Having been out of town, I have but just recvd your letters of 6th inst.

You must have misunderstood something I said to you. The only advice I gave you as to immediate operations was with a view of saving your trees—conservative operations. I know of no “young landscape gardener” I could send you.

With regard to the other matters to which you refer as needing settlement I strongly advise you now as always to settle nothing and spend no money in construction on the imprvmt of your grounds until you have a thoroughly studied and carefully sustained plan of general imprvmt of the whole adopted and established. Use the simplest & cheapest temporary expedients necessary for convenience. Any other course is a great deal more than wasteful and I must protest against it.

To undertake the imprvmt of the grounds about the President’s House at this time, further than I have already advised you, would be beginning wrong end foremost and if a result was reached which would be finally satisfactory, or which would be long endurable, it would be through no skill of the landscape gardener but the merest piece of luck. I spent half an hour in studying the problem while you were gone to Mr Brooks’ discourse and gave it up.

I do not know of anyone whom I could recommend as a professor of [649] Agriculture. Waring is hardly the sort of man you want and must be earning at least $6,000 a year + Newport life. I should think Geddes might help you. I shall be glad to look at the papers and give you any help I can.