. A complete geography. wo other facts favorable to stock raising are the mild wintersand the damp atmosphere which encourages the growth of grass. Inaddition to these causes, the cheapness with which grain is raised inother countries, like the United States, and transported to the BritishIsles on the large steamships, has made it less necessary for theBritish to raise srrain. 352 EUROPE Several of the smaller islands are also widely known for livestock. For instance, the Shetlands are famous for Shetland ponies ;and on the three Channel Islands,— Jersey, Guernsey, and Alderney,— near the Fren
. A complete geography. wo other facts favorable to stock raising are the mild wintersand the damp atmosphere which encourages the growth of grass. Inaddition to these causes, the cheapness with which grain is raised inother countries, like the United States, and transported to the BritishIsles on the large steamships, has made it less necessary for theBritish to raise srrain. 352 EUROPE Several of the smaller islands are also widely known for livestock. For instance, the Shetlands are famous for Shetland ponies ;and on the three Channel Islands,— Jersey, Guernsey, and Alderney,— near the French coast, three breeds of cattle have been developedwhich are well known in the United States. The cool summer climate, which is of advantage in some respects,is unfavorable to many kinds of farming ; for example, it preventsthe production of corn, cotton, tobacco, and grapes, which requirewarm summers. More hardy products, however, as oats, barley, andwheat, are extensively cultivated. Turnips, potatoes, beans, and. Fig. ; cottage in southwesteru England. peas are other important crops ; also hops, which, together withbarley, are used in the manufacture of beer. Owing to the manytowns and cities, truck farming is of importance. The demand for farm land has been so great tliat large areas of swamphave been reclaimed by careful drainage, and these now make the mostfertile farms. But in spite of the care that has been given to cultivatingthe soil and to raising live stock, far less food is produced than is neededby the inhabitants. Such vast multitudes are engaged in other occupa-tions that if they were deprived of food from abroad, they would, it issaid, begin to suffer from famine within a month. How different that isfrom our own country, whose area is so large, and climate so varied, that THE BRITISH ISLES 353 it not only supplies the food we need, but produces enormous quantitiesto be sent abroad. Fishing.— Since the early inhabitants had to cross the sea in order
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