John Johnston

Background

John Johnston was born on April 11, 1791, in New Galloway, Scotland, and spent many of his early days on the hills tending his grandfather's sheep.

Career

John Johnston came to the United States in the spring of 1821. After looking about for a few months, he purchased a farm of 112 acres on the eastern shore of Seneca Lake, about three miles from Geneva, New York. When he bought it the farm was in badly run-down condition, but by hard work and good farming he gradually built it up and before many years had acquired an enviable reputation.

Recollecting his grandfather's remarks about draining, he decided to drain his land. Remembering also that tiles were used for this purpose in Scotland, he sent to Scotland for a pattern and had tiles made by hand. He commenced draining his land in 1835. Since underdraining was a new thing in those days he was the object of much ridicule. Some of his neighbors said, "John Johnston is gone crazy - he is burying crockery in the ground, " but his draining soon showed results and his neighbors found that he was raising bigger crops than they did.

In 1848 his friend John Delafield imported from England a Scraggs machine for making tiles, and from that time Johnston laid tiles as rapidly as he could get the work done. By 1851 he had laid sixteen miles of tile drain on his farm and by 1856 he had between fifty-one and fifty-two miles. The results which he attained were not due entirely to draining, however, but also to the methods of cultivation which he employed. If not a pioneer in such practices as the use of lime and plaster, the surface application of manure, the purchase of oil meal for feeding cattle and sheep, the earlier cutting of hay, he was at least among the first. His fame spread and many of the foremost farmers of the country made pilgrimages to his farm to see his methods.

Johnston wrote comparatively little, but the occasional pithy statements which he contributed to farm journals had great weight. Respected and loved by all who knew him, he lived comfortably and brought up and educated a large family. He remained on his farm until 1877, when his increasing age led him to rent it and move to Geneva, where he died in his ninetieth year.

Achievements

• John Johnston is famous for the first public introduction of agricultural drainage in the United States in 1838. His farmhouse in upper Geneva, New York is now a museum of his life and drainage tiles.

Views

Quotations: "Whatever I know about farming I learned from my grandfather. "

Personality

In appearance Johnston was fine looking, tall and somewhat spare, with the bearing of a "gentleman of the old school. " He was an original thinker and a sagacious observer.

Connections

Johnston was married in 1818 to Margaret Alexander.

Spouse:

Margaret (Alexander) Johnston

Daughter:

Margaret A. (Johnston) Swan

Daughter:

Agnes Nancy Johnston

Son:

Marion Johnston

Son:

Hope Johnston

Friend:

John Delafield

References

• The principles and practice of land drainage