THE STORY OF THE JERSEY HERD 29 



form of worship, though its broad basis is their passion 

 for the animal itself. Early in this century this 

 exclusive devotion moved the wrath of Thomas Quayle. 

 * The treatment of sheep and horses/ he wrote, ' is 

 almost a disgrace to Jersey agriculture. The treasure 

 highest in a Jersey man's estimation is his cow. She 

 seems to be the constant object of his thoughts and 

 attention ; and that attention she certainly deserves. . . . 

 In summer she must submit to be staked to the ground. 

 But five or six times a day her station is shifted. In 

 winter she is warmly housed by night, and fed with the 

 precious parsnip. When she calves she is regaled with 

 toast and cider, the nectar of the island, to which 

 powdered ginger is added.' 



The Jerseymen, who had only twenty-nine thousand 

 acres of arable land in their whole island, had been 

 clever enough to discover the root which of all others 

 is most suitable for milch cows; and their parsnip- 

 growing made possible for them as great strides in the 

 development of their breed as that of the turnip did for 

 the general stock of English cattle. Next to improving 

 their own cattle they were most eager to keep out all 

 others. Their indignation when they suspected that 

 inferior Brittany animals were about to be imported, or 

 might be sold as the produce of the island, finds ex- 

 pression in various old statutes. An Act passed in 

 1789 condemned anyone importing cattle from France 



