LECTURE XXXIX. 



GUERNSEY CATTLE. 



Origin, History, and Development of the Breed in the Isle 

 of Guernsey. 



Like the Jersey breed, the Guernsey has been profoundly 

 modified by environment. 



The Isle of Guernsey lies a short distance northwest of 

 Jersey. It contains about 15,000 acres all told, but much 

 of this is rocky. Unlike Jersey, Guernsey is high on the 

 southern coast, and slopes to the north. The soil is less rich, 

 and there are fewer wooded valleys; and the island is more 

 exposed to storms. Despite this fact, the presence of the 

 Gulf Stream has a most ameliorating influence, and while 

 the variations between summer and winter are greater than 

 in Jersey, the cold is rarely severe or prolonged, and freezing 

 is rather unusual. The mean annual temperature of the 

 island is but three degress lower than that of Jersey. 



The agricultural products are much the same as in Jersey. 

 The cattle are maintained chiefly on pasture, where they are 

 tethered in the summer, and in the winter they receive coarse 

 fodder and roots. 



The exact origin of the breed is, as with the Jersey, in 

 some doubt; but so far as is known the Guernsey arose from 

 the same stock Normandy and Brittiany as the Jersey, 

 but it is held that there was a greater proportion of Nor- 

 mandy blood in the Guernsey stock. The absolute necessity 

 for intensive conditions, and the ready market for dairy 

 products, early brought dairying to the front as the chief 

 industry; and a more or less careful method of selection 

 resulted in the development of a type of animals of great 



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