GARDENING IN THE ISLAND OP JERSEY. 457 



GARDENING IN THE ISLAND OF JERSEY. 



E. W. MAJOR, MIXNESOTA AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



Before we consider the subject of garden ing- in the Island of Jer- 

 sey, we might, perhaps, take a bird's eye view of the island itself. It 

 rises abruptly from the sea to a height of 300 to 400 feet on the north- 

 west side, then slopes gradually towards the south and southeast 

 to where the land is on a level with the sea, and at very high tides when 

 the wind is from the south the water often washes over part of the 

 coast. The chief town, St. Helier, lies on the southern border, and 

 at a short distance from the town we see Elizabeth Castie, which has 

 been the scene of stirring times since it was built, in the reign of 

 good Queen Bess. To the right of the town is Fort Regent, which 

 with its grass clad ramparts presents a somewhat attractive appear- 

 ance. If we look ofif to the southeast coast of the island, we see the 

 village of Gouray, and high above it Mount Orgeuil Castle, part of 

 which was built by Ccesar. The island we see at once is small, being 

 about fourteen miles long and five or six miles wide, containing 

 about 28,700 acres, not all of which can be cultivated, and upon this 

 must be supported a population of a little over 60,000 persons. 



If w^e now come down and take a walk through the country, visit- 

 ing some of our gardener friends, we notice here some woodland 

 which as yet the axe has spared, there a fertile valley well watered 

 by streams that wander lazily along and eventually find their way 

 to the sea; then an orchard will come into view, and we notice that 

 the farmer also uses this for a pasture for his cows, which are teth- 

 ered there and moved once or twice a day. As we come around a 

 bend in the road, a house is brought into view, a solid, substantial 

 looking dwelling, its heavy stone walls looking as though they were 

 intended to withstand a siege. The roof is either thatch or tile, 

 Gloire de Dijon roses, clematis and jessamine twine around the 

 doorway and clamber to the nioss-covered roof. In the garden, 

 acacias, oleanders and magnolias bloom to perfection, and the 

 fuchsia almost attains the size of a tree, the largest specimens ris- 

 ing to a height of fifteen to eighteen feet. 



Back of the house you might notice a patch of something, it would 

 probably puzzle you to say just what. Visitors seeing these objects 

 for the first time have thought they were stunted palms, but not so, 

 they are nothing more nor less than the big cow cabbage, or Jersey 

 cabbage. The stalks varj^ in length from six to twenty-five feet, and 

 the cabbage, which makes good food for the cows, is at the top. The 

 stalks serve for a varietj"^ of purposes; the short ones are used for 

 making fences, whilst the long ones are mounted and sold to tour- 

 ists as curiosities. 



The owner of the garden is usually a man of substantial appear- 

 ance, as befits the proprietor of a farm that has been handed down 

 from father to son, almost since the Norman conquest. 



If it is the latter part of May or the beginning of June when our 

 visit is made, almost the first subject of conversation would be the 

 potato crop. This is the most important crop the Jersey gardener 

 has; even the Jersey cow sinks into insignificance beside the potato. 

 The best animal in the herd might die of milk fever, and there would 



