You were so kind, when I left Washington, as to give me some seed of the Swedish turnep. I sowed it carefully, but a drought from the middle of July till autumn, prevented a single plant from coming to perfection. can you give me a few seeds now, & inform me when you plant them. McMahon directs it in April or May. but this is so different from the season of sowing other turneps that I am in hopes this application is not yet too late. I lost, by the same drought my eggplants but it is now too late to ask that seed. my garden & farms occupy me closely from breakfast to dinner, after which it is my habit to lounge. so that I read little & write less. should I get any thing useful in the gardening way, I shall take pleasure in communicating it to you. I have the genuine Alpine strawberry, which I recieved from Italy. but it bears so little that I think it would take acres to yield a dish. I propose therefore to remove it from the garden to the fields where alone we have acres to spare. should it prove worth attention I will send you some. present to mrs Mason & accept for yourself the assurances of my friendship & respect.

Th: Jefferson