The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-02-20

Several valuable fisheries appertain to the
estate; the whole shore, in short. is one
entire fishery
AS a mater OF fact, the estate. to an
observer. brought UP on a farm OF the
middle west. seems poor land Much OF
Iit'is so broken by steep hills and deep
ravines as not to be tillable at all Only
Ignorance OF what really good land is or
| an owners pride in his estate would JUS
tify the phrase "a good loan" BY care
| ful hushandry alone could the soil be
| kept productive.
Scientific Farmer.
Largely owing to this fact doubtless,
Washington early became scientific
farmer, In that day the Virginia system
OF agriculture was one OF the poorest
that could be found in two hemispheres,
Tobacco was the only staple crop. and
| tobacco impoverished the soil as rapidly
as does a spendthrift heir exhaust his
patrimony. While stlll a young man.
| Washington carefully digested Duhanel's s
"Husbandry" and The Farmers Com
| plete Guide and TO the end OF his life
eagerly kept his eyes and ears open for
| agricultural information, He soon be-
| came convinced that the Virginia system
was vicious one and virtually discon-
tinued the growth OF tobacco about 100
raising wheat instead and grinding 1t into
flour in his own mill To preserve his
land he adopted system OF rotation OF
sometimes covering periods OF as much
as 1--WE years. Flax, nay. clever, buck
wheat. turnips, and potatoes. became
large crops. He devoted much time and
energy TO the question of fertilization.
and his opinion OF It's Importance may
be gained from the fact that while look
ing for new manager. he once wrote
that he must be, above al" Mldas-liker
one who can convert everything he
touches into manure; as the FIRST trans
mutation toward gold; In a word, one
INTO good tflth In NE shortest time"
To the very end he was constantly
plough, imported the best tools TO be
had and was one Of the first Americans
70 try the threshing machine After he
became famous he was constantly re-
ceiVing seeds and plants from all over
the world and he carefully saw that they
We're duly planted. The box hedges that
still exist In the Mt. Vernon garden were
set out under his direction. Before me
as I write there is n pod from Ken
lucky coffee-bean tree sent him by
Thomas Jefferson and a cone from q
magnolia set out by him only few
months before his death,
Practically everything done was writ
ten down with painstaking care, and
many of these agricultural papers stiu
dustry and attention to affairs. They
optain instructions to his managers. re-
marks on the various modes OF cultlva-
tion, abstracts OF treatises on agricul-
ture, records OF experiments. diaries and
tables OF rotations of crops. The diaries
were continued many years, and in them
he noted such details as the, times of
crops. the quality OF the product, the
amount OF labor. etc, So far as is known
the last passage ever written by him
18th (December, 1880. : Morning
showing. and about three inches deep.
Wind at northeast. and mercury at 80.
Continued showing until / O'clock. Tind ana
in the same place. but not hard. Mer-
curry IS at night"
Farming at Long Range.
When away from homo acting as COM
mander of the army or as president. |
Washington perforce had TO leave the
direct management OF his estate 10
others. But he kept in close touch with
everything by means of detailed weekly
reports from his managers and wrote
them careful directions every Sunday II
needed filling. II Sam, or Jack, or Pos !
tilion Joe. was sick or lazy, directions
were quickly forwarded that admitted
a manager to remit weekly report was
deemed a grievous fault and not TO be |
tolerated, These reports were sent In |
both by the general manager Ton and :, also
into which Mt Vernon was divided. |
They were SO schemed as TO show how !
every negro's ana hired laborers time |
planted or gathered, and other details. |
In order that Washington might better |
be able to understand the charges for |
labor performed, each report was
prefaced with meteorological table CIV
Ing the weather for each day.
Typical entries from such reports are |
the following: by Sambo. ripping plank |
on account of rain. l day" by Boat
swain and Robin mauling rails, l day"
Lost by rain, 20 days" by Cornella |
in child bed. days." by carts hauling |
manure from ferry barn, 6 days." by |
Boatswain 6. Nina 3, Rich
lnond s, Position Joe 3, Lyma 3, Sam
g." "By Peter, in charge OF mares, mules |
and packs 6 days" by hauling seine. |
cleaning. striking and packing fish, Al
days" AT the end OF each report was |
an account OF the stock, The following
Is that for the Mansion house farm for |
the week preceding April IA, 1892: 'Tn- |
crease, calves and Q mules. Stock. IL |
head Of cattle. calves, 60 sheep, IS |
lambs, 4 working mares, do horses, 5 |
colts, spring do, Jacks old Jen- |
nies, / do. three years old. l do. years |
old, ! do. ] year old. Is mules. 10 one
2 spring do and IL mares" |
II may be remarked here that Wash |
ington had received presents OF jacks and |
jennies from Lafayette and the King of |
Spain, and his was one OF the earliest |
attempts at embarrassing in this coun-
try. For a facetious description by |
Of the habits and character
istics of the "royal gift the reader |