To George Washington from William Taylor, 12 February 1799
From William Taylor
St⟨illegible⟩ Nr Manchester [England] Feby 12th 1799
Dr Sir
I have taken the Liberty to send for your Acceptance a small cask of early pottatoes for planting, (if you think them worth notice); they are ship’d on board the Felicity of Alexandria and addres’d to Mr John Potts of that place, by whom myself and Mr Cripps were introduc’d to you on the sixth of May Last.1 there is two sorts of them Viz. early Dwarf and d[itt]o Champion, both of which are as good of their kind as any we have, the Dwarfs are at the bottom of the Cask. I am dr Sr with sincere Respect and Esteem and thanks for the Civilities I receiv’d at Mount Vernon Yrs
William Taylor
N:B: We generally plant them in March if the Season suits, in dry Light soil dung’d with Horse Litter about 4 inches asunder in the rows and the rows about 6 inches2 from each other, this for the Dwarfs, the Champions a Little farther asunder, and 3 inches deep.
ALS, DLC:GW. On the cover: “pr the ship Felicity for Alexandria to the care of Mr John Potts.”
1. In his diary entry for 6 May 1798, GW wrote: “A Mr. Tayler & a Mr. Crips—introduced by Mr. Potts dined here” (, 6:295). John Potts, Jr. (1760–1809), a merchant in Alexandria, was a fairly frequent visitor to Mount Vernon.
2. Taylor wrote above the line here “2 inches deep.”