Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1932-04-08
WASHINGTON WAS
FIRSTFARMER TO-
B E SCIENTIFIC
Instituted Cropping Sys-
tenn At Mount Vernon
To Build Up ~Imtoverisb-
ed Soil.
BY L. I. CASE
North Carolina State College.

NOfED CafOttHg -SLaEe COHeSe.
George Washington was not only
First in war; first in peace; first in
the hearts of his countrymen." He
was also the first farmer who appre-
ciated good livestock as a means of
building a permanent agriculture. This
fact is borne out by recorded historic
facts.
When Washington came into pos
session Of Mount Vernon much of the
fertility of the land had been impov-
erished by a century of almost con-
t%inuous cropping to tobacco and corn.
He realized this, and Immediately in
stituted less harmful systems of crop
ping, combined with livestock pro-
duction, to build up the soil. His care
full records show that during his life
time the productive capacity of the
soil of his beloved Mount Vernon was
tremendously increased by the balanc-
ed type of farming which he practiced.
The degree to which livestock were
employed in his system Of farming is
indicated by the "a horses, IS jacks
and %jennets, 81 mules, 329 cattle and
$40 sheep that were disposed of in his
will.
Washington not only believed in
livestock farming but he was a breed
er who found a genuine thrill in live
stock improvement. He used an Ara
bian stallion tt improve his horses.
He imported the best jacks to be found
in Spain for the improvement of his
work stock. With good rams and the
practice of selection he improved his
sheep to the place that his entire flock
averaged five and one-quarter pounds
of wool. The average at hat time is
believed to have been about two
pounds. He also used good bulls for
improving his cattle. History does not
show what breed of cattle he kept but
in 1870 he recorded that he had a fine
English bull.
Washington not only believed in
keeping good livestock but he enjoy
ed the products of his animals on the
table. In a letter to a friend about to
visit him in 1879 he wrote: "Since our
arrival at this happy spot Mount
Vernon) we have a ham, sometimes
a shoulder) of Bacon, to grace the
head of the Table; a piece of roast
Beef adorns the foot; and a dish of
beans, or greens (almost imperceptible)
decorates the center When the cook
has a mind to cut a figure, we have
two Beef-steak pyes, Or dishes of
crabs, in addition, n or each side
of the center dish"
Washington believed that improved
agricultural practices were vastly i'm
portant to the future welfare Of the
nation. In 1874 he wrote: II know of
no pursuit in which more real and i'm
portant services can be rendered to
any country, than by improving its
agriculture,-it breed of useful ami
mals,-and other branches of the hus-
bandman's cares" Again in 1876 he
wrote, cit must be obvious to every
man, who considers the agriculture of
this country, (even in the best i'm
proved parts of it) and compares the
produce of our lands with those of
other countries, no ways superior to
them in natural fertility, how miser-
ably defective we are in the manage
ment of them; and that if we do not
fall on a better mode of treating
them, how r%uinous it will prove to the
landed interests"
This good advice might we'll be
followed by North Carolina farmers
of the present day.