CHAPTER XX.

AGRICULTURE OF THE CHANNEL ISLANDS.

IN treating of the economics of a district, the first place must be given to Agriculture. Under this general heading is included a considerable variety of detail, for whatever relates to the domesticated animals that live on the surface, as well as to the surface itself, must necessarily have reference to the natural and artificial vegetation of the island. Thus the nature of the soil, the cultivation of the land, dependent as it is on climate and soil, the condition of the stock, and even the nature of the holdings of land, are matters that are all mutually dependant on each other, and all belong to the agriculture of a district, and must be considered together.

The agriculture of the Channel Islands has been recently treated of in two memoirs; one rewarded by a prize, and the other "highly commended" by the Royal Agricultural Society of England. It might seem, therefore, that there was little

The state of agriculture of the island of Jersey was fully and admirably described by Mr. Quayle, in 1812, and his report was published by the Board of Agriculture in 1815. Much has since been changed, but it will be very long before this work becomes obsolete. The prize report by Mr. C. P. Le Cornu is published in the twentieth volume of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society (1859). The "highly commended report" by Mr. F. F. Dally, was published separately, under the following title, " An Essay on the Agriculture of the Channel Islands, with Notes, Addenda, Tables, and an Appendix." Guernsey, S. Barbet, 8vo. pp. 87.

room for further remark on the subject; the more so, since the former (prize) report was written by a gentleman, who himself is a practical farmer on a large scale in Jersey, and the latter by one who has paid much attention to farming in Guernsey. As a subject, however, of vital importance, and one necessarily attracting the close attention of a large proportion of intelligent persons, both visitors and residents, a brief outline of the farming operations of the islands is indispensable. It will be convenient and consistent with the general plan of this work, to avoid, as much as possible, a mere repetition of what may be found elsewhere, and consider rather those branches of the subject which have been hitherto least attended to.

Soil and water being the two sources of nourishment of all vegetation, we may commence with a notice concerning these essential matters.

SOIL AND SUBSOIL.

The first fact that strikes the practical geologist as likely to influence these important elements of success in agriculture, is that the prevailing underlying rock is everywhere that variety of granite called hornblendic, and that veins as well as rock are largely characterised by magnesian minerals. That this is the case, and that magnesia is likely to exist somewhat in excess in the soil, is a matter of serious importance, and requires some preliminary consideration.

The subsoil being the result of its first decomposition, or preliminary disintegration, and thus absolutely dependant on the underlying rock, it is evident that until we know the contents of this rock, and the circumstances under which they are likely to be presented to the agriculturist, we cannot properly understand the resources of the soil. The following tabular statement will therefore be interesting and useful, and will show clearly the small proportion of lime and potash, especially of the latter important mineral, that can be depended on in syenitic

COMPOSITION OF ROCKS.

461 rocks and greenstones, and the absence of the phosphates, without which no soil can be regarded as naturally and permanently rich. It will also be seen by the table, that felspar is the richest of the component parts of syenitic rocks in potash and soda, and therefore the most valuable for agricultural purposes when decomposed. The preponderance of this mineral in a decomposing state, is a fact to be noticed in estimating the value of a soil.

Besides syenites, or hornblendic and felspathic rocks, and the contents of the various mineral veins traversing the rocks, there are, at intervals, sand-stones, clay-slate, and schists, and also in Jersey certain conglomerates, for the most part siliceous. The composition of these is not different from that of similar rocks elsewhere, and while some consist of almost pure silica, others are various compounds of silica with silicate of alumina, or common clay. Lime, magnesia, iron, and water, are present in almost all. In them, however, as in the porphyritic rocks, phosphorus is absent, and potash rare. Pure silica sand, and pure limestone sand, are found near the sea in some of the islands. Large veins of mica are found in Herm and Jersey.

The soil is derived from the subsoil, which, as we have seen,

consists of the underlying rock in a decomposed state. Although the degree of rapidity with which the rock undergoes disintegration and destruction from weathering, varies greatly in different localities, still in most parts of all the Channel Islands it may be regarded as extreme, compared at least with the same process in most other granite districts. In many places around the towns of St. Helier's and St. Peter's Port, there are great thicknesses of sand and gravel, the upper part of the decomposed granite being reduced to the state of sand, and the stony fragments still being left below only partially reduced. On the coast, and in the less cultivated parts of all the islands, the work of destruction may be watched, for the vast multitude of cracks and fractures in the granite, and its evidently rotten state near an exposed surface, afford abundant proof of the reality of the process. For the most part the soil thus obtained is light, though occasionally there is clay enough to alter its character. It abounds in some of the mineral substances that are needed for ensuring a good soil, but these are distributed with a certain amount of irregularity.

In Jersey the western end of the island consists of light sand, chiefly available for sheep or planting; but the ravines opening down towards the sea, possess deeper and richer soil, obtained from decomposed slates. Towards the coast there is much peat. Blown sea-sand covers the soil in the part called the Quenvais, and has produced a bare desert. Sometimes clay lies under the sand, and attempts have been made, with little success, to reclaim the land. By a free application of sea-weed, these lands are made to bear successive grain crops, whose average yield is extremely high. Much land around the town of St. Heliers consists of rich and valuable, because highly manured soil.

A large part of the south of Jersey has been rendered less fertile than it might otherwise have been, by incursions of the sea, such as those already alluded to in St. Brelade's parish. So lately as in 1811, the sea encroached seriously in Grouville

QUALITY OF THE SOIL.

463

Bay, owing partly to the action of one of the small streams. The water of this stream, unable to reach the sea through the sand hills by which it was choked, and being obliged to find a passage, ultimately succeeded in partially undermining them. Besides the ordinary soil, there is in these districts a good deal of rich vegetable mould that has been long buried, and where efforts have been made for that purpose, such land has been reclaimed.

None of the other islands seem to have suffered by recent incursions of the sea. No doubt many of the detached rocks still above the action of the tidal wave, were formerly connected, and existed as islands, but such action is of a different kind. The depression that was long ago the cause of the concealment of the turf beds, has been succeeded by a slow and partial, but sensible elevation; but incursions of the sea, into lands protected by accidental or artificial means, happen occasionally in all countries.

In Guernsey as well as Jersey the soil is generally light, and often deep; and, although there are occasional beds of clay, the sandy loam usually passes down into angular gravel, the lower part of which is clearly seen to be weathered granite. For the most part the subsoil is excellent, but there exists, lying in patches at some depth, but quite near enough to be reached by the rootlets of plants, a peculiar, pale, reddish-yellow, sandy clay, into which, if the roots of a tree or shrub penetrate, they seem to be poisoned. There is nothing in the appearance or mechanical state of this material, to account for so curious a phenomenon. It is very spongy in texture, and almost melts in water. It has but little earthy smell, and contains much air, as becomes evident when placed in water. It is full of the small rootlets of plants, generally in a decayed or half rotten

state.

When the roots of a plant or a tree come into the vicinity of this soil, they seem attracted by it, and penetrate it readily.