West, the producer of more
gold than all the mines of the Klondike--was in use so long ago, for the
impression is pretty general that it is comparatively new; the fact is
that it is older than the Christian era and that the name alfalfa comes
from the Arabic and means "the best crop." Evidently our Farmer had been
reading on the subject, for in his diary he quotes what "Tull speaking
of lucerne, says." He tried out the plant on this and several other
occasions and had a considerable field of it in 1798. His success was
not large with it at any time, for the Mount Vernon soil was not
naturally suited to alfalfa, which thrives best in a dry and pervious
subsoil containing plenty of lime, but the experiment was certainly
worth trying.

In this same year, 1760, we find him sowing clover, rye, grass, hope,
trefoil, timothy, spelt, which was a species of wheat, and various other
grasses and vegetables, most of them to all intents and purposes unknown
to the Virginia agriculture of that day.

He also recorded an interesting experiment with fertilizer. April 14,
1760, he writes in his diary:

"Mixed my composts in a box with the apartments in the following
manner, viz. No. 1 is three pecks of earth brought from below the hill
out of the 46 acre field without any mixture. In No. 2 is two pecks of
sand earth and one of marle taken out of the said field, which marle
seemed a little inclined to sand. 3 has 2 pecks of sd. earth and 1 of
river sand.

"4 has a peck of Horse Dung

"5 has mud taken out of the creek

"6 has cow dung

"7 has marle from the Gulleys on the hillside, wch. seem'd to be purer
than the other

"8 sheep dung

"9 Black mould from the Gulleys on the hill side, wch. seem'd to be
purer than the other

"10 Clay got just below the garden

"All mixed with the same quantity and sort of earth in the most
effective manner by reducing the whole to a tolerable degree of fineness
and rubbing them well together on a cloth. In each of these divisions
were planted three grains of wheat, 3 of oats, and as many of barley,
all of equal distances in Rows and of equal depth done by a machine made
for the purpose. The wheat rows are next the numbered side, the oats in
the middle, and the barley on the side next the upper part of the
Garden. Two or three hours after sowing in this manner, and about an
hour before sunset I watered them all equally alike with water that had
been standing in a tub abt two hours exposed to