o he penned a letter to England ordering the best books on agriculture including Batty Langley's New Principles of Gardening These books would not have all the answers George needed They were based on what worked for British farmers George would need to see for himself which seeds would grow well in Mount Vernon's hard clay soil and warm Virginia climate O ne blustery day in March George watched as the field hands planted crops One guided a wheeled plow turning over clods of dirt A second slave walked behind scattering handfuls of barley seed A third field hand covered the seeds with soil using a sharp harrow There had to be a better way George thought Later he wrote in his diary Spent the greatest
part of the day in making a new plow of my own Invention 1760 For one of his new plows he found a barrel and punched than a seed the side holes slightly bigger into Then he fastened the barrel to the top of the plow Now as the field hand guided the plow forward the barrel turned as the plow cut the earth Seeds dropped out of the barrel s small holes tumbled down a chute and fell into the tilled ground in neat rows A harrow attached to the back of the plow covered the seeds with soil George was delighted His new plow did three jobs at once saving time and
