CHAPTER V 

 THE CHANNEL ISLAND BREEDS 



JERSEYS 



Origin and Distribution in Europe. The Jersey and the 

 Guernsey breeds are often called the Channel Island breeds. 

 They take their name from the islands of the same names, 

 which are a part of the group called the Channel Islands. 

 This group of several small islands lies in the entrance to the 

 English Channel about nine miles from the coast of France 

 and about seventy from England. 



The cattle from these islands were formerly classed to- 

 gether and called Alderney, after the third island in size of 

 the group. The cattle on these islands are supposed to be 

 descendants of the cattle of Normandy and Brittany in France. 

 According to Kellar, they belong to the Bos sondaicus type, 

 and are therefore related in origin to the Brown Swiss, the 

 Devons, Kerry, and more or less to other cattle of England, 

 but not to the Holsteins. When they were brought from 

 France to the Islands is not known, but it is known that they 

 have been kept pure for a very long time. Since 1789 a law 

 has been in force on Jersey Island which entirely prohibits 

 the importation of cattle except for slaughter. A few years 

 later Guernsey adopted a similar law. 



Outside of Jersey Island this breed is found quite numerous 



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