At Mount Vernon, GW received a letter from William Shotwell, surviving partner of Embree and Shotwell, saying that GW’s order of seeds had been sent to Baltimore merchant and shipowner Richard Curson. GW wrote Curson to ask for an immediate shipment to Mount Vernon of this order of clover and timothy seed. GW then wrote back to Shotwell to reprimand him for the prolonged delay of this shipment, and for not sending it to Alexandria, Va. GW desperately needed these grass seeds at Mount Vernon and their delay had negatively impacted his estate. He declared, “my whole system of husbandry is deranged by it."