232 LAND REFORM 



of the two sitting-rooms there is to be noticed an 

 ample supply of books. The farm is one of forty-five 

 acres, which is above the average size. The farmer 

 dresses as an ordinary labourer, works on the land, 

 and is assisted by his wife, son, and one hired man. 

 He has twenty-five head of stock and three horses. 

 He manures the land heavily, using large quantities 

 of seaweed, besides stable and artificial manure. Cow- 

 houses and outbuildings are plain and good, and great 

 care is taken of the liquid manure, which is all drawn 

 into a large tank underground, from which it is pumped 

 up as required. The cows when in the field are 

 tethered. This makes extra work, as they have to 

 be shifted two or three times a day; but it is economi- 

 cal, as it prevents trampling down the grass and 

 obliges the cattle to eat the inferior grass as well 

 as the best, etc. Peasant proprietors here, as else- 

 where, know the meaning of the old Spanish proverb 

 that ' a cow has five mouths.' " 



During a visit of the British Dairy Farmers' Asso- 

 ciation to the Channel Islands in May, 1905, an 

 address was given before the Association by Mr. 

 Collenette on the subject of cultivation in Guernsey. 

 In this interesting paper it is stated that the land 

 in the island capable of cultivation is less than twelve 

 thousand acres ; that this acreage is cultivated by 

 eighteen hundred persons, the average size of the 

 holdings being about six and a half acres. If the 

 average were equal to the average size of farms in 

 Encrland, then the whole of the island would be in the 

 hands of about 200 farmers instead of 1 800. 



The high price of land is stated as a proof of the 

 success of agriculture in Guernsey. Inferior land is 

 worth ^'80 per acre, and good farm land ;^ioo to 



