title

tools

Throughout his life, George Washington looked for ways to improve his field preparation and crop processing. He continually experimented with the latest technology in farming. When he was not able to find tools to suit his needs, he would change or adapt machines or invent his own machine to meet his needs. He invented a plow, adapted a barrel seeder, and designed a machine to sow turnips. As a leader of the “new husbandry” Washington believed in the careful cultivation of soil before planting. This led him to use better tools and farm implements.

What does it mean to cultivate the soil? Cultivating means to prepare the soil for planting and the caring of the growing plants. Tools used in this process were designed to turn and loosen the soil, break up clods of dirt, and create level fields for planting. Tools were also used to spread fertilizer and to weed.

This text will be replaced

Perhaps George Washington’s most innovative “tool” was a 16-sided treading barn he designed and had constructed at Dogue Run Farm. Wheat was traditionally threshed by hand with a flail, or it could be repeatedly trampled by horses on the bare ground to break the grain free. Washington’s innovative design greatly improved the process of treading the grain out of wheat. In the circular barn, horses and mules tread out the grain on the second floor. The grain then fell through 1 1/2 inch gaps in the floor to the first floor where it was gathered, cleaned, and stored. It was a much more efficient and clean process than treading out of doors or using a flail to beat the grain out of the wheat by hand, and reduced damage to the wheat caused by what Washington termed “vicissitudes of weather.”