CONSERVING THE SOIL The Revolution rudely interrupted Washington's farming experiments, and for eight long years he was so actively engaged in the grim business of checkmating Howe and Clinton and Cornwallis that he could give little time or thought to agriculture.

For more than six years, in fact, he did not once set foot upon his beloved fields and heard of his crops, his servants and his live stock only from family visitors to his camps or through the pages of his manager's letters.
Peace at last brought him release.

He had left Mount Vernon a simple country gentleman; he came back to it one of the most famous men in the world.

He wasted no time in contemplating his laurels, but at once threw himself with renewed enthusiasm into his old occupation.

His observation of northern agriculture and conversations with other farmers had broadened his views and he was more than ever progressive.