No. 4.] THE CHANNEL ISLANDS. 117 



President Goodell. That is it. Now, these ehaumontel 

 pears are celebrated all over England for their flavor. They 

 are bought in preference to any other pear ; but it is the 

 large ones only that are bought ; the small ones, although 

 just as good in flavor, are thrown aside. 



Mr. Vincent. I have raised a pear myself that weighed 

 twenty-eight ounces. That was the only pear on the tree. 

 But one of my neighbors raised one that weighed twenty- 

 eight ounces and another one that weighed thirty-two ounces. 

 They went all over the State to diflerent fairs. 



The Chairman. I did some figuring while the lecturer 

 was talking, and I made out that each former on the island 

 of Jersey got pretty nearly $2,500 a year. 



President Goodell. It must be somewhere in that 

 vicinity. 



The Chairman. If that is so, those farmers do better than 

 we can in Massachusetts, on the average. 



Question. Did you learn what the object was in putting 

 the seed potatoes in those open crates? Does it hasten the 

 maturity of the coming crop ? 



President Goodell. I think it is not so much that as to 

 keep them from sprouting until the time when they want to 

 plant them. Just before they are going to plant, they move 

 them from those open, cool places into a warm place, and 

 sprout them. I suppose that is the reason ; I did not inquire. 



Mr. . I have had a Jerseyman on my farm for 



two years, and he has given me some information in regard 

 to that matter. They are packed in that way for the pur- 

 pose of sprouting. The main sprout comes from the end of 

 the potato, and when those potatoes are set the })rincipal 

 growth comes from that one sprout. It is very hardy and 

 early. 



President Goodell. They never speak of "planting" 

 potatoes there, but they speak of " placing the sets." That 

 was the term that they used. 



There is one thing I wanted to speak of which I forgot. 

 It is not a thing that I saw personally, but they told me of 

 it in two or three places. Instead of employing horse power, 

 they employ women and children in cultivating their potato 

 fields. After the potatoes are up a woman will be seen har- 



