108 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



and carrots thirty. Wheat is sown in January, and that is 

 followed by parsnips and potatoes ; oats in February and 

 mangolds in April. The rotation of crops is a five-year one, 

 namely, turnips, potatoes, wheat, hay, hay. The grass is top- 

 dressed in January or February with sea-weed, and that is 

 followed later in the season by an application of liquid 

 manure. Everything is turned to getting the most possible 

 out of the land ; and a recent writer, with just a touch of 

 sarcasm, remarks : "Jersey still remains a land of oi^en-field 

 culture, and yet its inhabitants, who happily have not known 

 the blessings of Roman law and landlordism, and still live 

 under the common law of Normandy, obtain from their land 

 twice as much as the best farmers of England. Besides their 

 potatoes, they grow plenty of cereals and grass for cattle ; 

 they have more than one cow to each acre of meadows and 

 fields under grass ; they export every year, besides a large 

 amount of dairy products, some 2,300 milch cows ; and, on 

 the whole, ol)tain agricultural produce to the amount of $750 

 to each acre of the surface of the island." 



So much has l)een said and written of late years respecting 

 the cattle of Jersey that it would seem almost unnecessary 

 to make mention of them. A few facts, however, in regard 

 to their management and care, may not be uninteresting. 

 In round num])crs, twelve thousand are scattered over the 

 island, l)ut nowhere are large herds to be seen. Bunches 

 of two or three, at most five or six, are found on the differ- 

 ent farms, rarely more. This is easily accounted for l)y the 

 small holdings of the farmers, the 19,000 acres of arable land 

 being distributed among 2,()00 owners. Of the entire num- 

 ber, according to the returns of 18111, (),700 were cows and 

 heifers in milk or in calf, (>G<S were two years and over, and 

 4, GOO were under two years. Cows are considered in their 

 prime at six and continue good until ten. After that they 

 deteriorate rapidly. The first calf is usually dropped when 

 the animal is two or under, and this has b(>en offered as a 

 reason for the small size of the breed. C^attle are allowed to 

 remain out from May to October. After that they are 

 housed at niii:ht, being driven in at four and let out at nine 

 the following day. They are fed morning and evening, their 

 ration being the same, three-fourths bushel of roots and a 



