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. THE ALAMANCE GLEANER, GRAHAM, N. C. ? George Washington?"First in Farming," Too By ELMO SCOTT WATSON (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) A VIRGINIA gentleman dipped his goose-quill pen into an inkpot and began writing a letter. Now and then he would glance up thoughtfully, his eyes sweep ing over broad acres fringing the Potomac. He was middle aged, of commanding phy sique, with a stern, yet kindly face. The letter, dated Decem ber 12, 1788, said: "The more I am acquainted with agricultural affairs, the better I am pleased with them, in so much that I can nowhere find so great satis faction as in those innocent and useful pursuits. Indulg ing these feelings I am led to reflect how much more de lightful to an undebauched mind is the task of making improvements on the earth than all the vainglory that can be acquired from ravag ing it." Thus in the fullness of his years and honors did George Washington write to his Eng lish friend, Arthur Young. Every American ii familiar with "Light Horse Harry" Lee's characterization of Washington as "First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of His Country men." Few Americans, perhaps, are aware that Washington laid fust claim to another distinction. He was "First in Farming." Washington was America's flrst scientific agriculturist. He preached the gospel of soil im provement in season and out; he made original discoveries in crop rotation, seed selection and live stock breeding; he carried on im portant experiments in the use of fertilizers; he pioneered in the use of farm machinery. Made Farming Pay. The Father of his Country was a shrewd and canny farmer. He made agriculture pay. He be came the richest man in the Unit ed States by reason of his success with the soil. At his death Wash ington, by his will, disposed of more than 49,000 acres of farm land, including his beloved Mount Vernon as well as far-flung do mains in Ohio and elsewhere, which were rented or farmed by his deputies. His landed estate was valued at $330,000, while he had additional buildings, equip ment, live stock and other invest ments worth $220,000. His slaves were not included in this inven tory, tor he freed them all in his win. Washington's serious farming career began in 17S9, 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 18 years he was to devote himself to the land. Farmer Washington had plenty to contend with, however. The land he inherited was worn out by a century of tobacco growing. Concentration on this single crop year after year, with no rotation and no attempt at fertilization, had aerioualy impoverished the land. Unlike the farmer of today who can get advice from his coun ty agent, state agricultural col lege or experiment station on whether his soil is deficient in nitrogen, phosphoric acid or pot ash and needs commercial fer tilizer, Washington had to depend an talks with his neighbors and his reading of farm papers and books on agriculture published in England, whose editors were un familiar with problems in Vir ginia. He corresponded frequently with Arthur Young, British agri cultural scientist and editor of the "Annals of Agriculture." He col lected an extensive library of agricultural books including "Horseshoe Husbandry," "A Practical Treatment of Husband ry," "The Farmer's Complete Guide," and "The Gentleman Farmer." When Washington gleaned a new idea from his reading, he quickly tried to apply it For in stance, he laid out experimental plots on different soils of his own land similsr to the plots so famil iar today to any farm student. He carried on experiments with fertilizer in a fashion reminiscent of what soil scientists do today. He bad 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 a check plot. Into the other nine he placed different fertilizers such as cow manure, horse ma nure, sheep dung, mud from the j; .tl, creek, marl from a gully, black mold, and mud from the bottom v. of the Potomac river. PS, Ho divided each box into three % sections, planting wheat, oats and He used exactly the ? same number of seeds of each grain in each box, and planted the rows exactly the same. WASHINGTON AT MOUNT VERNON, I7?7 Mud from the bottom of the Potomac proved good fertilizer. So he built a special scow and hoisted mud. The cost of obtain ing it, however, was too great for the results he .got. Washington gave increasing at tention 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 1783 he entered into an agree ment with John Carlyle and Rob ert Adams of Alexandria to sell them his wheat crop for the next seven years. The price was to be three shillings and nine pence per bushel?or about 91 cents. Considering the difference in pur chasing power then and now, Washington was getting the equiv alent of at least $1.80 for his grain. In 1769 he delivered 6,24m 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 dlings. We have Washington's own word for it that his flour was as good as any produced in Amer ica?and the Father of his Coun try was no boaster. In a charmingly written mono graph on "George Washington, . Citizen and Farmer," Dr. J. Christian Bay, librarian of the John Crerar library of Chicago, recounts some stories of Wash ington as a farmer and human being. Describing some of the * voluminous notes Washington jot ted down in his diaries concern ing his agricultural experiments, Mr. Bay says: "Washington's attention was at tracted to the old problem of large and small seeds, and he invented a barrel-seeder to MOUNT VERNON ?From a rare aquatint, engraved by Fran eli Jokes after Alexander Robert sea. ISM, la the William L. Clem eats' library, Aaa Arbor, Mich. spread his seed evenly and ef fectively. He compared continu ously the crops from large and small seeds, and suggested that large potatoes yield better than small ones because, as a rule, produces equal. He Counted Seeds. "It la curious, also, to think of the Father pf his Country sitting in his study carefully counting the number of seeds to the pound. Yet he found that a pound of red clover contains 71,000 seeds; a pound of timothy, 378,000 seeds; while meadow grass gave 844,000 to the pound; likewise a pound of barley numbered 8,935 grains." The Revolution halted, for a time, Washington's farm career. For six out of eight long years, as commander-in-chief of the Con tinental army, he did not even set foot on his beloved fields. Peace in 1783 at last brought him release. He had left Mount Vernon a simple country gentle man. He returned as one of the most famous men in the world. Happy to be home, he threw him self once more into his old occu pation. During his army cam paigns, his keen observations of agriculture as practiced in New York, New Jersey and other northern colonies, had broadened his outlook. He was more than tr ? ... . I ever convinced of the desirability of pastures and of live stock for conserving the soil. He was more wide-awake to the need of better tools. The run-down condition of his soil, however, was a cause of in creasing concern. Unfortunately for him fertilizers, as we know them today, were not in 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, news paper reporter, editor, and fa mous as the compiler of a dic tionary. Webster had expounded his theory that some plants have 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 acces sible to the rich and poor and which may be collected and 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 farm ers, and imported many kinds of seeds from England. In this way he introduced timothy to his coun trymen. He early discovered that clover and peas had a soil en riching power. In an English journal he read about a new legume?alfalfa?which had been brought from Switzerland. He found that alfalfa, too, could en rich the soil, but it never proved profitable for him. Even while serving as Presi dent from 1789 to 1797, 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 Af rica and Siberia, neither of which nivwflH no ffrwi as hia Virtfinia grain. Rotation ol Crop*. Washington drew up elaborate plans for rotation of crops on his different farms. Not content with one plan, he often drew up sev eral alternatives. He calculated the probable financial return from each, allowing for the cost of seed, tillage and other ex penses. He was constantly on the alert tor better methods of threshing grain than the age-old practice of treading and flailing. He read in an English farm Journal about a threshing machine invented by a man named Winlaw. In 1790 he had observed the operation of Baron Poelnitz's mill near New 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 thresher, himself, on plans evolved by William Booker, who came to Mount Vemon and di rected the construction. In April, 1798, Washington wrote Booker: "The machine by no means an swered your expectations or mine." At first it threshed about 90 bushels a day, then fell to fewer than 29, and finally broke down completely, although it had used up two belts costing between $40 and $90. "Washington was essentially America's first conservationist," an official of the Middle West Soil Improvement committee pointed out recently. "The Father of his Country re alized that man owes a duty to the future as well as the present welfare of his soil," he said. "Washington's primitive attempts to put back into the soil the fer tility that had been depleted by constant cropping! 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 "Board of Ag riculture to collect and diffuse in formation, and by premiums and small pecuniary aids to encourage and assist a spirit of discovery and improvement." But nearly a century passed be fore anything so important was done by the federal government to promote the development of agriculture. Part ot Washington's plan (or his sixteen-sided barn. One invention o( which Wash ington was proud was a 16-sided bam which he built on one of his farms in 1793. He estimated that 140,000 bricks would be required for the structure. These were made and fired on the estate. The bam was especially notable for a threshing floor 30 feet square. An ingenious method of separating the grain and straw was provided by interstices of one and one-half inches between the floor boards. Thus when the grain was trodden by horses or beat out with flails, the kernels fell through to the floor below. 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 in. "I have one of the most con venient barns in this or perhaps any other country, where thirty hands may, with great ease, be employed in threshing," he wrote a friend. "Half of the wheat of the farm was actually stowed in this bam in the straw, by my or der, for threshing. Notwithstand ing, when 1 came home about the middle of September, I found a treading yard not thirty feet from the bam door, the wheat again brought out of the bam and horses treading it out in an open exposure, liable to the vicissitudes of the weather." What Washington said to the overseer on this occasion has not been recorded for posterity. But it is a safe bet that the man re membered it for the rest of his days. The Father of his Country is often pictured as a man without a sense of humor. Yet in the midst of sober agricultural exper iments, he gave the following ad The teed boose 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 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 un til you are warm. Repeat this process as often as necessary." He concluded this piece of ad vice with the words: "Probatum Est." But it is as a prophetic contrib utor to the knowledge of soil con servation that he will be best re membered in his career aa a farmer. "It must be obvious to every man who considers the agricul ture of this country," Washington wrote in 1796, "and compares the produce of our lands with those of other countries, no ways su perior to them in natural fertility, how miserably defective we are in the management of them; and that if we do not fall on a better mode of . treating them, bow ruinous it will prove to the landed interest. "Age will not produce a syste matic change without public at tention and encouragement; but a few years more of sterility will drive the inhabitants of the Atlan tic states westwardly for support; whereas if they were taught how to improve the old instead of go ing in pursuit of new and produc tive soil, they would make those acres which now scarcely yield them anything, turn out beneficial to themselves?and to the com munity generally?by the influx of wealth resulting therefrom." ? ? ? \ .... . First to Greet U. S. as Nation SL Eustatius Isle Linked With Early American History. WASHINGTON.?Uncle Sam's re cent presentation of a bronze plaque to the authorities of St. Eustatius isle, in the West Indies, added a postscript to an early chapter of United States history. The gift was in commemoration of the first for eign acknowledgment of United States sovereignty made to a nation al vessel. "In 1776, when the guns of St. Eustatius roared a salute to a Balti more brig o' war (thereby recogniz ing the Western hemisphere's first republic), this island was one of the West Indies' richest spots," says the National Geographic society. "As a free port, it was known as the 'Golden Rock,' where ships of many nations came to trade, and to. take on water and food supplies. "About 200 miles east of Puerto Rico, St. Eustatius, with only seven square miles of area, was a garden whose fertile fields produced sugar cane, coffee, tobacco, indigo, cotton, and cassava, a starch-yielding plant. "Hundreds of ships, old records say, sometimes lay at anchor out side the harbor at Orange Town. In the streets of the town rough chests of tea and bales of cotton were used by merchants as tem porary desks, while a chorus of bids and counter bids rose in half a dozen tongues. "During the first period of the American Revolution, St. Eustatius carried on an active trade with the struggling colonies, serving as a depot for military and other sup plies from the Netherlands to be used in the conflict. Suffers Fatal Blow. "Within five years of the island's gesture of recognition toward the new American government, howev er, St. Eustatius suffered a fatal blow from the British, then at war with the Netherlands. In 1781, a British commander seized the port. Selling off the property of the is landers, the conquerors reaped a financial harvest estimated at from fifteen to twenty millions of dollars. "At Orange Town, today, only the ruins of its many warehouses re main as a reminder of St Eusta tius' former prosperity. The island's population now is less than 1,500. Yams and cotton are its chief ex ports today." Grandmother, 70, Takes Music Course in College ATHENS, OHIO.?Mrs. Orinda E. Peoples, 70 and a grandmother, is going to college now. Retired as assistant postmaster here because of age requirements of the postal service, Mrs. Peoples is resuming her study of music at Ohio univer sity here. In her younger days Mrs. Peoples was regarded as a capable pianist. To improve her playing, she plans to attend regular class studies in the course. Prior to beginning her postal duties in 1910, Mrs. Peoples had the distinction of being the first woman bank employee in the city. She has two daughters, both of whom are married. Building Strike Records Of 99 Years Ago Found ST. LOUIS.?Records of a strike called 99 years ago by construction workers on St. Louis' old courthouse have been found at the city hall. The workers were represented by the Journeymen Mechanics' societies which obtained a 10-hour day for its members. They had been working 12 and 14 hours a day prior to the strike. The records were referred to the national park service, which has asked for all available historical in; formation concerning buildings which are to be preserved in the Jefferson Riverfront memorial. Britain Pushes Drive For Private Gardens LONDON.?The ministry of agri culture, backed by various societies, is planning a big food production campaign. By public meetings and lectures, by committees, by every means pos sible, householders are being urged to make use of their gardens and to increase their work on allotments. At present it is estimated that there are roughly 3,500,000 private gardens in England and Wales, in addition to some 1,500,000 allotments which will be under cultivation in the spring, and the campaign is still forging ahead. *Ctn Opener* Technique Developed by the Finns HELSTNGFORS.?The Finns have developed a new "can opener" at tack on Russian tanks. Two Finns armed with crowbars lay in wait for a tank in the woods. They Jumped out as it passed, climbed aboard and started to pry open the turret top. The tank crew, unable to fire on the Finns, tried to dislodge them by careening the tank over obstacles. The Finns managed to stay on, it was said, and, succeed ing in prying open the top, dropped in a hand grenade which killed the tank crew. lipll By L. L. STEVENSON Endurance: Frank Oliver, Reu ters correspondent, in New York for a brief visit after several years in the Far East, told of a conflict with Japanese military authorities at Peiping because he published a story about a Jap sentry slapping the wife of the governor. The Japs demanded a retraction but, insisting that the story was true, Oliver stood pat. The day after the military in quiry, 40 Jap buglers appeared in the vicinity of his residence. One Jap bugler is terrible, he said, so it is easy to imagine what 40 of them could do. It was hard to take but he just sat back and let them bugle. They kept it up for three days. Then the newspaper man was again summoned before the generals. They informed him that the story having been found true, they were ready to apologize. And with that, bugle practice ended abruptly. ? ? ? Gotham Gadabout: Dinah Shore in a Radio City drug store singing the alma mater song of Vanderbilt U with two former classmates . . . Benay Venuta at a Broadway milk bar drinking a chocolate mix . . . Crowds during the luncheon hour stopping to watch pirouetting figures at the Rockefeller Center ice rink . . . Bea Wain, hatless, in a CBS lounge, signing up members for her "Hats-off-in-the-movies" campaign . , Johnny Green, observing a vagrant picking up a butt, offering him a cigarette and being refused with the comment, "It ain't my brand" . . . Shopkeepers idly star ing from windows and wondering when the public will recover from the holidays. ? ? ? Going Dp: James Stewart, ot the movies, was the 4,000,000th visitor at the Empire State building tower recently. Stewart, who received the motion picture critics' award for the best performance given by a male screen star during 1939 for his work in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washing ton," was accompanied by Miss Olive Cawley, of New York. Be ing connected with pictures, Stewart naturally had a picture postcard made of himself and his companion. Incidentally since the tower was opened on May 31, 1931, it has had visitors from every country in the world. Despite the war, they are still coming. During a recent week, representatives of 35 counties, other than our own, were registered. ? ? ? New York: Dick Todd, youthful singer from Montreal: "New York is a funny town. While they were tearing down the Sixth avenue ele vated they were tearing up Sixth avenue to build a subway" . . . Milt Herth, organist from Kenosha, Wis.: "New Yorkers risk injury to duck into a section of a rapidly mov ing revolving door, saving, at the most, two seconds. Then they waste hours watching a building being constructed or two taxicab drivers engaged in an argument" . . . Kay Kyser, orchestra leader from Rocky Mount, N. C.: "A New Yorker will religiously remove his hat in a hotel elevator. But he will remain seat ed in the subway or a bus while an aged woman, loaded down with bun dles, totters precariously in front of him." ? ? ? Lesson: Abe Lyman recently saw in a Broadway movie house a film of the Dempsey-Willard fight in 1919 when Dempsey tore the giant Will ard to ribbons. "He babied Willard compared with what he did to me one night," Lyman commented on his way out. "I confided to Jack my secret ambition to become a prize fighter. He took me to his private gym and said, 'Abe, this is going to hurt me more than it will you but I've got to knock that notion out of your bean.' Then he let me have it." P. S.?Lyman and Dempsey are pals. ? ? ? End Piece: Encountering a friend on Broadway, Frank Luther recalled that he hadn't seen him in some time and had heard things weren't going so well with him. "How's business?" he inquired. "Business is a little weak," was the reply, "but not from lack of rest." (B*n Syndicate?WNU Sarrica.) Choke on This One SCRANTON, PA.?A defendant in court here was acquitted of boot legging charges when he explained that his still was to make cough medicine for his 15 children. Sunday School Record Perfect for 39 Years SHELTON, CONN.?Miss Ethel G. Smith has attended Sunday school every week for 39 years without missing a session. The International Cross and Crown society, organized in 1902, ? had honored her each year since that date by awarding her a gold Several times, she said, she arose from a sick, bed to attend school so as not to spoil her per fect attendance record. , . ' ' J id Pattera 6459 'T'HE glamour of a dressing ta ble can easily be yours. Clear directions for four different dress ing table skirts?economical yard ages?directions for adapting any table are all in this practical pat tern. Pattern 6459 contains in structions for making four dress ing tables; materials needed; pat tern of scallops and rounded edge. To obtain this pattern send 15 cents in coins to The Sewing Cir cle Household Arts Dept., 259 W. 14th St., New York, N. Y. HOUSEHOLD QUESTIONS Sew several thicknesses of old turkish towel together for hot dish or pot holders. * ? ? Carving lamb roasts is much easier if they have been boned and tied before cooking. ? ? ? Tarnished egg spoons can be quickly cleaned by washing with a rag dipped in salt. * ? * French fried potatoes will be more crisp if allowed to stand in cold water for half an hour be fore frying. ? ? ? Felt hats can be cleaned by rub bing with a not too fresh or too stale piece of bread. ? ? * Threading curtains on to their rods again after washing is diffi cult?and if they are thin the blunt ? end of the rod may tear them. Avoid this by fitting a smooth thimble over the end of the rod be fore threading. Glamorous Skirts For Dressing Table To clean a clock, saturate a piece of absorbent cotton about as large as a hen's egg with kerosena oil and place it in the bottom. Close the door and let the cottoa remain for three or four days. Then take it out and swing the pendulum. Unless something is broken, the clock will go all right, as the fumes from the oil cleans the works. ? ? ? Kitchens should be cheerful and comfortable as well as convenient. A high stool is an aid to comfort in preparing vegetables or mixing ingredients. An attractive comer where the home maker can sit and read over a new recipe, make out her order list of groceries or wait for a dish to finish cooking adds considerably to a comfortable kitchen. Doaa your throat feel prickly when you ? wallow '*?? ? due to a cold? Benefit A from Ludec't special far mule. Contain* cooling menthol thmt ^helpe bring H another second. Oet H Lud.o , for that "Mod paper throoU" jdS LUDEN'S Monffcol Cooph Dropa I Clear Gain Whatever happens beyond ex pectation should be counted clear gain.?Terence. NERVES? Cranky? Raatlaaa? Can'tdaap? 'nmaonayT Wortted daa to lamala t aactioaal diaordoftt Than try Lydia K. Plakham'a Vatatabia Compound famooa lor error M yaara la kelptas aoch ink, randan, aarraao ? imn Slarlladrp/ Ungnided Zeal Zeal without knowledge is the sister of folly. ?WFWoiBiiiiair-Biinini KENT:arBLADES18? Good Mekhmdise Cm Be COKStSTENTlY >4<WW ?^V^kDVOTISC^^M^a
The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.)
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Feb. 22, 1940, edition 1
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