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396 Glimpses of Fai-ming in the Channel Islands. 
Aldeeney. 
To Aldernej^ I paid a visit, but not to Sark — -whicli is, I 
believe, well worth seeing — or the smaller islands (Herm, Jethou, 
Brechou, Lehou, and Burhou), which are not at all important 
from an agricultural point of view, and need not be further 
referred to. Alderney has a deserted appearance, owing to the 
houses of the farmers being all, or all but three or four, in the 
little town of St. Ann's. The absence of trees, too, adds to the 
desolate appearance of the island, which, however, is by no 
means devoid of natural fertility. Its exposure to the winds 
of the Channel is, of course, against its cultivation for many 
purposes, and it is chiefly devoted to the feeding of cattle, 
though some parts of it are tilled. The total area is 1,962 acres, 
and the inhabitants in 1881, including the military and their 
families (517 persons), numbered 2,048, as compared with 
3,333 in 1851. 
To Mr. Shade, the cattle exporter of the island, I am in- 
debted for most of the information I obtained about it, and for 
his kindness in dri\'ing me to all the farms worth seeing. The 
rent of good land is usually 21. a vergee, or hi. an acre; but 
50s. an acre is a more common rent, and how the farmers 
make the land pay at even the smaller sum is a mystery, as they 
appear to export scarcely anything besides a few cattle. The 
land is a gi-eat deal subdivided among owners, and by far the 
greater part of it is let. Wheat (nearly all bearded) and oats 
are grown a good deal on the cultivated land, as well as man- 
golds, parsnips, carrots, potatoes, vetches, and lucerne. I noticed 
some tremendous crops of lucerne and ryegi'ass mixed. From 
20 to 23 bushels of wheat per acre would be reckoned a good crop. 
Potatoes are allowed to grow to their full size, for winter use, 
none being exported. 
There are several rather large farms, chiefly in grass, on 
which 25 to 50 cows are kept. Mr. Barker, an Englishman, 
who has 25 cows, and has gained the first prize for two or three 
years for bulls, was good enough to show me his farm and his 
herd, which is a very good one. He has sent most of his 
surplus cattle to England. One of his cows, which had calved 
a month, was said to be giving 20 pots of milk a day, equal, 
I believe, to about 40 pints. I was much struck with the 
liealthy and liardy appearance of the Alderney cows, and with 
the excellent bags which they nearly all have. The breed is 
now scarcely distinguishable from the Guernseys, except that 
the standard size of the Alderneys is a little smaller than that 
of the other breed. But as the Guernsey people have always 
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