To Thomas Jefferson from William Moore, 19 November 1804
From William Moore
Dublin 19th Nov: 1804
Sir
I take the Liberty of sending You a small parcel of Wheat, of a Species new to us, in this Country, & I believe as Yet unknown in America. A few Ears of it were brought home some Years since by a Servant of Mr Whaley’s, who accompanied him to Jerusalem on a foolish Bet which he made, 3 Years since a Gentleman of this Town saw them in his House, & from their singular appearance requested he would give them to him; this he complied with, & the produce Astonished every person that saw it. The methods of planting it most approved of are, either to Dibble it in at the Distance of Nine Inches at least, each Grain from the other, or to put it in with a Drill Plough. We sow our Wheat here always in Autumn, but this does as well for a Spring Crop. the Skin or Rind is Remarkably thin, of course there is little or no Bran, but all Flour. There has been a general failure this Year in our Wheat Crop, owing to a Mildew, the Jerusalem Wheat of course did not escape it, which will account for the Number of small & poor grains among it, but I have no doubt, but the worst of them will grow to maturity in Your favorable Climate. the Straw is solid, containing a pith, when Chopped is excellent food for Cattle. I hope it will one Day prove a valuable Acquisition to Your Country, which I Dearly love, because it is Inhabited by Freemen. This Letter, & the small parcel, will be handed You, by My Uncle, Robt. Moore of Baltimore.
I remain Sir Your Sincere well wisher & admirer
Wm Moore
RC (DLC); below signature: “No 20 North Anne Str: Dublin”; endorsed by TJ as received 2 Mch. 1805 and “with Jerusalem wheat” and so recorded in SJL with a brace connecting it to the letter in which it was enclosed, Robert Moore to TJ, 28 Feb. 1805.
William Moore was probably associated with the firm of Teeling & Moore, linen merchants at 20 North Anne Street in Dublin (Wilson’s Dublin Directory, For the Year 1804 [Dublin, 1804], 92, 101).
Reports from England and Ireland of a new and remarkably productive type of Wheat called Jerusalem, or Egyptian, wheat appeared in several American newspapers in 1804. In July 1805, news of Moore’s gift to TJ likewise found its way into print, which led to requests to TJ for samples of the grain or for advice on its cultivation. TJ apparently did not experiment with the grain himself, but sent parcels to others, who found “it was not of advantageous culture in our climate & was therefore abandoned” (Baltimore Telegraphe and Daily Advertiser, 24 Feb.; National Intelligencer, 7 Nov.; Relfs Philadelphia Gazette, 2 Feb. 1805; Baltimore American, and Commercial Daily Advertiser, 17 July 1805; Richmond Enquirer, 23 July 1805; Memoirs of the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, 1 [1808], 135-8; James McDowell and Others to TJ, 19 Aug. 1805; TJ to McDowell and Others, 31 Aug. 1805; Jacob Crowninshield to TJ, 30 Nov. 1805; John Keemle to TJ, 1 June 1806; Peter Derieux to TJ, 10 Sep. 1822, and TJ to Derieux, 25 Sep. 1822, both in DLC).
Thomas Whaley, an Irish politician and notorious gambler, traveled to Jerusalem in 1788-9 to win a wager of £15,000 ().