60 The Guernsey Breed 



breeders have each as many as 50 or 60 head, young and old, 

 and H. M,. Ozanne, of Lilyvale, at one time had upward of 

 100 head. 



The calves are taken from the cows when they are from 

 a few hours to three or four days old, and are fed the new milk 

 for two or three weeks. The fresh cows are nearly always 

 milked three times a day and the calves are then fed three 

 times a day. A few farmers have cream separators and thus 

 have warm skimmed-milk to feed their calves. But most of 

 them still follow the method that has evidently been in vogue 

 for generations, of souring and churning the whole-milk. Then 

 the calves are fed the butter-milk, which naturally is thinner 

 than butter-milk from churned cream. 



The calves are early tethered out-of-doors, and it is to 

 this out-of-door life that we must seemingly attribute the 

 health and vigor of the island cattle. 



The butter is nearly all made into small, round prints 

 and sold to private customers in St. Peter Port. It is also 

 commonly on display in the public market, where it is usually 

 offered for sale in prints of from one to one and one-half 

 pounds, placed in the center of a large cabbage leaf. It was 

 the butter thus displayed in the markets that first attracted 

 the attention of visitors from England and America to the 

 island's breed of cows. For some reason a marked difference 

 may be noticed in the color of the butter from different herds 

 of the island. Some farmers' wives always bring very yellow 

 butter to market, while others offer a much paler product. 

 Many who do not realize how dense the population of the 

 island is often ask where the islanders market their butter, 

 thinking that a large surplus must be shipped away. As a 

 matter of fact, not nearly enough is produced for home con- 

 sumption, for one may see displayed in the market windows 

 butter from Jersey, France, England and Denmark, and not 

 butter only but large quantities of margarine as well. The 

 prevailing price of Guernsey butter is 50c per pound, while 

 the imported butter sells for 5 or 10c less, the price of the 

 latter fluctuating with the English market. Milk is sold at 

 retail for 8c per quart. 



It is instructive to go through the market building, where 

 30 or 40 stalls are used for the display and sale of meat, and 

 observe the marked difference in the color of the fat of the 

 local beef as compared with the beef imported from America 

 and the Argentine. 



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