Glimpses of Fa/rming in the Channel Islands. 
369 
Co., of London, the authors (D. T. Ansted, M.A., F.R.S., and 
Robert Gordon, M.D., F.R.S.), after describing at great length 
the creolocrical formations of the islands, say : — 
" In all the underlying rocks of the various islands there would seem to be 
a total absence of phosphorus, without which the cultivation of food-plants 
is impossible. Potash, also, is either present in small proportion, or in a form 
not readily separated. There does not seem to be any organic matter present, 
except that derived from animal life now or recently at the surface. How- 
ever rapidly, therefore, the soils obtained from these rocks become decom- 
posed, and however well the resulting soils may look, there is clearly no 
natural and large supply of certain ingredients essential for food crops. All 
these must be supplied from without in the form of manure, either animal, 
vegetable, or mineral. 
"The latter [query the last ?] not being available, it results that without a 
large and constant supply of animal and vegetable manures, the soil of the 
islands coidd not be kept in such a state as to yield large crops of the most 
valuable kinds of vegetable produce. It is clear, therefore, that, in .spite of all 
statements that have been made to the contrary, the soil in the islands cannot 
properly be regarded as naturally rich " (p. 465). 
The writers support these statements by elaborate details as 
to the constituents of the rocks from which the soils of the 
islands have been formed. On the other hand, the writer of the 
prize essay says that, " although situated on a rocky bed, the 
soil of Jersey is particularly rich and highly productive." This 
might be the case, and yet not in conflict with the statements 
above quoted, for soils not naturally productive may be made so 
by man. Colonel Le Cornu, however, says : — 
"The rock is of the primary formation, void of any organic remains, 
chiefly granite, syenite, gneiss, porphyry, and schist, with other varieties be- 
longing to this series. It might be supposed that the fact of the soil repos- 
ing on so rocky a bottom might produce meagreness, but it is not the case. The 
soil is a rich loam, varying in lightness according to the stratum beneath it ; 
if granite or syenite, it is lighter than where the other varieties of rock are 
found. The cause to which this difference is attributable is, that imme- 
diately between the granite and cultivated soil is a layer of coarse gravel, 
which acts as constant drainage, whereas when the srranite and syenite dis- 
appear no gravel is found, but a light clay forms the layer between the soil 
and the rock. As a general rule, the eastern district of the island may be 
said to belong to the latter formation, and the western to the former, but in 
both cases there are exceptions. For certain kinds of produce the one is 
more esteemed than the other, but the universal opinion throughout the 
island is that the eastern district is the richest and most productive."' 
In the Report of the Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horti- 
cultural Society for 1887 analyses are given of three specimens 
of Jersey soil, made by Mr. F. Woodland Toms, the States (of 
Jersey) analyst, and M. Laurot, analyst of the Laboratory of 
Granville. One sample was from a drilling-ground in the south- 
west, another from a similar ground in the north-west (both 
described as "virgin soils "), and the third from heavy pasture 
land in the eastern district. The samples were taken as repre- 
VOL. XXIV. — S. S. B B 
