agh2 financial loss on in #agih1 #bhg4 ,manure1 see ,fertilizer4 ,marl1 ,washington experiments with1 #ie1 #ii1 #aje4 ,mason1 ,george3 description of industry upon estate of1 #dj-dc2 is dead1 #bcc2 deer hunting at1 #beg1 #beh4 ,matilda's ,ben1 misbehavior of1 #bje4 ,meade1 ,colonel1 visits ,washington1 #cji4 ,mercer1 ,john ,f41 ,washington's letter to about slavery1 #bac4 ,meteorological table1 manager required to keep1 #hc4 ,michaux1 ,andr1 botanist1 brings pyramidical cypress from the king of ,france1 #aeh4 ,military ,company of ,adventurers1 ,washington a member of1 #ai4 ,mill3 ,washington's mill on the ,youghiogheny1 #bd1 #cj2 his mill on ,four ,mile ,run1 #ig2 that on ,dogue ,run1 #ig1 #ih1 #ahb4 ,mississippi ,company1 ,washington interested in1 #aj4 ,morgan1 ,general ,daniel3 talks over inland waterways question with ,washington #bh2 mentioned1 #cag4 ,morris1 ,gouverneur3 sends ,washington ,chinese pigs and geese1 #adf1 #adg2 goes fishing with him1 #bfe4 ,mosquitoes1 prevalence of about ,mount ,vernon1 #fe4 ,mount ,vernon3 ,washington retires to1 #d2 given to ,lawrence ,washington1 #h2 ,george ,washington spends part of youth at1 #i2 early history of1 #aj2 life interest of ,anne ,lee in bought by ,washington1 #aa2 estate1 #af1 #ag1 #bj1 #cb2 bequeathed to ,bushrod ,washington1 #cc2 description of1 #fj et seq42 visit of owner in #agha1 #gh2 seeds sent by ,young reach1 #aag2 ,booker builds threshing machine at1 #abf1 #abg2 ,washington attempts to rent1 #abg2 ,washington's care for the lands of1 #abi2 number of horses on in #aghe1 #acb2 number of sheep on1 #ace2 resounds with jubilant sounds1 #adj2 number of oxen on1 #add1 #bjh2 house rebuilt1 #aea-aec2 successive managers of1 #agh-ahb2 employment of white labor at1 #ahf2 slaves seen at1 #aia2 number of slaves on in #aghf1 #aic2 lot of slaves at1 #baa1 #bab2 ,edmund ,pendleton at1 #bba2 managed by ,mrs4 ,washington1 #bbi2 larders of kept well filled1 #bcj2 ,custis grandchildren reside at1 #bca2 visitors at1 #bdj-bdb2 dancing class meets at1 #bdh2 tea served on portico of1 #beb2 fox hunting dinners at1 #beh2 the fisherman of1 #bfg2 described by ,parkinson1 #bga et seq41 #bia2 ,washington's estimate of probable crops on1 #bhf2 land of poor1 #bhh2 value of in #agih1 #bhh2 coach shown there to-day not ,washington's1 #cjd2 ,nelly ,custis writes from1 #cjf2 condition of on ,washington's retirement1 #cjg2 last months of owner's life spent at1 #cac2 mentioned1 #ge1 #gh1 #ig1 #aja1 #ajc1 #acj1 #bjh1 #bdd1 #bia1 #cab1 #cad4 ,mount ,vernon ,association1 #fc4 ,muddy ,hole ,farm3 described1 #fb2 barrel plough used at1 #aaj2 its colored overseer1 #ahc1 #bje2 loss on in #agih1 #bhg4 ,mules3 ,washington raises1 #acg et seq42 proposes to drive them to his carriage1 #aci2 number of in #agii1 #adh4 ,narragansetts1 two bought by ,washington1 #acb4 ,negroes1 see ,slaves4 ,nelson1 one of ,washington's war horses1 #acb1 #acc4 ,new ,england1 ,washington's observations of agriculture in1 #aae4 ,niemcewicz1 ,julian3 describes condition of negroes at ,mount ,vernon1 #aig1 #aih2 opinion of ,nelly ,custis1 #bbg4 ,old ,chatham1 a worn-out horse1 #acd4 ,overdursh1--1 ,dutch redemptioner bought with his family1 #afg4 ,oxen3 used in farm work1 #abb2 number of in #aghe1 #add2 fattened and killed when eight years old1 #ade4 ,palatines3 ,washington considers importing1 #bd1 #cj2 mentioned1 #afg4 ,palmer1 ,jonathan1 overseer1 contract of1 #ahe4 ,parkinson1 ,james3 description of ,american live stock1 #ed-eh2 considers renting one of ,washington's farms1 #abg2 on ,washington's tone toward his slaves1 #bjb2 his account of ,mount ,vernon and ,washington's farming operations1 #bgj-bhj4 ,patterson1 ,john1 paid for carpenter work1 #aec4 ,peaches1 ,washington raises1 #adi4 ,pearce1 ,william3 letters of ,washington to1 #hf2 describes poor condition of the sheep1 #acg2 letter to about ,bishop1 #aga2 manages ,mount ,vernon1 #aha2 overseers described to1 #ahc2 letter from about the dead miller's family1 #ahg2 direction to about ,cyrus1 #bji4 ,perkins' ,tavern1 ,washington stays over ,sunday at1 #aaf4 ,peters1 ,richard3 quoted regarding wolves1 #ef2 sends plan of drill to ,washington1 #ajg4 ,philadelphia ,society for the ,promotion of ,agriculture1 founded1 #ia4 ,phillipse1 ,mary1 ,washington's alleged infatuation with1 #agj4 ,piney ,branch1 turned into ,dogue ,run1 #ig4 ,pitt1 ,william1 a contributor to the ,annals of ,agriculture1 #gd4 ,plow3 ,washington invents one1 #id2 buys a ,rotheran1 #ii4 ,poelnitz1 ,baron1 ,washington inspects threshing machine belonging to1 #abf4 ,pohick ,church1 ,washington a vestryman of1 #ajj4 ,poland oats1 sown in experimental plot1 #aab4 ,pond1 ,rev41 lame discourses of1 #aaf4 ,poole1 ,william1 letter of regarding want of water in mill stream1 #ig4 ,posey1 ,captain ,john3 fox hunting with ,washington1 #bef2 ,washington's relations with1 #bid2 bankrupt and in jail1 #bie1 #bif4 ,posey1 ,milly3 member of dancing class1 #bdh2 stays at ,mount ,vernon1 #bie4 ,posey1 ,st4 ,lawrence1 ,washington helps to educate1 #bie4 ,posey plantation1 bought by ,washington1 #ag4 ,potatoes3 method of growing under straw1 #aab2 quantity raised in #aghh1 #aac4 ,randolph1 ,edmund1 slaves of in ,pennsylvania refuse to return to ,virginia1 #baf4 ,redemptioners1 a class of indentured servants1 #aff4 ,richey1 ,matthew1 ,washington sells part of his western lands to1 #cb4 ,river ,farm3 described1 #fa1 #fb2 financial return from in #agih1 #bhg4 ,robert ,gary ,company3 ,english agents of ,washington1 #df1 #dg2 ,washington falls in debt to1 #dh4 ,roberts1 ,william ,m41 amusing letter of1 #ahh4 ,roosevelt1 ,theodore1 transfers ,washington papers to ,library of ,congress1 #he4 ,ross1 ,doctor1 ,washington asks him to buy him some white servants1 #afg4 ,rotation of crops3 how practised in ,america1 #eb2 ,washington's elaborate plans for1 #abj et seq4 ,royal ,gift1 a jackass1 his history1 #ach-ada4 ,rules of ,civility1 quoted1 #bjb4 ,rumney1 ,dr4 ,william1 physician to ,mount ,vernon1 #aie4 ,ryan1 ,thomas1 indentured servant1 bought1 #afg4 ,samson1 a stallion1 #aca4 ,seed3 ,washington anxious to have the best1 #aaj2 counts number of grains in a pound of several varieties1 #aaa2 obtains some from ,england1 #aaf1 #aag4 ,serpentine drive1 laid out by ,washington1 #aed4 ,shag1 ,will1 a runaway1 #bjc4 ,shaw1 ,william1 tutor to the ,custis children1 #age4 ,sheep3 raising of not much attempted1 #ee2 breeds of1 #ee2 much troubled by wolves and dogs1 #ee1 #ef2 ,washington's1 #ace et seq42 number lost in twenty months1 #adb2 he suspects an overseer of stealing lambs1 #bjf2 ,parkinson's opinion of1 #bgh1 #bgi4 ,siberian wheat1 experiment with1 #aje4 ,simpson1 ,gilbert1 one of ,washington's western agents1 #bc1 #bd1 #bi1 #cj1 #ca4 ,sinclair1 ,sir ,john3 ,washington corresponds with1 #hc1 #ia3 helps obtain seeds for ,washington1 #aag2 ,washington sends some ,american products to1 #aah4 ,sixteen-sided barn1 mentioned1 #fb4 ,slaves3 ,washington inherits from his father1 #h2 some sent to the west to ,simpson's1 #bc1 #be2 steal fruit1 #aef2 as solution of labor problem1 #afe2 detailed account of ,washington's1 #aia-bah4 ,smith1 ,colonel1 adventure with ,sally ,bishop1 #aga-agd4 ,smith1 ,thomas1 ,washington's attorney in case against the squatters1 #cb4 ,spears1 ,thomas1 indentured servant1 runs away1 #afh4 ,spotswood1 ,gen4 ,alexander1 ,washington's letter to apropos of slavery1 #bad4 ,sprague1 ,william ,b41 is given some of the ,washington papers1 #he4 ,squatters3 on ,washington's western land1 #bb1 #bc2 delegation from meet ,washington at ,simpson's1 #ca2 dispossessed1 #cb4 ,stallions1 list of those kept by ,washington1 #aca4 ,steady1 a stallion1 #aca1 #bhd4 ,stephens1 ,richard1 his laziness1 #ahf4 ,stewart1 ,robert1 ,washington's loan to1 #bic4 ,stuart1 overseer1 #ahc4 ,sullivan1 ,captain1 interpreter of directions regarding ,royal ,gift1 #ach4 ,swearingen1 ,captain van1 accompanies ,washington on mission to squatters1 #ca4 ,sycamores1 enormous ones measured by ,washington1 #bb1 #bee4 ,thackeray1 ,william ,m41 quoted regarding ,washington1 #hg1 #hh4 ,thomson1 ,charles1 notifies ,washington of his election to the presidency1 #bdj4 ,threshing machine3 ,washington experiments with1 #abf1 #abg2 owns one at time of death1 #abh2 ,parkinson says ,general has two1 #bge2 uses one of ,booker's model1 #cjh4 ,tobacco3 place of in ,virginia agriculture1 #db-eb2 ,washington's experience with1 #fh2 discontinues growing of1 #fi4 ,tom1 sent to ,west ,indies1 #bjd1 #baf4 ,toner1 ,j4,m43 his transcripts of ,washington papers1 #gi1 #hf2 opinion of regarding inspection of ,washington's flour in the ,west ,indies1 #ih4 ,traveler3 a stallion1 #aca2 stud fee of1 #bhg4 ,triplett1 ,william1 constructs outbuildings1 #aec4 ,tull1 ,jethro3 his book on horse-hoeing abstracted by ,washington1 #ga1 #gc2 some of his ideas1 #ge2 quoted by ,washington1 #ib4 ,turkeys3 ,washington raises1 #aca1 #adg2 wild variety mentioned1 #bec4 ,union ,farm3 described1 #fa1 #fb2 fishery on1 #fe2 gully upon1 #ff2 new brick barn after ,young's plans built upon1 #aag2 financial return from in #agih1 #bhg4 ,virginia1 agriculture and life in1 #cg-ei4 ,virginia ,almanac1 weather record kept by ,washington in1 #hj4 ,virginia ,gazette1 ,washington advertises escaped servants in1 #afg4 ,voilett1 ,edward1 agrees to avoid stills1 #afi4 ,vulcan1 raid of on kitchen1 #bfj4 ,waggoner ,jack1 sold in ,west ,indies1 #bjd4 ,walker1 ,ann1 daughter of ,john ,alton1 receives a bequest from ,washington1 #agd4 ,walpole ,grant1 ,washington interested in1 #aj4 ,washington1 ,augustine1 bequests of to ,george1 #h4 ,washington1 ,augustine1 ,jr41 daughter of describes ,martha ,washington's activities1 #bcd1 #bce4 ,washington1 ,bushrod3 accompanies ,washington on western trip1 #bh2 inherits ,mansion ,house and papers1 #hd2 fails to safeguard papers properly1 #he2 educated by his uncle1 #agh2 asked to make inquiries about ,mrs4 ,forbes1 #ahi2 assisted by his uncle1 #bii4 ,washington1 ,george ,a43 brings mahogany seeds from ,west ,indies1 #aeg2 widow of marries ,tobias ,lear1 #agg2 manages ,mount ,vernon1 #agi1 #ahj2 course of approved1 #ahd2 fox hunting1 #bfc1 #bfd2 ill health of1 #big2 aided by his uncle1 #bii4 ,washington1 ,harriot1 helped by her uncle1 #bii4 ,washington1 ,john ,a41 manages ,mount ,vernon1 #agg1 #agh4 ,washington1 ,john ,a41 inherits books and relics of ,washington1 #he4 ,washington1 ,john ,c1 sells ,washington papers to the nation1 #he4 ,washington1 ,lawrence3 inherits ,mount ,vernon1 #h2 influence of upon ,george1 #i2 biography of1 #aj2 mentioned1 #gf4 ,washington1 ,lund3 directed to set out trees at end of ,mansion ,house1 #aea2 manages ,mount ,vernon during the ,revolution1 #agi2 ,washington's generous dealings with1 #ahg2 will inform owner of delinquencies of ,roberts1 #ahi2 opinion of ,washington's charity1 #bcj1 #bca2 is dead1 #bcc2 fox hunting with ,washington1 #bef1 #bfc2 instructions to concerning the poor1 #bih4 ,washington1 ,martha3 marriage of ,washington to1 #ab1 #ac2 family of by first husband1 #ad2 her financial affairs1 #ad1 #ae2 remembers when there was but one coach in ,virginia1 #di2 broke out with the ,meazles1 #gi2 tradition concerning her authority over the flower garden1 #afj2 ,bishop threatens to tell of ,colonel ,smith's escapade1 #agb2 gives a quilt to her niece1 #agg2 on the required work of the sewing servants1 #aii2 chapter about1 #bai-bch2 keeps open house1 #bci2 ,vulcan steals one of her hams1 #bfj2 ,parkinson's mention of1 #bgd1 #bgi1 #bhj2 her husband's care of her grandchildren1 #bih2 drinks a glass of wine1 #cjj4 ,washington1 ,mary3 death of1 #cc2 son visits1 #aab2 son sends money to1 #aad1 #bih4 ,washington1 ,samuel1 financial assistance received by from ,general ,washington1 #bii4 ,washington1 ,william3 has charge of ,royal ,gift in ,south ,carolina1 #aci1 #adj2 visits ,mount ,vernon1 #cad4 ,washington1 ,william ,a41 ,george ,washington buys corn from1 #fi1 #gj4 ,watson1 ,elkanah1 anecdote of visit to ,mount ,vernon1 #bdd4 ,weather record1 kept by ,washington1 #gg1 #hj4 ,webster1 ,noah3 says toast at ,mount ,vernon was ,success to the mud1 #ajc2 explains how fertility can be obtained from the air1 #aah1 #aai2 visit of mentioned1 #age1 #bdj4 ,webster1 ,william1 indentured servant1 runs away1 #afh4 ,western ,lands1 history of ,washington's1 #ah-cf4 ,wheat3 how reaped and threshed1 #ea2 ,washington turns to cultivation of1 #fi2 ,washington rolls in spring1 #ie2 his sales of before the ,revolution1 #if1 #ig2 grinds into flour1 #ig2 excellent quality of ,washington's wheat before the ,revolution1 #ii2 experiments with ,cape of ,good ,hope and ,siberian1 #aje2 opinion as to proper time for sowing1 #ajf2 acreage in #aghg1 #aac4 ,white1 ,alexander1 pays ,general ,lee's debt to ,washington1 #hb4 ,white ,chariot1 history of1 #cjc1 #cjd4 ,whiting1 ,anthony3 writes concerning worn-out horses1 #acc1 #acd2 instructed to cull out the unthrifty sheep1 #acf1 #acg2 manager of ,mount ,vernon1 #ahj4 ,wilderness3 ,washington sets out1 #aed2 many trees dead in1 #aef4 ,wine coasters1 invented by ,washington1 #cja4 ,witherspoon1 ,john1 ,washington describes his western lands to1 #be4 ,woodlawn1 home of ,nelly ,custis1 #fc1 #bbg4 ,young1 ,arthur3 letters of ,washington to about his interest in farming1 #a1 #b2 astonished that wolves and dogs hinder sheep raising in ,america1 #ee2 ,washington explains differences between ,american and ,european agriculture to1 #eh2 describes his estate to1 #fj et seq41 #abg2 his ,annals of ,agriculture used by ,washington1 #ga1 #gd2 ,washington's correspondence with1 #hc1 #he1 #ia2 sends inquiries regarding ,american agriculture1 #hd2 obtains seeds for ,washington1 #aaf1 #aag2 sends plan for barn1 #aag2 ,washington sends agricultural information to1 #aah2 ,washington inquires of regarding a threshing machine1 #abf2 influence of upon ,washington1 #abh2 letter of ,washington to about his sheep1 #acf2 about his mules1 #ada2 mentioned by ,parkinson1 #bgg4