University of Virginia Library

TO JAMES MADISON.

I wrote you by the last mail, and add this by Mr
Jefferson. Lest my last letter should by any possibility
have miscarried, I repeat my request that my
name may not be suffered to get on the Pole for the
County election. If Mr Jefferson should call & say

anything to counteract my determination I hope it
will be regarded as merely expressive of his own
wishes on the subject, & that it will not be allowed
to have the least effect. In declining to go into the
Assembly should there really be a disposition to
send me there I am sincere & inflexible. I hope I
shall hear from you by the next mail, on the subject
of Mordecai & the horses; being extremely anxious
now to be on the journey, especially as we are to
make visits to Berkeley & Fred'k on the way home.
At present the roads are made bad by a snow succeeded
by rain which has nearly carried it off; but
the winds of March will soon put them in order. If
the same weather should have happened with you
it will have been a fine opportunity for sowing the
Clover seed I sent, & which I hope got to hand in
time for the purpose. The greater part of what I
sent was purchased for a vessel intended to sail last
fall, & cost 15 dollrs which with freight &c will exceed
the Richmond price. I really think it was an
error to be deterred by that price, considering the
immense importance of the article, especially in
laying a foundation for a meliorating plan of husbandry.
The proper remedy for such a disappointment,
I am told by a very experienced & intelligent
farmer of this neighbourhood, is to sow in the fall on
the stubble of the wheat or rye. He says this is his
practice whenever he can not get seed for Spring
sowing the fields or when the seed does not take
effect, & that the protection & putrefaction of the
stuble ensures a full crop the following year, so that
there is no other loss than the first fall pasture. I
consider this as a valuable hint, to beginners as it
doubles the chance of getting Clover into a rotation.

You will see by the inclosed paper that the last
accts from Paris respecting negotiations for peace &
the temper of France towards this Country, are not
favorable. This resentment is the fruit of the British
Treaty, which many of its zealous advocates begin
now to acknowledge was an unwise & unfortunate
measure. The accounts are not authentic, & probably
not accurate, but coming through so many
different channels they are thought to be true in
substance.

We continue well & unite in our usual offerings.
Flour at 9 1/2 dollars.