Continuing the road, the country wears a diversity of scenery, being occasionally interrupted by hills and abrupt risings towards the sea. In dells screened from the roughness of the winds, and where there is a good aperture for the sun, gardens do well; and cottage vines[A] are equally as vigorous as in Jersey, and exotics require little or no protection besides that of a slight covering. The broad and narrow leaved double-flowering myrtle flourishes in the open air, and the orange with only the aid of a wall perfects its fruit. The Guernsey fig[B] growing as a standard of great strength, with a variety of other outlandish plants and shrubs, bespeak a situation favorable both for flowers and fruits. In the neighbourhood, amongst a variety of plants, the botanist will find allium ampeloprasum, or vine leek, which, according to Mr B. Saunders,[C] a member of the Botanic Society, is also found wild on a nearly inaccessible cliff beyond the Artillery Barracks.
[A] The small cluster grape seems to be the hardiest, and indeed the only one that thrives in England to any advantage, for some years ago I have:—"Cold frosty morn,—ice thick,—pump frozen;—went to spend a few days with my relation the Rev. Thomas Bellamy, of Chetnole, in Dorsetshire. After generously partaking of wine, with other clergymen, before a blazing log-wood fire, I was informed that the great vine that entered the room where we were sitting, and which covered the inside of a spacious bow-window, had a few years since produced a hogshead of wine. Certainly it is the largest and most spacious vine I have ever seen, as it overruns the whole of the back building, and occupies a space of not less than fifteen yards!"—Mem. Jan. 19, 1829.
[B] Among some old papers pertaining to my "Notitiæ," I find, the fig-tree thrives well as an espalier even as far North as Yorkshire, but the fruit exceedingly small, green, and unripe. At Ampleforth College, in that county, an entertainment was given by the Right Hon. Lord Clifford, and if my memory serves me right, among other things in the bill of fare, were twenty-nine geese, fifty plates of nuts, and three do. of dough figs. The former were quickly dispatched, but of the latter scarce a dozen were taken, and even those but partly eaten, notwithstanding covers were laid for upwards of a hundred.—December, 1823.
[C] See a communication in The Channel Isles Horticultural Chronicle, May 2, 1842.
The sea coast in this district is exceedingly craggy and at a place called the "Gouffre," which in summer is often the resort of pic-nic parties, the rocks are thrown in the most haggard yet beautiful state of wild confusion, and the foaming of the sea at an immense depth below, like the boiling of a cauldron, fully demonstrates the disturbed state of the elements. The seeker of solitude and the admirer of rude nature can almost enjoy themselves to repletion, as perhaps this place cannot be represented save in some of the wilds of America or the deep ravines of Merionethshire, at all events solitude can never be more faithfully portrayed.
A little further on towards Petit-Bo is a sequestered little fishing nook, called "La Moye," consisting of one or two fisherman's huts deeply seated in a ravine replete with furze, grig and wild flowers. At the bottom is a cave formed by the confused state of the rocks, which acts as a harbour or anchorage for a few fishing boats, the which, if the stranger be fond of the water, he can hire for a trifle. The fish here as well as in Petit-Bo bay are rock-fish, whitings, sword-fish, &c.
A little to the Westward of the Gouffre is a place called the "Bigard," famous for its rocks, pinnacled masses and confused precipices, which confining the sea within its narrow chasms, causes it to fret and roar beyond every thing grand, at once laying bare to the observer from the heights and crags above, one continued and fearful action of scenery.
The country about the Forest church consist of a stiff but active soil, and in many parts of a rich loam. Sylvan beauty ornaments the country occasionally, and furze hedges more or less disappear for those of thorn and other bushes. Parsnip crops in this quarter are about 17,600 lbs. per vergée, provided they are grown in a putrid, dry sandy soil, of which there is many a field. The Coquaine parsnip thrives best in the deep sandy loam of the Valle, where it sometimes attains the extraordinary length of four feet, and in circumference generally from eight to twelve inches. The leaves of this variety grow to a considerable height, and proceed from the whole crown of the root. The Lisbonaise gains in weight and substance what the other does in length, consequently does not require the depth of soil. The leaves of this species are small and short, and only break from the centre in which there is a hollow cup, and the root tapers away in abrupt ringlets.
As the stranger can scarce fail to be awakened at the bustle attendant on the preparation of the ground for this seed, together with the holiday-like supper at the end, it will not be amiss to take a brief survey of the operations. As the small farms into which Guernsey is divided will not allow every individual farmer to keep sufficient cattle for this work, it is performed by a combination of neighbours, who are repaid by the like joint-stock assistance, in which there is a mutual understanding as to the loan of ploughs and other instruments. Towards the latter end of February the ground is prepared by means of ploughs; a small one precedes, and opens the furrow to the depth of four inches, and a large one follows, with four or six oxen and as many horses, that deepens the furrow to twelve or fourteen inches;—this plough is called "la grande charrue." As soon as the clods are capable of being broken, the harrowing commences, which is repeated till the soil is pulverised and reduced nearly to a state of garden mould. The seed is then broad-cast over the ground, but on a day when the wind is just sufficient to ensure an even dispersion; after which it is covered with the harrow. The quantity sown to the vergée is half a denerel or two quarts.