The Guernsey Breed 29 



to generation. Nearly every house, whether in town or 

 country, has a name of its own and is spoken of by that name. 

 It is much easier to find a man if you can tell the name of 

 his house than it is even to know his name. This is a custom 

 that American farmers could well copy. It adds a certain 

 touch of sentiment that is well worthy of imitation. 



There is a beautiful custom that exists in this connection. 

 When a young couple are married and move into a house 

 that has not been previously occupied by ancestors of either 

 of the pair, they are permitted to carve their initials over the 

 doorway, with the date of their marriage. This then remains 

 as long as they or their descendants live in the house. The 

 accompanying illustration shows one such doorway, being of 

 a farmhouse known as the Grandes Capelles. My friend, 

 W. W. Marsh, while once standing in front of this doorway, 

 remarked to Mrs. Robillard, the present mistress of the home 

 and who was a Miss Robin: "Seventeen seventy-two! My, 

 isn't that an old house?" M,rs. Robillard replied almost in 

 scorn and disgust: "That isn't when the house was built; 

 that is when we moved in." 



Not until we American farmers come to love a farm 

 home and to think of it as something more than a piece of 

 real estate to be sold to the first person that will offer a 

 little more than it's worth will we care for such a home and 

 wish to hand it down to our descendants in a little better 

 condition than we found it ; and not until then will we be 

 worthy to possess the deed to 40, 80, or more acres of the 

 rich soil of our United States. 



Most of the cow stables of the island are anything but 

 models for the purpose for which they were intended, and, 

 though each year finds some more modern stables being con- 

 structed, most of the older ones have floors made of cobble 

 stones, 4 or more inches in diameter, partially bedded in 

 cement, and, as little bedding is obtainable, one can well 

 imagine the filthy condition in which many of the stables are 

 found. A good percentage of the cattle are kept in the stables 

 at night, in both summer and winter. 



The calves, when a very few days old, are fed on the 

 milk from the churn, which is more like sour skimmed milk 

 than like our butter-milk. I venture to say that there are 

 many old cows on the island that have never tasted grain, 

 but more and more farmers are each year feeding grain in 

 addition to roots and hay, and the condition of the cattle 



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