| Show George Washington Washington First First in Farming Too IB By ELMO IO SCOTT WATSON VATSON Released by Western Newspaper Union VIRGINIA gentleman 1 A dipped his quill goose-quill I pen into an inkpot and began writing a letter Now Nowthen and then he would glance up thoughtfully his eyes sweep- sweep ling over broad acres fringing the Potomac He was middle- middle raged I aged of commanding phy- phy I with a stern yet kindly i face ace 1 The letter dated December December Decem- Decem ber 12 1788 said The more I am acquainted I with agricultural affairs the I am pleased with them in so much that I can nowhere find so great satisfaction satisfaction satis- satis faction as in those innocent and land and useful pursuits Indulging ling jing these feelings I am led to reflect how much more de- de to an mind is the task of making improvements on the earth I Ithan than all the vainglory that can be acquired from ravaging I ling ing ing it Thus in the fullness of his years and honors did George Washington write to his English Eng- Eng ilish lish friend Arthur Young Every American is familiar familiarI I With Light Horse Harry Lees Lee's Characterization of Washington as asI I First in War First in Peace and andin First in inthe the Hearts of His Country- Country men Few Americans perhaps I are aware that Washington laid I just claim to another distinction I He was First in Farming Washington was Americas America's first scientific agriculturist He provement im-provement j i preached the gospel of soil improvement improvement im im- provement provement in season and out out- he heI I made original discoveries in crop rotation seed selection and live lie livestock livestock stock breeding he carried on important important important im im- experiments in the use of fertilizers he pioneered in the use of farm machinery I Made Farming Pay The Father of his Country was wasa a shrewd and canny farmer He imade made agriculture pay He became became became be be- came the rich richest st man in the United United United Unit Unit- ed States by reason of his success with the soil At his death Washington Washington Wash Wash- Vashi i ington by his will disposed of more than acres of farm farmland I land including his beloved Mount Vernon as well as flung far-flung domains domains domains do do- mains in Ohio and elsewhere which were rented or farmed by I his deputies His landed estate was was valued at while he het t had additional buildings equipment equipment equip- equip I ment live stock and other investments investments invest invest- ments meets worth His slaves were were not included in this inventory inventory inventory tory tory for he freed them all in his will wilI Washington's serious farming career began in 1759 at the age of 27 He had inherited Mount Vernon married the charming Martha Custis and received a handsome dowry in lands and chattels For the 16 years he was was to devote himself to the land Farmer Washington had plenty I to contend with however The Theland j land hand he inherited was worn out outi i i by a century of tobacco growing I Concentration on this single crop year year after year with no rotation I and land no attempt at fertilization i had seriously impoverished the I land Hand Unlike the farmer of today who can get advice from his county coun- coun ity ty agent state agricultural col- col liege or experiment station onI on I whether his soil is deficient in nitrogen phosphoric acid or potash potash potash pot pot- ash and needs commercial fertilizer fertilizer fertilizer fer fer- fer- fer Washington had to depend on talks with his neighbors and his reading of farm papers and andI I books on agriculture published in England whose editors were unfamiliar unfamiliar unfamiliar un un- familiar with problems in Vir Vir- ginia He corresponded frequently with Arthur Young British agricultural agricultural agricultural agri agri- cultural scientist and editor of the Annals of Agriculture He collected col- col I an extensive library of agricultural books books including Horseshoe Husbandry A Practical Treatment of Husbandry Husband Husband- I ry The uThe Farmers Farmer's Complete Guide and The uThe Gentleman Farmer When Washington gleaned a anew anew anew new idea from his reading he quickly tried to apply it For instance instance in instance in- in stance he laid out experimental plots on different soils of his own land similar to the plots so familiar familiar familiar famil famil- today to any farm student He carried on experiments with fertilizer in a fashion reminiscent of what soil scientists do today He had ten small boxes made These he filled with soil taken from the same part of the field so that it would be uniform in composition One box served as asa asa asa a check plot Into the other nine he placed different fertilizers such as cow manure horse manure manure manure ma ma- nure sheep dung mud from the creek marl from a gully black mold and mud from irom the bottom of the Potomac river He divided each box into three sections planting wheat oats and andI I barley He used exactly the same number of seeds of each grain in each box and planted the rows exactly the same I w o. o V. V l rr l y t rr r WASHINGTON AT MOUNT VERNON 1787 Mud from the bottom of the Potomac proved good fertilizer So he built a special scow and hoisted mud The cost of obtaining obtaining obtaining obtain obtain- ing it however was too great for forthe forthe forthe the results he got Washington gave increasing attention attention attention at at- at- at to wheat growing as an alternate to tobacco He tried various experiments such as steeping his seed in brine and alum to prevent smut He tried also to protect his grain from the Hessian fly In 1763 he entered into an agreement agreement agreement agree agree- ment with John Carlyle and Robert Robert Robert Rob Rob- ert Adams of Alexandria to sell them his wheat crop for the next seven years The price was to tobe tobe be three shillings and nine pence per bushel bushel or or about 91 cents Considering the difference in purchasing purchasing purchasing pur pur- chasing power then and now Washington was getting the equivalent equivalent equivalent equiv equiv- alent of at least for his grain In 1769 he delivered bushels of wheat Thereafter he ground most of his wheat and sold the flour He owned three mills one in western Pennsylvania a second on Four Mile Run near Alexandria and a third on the Mount Vernon estate The flour graded superfine fine and mid mid- We Ve have Washington's own word for it that his flour was wasas wasas wasas as good as any produced in America Amer Amer- ica and ica-and and the Father of his Country Country Country Coun Coun- try was no boaster In a charmingly written monograph monograph monograph mono mono- graph on George Washington Citizen and Farmer Dr J. J Christian Bay librarian of the John Crerar library of Chicago recounts some stories of Washington Washington Wash Wash- ington as a farmer and human being Describing some of the voluminous notes Washington jotted jotted jotted jot jot- ted down in his diaries concerning concerning concerning concern concern- ing his agricultural experiments Mr Bay says U attention was attracted attracted attracted at at- to the old problem of large and small seeds and he invented a seeder barrel-seeder to 1 iTi f i w. w w MOUNT VERNON From a rare aquatint engraved by Francis Francis Fran Fran- Francis cis Jukes after Alexander Robertson Robert Robert- son 1800 in the William Villiam L. L Clements Clements' Clements Clements' Clements Clements' Clem Clem- library Ann Arbor Mich spread his seed evenly and ef ef- ef- ef He compared continuously continuously continuously the crops from large and small seeds and suggested that large potatoes yield better than small ones because as a rule produces equal He lie Counted Seeds It is curious also to think of the Father of his Country sitting in his study carefully counting the number of seeds to the pound Yet he found that t a pound of red clover contains seeds a pound of timothy seeds while meadow grass gave to the pound likewise a pound of barley numbered grains The Revolution halted for a time Washington's farm career For six out of eight long years as in commander-in-chief of the Continental Continental Con Con- Continental army he did not even set foot on his beloved fields Peace in 1783 at last brought him relea release e. e He had left Mount Vernon a simple country gentle gentle- man He returned as one of the most famous men in the world Happy to be home he threw himself himself himself him him- self once more into his old pation During his army campaigns campaigns cam cam- campaigns his keen observations of agriculture as practiced in New NewYork NewYork NewYork York New Jersey and other northern colonies had broadened his outlook He was more than ever convinced of the desirability I of pastures and of live of-live live stock for conserving the soil He was more wide-awake wide to the need of better tools The run-down run condition of his soil however was a cause of in increasing increasing increasing in- in creasing concern Unfortunately for him fertilizers as we know them today were not in exist exist- ence As a soil conservation measure Washington began to experiment with clover and other grasses He was prompted to do this at the urging of Noah Webster newspaper newspaper newspaper news news- paper reporter editor and famous famous famous fa fa- as the compiler of a dic dic- Webster had expounded his theory that some plants have havethe havethe havethe the power to reach into the air and extract nitrogen fertilizer which their roots fix in the soil Nature said Webster has provided an inexhaustible store of manure which is equally accessible accessible accessible sible to the rich and poor and which may be collected and applied applied applied ap ap- ap- ap plied to land with very little labor and expense This store is in the atmosphere and the process by which the fertilizing substance may be obtained is vegetation Washington tried every kind of legume known to Virginia farmers farmers farmers farm farm- ers and imported many kinds of seeds from England In this way he introduced timothy to his coun coun- He early discovered that clover and peas had a soil enriching enriching enriching en en- power In an English journal he read about a new legume which legume alfalfa which had been brought from Switzerland He found that alfalfa too could enrich enrich enrich en en- rich the soil but it never proved profitable for him Even while serving as President President President dent from 17 p to 1797 Washington Washing Washing- ton found some time to keep an eye on his farming operations He had extensive experiments conducted in grain and live stock breeding He imported new strains of wheat from South Africa Africa Africa Af Af- Af- Af rica and Siberia neither of which proved as good as his Virginia f M bA b- Rotation of Crops Washington drew up elaborate plans for rotation of crops on his different farms Not content with one plan he often drew up several several several sev sev- eral alternatives He calculated the probable financial return from each allowing for the cost of seed tillage and other expenses ex ex- ex- ex He was constantly on the alert for better methods of threshing grain than the old age-old practice of treading and flailing He read in inan inan inan an English farm journal about a threshing machine invented by a aman aman aman man named Winlaw In 1790 he had observed the operation of Baron mill near New NewYork NewYork NewYork York city based on the Winlaw model This mill was operated by two men and threshed about two bushels of wheat per hour In 1797 two years before his death Washington built a I thresher himself on plans evolved by William Booker who came to Mount Vernon and di directed directed directed di- di the construction In April 1798 Washington wrote Booker The machine by no means answered answered answered an an- your expectations or mine At first it threshed about 50 bushels a day then fell to fewer than 25 and finally broke down completely although it had used up two belts costing between 40 and 50 Washington was essentially Americas America's first conservationist an official of the Middle West Soil Improvement committee pointed out recently The Father of his Country realized realized realized re re- re- re that man owes a duty to the future as well as the present welfare of his soil soH he said primitive attempts to put back into the soil the fertility fertility fertility fer fer- fer- fer that had been depleted by constant are testimony of this characteristic As a public man Washington was eager to improve the lot of agriculture In his last message to congress he recommended the establishment of a Boa d of Agriculture Agriculture Agriculture Ag Ag- to collect and diffuse information information in in- formation and by premiums and small pecuniary aids to encourage and assist a spirit of discovery and improvement But nearly a century fore anything so important was done by the federal government to promote the development of agriculture I i 1 J i Part of Washington's plan fo for Cor r his sixteen-sided sixteen barn One invention of which Washington Washington Washington Wash Wash- ington was proud was a sided 16 barn which he built on one of his s farms in 1793 He estimated that tha t bricks would be require required d for the structure These were e made and fired on the estate The barn was especially notable for a threshing floor 30 feet fee square An ingenious method o of fv f separating ng the grain and straw v was provided by interstices of on one e and one-half one inches between th the e floor boards Thus when th the e grain was trodden by horses o or r beat out with flails the kernels kernel s fell through to the floor below This floor was to furnish a an n illustration of what Washington Washingto n called the almost impossibility of putting the overseers of this thi s country out of the track they have hav e been accustomed to walk inI inI in inI I have one of the most convenient convenient convenient con con- barns in this or perhaps s any other country where thirty hands may with great ease b be e employed in threshing he wrote e I a friend Half of the wheat o othe of f the farm was actually stowed i inthis in inthis n this barn in the straw by my order order order or or- der for threshing Notwithstanding ing when I came home about th the e middle of September I found a L treading yard not thirty feet from m I Ithe the barn door the wheat again agai n brought out of the barn an and d I horses treading it out in in an open ope n exposure liable to the vicissitudes vicissitude ns s of the weather What Washington said to th the e overseer on this occasion has no not t been recorded for posterity Buit But Bu t it is a safe bet that the roan man man remembered remembered remembered re re- it for the rest of hi his s days The Father of his Country i is s often pictured as a man without a sense of humor Yet in th the e midst of sober agricultural experiments experiments experiments exper exper- he gave the following ad ad- i t tM I tt j 4 9 The seed house at Mount Vernon vice on how to keep warm all winter by the aid of a single piece of wood The story is told by Mr Bay Select a suitable piece of wood rush upstairs as fast as you youcan youcan youcan can open a window throw out the wood Rush downstairs into the yard and seize the wood again Rush upstairs once more throw out the wood a second time Rush downstairs and get it and continue in this manner until until until un un- til you are warm Repeat this process as often as necessary He concluded ed this piece of advice advice advice ad ad- vice with the words Est But it is as a prophetic contributor contributor contributor contrib contrib- to the knowledge of soil conservation conservation conservation con con- that he will be best remembered remembered remembered re re- |
