324 CATTLE 



5 to 20 acres each. Enormous crops of potatoes are grown, 

 a yield of 500 bushels per acre being very common, and a total 

 yield for the island of as much as 500,000 bushels in a season. 

 Notwithstanding its small size, there are about 12,000 cattle 

 kept on the island, and the herds are well cared for. When 

 on pasture each animal is tethered by a combination chain 

 and rope, and the grass is systematically grazed- from day to 

 day. Cattle are never turned loose to graze as in America. 



FIG. 135. A typical home on Jersey. From photograph by the author 



The origin of the Jersey is unknown. The most probable 

 theory is that it is descended from stock at one time native to 

 those near-by departments of France known as Normandy and 

 Brittany. While the cattle of those regions to-day do not closely 

 resemble the Jersey, they have some things in common. The 

 fawn or white color has been attributed to certain cattle of 

 Normandy, while the blacker color has been ascribed to the 

 Brittany cattle, it being assumed that the Jersey has resulted 

 from the fusing of these French types. Historically the first 

 description regarding the Jersey that the author has secured, 

 showing its resemblance to the breed of to-day, was in 1789, by 

 Culley, 1 who comments on the introduction into England of French 



1 George Culley, Observations on Live Stock. Dublin, 1789. 



