GEORGE WASHINGTON: FARMER***
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GEORGE WASHINGTON: FARMER
BEING AN ACCOUNT OF HIS HOME LIFE AND AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES
By
PAUL LELAND HAWORTH
Author of THE PATH OF GLORY, RECONSTRUCTION AND UNION, AMERICA IN FERMENT, ETC.
WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS, FACSIMILIES OF PRIVATE PAPERS, AND A MAP OF WASHINGTON'S ESTATE DRAWN BY HIMSELF
1915
[Illustration: _By permission of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association_ Mount Vernon Stable Built in 1733 Showing also the Powell Coach]
"The aim of the farmers in this country (if they can be called farmers) is, not to make the most they can from the land, which is or has been cheap, but the most of the labour, which is dear; the consequence of which has been, much ground has been _scratched_ over and none cultivated or improved as it ought to have been: whereas a farmer in England, where land is dear, and labour cheap, finds it his interest to improve and cultivate highly, that he may reap large crops from a small quantity of ground."
Washington to Arthur Young, December 5, 1791.
PREFACE
The story of George Washington's public career has been many times told in books of varying worth, but there is one important aspect of his private life that has never received the attention it deserves. The present book is an attempt to supply this deficiency.
I desire to acknowledge gratefully the assistance I have received from Messrs. Gaillard Hunt and John C. Fitzpatrick of the Library of Congress, Mr. Hubert B. Fuller lately of Washington and now of Cleveland, Colonel Harrison H. Dodge and other officials of the Mount Vernon Association, and from the work of Paul Leicester Ford, Worthington C. Ford and John M. Toner.
Above all, in common with my countrymen, I am indebted to heroic Ann Pamelia Cunningham, to whose devoted labor, despite ill health and manifold discouragements, the preservation of Mount Vernon is due. 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 American.
PAUL LELAND HAWORTH.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I A MAN IN LOVE WITH THE SOIL. II BUILDING AN ESTATE. III VIRGINIA AGRICULTURE IN WASHINGTON'S DAY. IV WASHINGTON'S PROBLEM. V THE STUDENT OF AGRICULTURE. VI A FARMER'S RECORDS AND OTHER PAPERS. VII AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. VIII CONSERVING THE SOIL. IX THE STOCKMAN. X THE HORTICULTURIST AND LANDSCAPE GARDENER. XI WHITE SERVANTS AND OVERSEERS. XII BLACK SLAVES. XIII THE FARMER'S WIFE. XIV A FARMER'S AMUSEMENTS. XV A CRITICAL VISITOR AT MOUNT VERNON. XVI PROFIT AND LOSS. XVII ODDS AND ENDS. XVIII THE VALE OF SUNSET.
INDEX.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Mount Vernon Stable, Built in 1733, Showing also the Powell Coach.
Mount Vernon, Showing Kitchen to the Left and Covered Way Leading to It.
The Washington Family.
