The Garden and Farm Books of Thomas Jefferson by Thomas Jefferson

The Garden and Farm Books of Thomas Jefferson

"I am going to Virginia," Jefferson wrote late in 1793. "I am then to be liberated from the hated occupations of politics and to remain in the bosom of my family, my farm, and my books." Although Jefferson's liberation from public life was temporary, in 1794, he enjoyed an extended interlude from political service. He set himself to apply the results of a lifetime of studying and experimenting with agricultural theories on his farms. The letters, notes, and drawings that Jefferson left to posterity record his contributions to scientific agriculture. The heart of these records is the Farm Book, a journal of plantation management that Jefferson maintained from 1774 until just before he died in 1826. The Farm Book, reproduced here in facsimile, is a wide-ranging depiction of the agricultural and industrial activities on Jefferson's plantations, primarily Monticello and Poplar Forest. In Thomas Jefferson's Farm Book, the late Edwin Morris Betts, professor of biology at the University of Virginia, embellishes this agricultural journal with illuminating commentary and relevant extracts from Jefferson's correspondence and other memorandum books. Organized topically, the annotations and extracts paint a uniquely complete portrait of plantation life and activity. Jefferson's records reveal an experimental farm, implementing such innovations as horizontal plowing, a crop-rotation plan, and Jefferson's revolutionary moldboard plow. In addition, the Farm Book is a window to slave life, containing Jefferson's notes regarding the rations his overseer distributed, the daily tasks required by particular slaves, and the number of yards he purchased for slaves' clothing. The book also portrays the industries pursued by enslaved and free workmen, including th Mulberry Row nailery, joinery, blacksmith's shop, and spinning and weaving house. This description may be from another edition of this product.