A manual of Angora goat raising, with a chapter on milch goats

UNIVERSITY OF B.C. LIBRARY

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A MANUAL

OF

Angora Goat Raising

WITH A CHAPTER ON

MILCH GOATS.

By GEORGE FAYETTE THOMPSON, M. S.

Bureau of Animal Industry

AUTHOR OF

" Information Concerning the Angora Goat,'' " The Angora Goat,"
and " The Angora Goat Industry in 1901."

Chicago, III., U. S. A :
American Sheep Breeder Co. Press.
1903

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1903, by the

AMERICAN SHEEP BREEDER PRESS,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

• • • • •

• • • • • •

>TpO my father, Rev. R. S. Thompson, whose solicitude
* for my welfare in youth has never been forgotten,
whose Christian character has ever been my guide, and
whose patient industry has ever been my inspiration, I
dedicate this little work an deep affection.

THE AUTHOR,

PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT.

The remarkable development of the Angora and mohair indus-
try in this country during the last three years and the widespread
demand for definite and reliable information concerning the breed-
ing and raising of this class of goats and the production of mohair,
emphasized by more than one hundred thousand letters of inquiry,
a large number of which have come directly to the office of the
American Sheep Breeder, have made apparent the desirability of
and necessity for a manual or hand-book concise and cheap enough
to be within the reach of all, and yet comprehensive enough to meet
the wants of new beginners as well as veteran breeders. To meet
this demand we are pleased to present this volume — "Angora Goat
Raising and Milch Goats." The author, Prof. Geo. F. Thompson,
the distinguished editor of the U. S. Bureau of Animal Industry,
is the recognized authority in this country upon the subjects herein
treated. The book is the result of years of painstaking study and
research, and we offer it to the American public in the belief that it
will meet a warm welcome and subserve the purpose for which the
gifted author prepared it. The industries treated in these pages
are yet in their infancy and manifestly have a great future. The
demand for Angoras and mohair is far in excess of the supply and
likely to remain so for many a year to come. We have many
millions of acres of rough mountain, hill and brush land eminently
suited to the goat industry, but unsuited to any other domestic use,
that may be profitably devoted to the raising of Angoras and
mohair, and until these are utilized, the mission of this book will
not be wholly fulfilled. Coincident and coextensive with the
Angora movement is a general awakening of interest in milch
goats, especially in the towns ami cities and among the leading
physicians, hospitals and sanitariums. Our author gives an admi-
rable summary of up-to-date information upon this subject, which
we are sure will be received with marked approval.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. page
Origin and History of the Angora Goat 11

CHAPTER II.
Description of the Angora Goat 30

CHAPTER III.
Importers and Importations 30

CHAPTER IV.

Number of Angora Goats and Production of Mohair 4(.»

CHAPTER V.
Browsing and Pasturage 02

CHAPTER VI.
Mohair and Mohair Manufactures 79

CHAPTER VII.
The Meat, the Markets, and the Milk 90

CHAPTER VIII.

Localities Adapted to Angora Goat Raising 104

CHAPTER IX.
The Care of Angora Goats 117

CHAPTER X.
Flock Management 135

CHAPTER XI.
Shearing, Shears, and Shedding 143

CHAPTER XII.
Diseases and Other Enemies 153

CHAPTER XIII.
The Skins and Their Uses L64

CHAPTEB XIV.
Minor Features of Importance 167

CHAPTER XV.
Milch Goats, 170

PREFACE

A wonderful interest has been manifested in the Angora goat
industry during the last three years. Breeders and editors of live-
stock papers have been overwhelmed with correspondence concern-
ing these beautiful and useful animals. The Bureau of Animal
Industry, burdened beyond anyone else probably with this corre-
spondence, assigned to me the duty of preparing a bulletin on the
subject. It was the purpose of that bulletin to answer all the
inquiries that were made, and it met with a hearty reception every-
where.

That bulletin is now out of print. The demand, however, for a
manual on goat raising is still very strong. Every day scores of
farmers decide to investigate the industry with a view to engaging
in it, and their first desire is for such information as may be found
in this work. The information given herein is drawn from various
sources — a thorough review of all literature on the subject, much
correspondence with Angora goat men, personal acquaintance with
nearly all of the leading Angora breeders in the United States, and
some practical experience.

The author desires to acknowledge here his obligations to
persons and documents that have been helpful in the preparation
of this volume. He is specially indebted to Mrs. Sallie Kussell
Reeves, Dr. W. E. Griffith, and Charles M. Daugherty, and to
many others, mentioned elsewhere, who have furnished photo-
graphs. A list of the books which have proved very helpful,
especially in the preparation of the chapter on "milch goats,*7 is
appended below. The Author.

Die Ziegen und Kaninchenzucht. Von Dr. William Lobe. Pp. 80.

Berlin, 1875.
Die Ziegenzucht in Deutchland. Ihre Mangel und Mittel zu ihrer Hu-

bung. Von Peter Petersen. Pp. 78. Berlin, 1899.
Leitfaden fur die Berbreitung, Pflege und rationelle Zueht der Ziege

mit Verucksichtigung ihrer land und volkswirtschaftlichen Bedeu-

tung. 2d part. Von. Fr. Dettweiler. Pp. 72. Darmstadt, 1896.

PREFACE. vii

Die Hausziege, das Milchtier des kleinen Mannes, ihre Naturgeschichte,
Geschichte, Rassen, Schlage, Nutzverwertung, Haltung, Pflege,
Futterung and Zucht. Von Docent Dr. Ernst S. Ziirn. Pp. 72.
Leipzig, 1901.

Die Zeigenzucht. Krankheiten der Ziegen, deren Heilung und verhii-
tung. Von A. v. Renesse. Pp. 37. Munster i. W., 1901.

Die Ernahrung und Haltung der Ziege als Milchtier des Kleinen
Mannes. 2d edition. Von Dr. G. Kloepfer. Pp. 62. Essen, 1896.

Rind, Schaf, Ziege und Schwein. Von J. G. Obst. Pp. 41. Leipzig.

Milch Goats and Their Management. By Bryan Hook. Pp. 115. London.

La Chevre. Races, Elevage, Malaaies, Produits de la Chevrerie. Par
Huart du Plessis. Paris.

INTRODUCTION*

So far as history enlightens us, the goat has always been one
of the best-known domestic animals. How long he has been in
disfavor simply because he was "nothing but a goat" and been
the subject of every funny man's joke, we are unable to say. The
oldest accounts show him to have been a most useful animal in the
furnishings of hair for curtains, skins for clothing and tents and
meat for the tribes, yet down to this day he has been maligned
beyond reason, and that, too, by those who have worn his skin as
gloves and shoes and capes, his hair as the finest of furs and ex-
pensive dress goods, and eaten his flesh as delicious lamb.

There has recently been an awakening in the United States,
especially among those who are ever ready to welcome and to dig-
nify any industry that is honorable and bids fair to pay dividends.
And so it is that the Angora goats, the finest breed of the goat fam-
ily, is now receiving the credit that has long been their due. His
usefulness is manifested in various ways, as is shown in the several
chapters of this volume. The fleece, technically called "mohair,"
furnishes some of the finest fabrics known among ladies' dress
goods, as well as plushes, robes, rugs, etc. ; their habit of browsing
admits of their being put to an economic use as brush destroyers,
thus enabling the farmer to subjugate his brushwood with little
or no aid from the ax; their flesh is exceedingly delicate and
nutritious and it finds a ready market; the milk, though not so
abundant as with the established milch breeds of goats, is richer
than cow's milk, and approaches very closely human milk in qual-
ity; their tanned skins are not suitable for shoe leather, owing to
their peculiar texture, but good work gloves and morocco for book
binding are largely made from them ; their pelts, when properly
dressed, make rugs and robes of striking beauty and great utility ;
owing to their freedom from goat odor, so well known of common
goats, and especially of their great attractiveness and docility, they
make the very finest pets for children; a few of them among a
flock of sheep are in a measure a protection to the sheep against
the invasion of dogs; their manure is noticeably helpful to the
grass which springs up under them as they clear away the under-
brush.

These are all subjects of varying degrees of importance, and
will be discussed quite fully in this little volume.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Pages

Geo. F. Thompson (portrait) Frontispiece

Angoras in Asia Minor 16

Angoras on Sage Brush in Asia Minor 1G

Pack Train on Skaria River 17

Davis Importation 21, 23

Kemble Brothers' "Aztec" 33

Jno. S. Harris (portrait) 41

Dr. W. C. Bailey (portrait) 45

F. O. Landrum 47

Wm. J. Cohill (the boy breeder) 51

N. A. Gwin 53

C. P. Bailey & Sons 57

California Angoras 61

Goats on Brushwood 65

D. C. Taylor & Son 67

R. C. Johnson 71

Geo. H. Baldwin 73

Mrs. M. Armer 75

Geo. B. Goodall (portrait) 85

American Mohair 89

Turkish Mohair 93

E. D. Ludlow & Co 107

W. S. Prickett Ill

Place & Hoover 115

Jas. A. Moberley 1 19, 1 23, 1 29

The Hughes Separating Bridge r_>7

Philo> Ogden [37

Age Shown by the Teeth 139

Allen Shearing Machine 145

Ludlow Combination Shearing Table 146, 1 47. 148

Flexible Shaft Shearing Machine 149

Cooper Shearing Machine 151

African Goats nw;, 1 75

Mrs. Edward Roby (portrait) 178

Mrs. Edward Roby's Milch Goats L81

Common Milch Goat of Queensland, Australia is:;

Hornless Buck and Starkenburger Buck 187

Sehwarzenburg-Guggisberger Doe and Ilinterwalder Doe 191

Goat of Malaga, Spain, and Goat of Granada, Spain 195

Maltese Goat and Nubian Goat 199

Maltese Goat g03

Saanen Buck and Saanen Doe 207

Swiss Goat 215

Spanish Maltese Buck 219

Spanish Maltese Doe and Hornless Spanish Maltese Doe 321

A MANUAL

OF

ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

CHAPTER L

ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE ANGORA GOAT.
Historical Scope of this Volume.

Whoever would undertake at this time to add anything con-
cerning the origin and history of the Angora goat to that which
lias been published by S. C. Cronwright Schreiner,1 or in-
deed attempt to improve upon his facts, will be confronted with a
task well nigh impossible. The purpose of the writer hereof is
to present to the Angora goat raisers a manual for everv-dav use,
rather than a discussion of a history that is at best quite nebulous,
and therefore he will content himself with such a brief historical
survey as will logically lead to a proper consideration of the goat
itself and its adaptability to the varying conditions of the climate
and the soil of our country. Breeders generally arc busy men and
they will probably extend a more generous welcome to this volume
if it condenses history and hastens on to measures of more im-
portance. No thought is in mind of belittling the value of history
to the student of any art or science, but an author should not add
cost and inconvenience to a manual by giving a history in much
detail of the subject treated.

Origin of the Angora Goat.

There are about ten sp< ciea of wild goats, according to natural-
ists, and all of them, except possibly the Rocky Mountain goat,

'The Angora Goat. Pp. 296, New York. 1S9S.

12 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

are confined to Europe and the Himalayas of Asia. These are
divided into two groups, as follows:

I. The ibexes. — These according to Hayes, have, as a distinc-
tive characteristic, horns "flat in front, with a horizontal triangular
section, furnished with large transversal knots."

II. Goats proper. — These, according to Hayes, have horns
compressed and carinated in front, and, according to Wood, "may
be distinguished from the ibex and the sheep by the peculiar for-
mation of the horns, which are compressed and rounded behind
and furnished with a well-developed keel in front."

There are two subspecies of this second group — Capra falcon eri
and Capra ccgagrus. The latter is known as the Paseng, the Bezoar
goat, or wild goat, or Persia, and is now generally accepted by nat-
uralists as the goat from which the Angora is descended through
Capra hircus, which is claimed to be the ancestor of all common
breeds of goats.

As to the parent of the Angora stock, there is a difference of
opinion between the two best-known writers on this subject — John
L. Hayes, author of The Angora Goat, etc. (1882), and S. C.
Cronwright Schreiner, author of The Angora Goat (1898). The
one takes the position that it is descended from Capra falconeri,
the other from Capra ccgagrus. Owing to the additional informa-
tion which has been obtained since the appearance of Hayes's book
and which is embodied in Schreiner's work, there can hardly re-
main a doubt of the correctness of the contention that the Angora
goat descended from Capra ccgagrus.

Schreiner, who has made extensive research, has described these
two subspecies as follows: "Capra falconeri has a beard which
extends from the chin to the shoulders and chest, and long spirally
twisted horns, the twist being outward from the base. The males,
when old, become whitish all over. The ewes have a beard con-
fined to the chin, and small horns with a slight spiral twist. It is
a native of the Western Himalayas, northern Afghanistan, and
possibly of Persia; it is- also found generally in Cashmere and
on the Tibetan side of the Himalayas. Fossil remains show that
it is one of the oldest types of goats.

"Capra ccgagrus1 is chiefly remarkable for its enormous
horns, which are larger proportionately than in any other ruminant

'There is evidence that in classic times this goat was widely distrib-
uted over the Grecian Archipelago, although in Europe it is now found only
in Crete, the island of Antemelo, in the Cyclades, and perhaps also in
Guire to the northeast of Eubea. Eastward it is found in the hills and
mountains of Asia Minor, being especially common in tho Taurus range, and
it extends thence through Persia into Baluchistan, Sind, and Afghanistan.
In India its range does not extend beyond the western side of Sind. It is
found in Sind and Baluchistan in hills a little above the sea level: in the
mountains of Persia it ascends to an elevation of 11,000 feet to 12,000 feet.—
Schreiner.

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. 13

animal; they approximate the triangular in form, transversely
rigid, and arc bout backward as in the domestic varieties, being
scimitar-like in shape and curve, and having do spiral twist
Large horns of Capra cegagrus measure M) inches along the curve,
but a Length of upward of 52^£ inches, with a basal girth of 7
inches, has been recorded. It stands somewhal higher than any of
the domesticated varieties of the goat (an adult male stoo<
inches at the withers), from which it further differs in its Bhort
and powerful neck, its stouter limbs, and slender body. In the
female the horns are exceedingly diminutive or are altogether
wanting. The fur, which over the greater part of the body is
short, is of a grayish brown color, with a black line running along
the entire length of the back, while the under surface of the neck
and the beard, which is present in both sexes, are of a brown color.
In the winter coat the hair on the neck and shoulders is rather
longer than elsewhere, and in the same season, in the colder part of
the animal's habitat, a coat of woolly fur is developed beneath the
hair."

Native Habitat of the Angora Goat.

At this time we can trace the history of the Angora goat back
to the vilayet of Angora, in Asia Minor, and this location is usu-
ally given as the place of its origin. Some have ventured to say
that these goats were introduced there 2,400 years ago, but there
is no reliable information extant bearing upon this point.

There is pretty strong evidence which goes to show that they
were a distinctive breed when Moses was leading the Israelites out
of Egypt. Goats' hair was spun by the Israelites for curtains and
other purposes for use in the temple.1 In the story recorded
in I Samuel (chapter 19) of the artifice of Michal in deceiving
the messengers of Saul by placing an image in the bed in place
of David and giving it a pillow of goats' hair, is believed by Pen-
nant to refer to a pillow made of the Angora fleece.

The city of Angora, or Engurieh, the capital city of the vilayet
of Angora, is the ancient Ancyra, and is located about 220 mile-
south by southeast from Constantinople. Angora was the seat of

*Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord; whosoever is of a
willing heart, let him bring it. an offering of the Lord; gold, ami sUver,
and brass, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and tine linen, and goat's hair.—
Exodus xxxv, 5, 6.

And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, ami
fine linen, and goat's hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers' skins,
brought them.— Exodus xxxv, 23.

And all the women whose heart stirred tbem up in wisdom spun goats'
hair.- Exodus xxxv. 26.

And he made curtains of goats' hair fur the tent over the tabernacle;
eleven curtains he made them. The lengtb of one curtain was thirty cubits,
and four cubits was the breadth of one curtain; the eleven curtains were
of one size.— Exodus xxxvi. 14, 15.

14 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

one of the earliest Christian churches, and was probably estab-
lished by the Apostle Paul. The province is mountainous to a con-
siderable extent and furrowed by deep valleys. It is about 2,900
feet above the level of the sea. Of the climate Mr. H. A. Cum-
berbatch, British consul at Angora (1895), and quoted by
Schreiner, says: "The climate is extreme. In the months of
January and February the thermometer will mark a minimum of
10° F. for several days at a time, reach as far as 0° F., whilst in
June and July the maximum readings of 85° F. are maintained
day after day, with little or no rain. The country is covered with
snow in the winter, rain and snow falling frequently. In 1894
the total rainfall at Angora was 8.12 inches, but that was an
exceptionally dry season. For the first six months of 1895 the
rainfall was 10.10 inches, which is somewhat above the average;
the heaviest rainfall in twenty-four hours having been 1.20 inches."

The following description is by a native Turk, who was once
connected with the Bureau of Animal Industry: "Asia Minor,
in general aspect, is an extensive peninsula, projecting like a
bridge from the main mass of the Eastern continent toAvards
Europe. Elevated plains occupy a great part of the interior,
intersected and bounded by ranges of mountains, leaving only
narrow lowlands between them and the shores. No part of the
whole peninsula is less than 2,000 feet above the level of the sea,
and the average height of the most fertile tablelands is from
3,000 to 4,000 feet."

With reference to the vilayet, or province, of Angora, the same
writer says : "The peculiar domain of the Angora goat, even the
very center of it — 39° 20' and 40° 30' north latitude and between
33° 20' and 35° longitude east of Paris — is more or less moun-
tainous and furrowed by deep valleys. Elevated masses are
generally shaded by fine forests, while the plateaus, which form
a large part of the country, are but sparsely wooded. On account
of this nudity the early spring heat dries up what humidity is left
in the earth. The climate, as should be expected under such cir-
cumstances, has extremes — winters very cold and summers exces-
sively hot — the thermometer frequently descending to 5° to 10°
F. below zero and rising as high as 90° F."

One more quotation will be of interest as showing something
of the diversity of climate and soil of Angora and their influence
upon the quality of the mohair. No such distinction due to climate
and soil can yet be made concerning localities in the United
States, but this may be owing to the fact that since mohair lias
been receiving particular attention it has not been grown a suf-
ficient number of years in any one section to give it a distinctive

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. lo

character; ilm animals have recently had rapid change of owner-
ship, and some have spent much time on the railroad. The
following information is from Gavin Gatheral, many years British

vice consul ;it Angora, and a man who Beized every opportunity
to inform himself concerning the Angora goat in his native
habitat.

"The most northerly point at which the mohair goat thrives is
Kastambou] — a large and fertile province, but too near the moisi
winds of the Black Sea for the mohair goat to reach its highest
development. The fleece, though lustrous, is harsh and coarse.
It is somewhat unfortunate that the first selections for export to
the Cape Colony for naturalization there, were made from this
district. Had other varieties to be noted further on been preferred,
the result of the Cape Experiment might have been more satis-
factory.

"Two hundred miles inland, and to the southward, lies Angora.
This province produces five different varieties from as many dis-
tricts. Yalmn-Ova is a heavy lustrous fleece; Chorba, a mohair
so soft and fine that it falls to pieces as soon as it is shorn from
the goat's back; Chubouk-Ova is remarkable for its length and
fineness of fiber; Ayash is a white but lusterless fleece. The rams
of these first-named districts are undoubtedly thoroughbred, though
smaller in size than those of some other varieties. They po.-~ -
all the points that a practical stock breeder will commend.

"Sheltered by oak forests during the short but severe winters,
and grazed on the valley grass during spring and summer, they
seem to find in the alteration everything needful for strength
and vigor, as is proved by their being so prolific, the ewes having
frequently pairs and often triplets. Joevas is bright and showy.
but full of what is technically known as stick, or kempy, hair.

"Bei Bazar is so near Angora that the mohair it produces has
no marked points of difference. The rams are larger in size, very
hardy, and stand a sea voyage well. A few have been recently
(1880) exported to the Cape Colony, the result being highly satis-
factory. To flie northward are Cherkass and Geredeh, two dis-
tricts where the mohair goats have been introduced in compara-
tively recent times. There they develop distinct characteristics,
owing to the difference of climate and elevation. The Geredeh ram
is a large and powerful animal, covered with a fleece that seems
almost black, surcharged with grease, but when scoured the mohair
is found to be second to none in quality and quantity.

"The difficulty of access to this mountain region has hitherto
prevented securing any of the goats for export. To the eastward
are Sivrihisar and Eskishihan. Both suffered severely from the

16

ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

two years of excessive drought in 187-1-75, and the consequent
famine. Many of the goats perished; but the grazers replaced
them with stock from other districts, the result being a marked
improvement in quality and value.

ANGORAS NEAR SKARIA RIVER, ASIA MINOR.

ANGORAS FEEDING ON SAGE BRUSH IN ASIA MINOR.

"On the south lies Konieh, the soil there being of the color
and character of brickdust. The fleece of the Konieh goat is a
reddish brown and, though this reduces the value of the mohair, it
is sought after for special manufactures. Climate, soil, or food

ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

IT

cannot affect the products of high-grade mohair, provided two very
essentia] points are carefully observed, namely, purity of blood and
avoidance of humidity."

It was in this country that this famous goat reached it.- per-
fection— and such a perfection as has nol yel been reached by the
goats of either ('ape Colony or the United States; indeed, the
Turks themselves, by their shortsighted policy of extensive ci
breeding, have failed to maintain the high standard once held by
their animals. Thai the altitude, the soil, or the climate, or all
n\' them together possibly, had much influence in producing this
fleece-bearing goal is supported by strong evidence, although there
are some writers of note who claim that the character of the soil

PACK TRAIN ON SKARIA RIVER. ASIA MINOR.

exerts no distinctive influence. Dr. .John Bachman, a well-known
naturalist of this country and the Encyclopaedia Britannica both
state that the fineness of the hair of the Angora goai may perhaps
be ascribed to some peculiarity in the atmosphere, "for it is re-
markable that the cats, dogs, sheep, and other animals of the
country are to a certain extent affected in the same way as the
goats." The same opinion was expressed by Captain Conblly,
quoted by Southey (1848): "It is remarkable that wherever these
goats exist the cats and greyhounds have long, silky hair also —
the cats all over their bodies, the greyhounds chiefly on their ears
and fails." These statements lead Schreiner to the conclusion that
the atmosphere is the chief faciei'. He says: "At any rate, there
Beems to ho no douitt that a limited and comparatively well-defined
region around the town of Angora possesses in a degree unap-
proached elsewhere in Asia Minor, and probably in the world,

18 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

those conditions favorable to the development of the soft, silky,
lustrous white mohair goat/' Too much credit must not be given
to the atmosphere of Angora in the production of mohair. That
it has a marked influence on animals anywhere is generally ac-
cepted. The experience of the Angora goat breeders of the Cape
Colony and the United States shows that, with the best animals, a
fleece equal to any produced by Turkey may be obtained. Indeed,
it should be gratifying to the mohair growers to know that, while
their mohair product of three years ago was very poor and that
from twenty-five to fifty years ago it was sold with difficulty on
account of its quality, the product now put upon the market is
excellent and that of 1902 was superior, as a whole, to any that had
been grown previously. George G. Emery, who is the leading,
mohair expert in the United States, made the statement at the
third annual (1902) meeting of the American Angora Goat Breed-
ers' Association that he had seen some domestic fleeces that were
in every way equal to the best Turkish. He also exhibited two
pieces of piush — one from domestic hair and one from Turkish —
which were so nearly alike that no one could distinguish between
them without reference to a private mark. Our breeders are
striving strenuously and intelligently toward a better quality of
mohair, and, in order to bring about this matter, they are eliminat-
ing so far as possible the common goat blood. Turkey, indeed,
greatly injured her fleeces by crossbreeding, but until quite recently
our own practice of the same error led us to further extremes than
Turkey went. Again, the breeders of our country have learned
that the feed of the animal has a pronounced influence upon the
quality of the mohair in the same way that it has an influence upon
the meat. The matter of better mohair is discussed quite fully
in the chapter on "Mohair and mohair manufactures."

Crossing Upon the Kurd Goat in Angora.

Mr. Henry 0. Binns, who had about twenty years of experience
with these goats in the vilayet of Angora, says the pure animals
were about bred out in 1863. The reason for this was the exten-
sive crossing with the common Kurd goat, reference to which has
already been made. As early as 1839 there ceased to be a demand
for the spun yarn of Asia Minor, owing to the fact that Europe
could spin yarn at much less cost; but there was a European de-
mand for the raw hair which exceeded the supply. This condition
of things led to complications and a mixture of breeds from which
the mohair world has not yet recovered. There can hardly remain
a doubt, however, that, with the recent renewed interest in the
industry, and with the intelligence that Hie breeders will bring to

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. pi

bear, the Angora goal industry will soon be placed on the highest
plane.

Tli<> Angora Goaf in the United States*

To write a history of the Angora goal in the United States
is not a prodigious task, 1 mi t it is a delicate one. The average
newspaper correspondent of fifty years ago was no more careful

of exact facts than he is now, and it is unfortunate that the his-
torian of the Angora goat industry is Largely dependent upon that
kind of literature for his raw materia]. However, their introduc-
tion into this country was not so long ago that we are wholly
dependent upon newspaper articles by unknown men, but there are
those still living who have known the industry from the first day
of its inception. Upon these men and upon the articles published
by them and by Col. Richard Peters, the present writer depends
for his information.

During the Administration of President Polk, the Sultan of
Turkey requested of him that he recommend some one who would
experiment in the culture of cotton in Turkey. Accordingly Dr.
James B. Davis, of Columbia, S. C, was recommended, and he
received the appointment. The work done by Doctor Davis ap-
peared to be highly gratifying to the Sultan, and so, upon his
return, in 1849, the Sultan, desiring to reciprocate the courtesy
of the President, presented him with nine of the choicest goats in
his domain.

These goats were imported as Cashmeres and were so regarded
until after they passed to the ownership of Colonel Peters. Doctor
Davis thought they were the goats which produced the fleece from
which the famous and very costly Paisley shawls were made; and
it is true that one of the number Mas a Tibet goat, which, in other
words, means Cashmere, and was the breed producing the Paisley
shawl fleece. As late as 1861 they were regarded as Cashmeres,
for the records show that in that year William M. Landrum, who
has been breeding Angoras longer than any other living man in
this country, was awarded a silver goblet and $25 in cash for the
introduction of the first Cashmeres (Angoras) into California.

To tin1 casual observer, tin1 Cashmere and Angora were very
much alike — indeed, may have appeared to be the same animal —
hut the essential points of the animals are SO different that it i- a
matter of wonderment how thev could be regarded as being one

species under two names. 'These differences will appear in the

chapter devoted to a description of the Angora goat. At the present
tune it is everywhere acknowledged that tin1 goats imported by
Dorter Davis and known as Cashmeres were Angoras, ami that the

20 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

Tibet goat which ho imported was a true Cashmere. That Doctor
Davis really thought his goats were Cashmeres, no one will doubt
for a moment, and at that time nearly everybody else who pre-
tended to know anything about goats agreed with him. It was sub-
sequent scientific investigation that finally adjusted the error. The
situation as it existed when these goats were introduced, if con-
sidered in connection with the situation as it exists to-day, does not
justify a very few writers who hold to the idea that the goats
originally imported were Cashmeres, and that subsequent methods
of breeding here have transformed them into Angoras.

The first (or Davis) importation of Angoras was frequently
exhibited at fairs, and always attracted much attention. The
reports made by the officials of fair associations were always favor-
able, sometimes flattering, and as is known after years of experi-
ence, not always correct. The United States Agricultural Society
which held an exhibition in Philadelphia, in 1856, awarded to Col.
Richard Peters, who was then the owner of the Davis goats, $100
as a special reward. The following report was made upon the ani-
mals : "They have become known as Cashmere goats from the pure
white color and fineness of their fleeces, and their undoubted
Eastern origin. The fleeces from the bucks weigh 6 to 7 pounds,
those from the ewes from 3 to 4 pounds. The flesh of the crosses
is superior to most mutton, tender and delicious, making them a
desirable acquisition to our food-producing animals.

"The ease with which they are kept, living as they do on weeds,
briers, browse, and other coarse herbage, fits them for many por-
tions of our country, where sheep can not be sustained to advant-
age, while their ability and disposition to defend themselves against
dogs evidence a value peculiar to this race. They are free from
all diseases to which sheep are liable, hardy and" prolific, and
experience has proven that they readily adapt themselves to all
portions of the United States. The bucks breed readily with the
common goats, the second cross yielding a fleece of practical utility,
whilst the fourth is but little inferior to that of the pure breed.

"A flock of valuable wool-bearing goats can be raised in a few
years by using grade bucks."

The following extract is from a report of the special commit-
tee appointed by the American Institute at t-;i exhibition in New
York City in 1855. The report was signed by B. J. Johnson,
Charles J. Goodrich, and James J. Mapes: "They have examined
with much interest the fleece submitted to them, and as well from
their own observations as from the results of a microscopic exam-
ination made and certified to by several gentlemen of scientific
eminence well known to them, they are convinced that the fiber of

22 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

these fleeces is identical in character, and fully equal in value, to
that from which the highly prized Cashmere shawls were made.
The fleeces on exhibition, and now under examination, amount to
from 4 to 8 pounds each.

"The enterprise exhibited by the introduction of these animals
into this country and their propagation can not be too highly
regarded.

"First. These animals are long lived, such being the case
with the whole goat race.

"Second. They are prolific, breeding at the age of one year,
with a period of gestation of about five months, and yielding twins
almost universally after the first birth.

"Third. They are hardy, experience having shown that they
will thrive well in our climate from Georgia to New England, and
that they require coarse and cheap food — as the inferior grasses,
briers, bushes, etc. — such as is refused by other grazing animals.

"Fourth. They produce a fleece of from 4 to 8 pounds, valued
at from $6 to $8 per pound in France, or Paisley, Scotland, for
the manufacture of those high-priced shawls. These fleeces can
be produced when the animals become numerous at a less cost than
the common sheep's wool and are superior to it.

"Another fact of great practical value to our agricultural in-
terests is the facility with which the Cashmere goats breed with
the common goats of our country.

"From these and other considerations, of the correctness of
which your committee have entire confidence, it will be obvious
that every encouragement should be shown this new enterprise —
a bold and judicious movement."

A committee composed of James Kenwick, Joseph E. Chilton,
and W. H. Ellet submitted the following report to the New York
State fair, held in New York City in 1854: "The undersigned
can not avoid the conclusion that in the goats imported, and whose
descendants have been the subjects of this examination, we have
the first known specimens of that valuable race of animals from
whose hairy fleece the celebrated shawls are manufactured, known
in commerce by the inappropriate name of 'red camel's hair.' As
the fleece does not appear to have deteriorated in the compara-
tively warm climate of South Carolina, the distinctive character
of the race is hard to be obliterated, while in the northern region
of the United States this character can not well fail to be perma-
nent. Viewed in this light, the introduction of this animal prom-
ises to be of more value to the agriculture of the United States
than that of almost any other animal."

Manv other similar reports were made by committees of fair

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24 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

associations about this time, and they show how favorably the new
industry was regarded. However, the conclusion can not be avoided
that the highly exaggerated statements appearing in these reports
added to the enthusiasm of the time. It is possible that a few
fleeces sold at $8 per pound, but in a search for authority it is
learned that one man quoted another and one newspaper quoted
another, and so on, but the purchaser was never located. At one
time this matter was in warm discussion in the agricultural press,
and correspondents demanded to know who sold the fleece and who
bought it, but their inquiries appear not to have been answered.
The most definite statement possibly that can be made regarding
this matter is by Mrs. Harriet E. Davis White, a daughter of
Doctor Davis. She says: "The fleece of the Davis Cashmere
goat was very fine, and some of it was sold to parties in Paisley
for manufacturing their famous shawls; and a Germantown com-
pany also bought some of the fleece and it brought $6 to $8 per
pound. So the records state truly, though some have tried to dis-
pute this fact. Owing to the lack of proper machinery, I presume,
the fleece did not find a ready sale for several years. I saw some
of the first fleece ever dyed and sent to Paisley."

It will be observed that Mrs. White refers in this quotation
to the "Davis Cashmere goat/' which has already been mentioned
as among the original importation. No one can doubt the accuracy
of her statement, because the marketable fiber of the Cashmere
goat- — the pashm — is exceedingly fine, only three or four ounces
being the yield per goat, and the shawls made of it frequently sold
for $1,500 each; and it is easy to believe that this hair, which was
worth $2 per pound in the most inaccessible portions of Thibet,
and having a number of additional charges put upon it as it gravi-
tated toward the manufacturing mills, would bring the amounts
mentioned by Mrs. White. As there was at the time much con-
fusion as to the exact breed of the goats, there was the same con-
fusion regarding the fleece and the prices. There were then no
mills in the country to fabricate the fleece, and not enough was
produced for export to establish a standard.

With reference to +he fleece of the Angora goat, the following
is taken from the Country Gentleman of January 9, 1868: "The
conductors of that excellent Journal, the Boston Advertiser, ad-
dressed Mr. Geo. W. Bond, the leading dealer in such material at
Boston, for information, and in reply Mr. Bond expresses the
opinion that if the Cashmere, or Angora, hair 'could be obtained
here in sufficient quantities to warrant the starting of machinery
suitable to its manufacture and could be offered at about $1 per
pound, a steady and permanent demand for it would be created.'

A.NGORA GOAT RAISING. S>

He says, however, thai il is consumed by less thai] a dozen houses
in Europe, and that, in fact, one firm consumes aboul one-third
of the whole supply, and has agents in Turkey purchasing the
same. Nearly the whole supply comes from Asia Minor, whence
the exports for the past three years have averaged aboul t,000,000
pounds per annum. An inferior quality conic- from South Africa.
As to its value here, he adds: 'Of the specimens raised in this
country which I have seen, some fleeces have been very handso
hut there has been a greal want of uniformity in the various Jots
— souk1 fleeces being very poor and kempy, probably being en
on the common goat, while others were as handsome as any thai I
have ever seen from any quarter. The value in England lias. I
lieve, at no time exceeded 4s., or $1, per pound, unless it may have
been for some exceptional parcels of great beauty and desired
for some fancy manufacture in small quantities. The highest
quotations in England to-day are 2s. 7d., or 62 cents, for the
choicest quality down to 2s., or 48 cents, for good. * * * I
doubt whether there ever was a time when 1,000 pounds of it could
have been sold here for $1 in gold per pound; but a short time
since, when fringes and tassels made, of it became so fashionable, it
is possible that a few of the choicest and most beautiful fleeces
might have been sold at $4 and $6 per pound/ "

A tabular statement of prices of mohair in England may he
found in the chapter devoted to prices.

Doctor Davis remained in the goat business but a few years,
and his flock was disposed of to various persons. The world will
probably never know just who all the parties were that secured
them, An error has heretofore been made in writings of several
persons — the present author among the number — in stating that
the Davis flock of "purebreds" was purchased by Colonel Peters .
But information recently coming to light corrects this error to
some extent. A. 0. Osborn, of Waterville, N. Y., published an
article in the Country Gentleman of January 21, L864, from
which the following is extracted: "In the fall of 1854, Dr. I). C.
Ambler, Col. William Osborn, and myself purchased of James B.
Davis, Esq., of Columbia, S. C, three 'Cashmere goats' — one
yearling buck, one yearling ewe, full blood, and one yearling half-
breed — with the view of breeding for profit."

Colonel Peters published an article in the American Agricul-
turist for November, 1876, in which he said: "In the year 1854
1 visited the farm of Doctor Davis, near Columbia, S. C. and
found his stock of purebreds to consist o( seven females and two
males. Besides these he had one purebred Tibet ewe, several head
of one-half Tibet and one-half Angora, and quite a number of

26 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

grade females bred from the common short-haired ewes of the
country and his Angora buck. I purchased all of the purebred
Angoras and several of the Tibet-Angoras." What Colonel Peters
lias said can hardly be doubted, although the following statement
to the author by Mrs. Harriet E. Davis White apparently disputes
its accuracy: "Doctor Davis had bred the Cashmeres with the
common goats and had a fine flock of graded goats when Colonel
Peters visited him to purchase goats from him. They discussed
the value of the fleece and Colonel Summer said it would prove
equal to the 'golden fleece' in a commercial way, in time. All of
the purebred goats were not sold to Colonel Peters. Doctor Davis
retained an interest which he did not dispose of to Colonel Peters
until Doctor Davis's health began to fail ; and Col. A. G. Summer
also held an interest in them. Goats had been sold to other men
before this sale to Colonel Peters. The original contract between
Richard Peters, A. G. Summer, and Jas. B. Davis is still in the
possession of his daughter" (Mrs. White).

The contradictions which stand out in the three quotations
above are probably apparent only. It is easy to believe that the
goats referred to by Mr. Osborn were purchased before Colonel
Peters purchased any and are probably the ones referred to by
Mrs. White as having been sold before the purchase by Colonel
Peters.

We have a statement of record that one was purchased by Col-
onel Davenport, who lived near Harpers Ferry, and another by Col.
Wade Hampton, of South Carolina. A. 0. Osborn, in the same
article from which he is quoted above, refers to his venture into the
industry in this way : "In October I left home for Australia.
Doctor Ambler, in the meantime and before winter, found a place
for the ewes with a few owned by Colonel Davenport, near Har-
pers Ferry, Va., and thither they were sent. They remained with
Colonel Davenport's flock until 1859, when they and their increase
were exchanged with Richard Peters, Esq., of Atlanta, Ga., who
had purchased most of Doctor Davis's flock, for Brahmin cattle."

One fact stands out prominently in the early history of the
Angora goat industry in this country, namely, that previous to
the outbreak of the Rebellion practically all of the Angora goats
had passed to the ownership of Col. Richard Peters, of Atlanta, Ga.
He took great interest in the little animal and its possibilities and
is generally looked upon as the real founder of the industry in
the United States. When we reflect that there was no real Angora
goat industry in this country until within the last three years,
we must reckon with others as well as Colonel Peters. Credit must
first be given to Doctor Davis for his public spiritedness ; and

ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

whether his goats came from Persia, as he believed, or from Angora,
there can be no doubl that they wen- the equal of any that ever
came to this country, with many evidences of superiority. Pull
credit is due to Colonel Peters, who gathered together the rem-
nants of the Davis flock and distributed their progeny over a large
area of our country, and preserved a nucleus of the flock when
the industry appeared to result elsewhere in failure. The outbreak
of the Rebellion played havoc with the industry, with the final
result that the flocks in the Eastern and Southern section- of our
country were annihilated, with the exception of a very few in
isolated localities. Some goats, however, had previously been
sent into California, and from that State had spread back into
Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, and north into Oregon. The
Western men who adopted the industry and finally saved it to
the country were William M. Landrum, C. P. Bailey, and John
S. Harris. It is no less gratifying to these men than it is to the
thousands of goat breeders now in the United States, who delight
in honoring them, that they still live to see the work of their
earlier years now being crowned with abundant success.

Thus we have had three stages in the establishment of the An-
gora goat industry. Each of them has been all-important in its
day, and all credit can not, therefore, be given to any one man.

Previous to the outbreak of the Kebellion, there were many
fair-sized flocks in the South and Southwest. There were smaller
flocks in many of the Northern and Western States. Dr. Diehl,
in 1863, mentions flocks containing from 300 to 1,200 and more
in Atlanta, Ga. ; Gallatin and Nashville, Tenn. ; Russellville,
Frankfort, Paris, and Georgetown, Ky. ; Greenville, Lebanon,
Montgomery, and Bucyrus, Ohio; Green County, Ind. ; Chicago.
Decatur, and Evanston, 111.; St. Louis, Maramee, and Fayette,
Mo. ; Baltimore, Md. ; Leavenworth, Ivans.; Brownsville, Pittsburg,
Washington, and Philadelphia, Pa.; New York City, N. Y.; Bos-
ton and Belmont, Mass.; Austin, Tex.; and in the States of Iowa,
Michigan, Minnesota, California, and in other localities. Soon
after the close of the war they spread out into the West, principally
into Texas and California, where the natural conditions were most
favorable and where they have, quite unknown to the public, in-
creased wonderfully in numbers and, in the light of recent events,
in importance also.

In the spring of 1864 Colonel Peters sold two 16-months-old
bucks to William M. Landrum, of San Joaquin County, Cal. They
were sent from Atlanta to St. Louis by express; thence by steamer
to Fort Leavenworth, and thence on foot to California with a
wagon train. They subsisted on the journey by browsing on what

28 ANGORA GOAT RAISING-

other animals rejected, and arrived at their destination uninjured
and in good condition. Mr. Landrum exhibited them at the State
fair the same year, being awarded a silver goblet and $25 in cash.
One of the goats, after siring about thirty kids, died of snake bite ;
the other one, famous on the Pacific coast under the name of
"Billy Atlanta," lived to be ten years old, and then was accident-
ally killed. He had sired about two thousand kids. This buck won
the sweepstakes prize over all competitors at every State fair down
to his death; and Colonel Peters stated in 1876 that his numerous
descendants were scattered all along the Pacific coast, and that
"his blood courses in the veins of over one-half the Angora flocks
in that part of the Union, estimated to approximate 70,000."
Colonel Peters further stated "that about one-third of the pure-
breds introduced into California were contributed from the first
and original (Davis) importations of 1849, and that their blood
is present in probably two-thirds or three-fourths of the Angora
stock on the Pacific coast."

Mr. Landrum was in California from 1850 to 1883, after which
time he went to Texas. He is now at Laguna, Tex.

There have been from time to time various other importations
of Angoras from Turkey and South Africa, which will be discussed
in a chapter to follow. These were widely disseminated and the
blood of most of them has been exceedingly beneficial to the in-
dustry in this country.

During the last two or three years a wonderful interest has
been manifested in the Angora goat. The one great factor which
brought this about was the information which was published and
widely disseminated by the Bureau of Animal Industry. The
large flocks of the West and Southwest have been divided up and
distributed throughout the country. They may now be found in
every State and Territory, including Alaska, and a few head are in
Porto Rico. A considerable number are in Canada, where they
are thriving well. Five years ago very few people, comparatively,
had ever seen a goat of this breed, but now the Angora is a familiar
sight in hundreds of localities.

There are three principal reasons for the present interest in
the industry, which are as follows: (1) They are very effective
brushwood destroyers; (2) they are mohair producers; (3) they
yield a carcass that is palatable and highly nutritious. There is
a chapter devoted in this work to each of these phases of the
industry, and therefore further discussion will not be entered
upon here.

A history of the goats themselves is not a complete history of
the industry. One of the reasons why the industry did not become

ANGORA GOAT RAISIN'*;. _> |

a brilliant success from the firsl was because there was in this coun-
try no mills for fabricating the fleece which was produced, and the
fleeces that were produced were not good enough for exporting.
Goat raisers began to reap profits when mills were established here,

and therefore the mohair manufacturer and the Angora goat raiser
have conjointly established a great industry which is destined to

fill a large place in the live stock industry of the United Stat-

CHAPTER IL

DESCRIPTION OF THE ANGORA GOAT.
Pureforeds Ruined i>> Crossing with Kurd Goat.

Before proceeding with a description of the Angora goat, it is
well to advert to a bit of history in connection with the mohair
industry of Asia Minor. In 1867, when Israel S. Diehl, bearing a
commission from the United States Commissioner of Agriculture,
visited the province of Angora, he found but a few hundred looms
working up mohair fleeces where once there were from 1,700 to
1,800 in operation. These few were struggling hopelessly against
the fatal competition of European machinery and the aggressive
policy of the European governments. The fleeces were exported
to Europe for fabrication, thus rendering Turkey tributary to
the monopoly then existing in this industry in Europe. The
European demand for the raw material was so great and the
facilities for fabricating it so much better and cheaper, that Turkey
was compelled by the laws of trade to export the raw mohair. This
is an instance where the prosperity of an industry almost proved
to be its ruin, as we shall see. In order to meet this great European
demand for raw material, the Turkish mohair growers, without
wise foresight, began the practice of crossing the Angora upon
the Kurd goat of that country. The inevitable result of such a
practice was the adulteration of the blood of every Angora in Asia
Minor so far as anyone knows or can judge by investigation at this
time.

Description ot a Purebred Angora Goat.

This ruinous practice has left the world without a purebred
Angora goat apparently. There does not even appear to be a record
anywhere of a description of a purebred animal, except the very
brief one of Henry 0. Binns, who spent twenty years in the mohair
districts of Asia Minor between 1864 and 1886, and copied here-
with: "The pure Angora in his prime is about the size of a five-
months-old Cape (Cape of Good Hope) kid, with small thin horns,
wooled all over the body, the hair almost covering the eyes;
exceedingly delicate, and so subject to disease that no one cared to
keep him. What is to-day called the purebred Angora is like the

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. 31

English thoroughbred horse — the result of crossing and recrossing
until body, class, points, etc., have attained to what ifi generally
considered thai the thoroughbred Angora ought to be."

Srhreiner's opinion of what a purebred Angora was, is as
follows: 'kI think it is certain that the original purebred white
mohair goat was a small, very refined, delicate animal, of great
beauty, clipping at twelve-months' growth of fleece, about from 2
to 4 pounds (according to age and sex — kids considerably less), of
dazzling white, fine, soft, silky, very lustrous mohair, curling in
ringlets from 10 to 18 inches long, with merely the minimum of
oil in its fleece requisite to the growth of hair of the highest ex-
cellence, so small in amount as to be inappreciable to the unskilled
observer. It was perfectly clothed in every part; it had short, silky,
curly hair about the face and down the lower parts of the legs to
the hoofs; a soft, silky, curly ckuif (tuft on the forehead), and
small, thin, light-colored horns. The ewe was of course smaller
and finer than the ram, and had only one kid at a birth (of this
there is abundant evidence)."

Dr. John Bachman, a well-known naturalist, gives this brief
description: "The Angora goat, more especially the varieties it
has produced, is described by Hasselquist (1722-1752), Buffon
(1707-1788), Pennant (1726-1798), and others as in general of a
beautiful milk-white color, with short legs, and black, spreading
spirally twisted horns. The hair on the whole body is disposed
in long pendant spiral ringlets; its ears are pendulous, and the
horns of the female, instead of divaricating as in the male, turn
backward, and are much shorter in proportion."

Description of the Modern Angora Goat.

The facts stated in the above paragraph make it apparent that
a description of the Angora goat of to-day would not necessarily
apply to the purebred Angora of fifty or seventy-five years ago.
As no effort has been made by an association or body of goat
breeders to adopt a description of our ideal Angora goat, any de-
scription that may be made is largely a matter of the individual
opinion of the one who makes it. However, there is singular
unanimity among goat breeders as to what the best Angora
should be.

The Angora goat is smaller than the ordinary common goat.
It weighs from 60 to 100 pounds, although some are frequently
found that weigh considerably more, especially if fat. The back
should be straight, with shoulders and hips of equal height. A
sloping rump is very objectionable. The chest should be broad,
indicating good constitution, and the body round, legs short and

32 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

strong. The head should not droop, but be clean cut, with bright
eye and broad muzzle; avoid a pinched nostril. The horns are
grayish — never black ; in the buck they are heavy, with an inward
twist, inclining backward and to the outside. The doe's horns
rise immediately upward and backward, slightly outward, with
very little inclination to twist. In most animals the ears are
pendant and from 6 to 8 inches long, with an average width of
about 2 inches, and well pointed. In some animals the ears are
fox-like — short, pointed, and pricked. There appears to be no
other differences between the goats having the different kinds
of ears.

The fleece of the animal should be pure white, although there
are colored Angoras. No colored spots on the skin should be tol-
erated. The fleece should cover the entire body — as dense on the
belly and neck as on the back and sides; should extend to the
ears and jaw. While some are breeding for the topknot and for
mohair on the face and lower legs, this is not an evidence that the
animal is better than another that may not have the head and face
covered. The mohair should grow to the length of about 10 inches
during a year, and hang in tight ringlets or wavy curls. The
curl should extend entirely up to the skin. "Slipey" mohair, or
that which has lost its curl and is dry, fluffy, and with but little
luster, is an indication of a poor goat or one in poor health. Poor
feed tends to bring about such a condition in the fleece.

Are there Nonshedding Goats ?

Yes; there are Angoras which do not shed — a very few; there
are more which shed at regular intervals of 2 or 3 years. There
is no evidence, however, that these animals are a distinct strain of
the breed; the fact that they do not shed is probably due to local
conditions, such as their health or their care.

Hornless Angoras.

There are a few hornless Angoras, but not many. They seem;
like the nonshedders above, to be accidents rather than a distinctive
type, or strain. Colonel Black says he has no doubt that the horn-
less goats are a "distinct breed/' It is probably true that by proper
selection in breeding a hornless type might be produced. Efforts
in this direction are already being made with a flock in which
Colonel Black is interested. Hornless Angoras, however, are not
rare in Asia Minor.

Absence of 111 Odor.

A characteristic of ^he common goat that is very objectionable
is the ever-present offensive odor from the bucks. In the Angora

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34 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

breed, this odor is entirely wanting, except with the bucks at the
rutting season, and then in a slight degree only. The odor of
the mohair is milder than that of a wool fleece, and it is not at
all offensive.

Description of the Cashmere Goat*

Although it has already been shown that the Angora is not
the same breed as the Cashmere goat, it is well, since they were so
long considered the same breed in this country, to describe the
Cashmere.

The differences between these two breeds are so pronounced,
especially in the matter of the fleece, that it is a matter of wonder
that anyone ever considered them to be the same animal. The
Angora has a long outward silky covering, with a second coat of
shorter hair of different quality, and very sparse in quantity as
compared with the longer covering, which is the mohair. The mo-
hair, or outer covering, is the desirable part of the fleece, while the
other part, technically known as kemp, is the undesirable and
injurious part. The fleece weighs about 3 pounds, and is removed
by means of shears in the same manner that sheep are sheared.
The Cashmere also has two coats — the outer and longer and
coarser, being of no economic use and therefore not sheared; the
other is a very fine down-like substance called "pashm." The
product of pashm per goat is from 3 to 4 ounces annually, and it
is removed by combing. In the Yale of Cashmere and in Tibet,
where many of these goats run wild, the natives gather the pashm
from the twigs of bushes and points of rocks where the goats have
rubbed it loose at shedding time.

The Angora sheds its entire fleece annually, while the Cash-
mere sheds its undercoat only. The value of the mohair ranges
from 25 cents to 40 cents per pound. For pashm there appears to
be no stable market, but it usually brings at the manufacturer's
from $4 to $7 a pound. A writer in the Penny Magazine (London)
in 1838 says: "The wool is first combed from the animal in the
mountains of Tibet, where it is sold for nearly 5 shillings a pound.
It is packed in baskets and sent to Cashmere where it pays a duty
on entry. It is there bleached with rice llour, spun into threads,
and taken to the bazaar, where another tax is paid upon it. The
thread is then dyed, the shawl is woven, and the border sewed on."
This is the material from which the famous Paisley shawls were
made. Mohair was never used for this purpose except as an
adulterant.

Mr. DiehPs description of the Cashmere follows : "This variety
of the wool -bearing or shawl goat, as it is often called, is spread

ANGOKA GOAT RAISING.

over Tibet, Northern India, and the regions to the easl of the l
pian Sea. It is somewhat smaller than the common and Angora
goat. 1 1 has straight, round, pointed horns, pendant ears, Lfi
covered with straighl and falling long, fine, flat, Bilky hair, with an
undercoat in winter of a delicate greenish wool, of but 2 t<
ounces each, which latter alone constitutes the fabric from which
the celebrated shawls are made. Ten goats furnish only enough
for a shawl \l/2 yards square; but this is often found differing both
in color and the quality of the wool, or rather the fine hair, of
which the fleece is composed. The principal points in the most
approved breeds are large ears, the limbs slender and cleanly
formed, the horns not spirally twisted, and, above all, the fleece
being long, straight, fleecy, and white."

CHAPTER IIL

IMPORTERS AND IMPORTATIONS.
The Davis Importation.

Mention has already been made of the fact that the first im-
portation of Angora goats into the United States was made by
Dr. James B. Davis, of Columbia, S. C. These came to this country
under the name of Cashmeres and they bore that name for several
years afterward. The exact number of this importation is a
matter of doubt, since Mrs. White, a daughter of Doctor Davis,
states that there were ten of them. Col. Eichard Peters says there
were nine; Col. Wm. L. Black, author of "A New Industry" (An-
gora goat), says there were nine, but two were kids. Schreiner,
in "The Angora Goat," says nine. Whether nine or ten, it makes
little difference at this time except so far as it is desirable to
make historical records accurate. Among the number which left
Asia Minor was a Tibet buck and doe (true Cashmeres), but the
buck died during the voyage. The doe was crossed with Angora
bucks, but the progeny, according to the observation and experience
of Colonel Peters, were unable to withstand the climate and all
soon died.

All attempts to get goats out of the interior of Asia Minor
have met with great difficulty. While Doctor Davis did not him-
self make the journey in search of those he brought home with
him, his agent appears to have met with many obstacles. The
Country Gentleman for 1856 contains an article by one Eichard
Allen, of Tennessee, from which the following is taken : "While
there he [Doctor Davis] determined to procure the goat from its
native wilds. The story of the journey would be too tedious for
my brief letter, and I will merely add that, with an expensive out-
fit at Constantinople, a perilous journey of months, and the loss
of many men and camels, he succeeded in capturing and carrying
away eleven of the famous animals, whose fleeces, in the shape of
shawls, are so highly prized and coveted by the ladies of all civil-
ized nations and for which prices almost startling have been paid
by the wealthy." In the light of later efforts to obtain goats from
Asia Minor, we may easily believe the story recited above; in the
light of history and later experience, however, it is now known that

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. Sfl

the remarks concerning the value of the fleece did Dot apply to
the animals which had been secured.

An account of how Doctor Davis obtained these animals, as
furnished the author by Mrs. White, will prove interesting, and is
as follows: "Doctor James B. Davis, hearing from Bishop South-
gate, who had been in Persia as a missionary of the Episcopal
church, of these silken-fleeced goats, realized their value and the
importance of introducing them into his own country. He sent
a trusty messenger to a native friend of Bishop Southgate, to whom
a letter was written explaining the wish of Doctor Davis to obtain
Cashmere goats of the purest blood; and, being familiar with
che country and with the breed of goats that were desired, he pur-
chased for Doctor Davis ten pure-blood Cashmere goats and one
pair of Tibet shawl goats. Whether these were the genuine
Cashmere, as Doctor Davis believed, or not, there has certainly
never been any importation of goats made subsequent to this one
that has equaled the Cashmeres purchased in Persia by this native
Persian for Doctor Davis and by him imported into the United
States. The messenger sent by Doctor Davis was absent several
months, and the Doctor thought the effort to purchase these goats
was a failure. Finally the messenger returned with the goats.
These were brought to the model cotton farm furnished Doctor
Davis by the Sultan of Turkey for experimenting in the raising
of cotton in Turkey. The ten Cashmere goats lived, but one of the
Tibet shawl goats died, and only the ewe goat was brought to the
United States. The goats were brought down from the mountains
to Dr. Davis on the farm near San Stefano on camels driven by
the usual camel drivers."

The Chenery Importations.

Winthrop W. Chenery, of Belmont, near Boston, is generally
credited with the second importation and also with the third.
However, W. G. Hughes furnished Schreiner with information
that in 1856 or 1857 the second importation was by Richard Peters
and C. S. Brown, and the number of animals was "six or eight."
Colonel Black1 says of the Chenery importation, upon the authority
of Wm. M. Landrum : "The second importation was made by
Mr. W. W. Chenery, of Boston, Mass., about the year 1861, which
consisted of twenty head, but they were affected with the Asiatic
scab, and all died."

The following remarks on two importations, both by Chenery,
were published in the latter part of 1862 in the Massachusetts

*A New Industry, p. 48.

38 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

Ploughman : "Two importations of these beautiful animals, pur-
chased in Constantinople and consigned to planters in the South,
have been landed upon the inhospitable shores of Massachusetts,
where they still remain to illustrate, under the fostering care of
one of our most experienced importers and breeders of stock, their
capacity for acclimation in that latitude and their commercial
value to the farmer and the manufacturer. The importations of
the Angora, or Cashmere, goats to which we refer are at the High-
land Stock Farm of Winthrop W. Chenery, of Belmont, near
Boston.

"The first of the two lots, consisting of thirty-nine animals in
Mr. Chenery' s hands, was shipped at Constantinople on the 26th
of March, 1861, and arrived at Boston on the 15th of May, except
two animals which died on the passage. They remained in Boston
until the 21th, during which time they were sheared, and were then
taken to Mr. Chenery's farm. They were turned to pasture in the
daytime and carefully housed at night.

"The second lot, consisting of forty-one head, left Constanti-
nople on the 6th of October, 1861, in the same vessel, and arrived
here on the 25th of November with the loss of only one upon the
passage.

"In the whole flock, eighty in all, there were about a dozen
males, and all the animals wintered well. The flock was increased
by the addition of sixteen kids in the spring, but, in consequence
of night exposure after shearing through the ignorance or care-
lessness of the man who had the care of them, the animals suf-
fered much and twenty-four died."

Mr. Landrum is authority for the statement that Mr. Chenery
made a further shipment of twenty head in 1866 and still another
of twenty head in 1867 ; and that about thirty only of the forty
arrived alive.

The Brewer Importation.

This was an importation of real Cashmeres rather than An-
goras, or so-called Cashmeres, and is mentioned here only as an
item interwoven with the early history of Angora importations.
There were nine in the lot. They were purchased of a captain of
a vessel from the Mediterranean. A previous arrangement was
probably made with the captain of this vessel, as one George Trow-
bridge, a friend of Brewer, says that the latter gentleman imported
them from Turkey. In 1859 Colonel Peters purchased out of this
flock "a purebred male Tibet goat and three females having the
appearance of being half Tibet, half Angora," as he himself
states.

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. ii'J

The Stiles Importation.

The Country Gentleman of 18G0 gives a very brief account of
the importation of eight Angoras, which at the time were said to
be the first to arrive after the Davis importation. It is said that
they had been brought about a thousand miles inland and shipped
from Smyrna. The exact date of their arrival has not been fixed.
No records have come to light giving any date, but the nearer is
the notice in the Country Gentleman for January 29, 1860, which
says "recently." Schreiner does not mention the importation,
neither does Landrum, and Black, quoting from a letter by J.
Washington Watts, who was for many years a goat breeder, and
a personal friend of Doctor Davis, and who still lives, says they
came "just before the war/' Mr. Watts purchased a doe out of
this importation. He said these goats were "larger and stouter
than the Davis goats, but inferior in fleece."

Tlie Diehl and Brown Importation.

An importation was made by Israel S. Diehl, who had been
United States consul at Batavia, and Charles S. Brown, of New-
ark, N". J. It is difficult to fix the exact date of the coming of
these goats, but it was probably during the year 1867. It could
not have been later, for the Country Gentleman for December 12,
1867, says: "One hundred and sixty of these goats, purchased in
Asiatic Turkey by Mr. Israel S. Diehl, recently arrived in this
country, and have been placed on the farm of Mr. C. S. Brown, of
Newark, N. J. Mr. Diehl was commissioned by the United States
Agricultural Department last April to visit the Angora country
and obtain all possible information regarding the goats, the best
method of raising them, etc."

Mr. C. P. Bailey furnished the money for the transportation
of these goats to California with the understanding that he should
have the first choice at their sale. He says of them: "Some of
these goats were fairly good and some were only ordinary. They
were conceded to be the best imported up to that time. They were
of medium size, and, with the exception of the neck, tolerably well
covered with fleece, which, however, had a scattering of kemp
throughout."

The Eutichides Importation.

There is nothing at hand to show the exact date of arrival of
this importation. Landrum says they came in 1871 and Schrenier
says 1870. Landrum says "about one hundred were landed" out
of two hundred shipped from Turkey. Schreiner says one hundred
and seventy-five were shipped. The records all state that many

40 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

that were shipped died of Asiatic scab during the voyage and many
others after their arrival here.

A. Eutichides was a native Turk, and the goats he imported
were from his father's flock. The animals which survived the dis-
ease were poor grades and failed to bring the prices that he ex-
pected to get. Whatever the number may have been in this im-
portation, there is evidence of record that they were kept for a
time at Owings Mills, Md., near Baltimore. This statement
appears in an article published in the Country Gentleman of Feb-
ruary 4, 1875, signed by the initials "M. S. C." This writer says
he purchased two of these goats, paying $125 each for them. He
gives more of his experience, as follows: "Soon after I had pur-
chased my pair of goats, Mr. Eutichides proposed that I should take
his whole imported flock to keep on my farm on shares. We came
to an agreement, and the whole flock numbering, I think, about
one hundred and seventy-two head, was brought here [Rapidan
Station, Va.] in midsummer, looking very badly." This move-
ment was attended by all manner of misfortunes, which was prob-
ably due to the Asiatic scab already mentioned, and the corre-
spondent requested Mr. Eutichides to take them away. This he
did, taking them to a farm owned by himself in Appomattox, Va.
Here they probably remained until their shipment to California,
where they were sold at auction at disastrous prices. Eutichides
became discouraged and soon after returned to Thessaly to engage
in farming.

The Harris and Hall Importation.

On April 16, 187 5, John S. Harris, a jolly Scotchman who
still lives to encourage the hundreds of beginners in the Angora
goat industry, started from his home at Hollister, Cal., and trav-
eled via Yokahama, Hongkong, Singapore, and Calcutta on his
way to Tibet with the purpose in view of purchasing goats for his
California farm. Landing in China, it was his purpose to proceed
to Tibet overland. This, however, he found impracticable, and,
going to Calcutta, he went through India to the Cashmere dis-
trict to inspect the famous Cashmere goats of that country. The
home of the Cashmere goat, he found, is in the Himalaya Moun-
tains, 22,000 feet above the level of the sea, in a region of eternal
snows. Knowing that these could not be profitably acclimatized
in California, he concluded to go to Angora, in Asia Minor, but
could not proceed overland on account of war, nor by the way of
the Persian Gulf because of the unsettled state of the country. He
therefore returned to Calcutta and went by way of Ceylon, Indian
Ocean, Red Sea, and Suez Canal to Port Said, over the Taurus

JOHN S. HARRIS, SALEM, OREGON.

42 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

Mountains. He was twenty-one days in crossing these mountains,
and suffered severely from intense cold, snows, etc., with no other
food than black bread and a kind of molasses. Arriving in An-
gora, he purchased two bucks and ten does. With these he started
for the coast. His precious goats were slung in boxes on donkeys,
and mules were taken along to carry provender and baggage. He
endeavored to reach Smyrna, but, after floundering in the moun-
tains several days, he was compelled to return to Angora. Thence
he turned north to Ismid, where he took a train for Constantinople.
His next stop was at Liverpool, where the goats attracted much
attention. They arrived at Baltimore on March 23, 1876. The
goats were all yearlings, and they cost the importers $525 each,
landed at Baltimore.

Mr. Harris was the second person from the United States to
go into the interior of Asia Minor to purchase goats, Israel S.
Diehl being the first. Few people have realized the difficulties and
real dangers which Mr. Harris encountered, especially in India.
He everywhere received the cordial support of the English officers
there, but they all recognized the danger of his going into the
valley of the Cashmere without a knowledge of the language. An
illustration of this fact is shown in two out of several official let-
ters which were written in his interest:

Lahore, Sept. 9, 1875.
My Dear Jenkins:

I give this to a very intelligent man, named John S. Harris, who
has come all the way from California to get a dozen Cashmere buck
goats to improve his stock in his former country.

Considering the man knowing nothing of the language, I think it
shows he is a very sporting character to come so far on such a
speculation and deserves every assistance.

The man is game to go into Cashmere to buy the goats himself, but
he has only a month left before he must leav? the valley again. I
have advised him to go and see you, as I have no doubt you will
admire the fellow's pluck and do all you can to help him, or if you
send a man up to Jummoo, either with him or alone, you could get
from the Maharajah's people the goats. He has money to pay. It is
really a very enterprising thing and you are just the man to appre-
ciate and encourage it, so I do not hesitate to ask you to help him.

Best regards. Yours sincerely,

M. Henry Nesbet.

[PostofRce illegible.]
Sept. 11, 1875.
My Dear Henderson:

1 can not arrange better than by letting Mr. Harris go through by
the Jummoo route. He seems a man who, from what Nesbet says,
should be encouraged, and in this I agree; yet to let him go in by the
Jummoo route, gritty as he is, without knowing a word of the language,
would be madness.

I am rather surprised, to tell you the truth, at Nesbet sending him
on ahead, as I could not get him passed on earlier by the Jummoo

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. \:,

route, as there will be a difficulty about supplies, etc. He has arrived
here without a servant and there are [none] I could get here whom I
could trust him with. He does not know a word of the language.

I have tneretore recommended him to go in by Murree, where he
will have a cnance of getting a servant, etc.

For this purpose I give him this letter, open, so that may

read it and help him on with a letter to the Cashmere post. He tells
me that he wants to go into Cashmere to get the goats himself, as he
wants to see how they are kept, fed and cared for. I dare say I could
get him the goats through the Jummoo people, but this does not seem
to suit him. Please afford him every aid in your power, and oblige,

Yours sincerely,

C. Jenkins.

It is interesting to note in connection with this account that
Mr. Harris was the first person to send a cable dispatch from An-
gora to the United States. He was given a receipt for the cost of
the dispatch and it is now in his possession. On the back of the
telegram, over the signature of the British Consular Agent at An-
gora, is a statement of the fact just mentioned.

The IFeters, or Jenks, Importation.

This is another importation for which no definite date has
been fixed. Landrum says they came in 1873, but this is probably
an error of typography. Schreiner gives the year as 1879, which
may be correct, but there is room for doubt. A daily paper of
Boston, dated January 31, 1880, gives an account of the arrival of
the goats on the steamer Dorian, from Constantinople direct. The
evidence therefore is that they arrived about the latter part of
January, 1880. They were imported by C. W. Jenks, of Boston,
for Colonel Peters. The daily paper referred to says of them:
"They were brought some hundreds of miles on mule back to the
coast from the province of Geredeh, in the interior of Asia Minor.
The Angoras heretofore received in this country have been from
provinces near the coast, and are smaller, with fleeces of four, five
and six pounds. The Geredeh breed is larger, with fleeces of eight.
ten, twelve, and, in some cases, fifteen, pounds weight of mohair,
very fine and silky."

The number in this lot was three. Colonel Peters did not
hesitate to say that their mohair was inferior to that of the goats
from Angora. It was an unsatisfactory importation.

Fink & Company Importation.

This was an importation of four animals — two bucks and two
Qoes — from Delagoa Bay. They arrived at New York on August
13, 1886, on the steamship Lydian Monarch, consigned to E, A.
Slnilts, ami were for Fink & Company, of Leon Springs, Tex.

44 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

They were the first goats to come to us from South Africa, and
seem to have been a very poor lot. So little has been heard of them
that many goat raisers have doubted that there ever was such an
importation; but there are sufficient records to show that the
goats arrived as stated above. Schreiner mentions the same ship-
ment, and says that they came from the farm of J. B. Evans, of
Graaff Reinet. He also says they were reported as being "a fine
lot."

The C. P. Bailey &, Sons Company Importation.

With the exception of Fink & Company, this firm is the only
one that has imported goats from South Africa. In 1893 they
purchased from R. Cawood, Ganna Hock, Cradock, South Africa,
two bucks and placed them with their flock at San Jose, Cal. These
animals were selected for points, and their blood has greatly bene-
fited the Bailey stock.

In 1899 they imported another buck from South Africa. One
of the points they particularly desired in this new buck was an
increased amount of oil in the hair and he proved to have a very
oily fleece — more oily than they would wish in their own flocks —
but the offspring have, in their estimation, exactly the amount of
oil desired.

The last importation of this firm, and the last one that has come
from any foreign land, was in 1901. Willard C. Bailey personally
visited every goat raising section of Asia Minor in the latter part
of 1900 and the early months of 1901, and in Angora vilayet pur-
chased four animals for export. Notwithstanding the decree of the
Sultan of 1881 that no further export of Angora goats should be
permitted, Dr. Bailey succeeded, by some sort of means, in getting
out with four animals. He states that the Turkish government
threw every possible inconvenience in his way, yet he carried with
him an honorary commission from the United States Department
of Agriculture. The goats duly arrived at the Bailey farm in
California in good condition, after a long journey, and are pro-
nounced excellent individuals.

Dr. Bailey's notes of his search for goats through Asia Minor —
notes on the people, their customs and habits, their agriculture,
their animals, etc. — are very interesting. With reference to his
difficulty in getting the goats out of the country, he says: "A
ride on mule back, then on camels ; a trip in a closed carriage ;
then to be tightly packed in a sack and carried for miles on a man's
back; next to be given a hay ride on the Bosphorous (under a boat
load of loose hay) ; to be shorn in cold weather and run through
coal dust, only to look the1 death ax in the face, but to be saved

DR. W. C. BAILEY.

4() ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

1 1\ the 'golden wand*; through the streets of the oriental capital in
an open wagon, but looking more like dead animals than live ones;
even now to he stopped three times by customs officials and the
police, and as many times passed. They are out of the Ottoman
Empire now, but they have yet a long and tiresome trip."

Dr. Bailey is one of the three men who have gone into the
interior of Asia Minor for goats. His predecessors were Diehl
and Harris. He is the only one who has ventured upon such an
errand since the Sultan prohibited further exportations, which was
in 1881.

Tlie L;i imI in in Importation*

On April 26, 1901, there arrived at New York two South
African yearling bucks, for William M. Lanclrum, of Laguna,
Tex., the veteran breeder of Angoras. They were seventy days on
the journey to New York, and reached their new home on May 2.
These two goats were bred in South Africa by K. C. Holmes, their
sire being Dick, which was the prize buck at the Port Elizabeth
show in 1900.

These goats have not yet been on exhibition, but some of their
kids have been exhibited and were prize winners at the exhibit of
the American Angora Goat Breeders' Association in 1902. They
possessed most excellent qualities, and by seeing them one is almost
ready to indorse what Mr. Landrum says, in the following words,
of his imported bucks: "These are the most perfect goats I have
ever seen, and I have seen all but a very few of all that have been
imported to the United States. Those who thought that there
are no first-class Angoras in South Africa have been mistaken.
Pasha is a better goat than any that ever came to America from
Turkey, and these are even more perfect than Pasha. Of the
goats from Turkey, some have had one fine point and some another,
but I have never seen a goat before with all the good points these
have. The Davis goats had the finest fleece in the world, but it
was confined to their sides. Their bellies and throats were naked,
and they had coarse hair on their backs. Diehl had some good
goats but none perfect. Chenery had four or five almost perfect
does, but no bucks to equal them. A perfect animal in any breed
is hard to get."

Concerning Future Importations*

The probabilities are that it will be many years before there
are any further importations. The prohibitive decree of the Sultan
of Turkey, issued in 1881, has already been mentioned, and there
is nothing to justify a hope that it will be repealed. There are

48 ANGORA GOAT RAISING-

wry few people who would take all the risks that Doctor Bailey
took and there are fewer still who would succeed. South Africa
lias provided for an export tax of £100 on each Angora goat. Al-
though this is not now in force, it may be made effective at any
time when the goat raisers may desire it. Besides, the presence
in South Africa of contagious diseases which affect goats, sheep,
and cattle, has caused the Bureau of Animal Industry to quaran-
tine against goats and other ruminants from that country. How
long this situation will remain no one can tell.

CHAPTER IV*

NUMBER OF ANGORA GOATS AND PRODUCTION OF MOHAIR.
Number in the United States.

Previous to the year 1899 the very large majority of the An-
gora goats in the United States were located in Texas, New
Mexico, Arizona, California, and Oregon; there were some States
which probably did not have a dozen within their borders. At
the present time, however, they may be found in every State and
Territory. The increase in numbers has not been so great, but
the spread over such a large territory in three years is little less
than marvelous, and could have been brought about by nothing
less than American energy.

The goat men were very desirous that the census of 1900 should
show the number of Angoras in the United States, and the director
of the census, recognizing the need of such statistics, directed that
this work be done. As the report which is published does not
differentiate between the breed, the public accepts the explanation
that the failure rests with, the enumerators. The statistics which
the goat men desire — but which will probably not be forthcoming
for several years — will give the number of Angoras and common
goats, and the Angoras will be divided into the various crosses upon
the common breed.

The number of goats of all breeds reported by the census of
1900 was 1,918,904, of which number 47,652 we're in cities and
villages. This number was so great as to cause surprise. No one
had an idea that there were so many. They had not figured in
the markets*as meat; their skins were hardly mentioned as a prod-
uct for our leather goods manufactures ; any considerable numbers
actually kept for milk were seldom heard of; and, although com-
mon goats will eat brushwood as readily as Angoras, their use for
this purpose had never been noted. Yet it was the few Angoras
only among these 2,000,000 goats which had made any impression
upon the country. All of which leads one to suspect the accuracy
of the census figures. However, the lark of information to the
contrary compels us to accept these figures. The accompanying
table, compiled from the census reports, shows the number and
value of goats of all breeds in the several States and Territories,

50

A Nil OR A GOAT RAISING.

and also the number of farms on which they were found. This
table does not include those in cities and villages.

NUMBER AND ATAL,UE OF GOATS, ALL BREEDS, ON FARMS IN THE UNITED STATES

IN 1900.

State or Territory.

Alabama .

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

District of Columbia

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Indian Territory

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire —

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

"Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Total

Number
of farms
report-
ing.

633

436

571

579

620

73

4*

6

154

716

19

68

642

518

733

007

995

144

723

70

227

145

537

498

431

754

61

488

39

61

200

874

576

089

142

025

277

178

763

16

643

252

663

,742

93

41

004

165

219

534

47

77.534

Number.

117.413

98.403

51.839

109.021

37.433

313

143

9

43.705

81.624

653

4.481

8 877

4.484

10.529

41.468

18.288

11.967

38.308

279

1.179

1.254

2.861

3.821

55,388

24.487

1,713

2,399

4.633

208

699

224,136

1.316

42.901

1.122

5.432

3.772

109.661

2,197

23

26,576

2.915

25,884

627.333

1.427

102

5,305

2.876

847

3.882

2. 666

1,871,252

Value.

$ 91.258

167.863

58.788

262.981

73.141

1,915

519

39

32,639

61,972

731

20.167

19932

8.920

21,538

146.708

71, 29 J

19,75}

35,697

1,091

4.023

7,188

10.008

12,908

45.594

64.786

7,870

9.126

12.948

916

3.006

472.961

6.442

37.997

5,308

16.975

10.854

375.229

8.951

131

24,450

15.050

38.938

923.777

2,702

444

10.002

10,757

2.123

12.760

11.881

88,266.080

It is, of course, impossible for anyone to know how many of
these 2,000,000 goats are of the Angora breed. We may, however,
be permitted to venture a Little guessing. The census gives 961,363
pounds of mohair as the product of 1899. Xow. if we consider
everything as an Angora which produces mohair — from the first
cross to the highest bred animal — the average production of mohair

52 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

per head would be not far from two pounds. This estimate may
be too high. This means, then, that there were about 500,000 An-
goras in 1899. At this time (autumn of 1902) the number of
Angoras of all grades in the United States is not far from 700,000.
It may be said, incidentally, that the number of thoroughbred or
highbred Angoras is very much smaller.

Number in South Africa.

The number of Angora goats in Cape Colony in 1891, accord-
ing to the census returns, was 3,184,018. W. Hammond Tooke
has estimated the number for the years 1893 to 1898 to be as
follows :

Number.

1893 2.811,306

1894 2.619.708

1895 2,611,083

Number.

1896 2 546.981

1897 3.685,080

1898 3,983,811

Elsewhere it is shown that the average annual exportation of
mohair from the Colony for the five years of 1896 to 1900. On
the basis of 3,000,000 goats in 1900, an estimate warranted by Mr.
Tooke's figures, this would show the average weight of the fleeces
to be 3.75 pounds. This, of course, can not be correct. If we
divide the 11,253,470 pounds of mohair exported in 1900 by 2,
which is more likely the average weight of the fleece, we get 5,626,-
735. This must represent pretty nearly the number of Angoras in
South Africa in 1900. The war which decimated the herds of live
stock in that country had a blighting effect upon the goat industry,
and it is very probable at this time that there are not 5,000,000
fleece bearing goats in that country.

Number in Turkey.

The number of Angoras in the vilayet of Angora, in Asia
Minor, can not be given with any degree of approximate accuracy.
There were 1,230,000 there in 1894, according to Schreiner. While
the best goats are in this vilayet and a greater number are there
than in any other, it is a fact that there are many iVngoras in other
parts of Asia Minor. It is well known that practically all of the
mohair product is exported to Bradford, and the declared exports
to that market show an annual average for the years 1896 to 1900
of 9,316,477 pounds. An English authority, who is thoroughly
familiar with the Angora goat industry of Turkey, says the average
weight of the fleeces is under 3 pounds. Let us suppose it to be
2^4 pounds ; this would indicate the number of goats to 3,726,000.
This same English authority says the number of goats there lias
been stationary for the last twenty years. The testimony of others
who are familiar with the industry there agrees with his. There

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54 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

appears to be no further opportunity for expansion under the con-
ditions and method s which now obtain and the Turk will be slow
to change his methods or to accept new ideas.

Production of Mohair in the United States.

The census collected statistics on "mohair and goat hair" (all
was probably mohair), and ascertained the quantity produced in
1899 to be 961,364 pounds. The Bureau of Animal Industry,
however, in correspondence with some of the leading mills which
handle mohair, found that the four largest consumers used 1,077,-
000 pounds in 1899. Three of them used 1,089,550 pounds in
1900, and 1,327,095 in 1901. It might be argued that the mills
purchased mohair which had been held over in store from a pre-
vious year; but that hardly explains the increased production for
three consecutive years, and leads one again to suspect the accuracy
of the census figures. It must be remembered, also, that several
mills which were not mentioned consumed a considerable quantity
of mohair. So it is pretty safe to say that the production of Amer-
ican mohair was about 1,000,000 pounds in 1899, with a small
annual increase for the years since that time.

The accompanying table compiled from census reports, shows
for 1899 the quantity of mohair produced by States and Terri-
tories, the total value of the same, and the value per pound in each
State. The average value per pound for the whole country was
27.8 cents.

ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

■ >■>

QUANTITY AM) VALUE OF MOHAIR AM) GOAT HVIK PBODUCSD i.v 1899.
FROM REPORTS OF THE TWELFTH I I..N

State.

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Indian Territory

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Massachusetts..

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina.
North Dakota . .

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania. ..
Rhode Island...
South Carolina.
South Dakota . .

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia...

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Total

Quantity.

27

1

169

1

11

Pounds.
469
030

763

,?70
,843
465

20
726
.688
.793
867
760
.080
.066
524
385
105
,120
.833
556
268
,203
,750
,801
,590

30
,545
383
416
,220
469
693
,780
720

10

73
693
486
810
459
5
343
000
140
514
100

10
2
5

10

113

1
267

1

1

274

961,364

Value.

Dollars.

140

7,326

487

45,665

550

177

8

215

3,989

751

282

126

8.607

1,077

163

92

21

396

419

180

84

2,798

824

1.725

3,672

9

29,917

155

97

448

112

187

74.363

242

2

26

683

438

77.478

142

2

113

1,097

43

145

2.112

$267,875

Value

per

pound.

CV-nts.
20 8
-'T.'.t

25 3
269
20.8
38
40
296
34.1
27
32 5
16.6
30.6
26.5
31
23.8
20
35.3
22.8
32.3
31.7
27.4
30
30
35
30
26.4
40
23
36.7
24

26 7
20.3
33.3
20
35.6
40.3
29
28.2
31
40
33
27.4
30.7
28.2
29.7

27.8

Foreign Uloliair in Competition.

Returns to the Bureau of Animal Industry from the mills men-
tioned above show that they consumed 1,119,465 pounds of im-
ported mohair in 1899, 369,475 pounds in 1900, and 1S;U37
pounds in 1901. The reduced quantity of the imported product
was not due to the increased quantity of the domestic product, for
that increase was but slight, but to the fact that mohair manufac-
tures have not been "in fashion'* for two or three years. Official
reports show that we imported from Turkey, during the fiscal year
of 1901, mohair to the value of $68,794.56.'

Turkey is sending to England about 9,000,000 pounds of mo-

56

ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

hair annually, and the Cape of Good Hope and other British pos-
sessions 11,253,470 pounds; but so long as we are importers and
not seeking a foreign market, these do not enter into competition
with us. The conditions of our own country are so well adapted
to the Angora industry that the time is not far in the future when
it is probable that we shall produce more than domestic consump-
tion demands ; then we shall attack the problem of foreign compe-
tition with every feaure in our favor.

Mohair Product of Turkey.

There are no exact statistics available on the mohair production
of Turkey; but it is known that practically all of the produfct is
exported and that it goes to Bradford, England. The reports of
receipts of mohair in that market, therefore, will enable us to form
an estimate of the Turkish production, and they are quoted here-
with for a series of years, as given by Schreiner upon good author-
ity:

Pounds.

1875 5.321.000

1876 4 420,000

1877 5,984.000

1878 4.641,000

1879 5.831.000

1880 8.245.000

1881 4.221,780

1882 9.065 250

1883 7 256.960

1884 9,019 860

1885 6,373,640

Pounds.

1886 9,825,320

1887 5,612.550

1888 7 509.070

1889 8,844.080

1890 4,120,220

1891 6,496.115

1892 7.774,541

1893 8.005,887

1894 6.889.165

1895 11,000,000

Year.

Pounds.

4,829.410
10,701.390
10,161,869
12.351.342

8.538,374

Value.

1896

Si. 842. 734

1897

3.611.931

1 898

3.888.922

1899

4.392,367

1900

2,903,116

The returns for the years 1896 to 1900 are from reports of the
Section of Foreign Markets of the Department of Agriculture,
and are declared exports from Turkey to England.

The reason for the wide fluctuations between years, which are
sometimes very great, can be explained only on the supposition
that not all of the mohair product of one year was exported, but
was held back and placed upon the market the next year. The
product could not vary in quantity as the exports have done. The
average annual exports for 1896 to 1900 was 9,316,477 pounds,
with an average annual value for the same period of $3,327,814.

Moh&ir Product of Cape Colony.

With Cape Colony, as with Turkey, estimates of the production

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ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

of mohair must be based upon the exports ; practically none of the
product is consumed in the Colony.

Schreiner furnishes the official figures of exports of mohair
from 1857 to 1898, and the same are quoted herewith:

Pounds.

1857 870

1858

1859 502

1860 385

1861 784

1862 1,036

1863 1,354

1864 8,104

1865 6,992

1866 21,165

1867 50.832

1868 102,570

1869 260,932

1870 403,153

1871 536,292

1872 876.861

1873 765,719

1874 1,036,570

1875 1,147.453

1876 1,323,039

1877 1,433,774

Pounds.

1878 1,358.395

1879 2.288.116

18,80 2.590.232

188*1 4.U6.128

1882 3,776,657

1883 4.443.971

1884 ■... 4.329,355

1885 5.251.301

1886 5,421,006

1887 7.153,730

1888 9.598.768

1889 9.442,213

1890 9,235,249

1891 9.953.548

1892 10,516,837

1893 9,457,278

1894 10.003.173

1895 11,090,449

1896 10,001.028

1897 12.583,601

1898 10,876,014

The Section of Foreign Markets of the Department of Agri-
culture has compiled statistics of exports for the years 1896 to
1900 showing the exports from British Possessions, including Cape
of Good Hope, Madras, Bombay, Natal, and places of lesser impor-
tance, and the same are quoted herewith:

Year.

1896
1897,
1898.
1899.
1900.

Pounds.

10.024,399
12,058,490
10.686,730
14,060.404
9,437,324

Value.

B2. 63 1.560
3,088,130
3,152.387
4.155.986
3,055.262

The average annual production for these five years was 11,-
253,470 pounds, with an annual average value of $3,216,665.

The Question of Overproduction.

The question of overproduction of mohair has already been
raised, but the most careful scanning of future conditions fails to
reveal such a situation. The fact must be kept in mind that
the larger part of the domestic product is of inferior quality and.
of course, brings a reduced price. The same is true of the South
African product. The great demand now is for a quality suitable
for plushes, and these cheaper grades do not answer the purpose;
consequently the demand for the low grades is growing weaker and
weaker. The result is that the mohair growers are doing all that
energy and intelligence can accomplish to produce the best — the
kind which the market demands now and shall always call for.

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. 58

While we in this country arc already doing wonders toward this
desirable end, it will require many years to produce enough to
supply domestic consumption. Therefore the coming of the day

when we shall he producing a surplus of firsi quality of mohair
is far in the future. In this connection it will be interesting to
read an article from H. M. Williamson, editor of the Oregon Agri-
culturist and Rural Northwest (September, 1902), a gentleman
who has had a grasp of the Angora goat situation in this country
for many years:

"As to the probable growth in the use of mohair we can get
some indications from what has already been done. The- exports
of mohair from Turkey increased from 1,247,000 pounds in 1839
to about 11,000,000 pounds in 1895. The exports from South
Africa increased from 870 pounds in 1857 to over 11,000,000
pounds in 1895. In a period of fifty years ending with 1895 the
world's supply of mohair increased from about 2,000,000 pounds
lo 22,000,000 pounds. The period of most rapid increase was from
1875 to 1895, when the combined exports from Turkey and South
Africa rose from 6,468,453 pounds to a little over 22,000,000
pounds. Although there was a large increase in the exports of
mohair from Turkey prior to 1875, there was no material change
or reduction of prices. The lowest price for Turkish mohair at
Bradford, England, between 1862 and 1876 was 2s. 4d. per pound,
and the highest was 3s. lOd. In 1876 the price was 3s. 9d. The
price then began to go down and went down pretty steadily until
1888, when the price of Turkish mohair in Bradford ranged from
12d. to 14d. per pound. The total supply of mohair that year was
in excess of 17,000,000 pounds, as compared with less than 6,500,-
000 pounds thirteen years before. The rate of increase of pro-
duction during that interval had been too rapid, apparently. Since
1888 the increase in the production of mohair has been at a much
lower rate. It is not probable that the world's supply last year
exceeded 25,000,000 pounds, or 8,000,000 pounds more than the
supply in 1888, showing not merely a greatly reduced percentage
of increase for the thirteen years as compared with the previous
thirteen, but an actual falling off of increase from 10,500,000
pounds for the first period to 8,500,000 pounds for the second
period. Prices during the past thirteen years have fluctuated ma-
terially, hut the prices of Turkish mohair have never fallen below
those of 1888 and for the past five years have been from 25 to 50
per cent higher than they were in that year. We may assume,
therefore, that the rate of growth of increase in the use of mohair
has been sufficient to take up fully the increase in production.
This applies strictly, however, only to Turkish mohair. There has

gO ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

been a serious falling off in the price of South African mohair in
the past year or two, due to the fact that the demand is for finer
fibered hair than most of that produced in South Africa. The
production of mohair has grown comparatively slowly in South
Africa since 1888. The mohair growers were, however, more pros-
perous than the wool growers until very recently. We lack knowl-
edge upon which to base a guess as to the future increase of pro-
duction there, but know of no reason which will operate to make
the increase more rapid in the future than it has been since 1888.
The United States is the only country in which the increase in
the production of mohair is likely to be very rapid in the imme-
diate future. The production in this country in 1900 was about
the same as it was in South Africa in 1875. If production in-
creases as fast in this country as it did in South Africa we shall
be producing over 5,000,000 pounds in 1910. In view of the pres-
ent volume of mohair produced in the world and the rate at which
its use has been increasing, an increase of 4,000,000 pounds in
the production in the United States in ten years should not dis-
turb the market or injuriously affect prices. It is possible that
the increase may be greater than 4,000,000 pounds. It would be
possible to increase the production in ten years from 1,000,000
to 10,000,000 pounds. There is no probability of such an in-
crease and it would not be desirable. To make such an increase
would mean no improvement in the average quality of the mohair
produced in this country.

"There is already too much low-grade mohair produced both
in South Africa and the United States, but the conditions are not
such as to warrant any fear of overproduction of mohair of fine
quality for many years to come, nor is it likely that the prices of
mohair equal in quality to Turkish will average lower than they
have been during the past four or five years."

If a moment's thought is given to the many uses to which
mohair is now put and to which it may be put in the future, it
is difficult to conceive of a surplus at any time. It must not be
forgotten that mohair has a field all its own in most respects,
and it is a thrifty competitor in some other fields. Its beauty and
durability will recommend it for a host of things which are now
made of wool or other fiber. The pages devoted to mohair and
mohair manufactures are full of reasons why there is not likely
to be an overproduction. The most essential thing at this time
is to have mohair divorced from the caprices of fashion and be-
come a staple on the market as distinct as wool or cotton.

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CHAPTER V.

BROWSING AND PASTURAGE.
Goats Are Browsers oy Nature.

Goats are browsers by nature, and there is no vegetation which
they will eat in preference to the leaves and twigs of bushes. This
fact establishes them at once as an intolerable nuisance in the
orchard and the garden or any other place where desirable shrub-
bery may be growing, but it was this characteristic which com-
mended them to the farmers of this country as destroyers of use-
less brushwood. They are omnivorous eaters of brushwood, briers,
and weeds, but seem to be careful to avoid that character of vege-
tation which other kinds of live stock prefer. Every leaf and
twig within their reach is greedily eaten, even to most of the
bushes and weeds that are considered poisonous to other ruminants,
while a remarkably few weeds are passed by. They will desert
the finest clover and blue grass for such an outlay.

As Brushwood Ha terminators.

A patch of brushwood which may be so dense that a man can
not get through it will soon be converted into an open woodlot if
Angoras are permitted to operate upon it. In this effort to get
the leaves and twigs, they will stand on their hind feet and strip
a sapling to a height of five or six feet. They will do more than
that. With an instinct approaching human intelligence, a single
animal will get astride a small sapling and ride it down and hold
it there until it is completely stripped of leaves and twigs by as
many goats as may be able to get at it. This will explain why
so many saplings are seen which are stripped to a greater height
than any goat could possibly reach. Oftentimes they will strip
the bark from young trees. Their habits in this respect, however,
are erratic. Sometimes they will run among the saplings for
weeks without touching the bark of a single one, and then, as if
for the very fun of the work, all will begin some morning to tear
the bark off most vigorously.

A thousand men have wondered why the goat had not been
used as a brush exterminator years and years ago, for his habits
have been known since the days of Abraham and even before; but

ANGORA GOAT RAISING 63

lie was not so employed, and when he was recently brought to the
front as an economic factor he was hailed as a "modern discovery/'

The credit for the discovery of the goat as an economic factor in
the matter of destroying brush is generally conceded to Dr. J. B.
Standley. of Iowa, lie read an article in a consular report con-
cerning the value of milch goats in a foreign country, hut the
objection was made that they destroyed every tree and shrub with
which they came in contact. Instantly the thought occurred to
him that the characteristic which made the goat a nuisance abroad
would make it beneficial on his large tract of land which was idle
and useless because of its dense growth of underbrush. Acting
upon the thought, he went into Texas and secured a carload of
Angora goats and turned them onto his land, with the gratifying
result, now duplicated in every State of the Union, that the brush-
wood had met a master. Upon his recommendation, based upon
his experience, thousands of goats were taken into Iowa for clear-
ing brush land some time before they were seriously considered
elsewhere. Dr. Standley's opinion of goats as brush destroyer s
is given herewith : "Land can be cleared of the worst brush known
to this country for a little less than nothing by Angora goats.
Some one asks how. Simply this: Angora goats will pay a profit
and live on leaves and weeds, leaving the land cleaner and nicer
than can be done in any other way. Many persons have the idea
that goats bark the trees and in that way kill them. They also
think that goats wholly eat the hazel and other small brush.
There is nothing in this. The way in which goats kill brush is by
continually cropping the leaves, which serve as the lungs of the
brush. The continued cropping of the leaves makes the brush, as
it were, sick, caused by lack of nourishment. This sickness sink-
to the very extremity of the roots, thus preventing sprouting.
Any and all kinds of bushes are in this way easily killed. Some
kinds of brush and some kinds of stumps are, of course, much
harder to kill than others. Many varieties are entirely killed by
one summer's trimming of the leaves. Almost any are killed by
two years' trimming. To clear the worst brush do not cut any-
thing that the goats can reach or bend. The tallest or largest is
better not cut. All trees and saplings should be cut and the goats
will keep all the sprouts down. If stumps are allowed to sprout
one year before the goats are turned in, the sprouts need not be
cut. About 200 goats for 40 acres of brush will in two or three
years make the land as clean as a garden. If the pasture has only
patches of brush, turn in a few goats and it will make more grass
for other stock than if the goats were not in. They eat very little
grass when they can get leaves. Goats even like weeds better

64 ANGORA GOAT RAIDING.

than grass. In clearing brush land in the old way by grub and
plow there are always left many eyesores in the way of brushy
nooks and bends and steep places which can not be plowed.

"There are millions of acres of land in nearly every State in
the Union which might be much more than doubled in value by
. the use of Angora goats at no cost at all. Commence and count
the worth of your land, then the fencing, and see if you can afford
to leave your brush land so nearly worthless for all time. Then
count the cost of grubbing and plowing, if indeed such land is
susceptible to the plow. No man can afford to grub and plow
brush land in this day and age of the world any more than he can
afford to plant a large field of corn without a planter. In hilly
or mountainous portions of the country the Angora goat can be
made to do a great service in the way of clearing the underbrush,
when the land will bring grass after the brush is gone. It would
surely be a paying business to buy up large tracts of rough land in
the mountain districts, or indeed any brush land in the United
States, and clear the brush and set in grass. Afterwards, if the
owner liked other stock better, he might dispense with the An-
goras. In many places where the country is too bare to furnish
sheep with sufficient feed goats will do exceedingly well. In many
places where leaves arc abundant and there is scarcely any grass
making it impossible to profitably keep sheep, goats will do ad-
mirably."

The following testimony of Prof. C. D. Woods, director of
the Maine Experiment Station, shows what the Angoras will do in
that part of New England: "In May, 1902, six ewes, one buck,
and five kids were put in an acre of young woodland of a mixed
growth, most of the trees being three to six inches in diameter.
There was a quite thick growth of underbrush. The small under-
brush of birch, maple, hazel bush, etc., have been cleaned up so
that where there are no alders or evergreens the ground under the
trees is as clean as though it had been burned over. Sweet fern
they do not like very well, but they have cleaned all of the hardhack
out of this piece. Ferns and brakes have been eaten to some ex-
tent. They have eaten the leaves and young sprigs of bushes in
preference to grass. Birches two inches or more in diameter they
have not injured, but they have stripped the bark from every
maple. Even maple trees six inches in diameter have been thus
killed. We have found them to be fond of the bark of apple trees,
even eating the bark from old trees.

"To clean up birch or evergreen woodland, they have proven
very effective. There has been practically no cost for the sum-
mer's keeping. The twelve goats have been kept without other

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66 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

food on one .acre of young woodland. They have required no care
other than an occasional visit to see that they are all right and that
they have water."

Here is the experience of another New England gentleman,
W. 0. Corning, of New Milford, Conn. : "I first fenced off ten acres
with American wire fence thirty inches high, and no goat has ever
jumped over that fence yet. I also built a shed for them to stay
in nights and rainy days, which they nightly utilize, and at any
signs of a shower or storm they march into that shed in military
precision, and when the storm is over out they go in like proces-
sion to resume their daily task, like the busy bee. On the 10th of
May these goats were turned into this lot and it was soon evident
that it would be but a short time before they would need a fresh
field. On the 19th of June, just thirty-nine days after turning
the goats in, I had to cut down quite a lot of chestnut trees to
give them leaves to feed upon. This piece of land looked as if a
cyclone had struck it. The goats broke the small brush down and
devoured the leaves of sumachs eight and ten feet high. Grass
soon began to grow, and the present indications are that next year a
fine crop of grass will grow where before it has been almost bar-
ren, now fertilized by these goats.

"The work they have done is beyond my expectations, and what
has been said about their efficiency as brush or land cleaners that
I have read or heard has not been overdrawn."

Now, let us have another testimony, this one from Hon. James
S. Hogg, ex-Governor of Texas, who had a flock of 104 head when
he made this statement: "Goats have a predilection for desserts
very much like the human race, but I never discovered this until
I made this recent purchase. My goats go out in the morning and
feast on briers, young saplings, cacti, and other substantial food
products until about noon, when they turn their attention to this
gear's growth of limbs, including leaves, where they cut six or
seven wide swaths, then along about eventide they finish up on
about 104 saucers of poison oak leaves. They arranged the bill of
fare to suit themselves and manifested no desire for a change.
They are perfectly willing to work for their board and give me
their clothes. They are doing good work, too."

A. Kemble, of Muscatine, Iowa, was the gentleman who readily
paid $1,400 for the sweepstakes buck at the Kansas City exhibit
in 1902, and thousands have questioned his business judgment if
rot his sanity; but the gentleman knew what he was about, for he
was already a goat raiser, and he knew their value. The following
are some of his remarks after he purchased Aztec, the prize buck
mentioned above: "Last March my sons came into possession of

FOUR FAMOUS ANGORAS.
Bred by D. C. Taylor & Son, Lake Valley, New Mexico. No. 1. Toltcc- No 2 Monte-
zuma; No. 3, Champion Aztec; No. 4, Andy Jackson. '

68 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

the Daniel Hayes ranch over in Illinois. The ranch consisted of
about 1,200 acres. Something like 500 acres was in cultivation,
but the other 700 was underbrush and land hardly fit for pasture.
I undertook the supervision of the property, and the first thing
I tried to do was to put as much of it as possible under cultiva-
tion. I tried all sorts of schemes to rid the land of the brush
and clean it up, but by far the best and surest remedy was the
Angora goat scheme. Last May I bought 240 head and they cleared
100 acres in a short time and left a fine growth of blue grass
and clover. In another year what was once a tangled wilderness
filled with wolves, snakes, and the like, will be the finest pasture
land in the country."

The curse of the valuable lands of the Hawaiian Islands is a
shrub, or small tree, known as lantana. The question with the
residents is an important one, as to how to eradicate it. The
writer has several times been asked whether goats would not de-
stroy this shrub as well as others in the States, but it is only
recently that he has seen a statement by a native Hawaiian that
goats had been known to destroy this plant utterly and he rec-
ommended that they be employed in large numbers for the pur-
pose. It is believed they will save 75 per cent of the present cost
of clearing the land. It seems they are trying so-called "scientific
methods" there by attempting to destroy lantana by parasitic in-
sects. The employment of goats may not be so scientific, but it
would certainly be more rational, with every chance of better
success.

Morris Lewis, of Ottawa, 111., has quite recently published the
following statement: "In the spring of 1901 I fenced 47 acres
of the heaviest brush I ever saw. This land is three miles from
Belleville, 111. 1 used. 27-inch woven- wire fencing with two
barbed wires on top. On this 47 acres I put 175 Angora wethers.
In the fall of 1901 I sold 100 of the wethers and wintered the
rest on corn fodder, feeding it on the ground, the goats having
the run of the 47 acres and access to a warm, dry shed. I sheared
the first of April and the mohair more than paid the expense of
wintering. Last spring (March, 1902) I sowed timothy and clo-
ver over this land and I did not see the land again until October,
when I went to Belleville to see what condition the land was in.
There is not a live bush or shrub on the tract and there is a
complete stand of timothy and clover. I find that I will need
the goats no longer. In the spring I will put cattle on this land
and will continue to use it in this way until the stumps are rotted
out, when the land will be put in com. A lady whose land ad-

ANGORA GOAT RAISING 68

joins this pasture was so well pleased with the result that she put
in a load of goats last spring.

"Hereafter 1 will keep only a few purebred goats to keep down
any sprouts and to eat the weeds along the fence lines. Good
goats pay well."

The suggestion contained in the following from H. T. Fuchs,
Marble Falls, Tex., should be of value on thousands of farms
where the cocklebur has almost gained the mastery: "A few years
ago the Colorado Kiver washed away a great deal of my field fence
and covered the bottom land wi+h cockleburs all along the river.
It looked like a forest of cockleburs. To save the crop I had to
build a new fence, joining the river on the upper side of the field,
so that goats could not keep down the weeds along the river inside
of the field, but they kept all the cockleburs eaten up clean so far
as they could go. Last winter I hired help to beat down the ripe
cockleburs from the dead bushes inside the field and built a new
fence of eight wires parallel with the river and opened the whole
bottom to the goats this spring after shearing. At that time the
cockleburs and elder bushes had entirely covered the entire bottom
for the distance of a mile, and it looked like the goats would get
lost in there, but after about two months I had the great pleasure
to see that the bottom was as clean from cockleburs and elder as
pecan gatherers may wish for."

At this time there might be added to the testimony of these
gentlemen that of every one who has used goats for the same
purpose; but, because of this unanimity of sentiment, it is not
deemed necessary to produce more testimony here. It is strange,
however, that statements of this habit of the Angora goat are the
most difficult for people to accept. They believe it is beautiful,
that it gives nutritious milk, that it is good to eat by those who
have no scruples about the matter, and that its fleece is worked
up into fabrics the most beautiful and durable ; but when it is
told how they will convert a wilderness into a rich pasture, doubt
takes possession. Doubters may be assured that the testimony
of the gentlemen who are qouted above is that of thousands of
others at this time, and evidences in the way of the cleared land
itself may now be seen in every Stale.

In those localities where valuable land is completelv subdued
by brushwood the goats are considered of more value for the pur-
pose of clearing it than for their mohair or meat. Thus they
become a most important tool to the farmer. Their value in this
respect must be measured by the value of the land which they ren-
der cultivable. In Oregon it has been estimated that the average
cost of clearing the brush land was $20 per acre; th< <xoats have

70 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

done better work and "boarded themselves." In southern Ohio,
in Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia, and probably in the
Carolinas as well, the cost of clearing away the brush is about
$12 per acre; the goats do it for nothing. Apparently the goats
require mere time to make a perfect job than men, but it is only
apparent ; their work is better done, and they enrich the soil from
the day they first set hoof upon it. Sprouts spring up behind the
grubbing hoe to torment the farmer year after year.

The work of clearing land may be hastened if the trees which
are too large for the goats to manage are felled with the ax. It
is a real pleasure to see a flock of goats pounce upon a tree just
cut down; they enjoy the tops so much that oftentimes they will
interfere with the chopper while waiting for the tree to fall.

It is a good plan to defer the chopping until the winter season,
for two reasons ; it is, first, the most convenient time for the farmer
to do this work; and, second, it affords the goats a supply of
browse at a time when they need it most.

Brushwood as Permanent Pasturage.

The inherent tendency of goats to climb leads them to hill-
sides and rocky cliffs, and they prefer such situations to any of
a level character. Here nature meets their necessities by dwarf-
ing the bushes so they may be browsed easily ; the soil is quickly
drained when there is rain; and the stones serve to keep the feet
trimmed properly by the wearing process. This is the situation
that the goats would choose for themselves, but the farmer in most
cases prefers to confine their operations upon land that will be
more profitable after it is cleared.

There are in the United States millions of acres of brush land
which could be made suitable for little else than goat raising.
It is desirable, then, that such brushwood should not be browsed
to death, but be so manipulated as to provide feed for the goats
year after year. The way to do this is not difficult. One method
would be not to overpasture the land, permitting the brush to
grow as fast as it is consumed. Another practice would be to
pasture one field every three or four years only. As brush must
be subdued continuously for two or three years in order to kill
the roots, the sprouts will grow vigorously after one year of
browsing if the goats are taken away. There are so many more
acres, however, which when cleared will make the richest pas-
turage and cultivable land, it is not at all probable that there
will be any considerable interest manifested in maintaining brush-
wood for goat feed.

The kinds of brush and weeds which goats will feed upon

v<m

, *

KING CROMWELL
OWNED BY(?.CJOHNSTON,LAW|?ENCE,KAS

72 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

cover pretty nearly every variety of vegetation. They are not
fond of hickory and alder, yet there are instances where they have
eaten the latter with apparent greediness. Pine is not a regular
diet, yet they will eat much of it during the year. The broom
sedge, which is such a nuisance in fields in Maryland and the
Virginias, and which will not be touched by other live stock, is
a favorite feed with goats if they can have it as it grows; and
this is one grass which they like to mix with their browse.

One Year of Goating Not Sufficient.

It must not be understood that a piece of land so cleared is
ready for pasturage or the plow after the first year. Nature is
not so easily subdued. Most shrubs will start anew from the roots
and therefore the goats should have the run of the woodlot, for at
least a part of the time, during two or three years, if the purpose
is to convert the land into pasture or to cultivate it. The goats
regard these young sprouts as the most delicate morsels and not
one will be permitted to grow. The result is that all shrubbery
will soon give over the battle and blue grass, if the section is one
where blue grass is indigenous, will rapidly follow. Let the im-
portant fact be mentioned here incidentally that during the time
the goats have been upon such a piece of land they have deposited
very evenly upon it a large amount of the richest kind of manure.
This aids the grass in its efforts to establish itself.

Some Oojectiona Die Features of Brushwood.

The statement has been reiterated over and over by the news-
papers, in mentioning the spread of the Angora goat industry,
that these goats will eat all kinds of poisonous plants without any
harmful results. While there is much evidence pointing to this
conclusion, it ought not to be taken as a settled fact. If ex-
periments were undertaken it might be shown that a plant which is
poisonous to sheep or cattle is also injurious to goats. It is ob-
served that goats feed upon brushwood by snipping off a leaf
here and there — from a pine here and a cedar there, a grass blade
here and a weed top there, and so on; they do not, like the sheep
or cow, eat a weed entirely or strip a bush clean before passing
on. The result is that the goat's stomach is filled with a great
variety of food and not much of any one kind. If by chance a few
poisonous leaves are eaten, they are probably neutralized by the
large quantity of other food eaten.

Upon a farm ir Pennsylvania there was a patch of laurel where
goats had passed it by during the whole season. This was evi-
dence that they knew it was not good for them. Later in the sea-

ANGORAS ON EDGEWOOD STOCK FARM. MENDON, ILL.
Property of Geo. H. Baldwin.

74 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

son several hundred goats were turned into that same pasture
after a long journey and when they were very hungry. The laurel
patch was the only green food in sight and they ate of it greedily.
The next morning found 300 of them very sick and 50 dead. What
haa proved harmless to the goats that had been there when there
was an abundance of other feed proved exceedingly poisonous to
the hungry newcomers.

While it is possible that goats may not eat laurel to such an
extent as to be injurious if placed in a pasture where it is grow-
ing with other browse, it can not be considered a safe practice.
The owner of the Pennsylvania farm referred to found it to be
a short job and not expensive to "snake" out his laurel patches
with a team and log chain. So brushwood need not be aban-
doned because there are patches of laurel upon it.

The laurel best known is the narrow leaf variety (Kalmia
tatifolia). According to Dr. V. K. Chesnut, the Government au-
thority on poisonous plants, this species "is abundant in the north-
eastern section of the United States, where it is also known as
sheep laurel and lambkill. The leaves contain andromedotoxin,
and sheep and calves are quite frequently poisoned by eating
them."

The greenbrier, which appears to have a wide distribution in
the United States, is an enemy to goat raising; not that it is
poisonous, but because of its physical character. It is a climbing
shrub, very wiry, and well covered with very hard and tenacious
thorns. They grow in clumps and to great length, and prefer-
ably on lowland and near creeks or ponds. It is a very easy
matter for these thorns to catch in the fleece and hold the animal
fast until it dies. No goat has strength sufficient to break the
shrub and the thorns do not give way. This shrub should be cut
down with a brush scythe and burned before goats are permitted
to go among them. Where goats have had access to greenbriers
immediately after shearing, when there is no fleece to catch upon
the thorns, they have destroyed the briers by eating the leaves
and by girdling.

It is probable that large blackberry briers may be objection-
able for the same reason, but ordinarily goats will destroy them
v i^hout much difficulty. If goats have an opportunity to get at
any of these briers as they are putting out in the spring, they
will not permit them to mature.

Grass Will Follow the floats.

Eeference was made above to the fact that blue grass often
follows where goats have cleared off the brush and weeds. This,

76 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

of course, is not because the goats have anything to do with the
spread of blue grass, but simply because their work gives the
grass an opportunity. Other grasses native to the locality are
apt to "come in" in the same manner. We have traveled along
our country roads all our lives and seen the grass growing on either
side better than anywhere else when not cultivated, but the thought
never occurred that the same conditions might be brought to
large areas ; yet, all the grass was waiting for was an opportunity
— waiting for the brush and weeds to get out of the way. The
goats attend to this part of the work. The grass comes, and
comes vigorously if the soil is at all rich ; and if the goats are
still on the land, they will not molest it if they can find browse.

Goats as Grazers.

While it is true that goats prefer browse, it is also true that
they will subsist nicely upon grass. So the absence of brushwood
need not deter any one from engaging in the industry if other
conditions appear to warrant the venture. Philo Ogden, of Up-
perlake, Cal., who is a successful breeder and mohair grower, be-
lieves in grass and is opposed to brush as a food for producing
mohair. He says: "The fact is that as the brush disappears from
my range the fleeces become heavier, with less wax, or gum, and
has more luster. Fully 75 per cent of the young stock are larger
than their parents and shear more and finer hair."

John S. Harris, of Salem, Oreg., is also a believer in grass for
goats. He maintains that the fleece grown on grass is superior
in almost every respect. He says a little browse will do no in-
jury, but all grass as feed will do no harm. S. S. Brannin, Silver,
Mont., whose goats subsist largely upon grass, believes, with the
greater number of goat men, that a mixture of diet is the best.
He says all stock become very fat upon the gramma, or buffalo,
grass which grows there, and adds this interesting note : "I have
taken over 20 pounds of rendered tallow out of one three-year-
old wether which dressed 65 pounds."

Browsing Supplements Feeding.

The browsing habits of goats is important in connection with
the question of feeding. In some places they obtain enough
browse to carry them through the winter. This is especially true
in the Southwest, where there is so great an abundance of live
oak. If snow is on the ground, or for other reasons the goats
are deprived of opportunities for foraging, the trees are cut down
for them. They pass through the winter in good condition with
little other feed. Wherever they are deprived of opportunities

ANGORA GOAT RAISIN*;. 7?

for browsing, they must be fed. Browsing saves feed. As far
north as Nevada, C. P. Bailey's goats subsist through the winter
on sagebrush.

Browsing Adds Game Flavor.

It is noted that many of the correspondents heretofore quo-
ted state that it is the browsing of the Angora that gives to the
meat the game flavor, thus leading some to name the meat "Angora
venison." It is also stated that when deprived of browse and fed
on grass and grain, the game flavor disappears. There is no rea-
son why this should not be true, for it is a well-known fact that
flavor may not only be fed into meat, but into milk and eggs as
well.

Common Goats as Brush Destroyers.

The fact must not be overlooked that the brush-destroying
habit is common to all kinds of goats. The common goats will
do the work as well as the Angoras. The latter are employed for
the purpose because they are more plentiful and because there is
profit in their progeny for breeding purposes, their mohair, and
their meat. There are many common goats in the South which
might be employed as brush destroyers, especially if the first cost
of Angoras is considered too expensive. In southern Florida,
where it costs $50 per acre to clear a farm, it might be well to try
the common goat, for the location is probably too low for the
Angoras to thrive well.

Pasturing with. Other Stock.

So far as the goats themselves are concerned, they may be
kept in the pastures where there are sheep, cattle, and horses.
Their presence is in no way obnoxious to any of these animals.
It has already been pointed out that a few of them in a flock of
sheep are a protection against dogs. However, it is not best for
the goats that they be kept in pastures with horses. This is es-
pecially important if there are kids, as the horses have a habit
of playfully chasing any animal that is not large enough to de-
fend itself, and they are apt to strike the kids. It is also impor-
tant that the kids should not be in pasture with hogs, which are
liable to eat them; indeed, the grown goats are apt to be attacked
by the hogs if they should be disabled from any cause.

Number of Goats to an Acre.

This is a question frequently asked, but certainly no thoughtful
person expects a definite answer. The number will depend, first,

78 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

upon the object in pasturing on brush land, whether it is to kill
the brush utterly or to use it as a permanent pasture ; and second,
upon the quantity of feed obtainable. While one acre might be
as dense as a jangle, another might have small thickets alterna-
ting with grass plats. Thus it will be seen that a definite answer
can not be given to this question. There are not many patches of
brushwood so dense that four or five goats to the acre will not
level it during one season. Ordinarily, the tendency is to put too
many goats on a tract, with the result that they soon get into a
starving condition. They must not be expected to climb trees nor
to eat the boles from one to six inches in diameter.

CHAPTER VL

MOHAIR AND MOHAIR MANUFACTURES.
Fleece of the Angora Goat.

The word "mohair" is the technical name for the fleece of the
Angora goat. The word comes to us, through the old French
"mohere," from the Arabic "mukhayyar," meaning mohair cloth.
Il differs from the wool of the sheep in that it does not have the
felting properties of the latter. The felting property of wool is
due to the presence of scales, or epithelia, which cover the fiber
in much the same manner that scales cover fish. It is the felting
property of wool which distinguishes it principally from other
animal fibers. Mohair is a hair proper, being devoid of scales, and
so is not successfully used alone in felt goods.

The fleece upon the goat is pure white, is exceedingly lustrous,
and grows to an average length of 10 inches annually. It hangs
in beautiful wavy curls, or ringlets, from all parts of the body,
if the animal is of the best breeding. The average annual pro-
duction per head of mohair is about 3 pounds. The grade of the
goat has much to do with the weight of the fleece. The first cross
of an Angora buck upon a common doe gives but a small amount
of mohair, but the increase in quantity is notable as the crosses
come higher.

According to tests conducted by Dr. William McMurtrie, and
published by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1886,
mohair is not equal to wool in fineness, but in strain there is a
difference much greater than would be suggested by the larger
fiber. The average wool fiber in these tests stood a strain of 108.79
grains, while the average mohair fiber stood a strain of 295.11
grains. This is a difference of 186.32 grains — much more than
double the strength of wool. It is to this strength of fiber that,
the great durability of mohair goods is ascribed. In stretching
quality there is but a slight difference between mohair and wool.
Dr. McMurtrie makes the point in discussing wools that the indi-
vidual fibers may be variable in size, a condition brought about,
it is supposed, by sudden changes in weather or feed, or by ill
health. Dr. McMurtrie's remarks on this question are applicable
to mohair, and so are copied here somewhat extensively : "In the

80 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

study of the wools constituting the collection under present exam-
ination, one can not avoid being struck with the lack of what
the German authorities term Evenness Treue, or uniformity in
the diameter of the fiber throughout its length; and this property
is probably one of the most important, if it does not even stand
first, in the determination of the commercial and industrial value
of the staple. It is the result of two causes — the one atrophy
of the fiber at certain parts, and the other hypertrophy. In other
words, when we examine a sample of uneven staple with the mi-
croscope, we notice a greater width of the images at some parts
than at others, and these variations are by no means wanting in
interest, nor are they absent in many of the animals said to have
received excellent care and feed. In some cases we find a sudden
contraction of the fiber at certain points (atrophy) and this is
often sufficient to give the edge of the image a decidedly notched
appearance. In other cases the contraction is more gradual, the
progressive diminution of the width of the image extending over
a greater length of the fiber. In the enlargement, however (hyper-
trophy), such sharp variations do not obtain; the fiber begins to
enlarge at a certain point, and the enlargement may continue
through the length of the fiber until it attains a diameter even
Twice as great as at other parts. * * *

"Where atrophies occur the fiber must necessarily be weak
ened, while, on the other hand, staples in which the atrophied
fibers occur in any important portion must interfere with the
regular passage of the material through the several machines and
the processes of the factory. In both cases, therefore, they seri-
ously impair the value of the product, and it behooves growers
to look to the causes which may have a tendency to bring them
out. What these causes may be we have had no opportunity to
determine, but there can be little doubt that bad nutrition, ex-
posure, and the consequently impaired health and constitution
are the more prominent. A fevered condition of the system prob-
ably tends to check normal exercise of the functions of the skin,
and hence the growth of the fiber resulting in atrophy, or it may
have the contrary effect and cause hypertrophy. * * * We
have sufficient evidence to show that when animals have been
well fed and cared for, and when the health of the animal has
been uniform, such deformities in the fibers do not exist. And
that the growth of the wool is retarded, or at least that the diam-
eter of the fiber is diminished by impaired health of the animal
is well illustrated in the following bit of our own experience.
On one occasion a prominent breeder of Merino sheep submitted
a sample of his wool for the determination of its fineness. By

AN<;<)KA GOAT RAISING. *]

the system of measurement followed we found that the fibers
were finer at a certain part or point in their development than at
others, and by simple calculation it was easy to determine at
what part of the season the finer portion of the staple bad devel-
oped. We stated that at that season the animal must have been
in ill health, and this was afterward confirmed by reference to
the record of the condition of the different individuals of the
flock during the year. And it further illustrates the importance
c.f great care in the management of sheep and the value of protect-
ing them from any sudden changes and from the inclemencies of
the weather in general."

All mohair has a luster peculiarly its own, but this is much
more pronounced in some fleeces than in others. That having the
higher luster, other qualities being equal, commands the better
price. A fleece of low luster indicates a goat under influence of
adverse conditions — as poor breeding, poor feeding, or sickness.
The uninformed often express the opinion that this luster is due
to oil in the fleece, but this is erroneous. Whatever oil there
may be in mohair is inside the individual hairs, and not on the
outside, as in the case of wool. There is sometimes a gummy sub-
stance which causes a fleece to become badly matted, but this
is not due to oil in the fleece. A mohair fleece may be washed,
then scoured, and then steamed, dyed, and worked up into fabrics
after reaching the mills, but none of these processes removes
any of the luster; indeed, all of them operate simply to inten-
sify it.

Two or three years ago the mohair producers were happy in
the well-founded hope that they would, within a few years, be
able to produce mohair equal to that grown in South Africa, and
they also dared to indulge the hope that some time in the future
they might be able to equal that of Asia Minor; but they were
surprised this year when it was announced that there were even
now many fleeces equal to the Turkish product. As stated in a
previous chapter, George G. Emery, of the Sanford Mills, San-
ford, Me., showed at the exhibit of the American Angora Goat
Breeders' Association in October, 1902, two fleeces of plush, one
made from American mohair and the other from Turkish. They
were woven alike and colored alike, and it was simply impossible
for any one to distinguish between them.

While there is yet but a small quantity of such excellent mo-
hair produced in the United States, this fact shows that it can
be grown and everybody knows the American energy always turns
possibilities into facts.

82 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

Presence of Kemp in Ifloliair.

It is a fact well known to breeders that the Angora goat has
two coats of hair. The outer and more abundant coat is the
mohair, while the under coat is a coarse, chalky white, straight,
stiff hair, varying in length from one-half to 4 inches. This
under hair is known by the name of kemp. It is generally believed
to be the relic of the common goat blood in the Angora, for it is
a matter of history that the Angora flocks of the United States,
as well as those of Asia Minor and South Africa, have been largely
increased by crossing upon the does of common blood. This has
been done to such an extent, indeed, that it is no longer contended
that there remain any Angora goats of absolutely pure blood.
This belief in pure blood is based upon the fact that the first
cross of an Angora upon a common doe yields a fieece in which
kemp largely predominates, and that as the crosses become higher
the quantity of kemps grow less. That point has not yet been
reached, however, where it can be said that a strain has been pro-
duced which has no kemp whatever, although a few breeders in this
country and in South Africa appear to have very nearly reached
that very desirable result. This is the principal end to which
breeders should lend their best efforts at this time. It is the
most difficult quality to obtain. Length, strength, fineness, and
luster may all respond readily to the intelligence of the breeder,
but kemp is stubborn. The hope is confidently expressed by the
best breeders that a strain of Angora goats will yet be produced
which will be entirely free from kemp.

The spirit of the goat men who meet annually in Kansas City
in attendance upon the meetings of the American Angora Goat
Breeders' Association, shows that they were not only willing but
anxious to undertake the solution of this problem. While all
these men were familiar with kemp and knew that it was a dele-
terious feature of mohair, not many of them knew before these
meetings were held how objectionable it really is to the manufac-
turer and consequently how much it tends toward keeping the
price of mohair low.

At Kansas City the mohair producer and the mohair manu-
facturer met each other for the first time in this country. The
presence of both being in the interests of the Angora goat indus-
try. George G. Emery, of Sanford, Me., addressed the Associa-
tion on several occasions, his theme each time bearing upon the
quality of fiber required by the manufacturer. He displayed a
large assortment of goods, using them to supplement his argument
concerning the uses and value of good mohair as compared with
the poorer grades. The goat men showed a disposition to learn

ANGORA GOAT RAISING

all thai is required by the manufacturers and determined to re-
double their efforts toward a higher standard for their flocks. The
large price of $1,050 was paid for the buck Columbia Pasha al

the Kansas City goat show in 1901 and $1,400 for Aztec in 1902,
principally because of their freedom from kemp. It is true that
their fleeces were fine and long and their bodies were fully cov-
ered, but the appearance of the animals as they stood in the pen
(their size and carriage), although they were "good lookers,'5 had
comparatively little weight with the judges, who gave to them the
sweepstake prize as the best bucks of all ages in the show.

Why Kemp is Objectionable.

The reason why kemp is objectionable is that it will not take
the dyes used for mohair; the only effect of the dyes is slightly to
discolor the kemp. There are dyes, it is true, which act upon
kemp, but they have no effect upon mohair ; and the best efforts put
forth have not yet resulted in a mixture of dyes that act satis-
factorily upon both mohair and kemp at the same time. The
only solution, therefore, is to remove kemp from fleeces which
enter into the manufacture of fabrics in which it is undesirable.

Kemp appears in its worst phase in plushes, where every indi-
vidual hair shows prominently. Its presence here is much more
pronounced than when in the fleece, where it is nearly the same
color of the mohair. It is therefore of great importance that
this objectionable substance should be removed from the fleeces.
If any kemp should escape the eye and be woven into the plush
fabric, it would not be discovered until the fabric came from
the dye, for it must be remembered that mohair plushes are woven
"in the white," and afterwards (perhaps several months or a year)
are dyed according to instructions to fill orders. Kemp, at this
stage of the process, becomes an expensive proposition, for skillful
hands must burl out every fiber of it as well as every other bit of
foreign substance. In the cheaper plushes, such as are largely
used in street cars, there is a considerable quantity of kemp. Much
of this material may also be used without detriment in the manu-
facture of rugs.

The problem of the mohair manufacturer is the same as that
of the mohair grower — how to get rid of kemp ; and the burden
of his meditations is to devise some sort of machinery that will do
the work perfectly. American ingenuity has so far failed to in-
vent such a machine; and so the manufacturer finds it accessary
to call upon the breeder to produce mohair without kemp. The
solution of the problem, therefore, appears to be with the breeder
rather than the manufacturer.

84 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

But the fact remains that the mills must get rid of kemp in
some way, and the device which they use for the purpose is a
machine which combs it out; but while the comb is removing
the kemp it removes at the same time every mohair fiber of equal
length with the kemp. This means that if the mohair going into
this comb has kemp 3 inches long all mohair fibers up to 3 inches
in length must go out with it. The result is heavy loss. True,
there is a use for this mixture of kemp and short mohair, as hereto-
fore stated, in the manufacture of cheap goods, such as horse
blankets and filling for carpets, and also for stuffing saddles, and
it has a value ranging from 7 to probably 10 cents per pound.
From the breeder's standpoint this residue from the combs will
be considered as a loss, and he must figure it as wastage. This
wastage runs from 5 to 40 per cent. It is eminently proper to
quote here the opinion of one who has spent many years in fabri-
cating mohair, namely, George B. Goodall, of Sanford, Me. : "A
majority of the mohair growers in this country little realize how
much kemp has to do in keeping down values of their clips. If
they co aid spend a few hours in our sorting and combing rooms,
the lesson learned would be of great value to them — more than
could be obtained by reading. In watching the combs at work
they would notice some making 5, 10, or 12 per cent of noil or
waste, while others will be taking out 30 or 40 per cent. Ask the
comber the reason of this, and he will reply that one lot has a
much larger amount of kemp than the other. One fiber of kemp
takes out five or six good fibers which should go into yarn."

The thought has probably already occurred to the breeder that
the longer the kemp the greater the wastage. But how can kemp
be shortened? is the question of importance next to getting rid
of it altogether. It is generally accepted as a fact that long kemp
is evidence that the animal producing it is bred up from long-
haired Mexican does, while short kemp is a relic of short-haired
does, such as are quite common in suburbs of large cities. If this
be true, the point is already made that, in building up a flock
from common does as the foundation, none but short-haired ones
should be used.

Let it be said in passing, however, that there are so many thor-
oughbred and high-grade Angoras in this country now that the
reason or necessity for crossing upon common goats does not exist
as it did several years ago. To continue the practice is to con-
tinue the injection of kemp into Angora blood. The crossing upon
common stock has been done with the double purpose in view of
increasing the flocks more rapidly and of infusing stronger blood
into the Angoras. As stated above, the necessity for the first is

GEO. B. GOODALI,

£6 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

probably past; with regard to the second, it can be said that
there are now in the country strains of Angoras which are as large
and vigorous as any common goats may be. These might be used
to impart constitution to the delicate flocks.

Finally, concerning kemp, its presence in mohair is not ob-
jectionable on the score of durability, for it has lasting proper-
ties, but its coarseness and its inability to take mohair dyes make
it undesirable.

Durability of Mohair Fabrics.

The durability of mohair and mohair manufactures is well
known to those who are familiar with their use. Statements
which to some may seem incredible are on record, but there is
no good reason to doubt their accuracy. S. Holmes Pegler, author
of the excellent English work, "The book of the goat/' states that
in 1881 the Duke of Wellington imported a half dozen Angoras
from the Cape, and many of the clothes worn by the duke were
from the fleeces of these goats, and he continues: "I myself pos-
sess an overcoat made from the same stuff, presented to me by
his Grace, which promises to be everlasting as regards wear." Dr.
James B. Davis, who first introduced Angoras into the United
States, having himself brought them from Asia Minor, says in
an article which he published in the Annual Eeport of the De-
partment of Agriculture for 1853: "I have socks which I have
worn for six years and are yet perfectly sound." A friend of the
writer states that he has had one mohair rug at his office door for
twelve years, and it does not yet show much wear, while the luster
and color remain as distinct as when new. Ladies who have worn
mohair crepons and brilliantines are all aware of the wonderful
durability of this fiber.

Strange as it may appear upon first thought, it is the durability
of mohair dress goods that has prevented their more extensive
use heretofore. The first cost being somewhat high, they have not
generally been worn by people whose principal aim is durability
in the purchase of clothing. They have been subject to the ca-
prices of fashion, being "all the style" one year and "out of style"
the next. This has naturally restricted their use largely to that
class of people who could afford to discard them before wearing
them out.

Influence of Food and Care of Goats on Fiber.

Any wool grower knows that feed and care have a very great
influence upon the weight and fineness of the fleece. The same
is applicable to mohair growing as well. If goats are exposed to

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. -7

sudden changes of weather, the effect is shown in the fleece. Un-
der adverse conditions an individual mohair will show contrac-
tions, which greatly reduce its "stretch" and "strain." This point
is fully covered in the quotation already made from Dr. William
McMurtric, and need not be further mentioned here.

John S. Harris, one of the early breeders of Angora goat-,
and who is a man of good observation and rare judgment, says
that the finest and evenest mohair is from goats which feed upon
grass. He says that brush is "pie" to goats, and a little pie will do
no harm, but all pie is not good. While this is contrary to the
opinion of most breeders, the experience of one who has so long
been raising goats should not be hastily cast aside.

S. C. Cronwright Schreiner says: "If goats are to produce the
best fleeces they are capable of, they must be maintained in un-
interrupted good condition. They must have a variety of food,
principally shrubs and aromatic plants, and lead an active life ;
they must, if possible, have running water to drink, and be kept
free from dust; they must not be kraaled (or shedded) except
when absolutely necessary; they must have clean sleeping places,
and must not be crowded together.

It is the opinion of the writer that the many important points
concerning length, strength, and fineness of fleeces should be the
subject of scientific experimentation, which experimentation should
include the effects of feed and climate. The results of an investi-
gation of this character would answer as well for the sheep in-
dustry of our country, with its annual wool production of 289,-
000,000 pounds, as for the growing mohair industry, for the same
conditions govern with both fibers.

Prices of Mohair.

A long chapter might be written about the reputed prices ob-
tained for mohair during the first few years after the introduc-
tion of Angora goats into this country ; but as there were no mills
in this country at that time which were able to fabricate the
fleeces, and as the quantity of mohair produced was very limited
and of uncertain quality, and as there appears to be no definite
data available of sales made at the enormous prices which are
sometimes referred to, it would seem that no useful purpose will
be subserved by discussing the prices of that period. Attention
will be given, therefore, to the prices of the present, for these
are the prices which interest the mohair growers of to-day.

What has been said in previous paragraphs about varying quali-
ties of mohair has no doubt suggested the thought that prices
also are very variable, which is true. It is not the qurlity alone

88 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

which affects the price, but supply and demand;, which affect all
articles of commerce, play a very important part. It was decreed
by Dame Fashion last year, for instance, that mohair dress goods
were not in style, and the effect of this decree was to reduce the
value of mohair. Other causes, a principal one of which was a
very limited demand for car plush, also contributed to the cause
of low prices.

To give a brief answer to the question, What is mohair worth?
is not possible. There are more grades of mohair than there are
of wool, and there has so far been no effort on the part of mohair
producers to so sort their fleeces as to enable them to receive the
highest price for each class, but they have been content to sell
it in one mixed lot. This always tends to reduce the price below
its real worth, because the purchaser, not knowing exactly what
he is buying, protects himself with a low price. The features that
make for low prices are shortness and coarseness of fiber and the
presence of kemp, burs, and dirt of all kinds. There were on
exhibition at the recent Kansas City show some fleeces which
looked as if they might have been raked out of a filthy hog pen;
these had been sold at 7 cents per pound, while other fleeces in
the same exhibit were worth 40 cents per pound.

Probably the average price paid for mohair during the season
of 1901 was about 25 cents per pound. It was a little higher in
1902. The product of the lower crosses, which contains a large
percentage of kemp, brings a low price (10 to 15 cents), while
there were some fleeces that brought 40 cents. There is not a
large quantity of this latter quality of hair produced in this
country, for the reason that the breeders have not given the mat-
ter proper attention. There is a great demand for the better
hair, while the lower grades, which enter into the manufacture
of carpets and horse blankets, find direct competition in wool.

In this connection it should be stated that the coarsest and
longest hair is just now bringing very high prices. L. Levussove.
of New York City, has been buying all of this kind that he could
secure, paying from $1 to $2 per pound for it. This grade of
hair is used in the manufacture of wigs, doll hair, etc. How
much of a demand there may be for this quality of hair is a mat-
ter difficult to determine, but at this time Mr. Levussove can
not secure an ample supply. It is obvious that the hair must be
very long.

While on the subject of prices we will quote from a recent
address by George G. Emery, of Sanford Mills, Sanford, Me.:
"I have read where prices as high as 45 cents per pound have been
paid this season for domestic mohair. Now, such statements

AMERICAN MOHAIR.
" Slipey " hair on left. Coarse hair next. Then trood hair.

90

ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

should be followed by an explanation, otherwise false hopes are
apt to be raised in the minds of the growers, which hopes, in my
opinion, are not to be realized. I can take any bale from among
the hundreds sent us yearly from the State of Oregon (and the
same applies to the twelve mont'hs' growth of Texas hair ; in fact,
in any State producing mohair to-day), and I can find mohair
which is worth 45 cents per pound and even more, but the per-
centage of the low grades, worth from 18 cents to 20 cents, is so
much greater and so far overbalances the fine as to bring the
value as a lot to a much lower figure. I have seen some very
choice domestic mohair, but the amount of such hair is very small
when compared with the total production of the country."

Prices in the Cape of Good Hope have ranged about the same
as in our own country.

The great mohair manufacturing center of the world is Brad-
ford, England, and as it will be interesting to many to see the
prices which mohair has brought in that city during a long series
of years, the following table is prepared from data compiled from
the Bradford Observer by the National Association of Wool Manu-
facturers :

RANGE OF PRICES OP MOHAIR AT BRADFORD, ENGLAND, FROM 1856 TO 1894.

Year.

Cents.

1856 48 to 56

1857 56 to 66

1858 60 to 72

1859 72

1860 76

1861 76

1862 72 to 78

1863 80 to 88

1864 78

1865 70

1866 80

1867 66 to 90

1868 58 to 76

Year.

Cents.

1869 86 to 88

1870 92 to 98

1871 78 to 84

18*2 82 to 90

1873 72 to 80

1874 70 to 90

1875 82 to 92

1876 86

1877 60 to 70

1878 60 to 66

1879 36 to 54

1880 42 to 54

1881 38 to 42

Year.

Cents.

1882 38 to 45

1883 40 to 43

1884 37 to 45

1885 28 to 36

1886 23 to 32

1887 25 to 29

1888 £4 to 28

1889 25 to 42

1890 27 to 36

1891 24 to 28

1892 24 to 29

1893 24 to 37

1894 27 to 31

But what of prices in the future ? This is the important ques-
tion with the breeder, and it is one that is difficult to answer. It
seems likely that there will be an increasing demand for mohair
in the classes of goods which now consume it, to say nothing of
the new uses that may be developed ; hence it may be expected that
the demand will be strong. On the other hand, there will doubt-
less be an increased production, which will have a tendency to
lower the price. There are so many uses for mohair already estab-
lished in the world that it is not believed that prices will ever
fall to a level with wool. One prominent manufacturer of mohair
goods expresses the opinion that the "average prices paid this

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. 91

year (1901) can be considered as low-water mark." This was
about 25 cents a pound, as stated above.

The American Wood and Cotton Reporter states that with an
increased production of Angora goats in this country, and the
consequently enlarged production of mohair, the latter is going
to be consumed more largely than heretofore, and is, indeed, al-
ready "cutting more of a figure in the wool market."

The domestic product is favored by a tariff of 12 cents per
pound on the imported article.

Mohair Manufacturers.

The first striking feature of mohair manufactures is their
great beauty. The luster of the hair, which is so pronounced
even while it grows upon the goat, remains in the manufactured
goods, and no amount of washing and no character of dye will
remove it. It aids the dyes to show their colors more effectively
and imparts to the goods the pleasing property of changing shades
in shifting lights, which is a feature quite characteristic of silk
goods.

A second feature of importance is that the dyes are usually
fast, and however much such goods may be exposed to the elements
they will not fade. In the best mills fugitive dyes are not used
except when an order is received to match a sample which has
been treated with such dyes ; for a fugitive dye can not be matched
by a fast one, nor can a fast dye serve for a fugitive one.

The durability of mohair goods has been quite fully discussed
in connection with the durability of the fiber composing them.
It is a characteristic that ought to make their use economical in
many ways. This should be the case especially with dress goods
and other wearing apparel.

Mohair manufactures already have a very extensive use, but
they appear in the stores under so many trade names that only
a few people, comparatively, know that they are the product of
the Angora fleece. These manufactures are so varied, and the
fiber adapted to so many things which are now made of wool or
cotton, that no attempt will be made here to give a complete list
of them, but a recital of some of the principal uses of mohair
goods will be made, in order that it may become generally known
how extensive is their use at the present time, and some idea
formed of the possibility of extending the use of mohair to other
lines of manufacture.

By far the most important product of mohair manufacture is
plushes. It is a fact not generally known that practically all of
the plushes used in railroad passenger cars are made of mohair;

!)2 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

so also are the plushes used in street cars. How much is used
annually in the pasenger cars of our country can only be con-
jectured. The report of the Interstate Commerce Commission
for the fiscal year of 1899 shows that there was an increase of
244 cars over the previous year; let us add to this a number suf-
ficient to take the place of those worn out, which probably can not
be less than 200, thus giving a total of 444 new passenger coaches
each year. Each coach requires at least 120 yards of plush, and
the total quantity required for the 444 cars would be 53,280 yards.
This is an underestimate rather than an overestimate. During
the year mentioned there were in service in the United States
16,785 first-class passenger cars, 3,063 second-class cars, 4,206
combination cars, 464 parlor cars, and 488 sleeping cars — total,
25,006. This means that there were in use that year 3,000,720
yards of plush. Add to this all that is used in street cars, omni-
buses, etc., for which there is no basis for an estimate, and we
may conclude that its use for such purposes is enormous.

Besides the car plushes, which are usually plain, large quan-
tities of frieze and crush plushes are used in upholstering furni-
ture. The designs for the frieze plushes are limited only by the
ingenuity of man. The skill of the fabricator is so well developed
that the threads forming the designs are in loops and of different
color, yet the whole is woven at one time "in the white" and
afterwards colored in the same dye. The crush plushes are very
handsome, showing to best advantage the effects of varying lights
upon solid colors. This kind is largely utilized in upholstering
armchairs, but finds large use also in other kinds of furniture.
The carriage robes, couch covers, sofa-pillow covers, and rugs are
distinguished by their high pile and rich coloring. The pile upon
the carriage robes and sofa-pillow covers is about half an inch
high. The robes sometimes have the pile on one side only, but
many are made with the pile on both sides. The coloring is
most exquisite, as is true of the sofa-pillow covers and couch
covers. These colors are printed on by hand after the pieces are
woven, and are rendered indelible by long steaming. Rugs neces-
sarily require more modest covering, but all the richness of sub-
dued colors and luster remain to make them a distinctly beautiful
as well as useful ornament. These goods have not long been upon
the market, but they can hardly fail to attract attention and ad-
vance in favor.

Most of the so called astrakhan now in use so extensively is
made of mohair. It has all the beauty of the real article, is much
more durable, will never change its shade in sunlight or air, and
is in no manner inferior to real astrakhan.

TURKISH KID FLEECE.

94 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

Plain mohair dross goods (brilliantines) and mohair crepons
arc common and well known for their durability. There is no
other kind of cloth which is more easily cleaned or which retains
its newness for a longer period. For this reason brilliantines are
especially popular for traveling dresses. Mohair crepons are more
beautiful, but also more expensive, costing from $1.25 to $5 a yard.
The cheaper grades are woven upon a cotton base, and go to pieces
sooner than when woven upon a wool base. In crepons there is
sometimes an admixture of silk.

It would be very difficult to enumerate the many ways that
mohair might be used in manufactures. Besides plushes, which
form the principal item, there may be mentioned dress goods of
various designs, coats and coat lining, table covers, knit mits,
mittens, gloves, etc., which are already on the market. It has
been found that mohair cloth is the only kind that will stand the
strain in the expressment of cottonseed oil, and there is a grow-
ing demand for it for this purpose. A suggestion has recently
been made that mohair could be manufactured into tent and sail
cloth and rain coats, having as its qualification durability, light-
ness in weight, and immunity from molding. Mohair cloth will
not only turn water, but will hold water like a skin if the water
is not beaten through it. A piece of brilliantine in the form
of a bag and holding a glass full of water has been known to hang
all day and not a drop passed through it during that time. John
S. Harris recently informed the writer that he possessed mohair
cloth 40 years of age which would hold water in the same manner.
Tent and sail cloths would necessarily be heavier, and be even
more effective in turning water. It is argued that the extra cost
of this kind of cloth for these purposes is more than compensated
for in the matter of durability and lightness of weight.

History of Plusli Manufacture in the United States.

Prior to the year 1881 practically all of the plushes which
were used in the United States were imported from two countries
— France and Germany; and in no one plant in either of these
countries was the process of manufacture carried on from start to
finish. The merchant imported his mohair yarns from England.
This yarn was made up into warps and sent to a house which
contained one, two, or more hand looms, and woven into the fabric ;
generally the head of the house had a son or daughter who assisted
him, he throwing the shuttle and beating up the loom, while the
child pulled out the wires. The production was from 2 to 3 yards
a day, working from fourteen to fifteen hours. After a cut, say
40 yards, are woven, it was then taken by the weaver to the ware-

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. 95

house of the merchant, who sent it to a dyeing and finishing estab-
lishment, after which it was ready for the market.

It is only within a very short time that in F ranee and Ger-
many these goods have heen manufactured on power looms in
special factories, and even to-day the mohair yarn is all made in
England, hut the plants, instead of distributing the yarn as here-
tofore, now take it into their own factories, where it is woven,
dyed, and finished.

George B. Goodall wras the projector of the mohair plush in-
dustry in Sanford, Me. He hegan experimenting in 1881, and.
with, his own hands placed the first mohair warp in a wire-power
loom, and it was he who wove the first piece of plush. As soon
as he had demonstrated that mohair plush could be made on a
power loom, a company, composed of the three brothers — George,
Louis, and Ernest Goodall — was organized for the purpose of
entering upon this manufacture. A first-class inventor was con-
sulted, and the perfect working wire-motion power loom now in
use at the mill was the final result. The company started with
one loom ; they now have one hundred and sixty in operation, with
a number of new ones in process of construction.

The struggle at the beginning was one that would have dis-
couraged ninety-nine men out of a hundred. Weeks and months
passed before a piece of plush that could he termed perfect was
produced, but perseverance conquered.

As a result of the manufacture of car and furniture mohair
plushes on power looms, where the production was from fifteen to
twenty yards a day, the prices have been very materially lower
in this country, and within six or seven years from the beginning
of the manufacture prices were reduced fully 50 per cent.

Besides the Sanford Mills, mentioned above, the Massachusetts
Mohair Plush Company, at Lowell, Mass., as its name signifies,
manufactures plushes, having begun this line of work in 1892.
For several years these mills used imported mohair almost entirelv,
but in 1896, finding an improvement in the domestic product,
they began to use the latter very largely.

These facts of history answer conclusively the frequent inquiry
whether mohair plushes are made in the United States. The
statistics of mohair consumption in 1899 show that our mills
consumed not only all of the domestic product but over a million
pounds of imported mohair.

As the domestic supply increases and improves, other mills
will consume much of it. Some do not use it at this time because
it is difficult to obtain a supply such as would warrant the pur-
chase of the special machinery required.

CHAPTER VIL

THE MEAT, THE MARKETS, AND THE MILK.
Angora Mutton.

The features of the Angora industry which have received most
attention from the general public so far are their habits of de-
stroying brushwood and their ability to produce mohair. Their
availability as a meat producer has long been well known, how-
ever, to those who have been raising them, and the meat is, with-
out exception, pronounced by those who have eaten of it to be the
equal of any lamb. Some are sure that they can detect a sweet-
ness not characteristic of lamb, but the truth is that most people
would be unable to detect any difference between Angora meat and
mutton, if feeding conditions in both cases had been the same.
Indeed, thousands of them even now are sold upon the markets of
Kansas City, where they are slaughtered and canned or put in
cold storage and sold everywhere as lamb. This is simply the
continuation of a practice adopted by the slaughterhouses when
there was the most deep-seated prejudice against goat meat. At
this time, however, that prejudice is rapidly waning, and soon
there will be no difficulty in disposing of Angoras for meat in any
place in this country.

This prejudice against goat mutton is founded upon ignorance
rather than experience. The most ill-smelling "billy" of the
worst possible type is made the standard of goat flesh for the
whole goat family. As far back as Abraham's day we read of
goats being used for meat, and this, too, when there were many
cattle and sheep. Certainly there was no prejudice against them at
that time.

The flesh of the Angora is exceedingly nutritious and pala-
table. Shropshire lambs, which are considered as among the best
kinds of meat, are said not to be superior to a well-fed and well-
cooked kid. In the Southwest these animals are as readily sold
for meat as sheep, and the market has never been overstocked. A
gentleman in Texas ^ound a ready market for his canned Angora
mutton, but was compelled to close his cannery because the supply
of goats wras not nearly sufficient to supply the demand. In the
Northwest, in nearly every locality some have been killed for mut-

ANGORA GOAT RAISING, (,7

ton, and there has never been a derogatory statement concerning
the quality of the meat.

In Cape Colony it is said that the old does are slaughtered
to furnish meat for farm hands and young wethers are sold to
butchers in the town. In California many miners purchase An-
gora wethers in preference to sheep wethers for salting down for
winter use, because, as they state, the Angora contains less fat, is
more easily kept, and is just as palatable.

John W. Fulton, who is much interested in exploiting the An-
gora goat industry in Montana and other parts of the Xorthwest,
recently distributed Angora mutton to several prominent residents
of Helena, and he has permitted the writer to copy a few letters
which he received concerning the meat. The first one is from Hon.
J. K. Toole, governor of Montana : "Referring to the Angora goat
venison, which you were kind enough to send me, I am pleased to
say that it formed a very satisfactory part of our Christmas dinner.
We touched it rather gingerly at first through a sort of prejudice,
but all agree that it was a very near approach to real venison."

This is from Hon. J. A. Ferguson, commissioner of the Bureau
of Agriculture, Labor and Industry: "It is with much pleasure
that I take this opportunity of expressing a very favorable opinion
of Angora venison as a welcome addition to the usual meats upon
a bill of fare. It is sweet, juicy and palatable — preferable to ven-
ison, pork, or mutton. A knowledge of the good qualities of Angora
venison will surely lead to its adoption as a regular food, and it
ought not to be difficult to develop a profitable demand for such a
toothsome article/'

And this from A. M. Holter, a prominent wholesale hardware
dealer : "In reply to your inquiry will say that we have used An-
gora venison at our house on several occasions, and my opinion is
that, when it is properly cooked, it compares favorably with mut-
ton in every respect, and personally I prefer it."

Hon. F. D. Coburn, Secretary of the Kansas State Board of
Agriculture, speaks in highest terms of Angora mutton.

Helena, Mont., Jan. 9th, 1903.
Mr. Jno. W. Fulton,

Secretary Montana Angora Goat Co., Helena, Mont.
Dear Sir: — It gives me great pleasure to express to you my
favorable opinion of Angora meat, such as you were kind enough
to send me, which I found to be very delicious and sweet when
properly cooked, and will compare favorably with meat of like
species. I see no reason why the meat of Angora goal should not

98

ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

become popular, and believe it will when the animals are properly
fattened and put on sale in the markets.

Yours respectfully, T. C. Power.

Helena, Mont., Jan. 16th, 1903.
Mr. J. W. Fulton,

Secretary Angora Goat Co., Helena, Mont.
Dear Sir : — Some little time ago I had the pleasure of receiving
from you a roast of iVngora venison. I desire to express my appre-
ciation of your kindness, and say that I found it very palatable.
As an article of food I believe it to be quite satisfactory.
Yours very truly,

Geo. M. Hays, Secretary of State.

It would not be a difficult matter to compile a thousand
endorsements of the use of goat's flesh, but it would be difficult
to find any one who would condemn it after using it. Opinions
are given herewith of only a few of the representative breeders in
this country:

From W. G. Hughes & Co.; Hastings, Tex. — "The Angora is
much more nutritious than sheep mutton, especially where the
meat is grown on underbrush (leaves), as the following compila-
tion of relative values of feed will show :

Character of Feed.

Good pasture grass

Rich pasture

Leaves of trees

Red clover

Protein.

Starch, etc.

Per cent.

3.5
4.5
5.2
3.3

Per cent.

9.7
10.1
15.2

7 0

Fats.

Per cent.

0.8
1.0
1.5
0.7

"It is often prescribed by physicians for invalids and children
for this reason. The meat is excellent, and not distinguishable
from mutton of the same age and condition. It is largely sold
as such in many of the larger markets, being regarded as a staple
in the districts where it is raised/''

From C. P. Bailey & Sons Co., San Jose, Cal. — "The young
wethers make the best of mutton. The meat is rich and juicy and
free from the strong taste so common to the meat of the common
goat. I consider it equal to mutton. \Yv have sold hundreds of
head for mutton, always reserving the skins, which are worth
green from 75 cents to $2 each."

From H. T. Fuchs, Marble Falls, Tex.— "Anybody who has
ever tasted a roasted or barbecued piece of Angora mutton will

REGISTERED DOES AND FIVE YOUNG BUCKS.
On Ranch of W. G. Hughes & Co., Hastings, Tex.

100 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

find it better than any meat they ever tasted. Angora mutton is
worth in the markets about the same as sheep mutton. I sell it
to my neighbors at 4!/> cents per pound, and in town I sell it at
T> and 6 cents per pound."

From George A. Houek, Eugene, Oreg. — "It is better than
mutton, being free from the oily taste of sheep meat and partaking
somewhat of the flavor of wild meat."

Angora mutton should be cooked longer than sheep mutton. If
this is not done disappointment is almost certain. Well fattened
old goats, if thoroughly cooked, may be made tender and palatable.

There is not much to be said about the flesh of the common
goat. It is not so generally used as that of the Angora, and in
quality is not to be classed with it. The kids of the common
goats, however, are considered very fine, and in some parts of
the South many grown animals are slaughtered.

Flavor of Angora Mutton.

A fact noted in connection with Angora mutton, if the goat
has been fattened principally on brushwood and weeds, is that it
has the game flavor common to the flesh of deer and other Avild
game. It is this flavor which has given the name "venison" by
some to the flesh of the Angora. There is no reason to doubt the
presence of this flavor, for it is well known that flavor may not
only be fed into meat, but into milk and eggs as well. All game
flavor disappears when the animals are fed grain and grass.

One of the first and most important questions that arises in the
mind of one who may contemplate engaging in the Angora goat
raising is, Is there a market for the products? The same ques-
tion arises in connection with any other line of stock raising or
commercial enterprise, and it must be answered satisfactorily if
there is to be an investment.

Markets for Goats for Meat.

It can not be said at this time that there is or will be a market
for goats as steady as that for sheep, for the reason that compara-
tively few have entered the regular channels of live stock trade;
but it can be said that those which have been placed upon the
market have been sold without difficulty. Usually the price has
been a little below the ruling price for sheep, but it has frequently
occurred at Kansas City (where most goats have so far been mar-
keted) that a bunch of Angora wethers has brought more than
sheep on the same day. This is where they are slaughtered and
put upon the retail market as dressed mutton or used for canning.

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. lOl

The time will soon come when dressed Angora will bo called for.
and it will bring as good a price as mutton.

There is room now for the Angora as a meat animal. Cattle.
sheep, and hogs arc all bringing very high prices and Angora
prices are high also, in sympathy with them. The live question
just now, however, is not so much where to market them as where
to get them. If the industry develops from the best breeding
stock, with the purpose of mohair production in view, there will
not be any considerable number to go upon the market for some
time. Wethers are good mohair producers for seven or eight
}Tears; they may be then fattened for market, and then become
excellent meat. The demand for a better quality of mohair will
have a tendency to throw the poorer grade of goats upon the market
as meat, but this quality will grow fewer and fewer every year.
From the standpoint of mohair production alone, it would be a
grand thing for the industry if three-fourths or more of the An-
goras in the country at this time could be sent to the slaughter-
house.

For some time to come, as in the past, many breeders will
continue the practice of building up Angora flocks by crossing
Angora bucks upon common does, and then upon the does of the
first, second, and third crosses, and so on. The males resulting
from such crossing must not be permitted to grow to breeding
age. They should be castrated early, for they sometimes breed
when very young. The only use to which such wethers can be
put is to convert them into meat. The flesh from such crosses
is considered to be nearly as good as that of the higher grades.

The Milk of Angoras.

The Angora is not primarily a milch goat and is not often
employed for that purpose. Information at hand shows that the
quantity of milk given by an Angora doe is uncertain, and in
exceptional cases only does it approach in quantity that produced
by the established breeds of milch goats, such as the Toggenburger,
Saanen, Maltese, and Nubian. Evidently the reason why the An-
gora is so uncertain in milk production is because it has never
been bred with that end in view. The established breeds of milch
goats have become such after long years of careful breeding — the
selection of individuals with specially developed characteristics.
This is necessary to insure quantity, quality, and duration of
lactation.

There appears to be no reason why the Angora might not be
developed into a very fair milch goat if such a thing were desirable.
But it is deemed wiser to charge the Angora with the duty of

102

ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

producing a good fleece and raising a strong and healthy kid.
When she does this, she does well. The hair on a good Angora
covers the entire body alike, and thus it greatly interferes with
the operation of milking.

In the Southwest, where the practice of crossing the Angora
upon the common and Mexican does has been in vogue, it is said
that a good milch animal is frequently produced. The milking
strain is very apt, in such cases, to come from the side of the
common or Mexican doe. It is stated upon the authority of some
of the oldest breeders of the country that the likelihood of finding
a good milch goat among Angoras diminishes as the grade of the
animal is raised.

In this connection the remarks of William Gr. de Coligny,
formerly a government officer of Ecuador (now of Springfield,
Mass.), and one who had experience in that country with cross-
bred Angoras and Nubian goats for milk, are full of interest.
"The Angora goat in itself is not a good milch goat at all, but
crossed with the Nubian, or Upper Egypt, goat, becomes quite a
good milch goat." He states that from such crosses produced in
Ecuador the daily yield of milk per head was about 2y2 liters.
The crossing of the Nubian and common goat of Ecuador produced
a goat with a milk yield of 3y2 liters.

There is an abundance of authority that goat's milk is more
nearly equal to human milk than that of any other animal, and
that of the Angora is equal to that of any other breed of goats.
An anlysis of goat's milk for the British Goat Society, with an
analysis of cow's milk also for comparison, is shown in the table
below. The cow's milk was from a cow which had been a winner
at a dairy show :

COMPARISON OP ANALYSIS OF GOAT'S AND COW'S MILK.

Element.

Joafs Milk.

Cow's Milk.

Per cent.
83.21
7.30
4.18
4.10
1.21

Per cent.

87.56

Butter fat .

3.63

Milk sugar . .

8.81

Ash

Total

100

100

The special reason why the milk of the goat is considered so
beneficial is. that it is not likely to contain the germs of tubercu-
losis. Bovine tuberculosis is so prevalent now-a-days that many
people will not touch it if it is not sterilized. .Goats are practically

ANGORA GOAT RAISIN' i

Utt

immune to tuberculosis. It is true thai goats will have this dis-
ease if they are inoculated with it, bul they are not at. all Likely
to contract it otherwise. The reader, it' interested, Is advised to
read the discussion of tuberculosis in the chapter on "Milch goats."

CHAPTER VOL

LOCALITIES ADAPTED TO ANGORA GOAT RAISING.
The Question of Climate.

So far as temperature is concerned, no place has been found
that is too hot or too cold for Angoras. Although not partial to
heat, they will endure it quite as well as sheep. Shade is essential
to success if the sunshine is very warm.

The climate of Angora, where the breed originated and is still
supposed to flourish in its more perfect state, is extreme. A tem-
perature as high as 85° F. is registered in the summer and as low
as 0° F. in the winter. The United States presents a wider range
of temperature, where, in southern Texas and New Mexico, it may
go above 100° F. in the summer, and in Idaho as low as
30° F. below zero in winter. The range of localities where An-
goras have done well is from Guadalupe Islands, in the Lesser
Antilles, to Ukamak Island, belonging to the Alaska Peninsula.
M. L. Washburn, superintendent for the Alaska Commercial Com-
pany at Kadiak, says: "On Ukamak Island we have a flock of
Angora goats, which have increased 60 per cent a year since they
were placed there. They have given very good results in mohair,
some of which is of good quality and fine texture." William M.
Landrum is quoted as follows : "White goats can stand any amount
of cold and snow, but sleet and wind are very injurious. On the
other hand, they can endure the scorching heat of the Tropics.
Their fleece is best at an altitude of from 3,000 to 6,000 feet above
the sea level. The fleece never sheds on the Guadalupe Island,
210 miles from San Diego, at an altitude of only from 2,000 to
4,000 feet. I have grown mohair there 2 feet long, of lovely
texture."

In considering Angora culture it is of importance to study the
climate with reference to moisture rather than temperature. It
should be remembered that the original home of the goat is high
up in the mountains, where the air is not laden with moisture.
Under like conditions it thrives best here.

It is a historical fact that the first effort to transplant the An-
gora goat outside of Asia was a failure on account of these condi-

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. In.";

tions. This was in 1554, when a few individuals were taken to
Holland, but they soon died, owing to the moist climate.

The effect of climate has a great deal to do with the character
of mohair. On this point John S. Harris, of Salem, Oreg., for-
merly of Oakley, Idaho, a gentleman of much experience, is quo-
ted: "Mohair grown here in Idaho is very bright when scoured,
and, owing to the electric currents which exist in the air, the
hair possesses elasticity, a property requisite to mohair. Goats
do not grow a long staple here, but, owing to the cold, it is very
dense. Neither do they grow so heavy a fleece as in a milder cli-
mate, owing to the dryness of the air."

Col. W. L. Black, who is a writer upon Angora subjects, and
whose experience as a breeder covers a period of thirty years and
more, says that the Angora goat will thrive in any part of our
country, and the yield of mohair will be greatest in the colder
States. He estimates that the yield can be increased fully one
pound by removing the goats from Texas to any of the Northern
States. Since Colonel Black expressed this opinion, the Angora
goat industry has spread into every State of the Union and has
in most particulars confirmed his view. Some who have taken
them into Northern States and met with losses have been inclined
to ascribe their misfortune to the change in climatic conditions,
but there is much room for doubt about this. The condition of
the goats when shipped, the change in character of feed, exposure
in many cases to severe weather, and possibly the development
of disease, are more likely to have been the adverse factors than
the mere difference in climate.

The Character of Soil Desirable.

Almost any kind of soil, except wet and marshy land, is suit-
able for these goats. Their preference is mountainous or rocky
land, where they find it necessary to climb hillsides and cliffs to
browse. Such situations not only afford them the most apparent
satisfaction in climbing and feeding, but the rocks serve to trim
the hoofs, which is a matter of importance ; for on soils devoid of
rocks and coarse sand the feet must oftentimes be trimmed by
hand.

One thing which is essential to successful goat raising is pure
drinking water, and no place affords this better than the springs
and rivulets of hilly and rocky localities.

It must not be understood, however, that rocks and hills are
essential, though they afford the ideal to the goat. Some of the
best goats in this country are on valley lands. As stated above,
almost all kinds of soil are suitable except wet and marshy land.

106 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

Goat? are not partial to water in any form — in the soil or as rain,
snow, or sleet — and they drink a very small amount. It is well
to remember that Angoras must be kept dry overhead and under-
foot.

Goats are as subject to foot rot as are sheep, and this is one
reason why they should not be kept on wet soil. Such a locality
has a deleterious effect on the mohair also.

Land Available for Goat Raising.

The character of land first suggested as being available for
goat raising is that part of many thousands of farms which is
already thickly covered with brushwood or which is gradually
becoming covered. All through the Eastern and Southern States
fields which were once in a high state of cultivation are now
covered by a dense growth of brush and briers. Only the most
vigorous application of the grubbing hoe and the torch prevents
the brush from taking every cultivated acre. In some places there
may be seen corn furrows made so long ago as to enable pine trees
a foot in diameter to grow up in them since. In the lumber
regions the removal of the trees gives an impetus to the under-
bush, which soon becomes an intolerable nuisance. So there are,
in Michigan and Wisconsin especially, thousands and thousands
of acres of "stumpage" which are the best of soil and which, when
the brushwood is removed, may be converted into the best of pas-
tures for other live stock. These are the available lands which the
Angora goats are now feeding upon; for they are giving a double
return to their owners by clearing up the farm and by producing
mohair. There is enough of this kind of work to engage the atten-
tion of the Angoras for several years.

Besides the kind of land mentioned above, there are millions
of acres of rough mountainous land which are densely covered with
brushwood, and which, in present condition, are of no economic
use. Much of this land, if cleared of brush, would become seeded
by natural methods to blue grass, and thus become good pasture
land for other live stock. Much of it, too, is useful for nothing
else than goats; grass will not "come in'* after the goats. If the
goats are removed after it is once cleared, brush will follow again.
All of this mountainous land will in time become pasture for
millions of head of Angoras.

Capt. Almont Barnes, in an article entitled "Keeping goats
for profit," makes some estimates of the amount of unimproved
land in the country, basing his calculations upon the reports of
the Eleventh Census. He finds that the total amount of unim-
proved land in the United States is 2C>r),000,000 acres. In Maine

H

M
<j

►J

a

o
«!

en

b
o

o

-

O

W
x.

H
O

108 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

there are 6,000,000 acres in farms, of which 3,000,000 are im-
proved ; in Georgia are 25,000,000 acres in farms, of which 9,500,-
000 are improved. He concludes : "There is, however, in the Uni-
ted States a large, continuous area, embracing over one-third of
the States and Territories, which invites particular attention in
connection with this subject. It includes the South Atlantic and
South Central divisions and a part of the Western division of the
Census groupings, or twenty States and Territories, which together
contain nearly 285,000,000 acres in farms, of which over 122,-
000,000 are improved and over 162,000,000, or 57 per cent, unim-
proved. The average size of farms and the average amounts of
unimproved land are greater in this area than elsewhere, and the
climatic conditions are more uniform."

To give a detailed description of all this land mentioned by
Captain Barnes would require several large volumes, and can only
be mentioned in the briefest manner here.

Few of the people living in New England or west of the Alle-
gheny Mountains realize how much of the land area of Mary-
land, the Virginias, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mis-
sissippi, and Georgia is still in virgin forest or how much is in
brush and briers where good fields once were cultivated. That land
which has "gone back/' or grown up with brushwood and briers,
is very cheap. There is an increasing interest in Southern agri-
culture, and the States mentioned are even now welcoming back
the Angora goats to their first American homes to do the work
which is so expensive for man to do. Without the Angora, it may
be a century before these millions of acres will yield anything
useful to mankind. With him, they are soon converted into fields,
pastures, and orchards.

Piedmont Virginia has considerable forest land, with many
varieties of oak, hickory, poplar, cedar, chestnut, pine, and other
timber trees. Of oak there are at least seventeen different varie-
ties. Most of this area has been cut over, so that there is remain-
ing no considerable amount of mercantile timber. In several places,
however, manufacturers are finding it profitable to work up the
younger growths into spokes, handles, headings, staves, etc., and
it is claimed that the pine, locally known as "old-field pine," pos-
sesses large capabilities for utilization in the manufacture of paper
pulp. What is said of Piedmont Virginia may be said of Pied-
mont Carolinas and eastern Tennessee. Much of this region is
already producing, in its northern part, some of the finest apples
in the world, and, in its southern part, peaches that are of first
quality. The railroads here, as elsewhere, are doing what they can
toward the development of this waste land. Readers who may

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. [Ofl

be interested are advised to write to the Land and Industrial
Agent of the Southern Railway, Washington, I). C, for detailed
information concerning available land in any of the States men-
tioned.

The conditions obtaining in the stumpage districts of northern
Michigan are flattering for the Angora industry. Angoras have
already been tried there, and they do well. As far north as Sidnaw,
Houghton County, Mich., W. S. Prickett has a considerable num-
ber, as well as a thousand Shropshire sheep. E. C. Anthony, of
Negaunee, Marquette County, in the same State, is also succeeding
with goats. Information concerning every feature of this section
may be obtained from the Land Commissioner of the Duluth,
South Shore, and Atlantic Eailway, at Marquette, Mich. E. W.
McPherran, the present Land Commissioner, furnishes for this
book the following description of the Michigan peninsula, under
date of December 8, 1902: "In Ontonagon County, especially in
the territory between the east and west branches of the Ontonagon
River and east of Lake Gogebic, the country was originally taken
up and covered by homesteaders and large lumbering companies.
After the pine had been removed from these lands by the various
parties in interest, (ire broke out in the slashings at different times
during the last fifteen years, and up to six years ago fires literally
swept that territory bare.

"The town of Ewen, situated upon the middle branch of the
Ontonagon River, is in the midst of this burned-over district,
and the land on all sides of the town slopes from the south to the
north and from the east and west down to the middle branch
of the Ontonagon River. The surface of this country is generally
fair and rolling with almost no bad spots in it. The soil is a
good strong clay and clay loam. There is left upon this land but
little green timber, and that is in the low spots and along the
streams and water courses where a little cedar and hardwood can
be found — enough to afford material for fencing and ample pro-
tection to stock.

"As soon as the fire stripped the country of its timber, it be-
came covered anew with second growth — hardwood, poplar, birch,
etc. — and between the stumps and logs there sprang up a strong
growth of natural grasses, mixed here and there with patches of
timothy along the old logging roads and clover and timothy near
the camps, the seed being dropped, I presume, from horses and
from hay brought into the lumber camps.

"Col. L. D. Burch, of the American Sheep Breeder, made a
recent examination of this territory and wrote me a long letter in
which he expresses himself extremely delighted with the whole

110 ANGORA GOAT RAIDING.

situation and says that there is in this vicinity going to waste
annually natural pasturage enough to feed several thousand head
of cattle and a million sheep and goats.

"Another stretch of territory admirably adapted to goat rais-
ing extends west from Lake Gogebic and runs through what was
originally a heavy hardwood and hemlock country. The land is
a first-class clay loam and in many instances has been cleared
either by fire or the lumberman's axe. Clearings, when they have
not been immediately subjugated, become covered with a strong
growth of young shoots, and, as the land is well watered and roll-
ing enough to afford splendid drainage, it has always seemed to me
an ideal country for the growth of sheep and goats.

"After crossing the Montreal Eiver, the boundary between
Michigan and Wisconsin, one strikes another such tract of land as
there is to be found in the Ontonagon valley with a somewhat
similar soil. This country runs as far west as the village of Mar-
engo, Wis., and possibly farther, and is contiguous to the D. S. S.
& A. Ry., being evenly distributed on either side of the track.

"I would also call attention to the country in Houghton and
Baraga counties directly back of Baraga on Keweenaw Bay. In
this vicinity a large number of German and Swedish farmers have
settled and have made their mark, as they always do. Here one
finds a nice tract of country, the slope being towards Keweenaw
Bay on the east. The soil is clay and clay loam, and the growth
of grasses and all roots crops is remarkably rapid.

"At Sidnaw, Mich., Mr. W. S. Priekett has on what he calls
his 'Roycroft Farm' a herd of Angora goats and also about 1,000
registered Shropshire sheep. At Low Moor in Marquette County
Mr. E. C. Anthony, of Negaunec, Mich., has had good success in
raising both sheep and goats.

"The territory just south of the village of Newberry, in Luce
County, is another desirable location for the pasturage of goats.
This country was stripped of its timber by the Newberry Furnace
Company while in operation at Newberry, the timber being then
used for fuel and kiln wood. The land around Newberry is a
sandy loam with a slope from the south to the north and drainage
into the Tahquamenon River. There are some 5,000 or 6,000
acres of this land almost entirely destitute of timber.

"In the Ontonagon valley there are perhaps 35,000 acres of
land suitable for the pasturage of goats; between the head of
Lake Gogebic and Marengo, Wis., possibly twice that amount.

"This land can be bought at varying prices — that at Newberry
for about $2.50 per acre; that at Ewen for from $3.50 to $6, and

112 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

that between Marengo, Wis., and Lake Gogebic for about the same
figures/'

So far as the lumbered-over condition is concerned, northern
Wisconsin is much the same as northern Michigan. A bulletin
(No. 88) recently issued by the Wisconsin Agricultural Experi-
ment Station deals with the agricultural features of this section,
and the statements given herewith are from it. Goats are to be
considered, in most parts of our country, as the forerunners of
sheep. They destroy the brush and weeds, fertilize the soil, and
the grass which follows and which they are not likely to disturb
becomes the best of pasturage for sheep or cattle. "One great ad-
vantage which this region possesses that has been forcibly shown,
especially in recent years, is that a clover crop is rarely subject
to failure. In the southern counties the snowfall is often so
light that clover winter-kills, and it is therefore difficult at times
to secure luxuriant pasturage and maintain the fertility of the
soil. In the central and northern counties this has never yet
happened, and the result is that these highly nitrogenous forage
crops can be raised in great abundance. This region is preemi-
nently a grass region, wild grasses growing in the greatest pro-
fusion, while the domesticated grasses, like timothy, red top, and
Kentucky blue grass, are introduced with the greatest ease. This
can be seen even in the primeval forests where timothy and clover
spring up in the *'tote roads' wherever the sunlight is let in through
the cutting of the timber. Not infrequently timothy reaches a
development of five feet in height."

The great adaptability of the soil of this section for clovei-
and grasses makes pasturage perfect. Many men of means have
recently started large stock farms in this hardwood belt, including
some of the most prominent breeders in the country. Land is not
very high in price. Whoever may desire further information
should address an inquiry to the Land Commissioner of the Wis-
consin Central Kail way, Milwaukee, Wis.

Central and northern Minnesota are offering great opportu-
nities for goat farms. Angoras are now being employed there by
many farmers for clearing brush land, and the demand for them
is rapidly increasing. The purpose is to have sheep follow the
goats.

The forest trees alone, says Prof. Thomas Shaw, would tell
to an experienced eye the tale of the character of the land. Much
ol the forest is hardwood, comprising such varieties as maple,
birch, hemlock, and in the lower lands elm and basswood. Large
areas at one time grew straggling pines of good size, with more or
less frequency, among the hardwood trees. Other forests are of

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. 1].',

the grove order. They are composed of small trees, all or nearly
all of the hardwood varieties, and. they grow so closely that they
crowd one another for existence; and yet again are stretches where
pines only grew. But these, compared with the whole area, are
not large, except in Oneida County in the neighborhood of Rhine-
lander and northward from that place. But in some other area-
of Wisconsin the pine stretches are extensive.

The kind of pasturage that is produced after the timber and
brush are removed is shown in the following from Professor
Shaw: "No sooner has the forest been cut away and fire has done
its work in removing the encumbering timber and brush than the
blue grass and white clover spring up like magic and take pos-
session of the land. Where they come from so quickly, nobody
seems to know, but they come, and they come to remain forever.
If the bird and the winds could speak, they would probably tell
us something about whence they come. Their rapid growth sug-
gests the thought of spontaneous generation, which is, of course,
impossible. But their coming so quickly and growing so luxuri-
antly calls up the thought of the high adaptation of the country
to those grasses. Even in trails in the forest they grow and flour-
ish, where they must needs struggle for the light. This abundant
growth not only furnishes fine pastures, permanent in charactei
if desired, but their presence is an assurance that here is a land
with high adaptation to a great variety of crops. In such a soil
mixed pastures also permanent in character, and containing many
varieties, can undoubtedly be grown, but the need for these has not
yet been felt by the settlers/'

The "Soo" Line Railway is taking a special interest in the
development of the lands described above, and any one who may be
interested should write to the Land and Industrial Agent of that
line, at Minneapolis, Minn. The increasing interest in the live
stock industry of the country and the proximity of these lands to
the great Chicago markets make them very desirable to many
seekers for new homes.

One of the things which has long been a menace to Xew Eng-
land prosperity is her great number of abandoned farms. The
soil "ran out" and the weeds and briers "came in," while the
owners sought new homes, perhaps in the West. The situation
appeared hopeless until Angoras were introduced and began to
demonstrate their usefulness in rehabilitating these farms, by
exterminating the brush and calling back the grass. There are not
yet many goats in New England, but good reports are made of
the work of those which are there. Land is cheaper nowhere in
our country than in this section. The Angora industry can not

114 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

fail to make good progress here, for they have here the feed and
the markets.

In Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana there is an abun-
dance of available land. The Angoras have been tried in all these
States and proved to be a successful venture. Seekers after loca-
tions should correspond with the secretaries of the several boards
of agriculture. In Montana the grazing question is receiving at-
tention, and it is entirely probable that other Western States will
be considering the relative value of grazing land for goats; for it
must be remembered that, while goats prefer brushwood and weeds
to grass, they will eat grass and thrive on it if confined to it.
Besides, there are good mohair growers who believe that the quality
of (he fiber is improved if the goats have a diet largely composed
of grass.

The following letter from C. H. Hales, of Eugene, Oreg., con-
tains matter of interest to any one who may think of engaging
in the Angora industry in Oregon. Practically the same condi-
tions obtain throughout a large section of that country : "I have
my goats in the Cascade Mountains in what is known as timber
land, and I am satisfied that, by clearing up the underbrush with
goats, it will not only make fine range for cattle, but will be the
means of stopping our forest fires. The timber land here is not
poor soil, but very rich. I have raised clover four and five feet
high and timothy over six feet high on this mountain land. There
are thousands of acres of this land now being taken as timber
land under the Timber and Stone Land iict. It is the richest
land we have.

"My goats are fat, and I am of the opinion that it is not good
policy to keep them on browse alone. I have not had a sick goat
during the year, while a friend of mine who insisted on keeping
his on brush lost several head with scours."

The Ozark region, which embraces practically one-fourth of
the south, and southeastern portions of Missouri, and extends over
a considerable portion of northern Arkansas, is peculiarly adapted
to Angora goat raising. The soil of the major part, especially in
Missouri, is what is known as limestone land with a clay sub-
soil. The surface is high and rolling, in many places broken,
almost mountainous in character. The altitude is from 1.200 to
2,000 feet. There is ample rainfall, something over 40 inches in
a year, which is ample for the production of all horticultural and
agricultural products which are raised farther north. The land is
all covered wilh timber; the valuable portion has been cut off in
most places, leaving an undergrowth which ranges from 4 to 30
feet high. Black, red, white, and bur oak predominate. In some

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ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

sections there are cedar and pine, also some hickory, walnut, and
elm; in fact, all hardwood species are said to appear in these for-
ests. Nearly every quarter section has permanent living water
upon it. Tame grasses of all kinds do well here after the timber
has been cleared away.

In addition to the favorable conditions for the goat, it is well
to have consideration for his master. This is a section whose
apples, peaches, plums, pears, and cherries, as well as small fruits
of all kinds, groAv abundantly. The country is favorably located
as to markets and railroad facilities, yet the land is very cheap,
ranging from $1 to $5 per acre for unimproved land and from
$8 to $15 for that which is improved.

A. B. Hulit, Springfield, Mo., general manager of the Frisco
Live Stock Company, is much interested in the development of
this Ozark region, and will answer any inquiries concerning it.

CHAPTER IX,

THE CARE OF ANGORA GOATS.
Tin Question of their Hardiness.

There has been a great amount of careless writing about An-
gora goats which has given the widespread impression that, they
are very hardy. This is, indeed, true to some extent. The cros
upon common goats are very likely to be hardy, and it may be
stated, as a general rule, that the higher the cross becomes the
less hardy is the animal. Schreiner, who probably knows more
about what the original purebred Angora goat was than any other
authority, says : "I think it is certain that the original was a
small, very refined, delicate animal/' The fact that the best
mohair goats in the United States at this time are nearly all of
this description lends much weight to his opinion. Our breeders
may sometimes produce a large, hardy animal which will produce
the best of mohair, but such an ideal is not yet in sight.

In many instances during the recent rapid spread of this in-
dustry, the careless or shiftless man has presumed upon the re-
puted hardiness of the Angoras and has subjected them to all
manner of discomfort and deprivation, apparently with the ex-
pectation that final results will be fully as satisfactory as if ra-
tional attention had been given them. While he would not think
of putting a horse, or cow, or hog upon its own resources in a
pasture in winter where the snow is a foot or more in depth, lie
has done so with his goats and then wondered why they did not
thrive, for had he not been told that "they will live on nothing"?
Now, it is true that many flocks pass through a winter and thrive
well where the snow is deep and the temperature very low, but they
get something to eat every day, and plenty of it. Let the keeper
of Angoras use common sense in handling them and lie will not
be disappointed.

Given adequate shelter and feed such as they relish. Angora
goats will show that they have the ability to withstand both ex-
treme cold and extreme heat. They thrive in Alaska and also in
Guadalupe Island. The same ability to withstand extreme tem-
peratures is exhibited by horses, cattle, sheep, and begs, which
argues more for care than against climate. (See remarks on cli-
mate in the chapter on "Localities adapted to goat raising.")

118 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

Angora goats can subsist upon vegetation which is utterly use-
less for any other purpose, but this is only evidence of their eco-
nomical keeping; it does not authorize one to conclude that they
never need any other kind of feed. The purpose of speaking of
the hardiness of the Angora goat here is to impress the fact that,
if satisfactory results are to be obtained — indeed, if disaster is to
be avoided — the animals must receive the same rational treatment
that is received by other live stock Avhen best results are sought.
In the sense that domestic animals are hardy, the Angora goat
is very hardy, but this characteristic is of service only so far as it
enables him to respond the more quickly and satisfactorily to ra-
tional handling.

Shelter and Pens.

A shelter is necessary during wet spells, and more especially
if the rain is cold or in case of sleet storms. Dry cold alone has
little or no injurious effect after the kids are three or four weeks
old, and they will even frolic in the snow when the mercury is at
zero, and sleep with apparent comfort in an open shed. With
their dense covering there is no reason why this should not be
true ; but this same dense covering when soaked with cold water
or driven full of sleet, is a deadly menace. Goats will not get
wet if they have an opportunity to avoid it. They appreciate a
shelter and will always seek it at night, and during the day in the
event of storms. They are said to be excellent barometers, being
able to foretell stormy weather, and always contrive to place them-
selves under shelter before the advance of a storm, if possible.
Mr. Diehl says they will run miles to avoid an undesirable rain.

Goats should not be left on the range or in pasture over night.
The latter is practiced to a considerable extent, but experience
has shown that they are safer in closer confinement during the
nighttime.

The pens in which the goats are kept at night should, above
all things, be in such a location that they can be kept dry by
drainage. Other live stock should be excluded, as they would
only help to trample the ground into mud. They should have a dry
place to stand and sleep, for they are apt to contract rheumatism
in the knees. There would be little use in raising Angoras for
their fleeces if they arc compelled to wade through mud and filth
or be confined under these conditions. The fleece would soon be-
come so soiled and malted as to be a "burden unto death."

The sheds provided for their shelter must be of a size to give
an abundance of room. The goats should not, under any circum-
stances, be huddled together. If they are thus crowded in cold

120 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

weather they will pile up, with the result that some of the younger
ones will die from suffocation. One writer states that he has
known as high as 30 being killed in this manner in one night.
Oscar Tom, of Angora, Oreg., describes a shelter that proves sat-
isfactory, in the following language : "The sheds should have
eave troughs, and be boarded down to within 3 or 4 feet of the
ground. There should be a ditch around the shed to prevent any
water from running into it, and it should be open all around, so
that the goats would not have to wait for others ahead of them to
go in; a few cross ones could not block the way and keep other
goats in or out, and the rain would not blow in, but the goats
would have plenty of fresh air. There should be a good fence
around the shed at a distance of at least fifty yards, to keep cattle
and horses from trampling up the ground and working it into
mud. Have the fence high enough for the goats to go under, but
never allow hogs to run into the goat shed, for goats are easily
frightened after dark."

The ditch referred to will fill up very rapidly with dirt and
manure, and should receive constant attention. If it is not kept
perfectly clear it may as well not have been made.

In some parts of the country the strong winds will blow rain
under a shed such as Mr. Tom describes. In such cases, the side
from which these storms usually come might be boarded to the
ground. A better plan, in the opinion of. some, is to have a few
solid movable panels of fence to place around the openings of the
shed on such occasions. This plan is convenient, too, as the panels
may be taken away in fair weather, thus permitting a free circu-
lation of air from all sides.

Shelter from the sun's rays should be provided for summer
time. Although goats are able to withstand intense heat, they do
not thrive well when subjected to it. For this purpose sheds more
open than that described above are preferred, for the reason that
the air will have freer circulation. Better yet than a shed against
the suns' rays are large trees. In this case there is no obstruction
whatever to the air.

Herding and Fencing.

Goats require a great amount of exercise, much more than
sheep. The one is by nature a browser and the other a grazer,
and the browsing habit naturally requires more activity on the
part of the goats. They are sensitive to restraint and do better
if not herded, but, of course, this is often a necessity, and there-
fore should be done under as favorable circumstances as possible.
So far as possible they should not be allowed to feel their restraint.

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. 121

If constant attendance is necessary, the herder should be of quiet
disposition. The next best thing to the freedom of a rang
large pasture, where the goats may have oversight, but not con-
stant attendance. Such pastures are considered the cheapest

method of keeping these goats. They can easily be trained to come
home by feeding a little and salting regularly.

The fencing for pastures is a matter which early concerns one
who contemplates going into the business, for it is the current
belief that goats will climb onto any shed of ordinary height or
jump any fence that will stop other animals. While they will
climb anything that is built in such a manner that it may be
climbed easily, they will not jump any ordinary fence. They will,
however, creep through if there is an opening large enough. The
old-fashioned "worm" fence, especially if it leans outward, will
not stop goats. The angles in such a fence are an incentive and
a delight to them. Indeed, there are many hogs that will go over
a fence of this kind.

The writer knows 01 an instance where an effort was made to
keep goats inside a stone wall; but the alert animals found a
stump near the wall at one point and from that jumped upon the
wall, then walked nearly half a mile on the top of this, and then
found a stone outside which assisted them down. He has also seen
goats lie flat on their sides, as pigs are prone to do, and crawl
under a woven-wire fence. These instances are related here as
warnings that, while goats will neither jump nor tear down a
fence, they require a well-made one. They accept every opportu-
nity offered to climb or crawl.

In constructing a goat fence there are other matters to be taken
into account than simply that the goats should be kept in; the
animals themselves, especially the young ones, must be protected
from predatory animals, such as dogs and wolves. Too much de-
pendence must not be placed upon the goat to defend itself, espe-
cially in the dark. It often occurs that dogs and wolves do their
worst work at night, when the goats are without an attendant, and
they frequently go upon their forays in groups of two or more.
The greatest cunning and generalship is exhibited by the "sheep-
killing" dog. In the Southwest it is much more important to
fence to keep varmints out than it is to fence to keep the goats in.
So the double object must be kept in view in building a goat
fence. Such a fence must be dog-proof, hog-proof, and wolf-
proof. A hog at liberty which has had the taste of chicken or
lamb or kid is a greater nuisance than any wolf or dog, and should
be dispatched as being an enemy to other young live stock as well
as kids.

122 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

Any material which is usually employed in the construction of
fences is suitable for goat fences. The manner of construction
is the important feature. If the purpose is to clear land of brush-
wood in order to convert it into pasture land, the fence should be
made with permanency in view. A fence of ten-barbed hog wires,
with posts set twenty feet apart, and having three stays between,
is a very good one. The lowest wire is only 1 inch from the
ground; the next four wires 3J inches apart, and one-half inch
added to every space above the first below it. It is necessary that
all wires should be kept taut. In the Southwest these barbs in-
flict wounds upon wolves and dogs which try to get through them
and the screw worm infests the wound and death ensues. Goats
are wise enough 1o let the wires alone.

A good fence may be made of woven wire three feet high,
drawn on the inside of posts, and a closely barbed strand of wire
3 or 4 inches above fastened to the outside of the posts to prevent
animals from jumping in. In hilly or rolling localities some
difficulty is met in fitting the fence to the contour of the ground.
Sometimes there must be filling under such a fence where it
crosses over a depression. This must not be overlooked, for the
goat will astonish you, if you do not attend to these places, by
lying flat on its side if necessary to crawl through. C. P. Bailey
& Sons Co., say : "Nearly every one has a mistaken idea about
fencing pasture to hold goats. One man says, 'Make your fence
hog-tight, horse-high, and bull-strong.' Probably this man had a
few pet goats that had become experts at getting out of pastures.
A good fence three feet high is amply sufficient to hold goats.
Three boards, with two barb wires, or a 24-inch Page woven wire
fence, with three barb wires above, will hold goats without lia-
bility of escaping. Several of the corrals at our Nevada ranch
are made of 36-inch I)e Kalb wire fencing, with one barb wire at
the top. These corrals keep goats in and coyotes out. The barb
wire on top prevents cattle or horses from breaking down the
fences."

A straight rail fence, if the rails are laid close together, as
well as an ordinary board fence, will turn goats ; but a zigzag, or
worm, fence is no sort of barrier to them. A stone fence has to
be well built to prevent their climbing it.

A goat would rather sleep on top of a barn than anywhere
else below, and if it is possible for him to get on a roof he will do
it. It is not necessary to state that their presence there is ruinous
to the building.

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Tlie Question of Feeding-.

The principal reason why goats will prove to be more profit-
able in some places than sheep is because they are practically inex-
pensive so far as feeding is concerned. This phase of the subject
is quite fully discussed in the chapter on "Browsing and pas-
turage." The goats eat the leaves in summer and the soft twigs
in winter, and if there is an abundance of either they will not
need much of anything else to sustain life. It is not possible in
all localities, however, for goats to get twigs in winter, and there-
fore some other provision is necessary.

Corn fodder is a very good feed and is relished if there is no
browse to tempt the goats away. They are also fond of clean
straw. There is not sufficient nourishment in these fodders, and
some grain should be fed to keep the animals in good condition.
Probably the best feed is oats, and if it is sheaf oats it is better
still. In Texas cotton seed is often fed by scattering it upon the
hard snow, where goats will have to exercise somewhat to pick it
up; besides, the time consumed in picking it up insures better
mastication.

Eeports from some goat men who have run their goats upon
cowpea stubble in the autumn are of the most satisfactory nature.
That which goats pick up would otherwise be good as fertilizer
only, and it puts them in prime condition, in a very short time, for
breeding and for winter. Cowpea hay, clover hay, and alfalfa hay
are all most excellent coarse feeds, and with them no grain is
necessary to carry goats through the winter in fair condition.

In feeding grain care must be taken not to make the supply
too liberal, unless the object is to be fattened for slaughter. Goats
easily become lazy on a plentiful supply of grain and will decline
to go out to feed upon the brush. This is an important ponit, as
their hardiness, to a large extent, is attributed to their feeding
upon browse and to the resulting exercise. The quantity of food
necessary to keep goats in good condition varies according to the
climate, but one-fourth pound of corn or its equivalent in other
grain and 1J poands of hay at a ration is about a fair average.
With abundant winter pasture this ration once a day (in the
evening) is sufficient; if the pasture is scant, they ought to have
it both morning and evening, and on wet cold days, when they
are kept in the sheds all day, feed them three times or make their
rations correspondingly larger. In feeding either hay or grain,
absolute cleanliness must rule, as goats will not eat soiled food.
There is no animal more particular about his food than the goat.
He has no inclination for mud or filth in which to stand or walk,
much less having to pick his food out of it. Bryan Hook, author

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. 125

of "Milch Goats and Their Management," says: "The goat is of
all animals the most fastidious in the matter of the cleanliness of
its food, refusing, even though ever so hungry, to eat food that has
been soiled or trodden under foot. For this reason a rack should
1)0 provided for the hay, and only as much given at each meal
as the animal will consume, for that which has been trampled
under foot will ever he rejected, even though carefully collected
and replaced in the rack."

When the production of mohair is reduced to a fine art, the
question of feed in addition to browse will receive the most careful
attention because of its influence upon the fiber. With this thought
in mind, the reader is advised to see what Dr. McMurtrie says, as
quoted in the chapter on "Mohair and mohair manufactures."

Wet Grass Considered Injurious.

The Angora goat breeders of Asia Minor attribute the health-
fulness of their animals, as well as the excellent quality of mo-
hair produced, to the very dry climate. They believe that moisture,
even in the form of dew and sleet, is injurious and often fatal to
the goats, and are very careful not to allow their flocks to go to
pasture until the grass and other herbage is dry. While this view
may be exaggerated, many of our breeders follow the Turkish
practice with excellent results.

The Question of AVatering.

Goats do not drink much water, but what they do drink must
be clean. They have an inherent abhorrence of filthy water and
filthy food. A running stream is a valuable thing in a pasture.
If that is not present, water from a spring or well should be af-
forded.

The Question of Salting.

Goats require more salt than sheep, owing to the more as-
tringent character of their feed. If loose salt is used, the general
custom is to give it once a week on regular days. If rock salt is
used, it should be placed where the animal can get to it at any
time. Rock salt is preferable, as it can be placed in boxes or
troughs raised from the ground, and thus be kept out of the dirt
and be of easy access to the goats at any time ; and, too, there is
no waste and do danger that the animal will eat too much of it.

The Question of Marking.

The question of marking is always proper. Several devices
are in use, but the metal tag in the ear is probably best known.

126 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

A practice which appears to give satisfaction is to tattoo the num-
bers into the ear, using indelible ink. It is found that the metal
is sometimes pulled out by the brush.

Kidding and the Kids.

The kidding time is the most important in the life of the goat.
For two or three days after the kids are dropped they are exceed-
ingly delicate, and there will be no future success unless good care
is given at this time. They can not "rough it" at this period, but
will die from very little exposure or neglect. They are more deli-
cate for a few weeks than lambs. When the kids are large enough
to follow the flock they have constitutions stronger than lambs of
like age and are able to care for themselves very well.

The proper time for kids to arrive is in the spring, about the
time when leaves start on the trees and bushes. At that time
there is milk-producing food for the doe, and the weather is also
warm enough to favor the kids. The exact time may be governed,
of course, by the service of the bucks and will be earlier in lo-
calities where the seasons are earlier. If the kids come in cold
weather, there will be greater difficulty in saving them. Warm
stabling must also be provided, and the does will require extra
feeding in order that they may supply milk for the kids.

A few days before a kid is due the doe should be separated
from the flock. Some breeders would put her in a pen alone,
while others would put as many as 20 in one pen. If the facilities
are at hand, a small pen for each doe is better, for the reason that
the doe will sooner "own" the kid and there will be less danger
of injury than if among a number. A doe knows her kid by the
sense of smell, especially when it is young. This characteristic
is so strong that some breeders assert that if two kids of different
mothers are rubbed together, the does will often refuse to own
them. Whoever cares for the doe at kidding time will find it an
important part of his work to see that the does own their kids.
This difficulty in any case will disappear in a few days, and it will
then only be necessary to arrange for the does to get to the kids
whenever they desire.

If kids are dropped on the range or in the pasture, they must
be carried home and special care given to see that the does are
made to own (hem, for many times they will refuse. A lamb will
follow its mother very soon after it is dropped, but a doe will hide
her kid as best she can in the bushes or behind a stone or log
and leave it there wnile she goes away to feed ; and on her return
she expects to find it where she left it.

The Mexican method of handling the kid is largely practiced

ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

127

in Texas and New Mexico and consists of "staking," or "toggling/'
th" kid. When the kid is dropped, take it to a protected place
(shed or barn), seeing to it that the doe follows, and ''stake it
out," or "toggle" it, with a string about 14 inches long. Tie this
string to one leg, changing occasionally to the other legs to avoid
lameness. This string should have a swivel in it to prevent twist-
ing, and the kids should be carefully watched so long as they are
so tied, which will be from seven to ten days.

The docs should remain with the kids until they leave them
of their own accord to go out for feed. The kids may then be
allowed to run loose in a pen together until they are large enough
to go out with the flock, which is when they are from four to six-
weeks old, or when they are able to jump a board from 12 to 20
inches high placed across the gate. The height of this board
this method in Nevada for more than twenty-five years. If the
restrains the kids that are too small to follow the flock and at the
same time enables the does to go and come as they please. W. G.

THE HUGHES SEPARATING BRIDGE.

Hughes & Co., of Hastings, Tex., have a device for separating the
does from the kids which is better than the board. It is a bridge.
either end of which drops to the desired height. This device
enables the does to go out and in without injuring the udder,
which is apt to occur where they have to jump a board.

The following is from Dr. W. C. Bailey, one of the best-known
breeders in the world : "There are in use two methods of handling
kids at kidding lime; namely, the corral method and the staking
method. Each of these has points which render it most valuable
under certain conditions and in certain localities.

THE CORRAL METHOD.

"This method may be used with any number of goats. With
various modifications and adaptations which best suit the size of
the flock, the climatic conditions, the facilities for feeding, etc.,
it may be used by the beginner with success. We have practiced

128 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

herd is a large one, say 1,000 head, three men are required to
handle the goats at kidding time. The service of the bucks is
so managed that the kids will be dropped gradually through several
weeks. At the height of the season we expect from 75 to 100 kids
a day. The season lasts about thirty or forty days. Fortunately,
most of the kids are dropped in the daytime.

"We have four or five small corrals, fenced with 36-inch woven
wire and large enough to hold 50 does and their kids. The doe
should be allowed plenty of room, because if too close to her neigh-
bor she may adopt the other doe's kid. Besides, these small corrals,
two large ones are needed, each large enough to hold 1,000 does.
Along the fence of one of these corrals are a dozen small pens
just large enough to hold a doe and kid. At the gate of this
corral a jump board is placed. This jump board is intended to
keep back those kids which are not large and strong enough to
jump over it. A 2 -inch board about 18 inches high will answer
the purpose. Another device sometimes used is a platform open
at the end, so that the kids may run under it and thus avoid being
trampled upon when the goats are going out over the paltform.

"The small corrals may be made of panel fence and located in
a meadow where some feed is afforded. The does should always
have some kind of feed at kidding time.

"In the morning the flock is carefully examined, and all does
which show signs of kidding during the day should be separated
and placed in one of the small corrals. The large flock is now
turned out, and one of the men is sent with them with instruc-
tions to take the herd at once as far as he intends to go for feed
that day, then to let them feed over a limited area and gradu-
ally work their way home. A few does will drop their kids on the
range, and the herder should carefully note the number and their
location. He should see that the herd does not feed around one
of these does, as she is apt to leave her kid and join the band,
thus necessitating much extra work in finding the kid and in
giving it to its mother. Early in the afternoon the band is placed
in one of the large corrals. Xow the herder and another man go
out with a wagon or on foot and carry the kids home, gently dri-
ving the mothers. The kids should not be handled or rubbed
against one another more than is necessary, as the doe knows her
kid by the scent. These does and kids are placed in the small
corral which contains the does held back in the morning with
the expectation that they would kid during the day. We now have
one day's kidding in one of the small corrals. The does and the
kids should be watched to see that they are properly arranged.
Do not bother them more than is absolutely necessary. Do not be

130 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

in a hurry to make a doe own a kid. Do not drive the goats around
one of the small pens.

"The does should remain with their kids in the corral for a day
or two at least, or until the kids are properly mothered. Any does
which have not kidded should be taken out. The next morning
any kids which may have been born during the night are put in
another small corral with their mothers, as well as the does which
are expected to kid during the day. The procedure of the previous
day is repeated. In about three days, if one has limited quarters,
the first day's mothers and kids may be put in the second large
corral ; that is, the one with the jump board at the gate. Now
this 'wet' band is placed in charge of one of the men and sent
out to feed. The gate is opened, the mothers passing out over the
jump board, and the kids remain in the corral. The herder must
not range his goats near the does that are kidding upon the range,
and he should be cautioned to come in later than the 'dry' band,
so as to avoid any possibility of their mixing. When his band ar-
rives at the corral the gate is opened, and each mother hunts for
her kid. Some of the kids may not find their mothers, and if
after a day or two there are a few unnourished kids and some
does with overdistended udders they should be placed together in
the small pens along the side of the corral. The doe will own the
kid in a day or two, whether she is its mother or not. The kids
should not be allowed to become too weak before this is done. If
one does not have enough small pens, a doe may be held while
two or three kids suckle her, and thus tide them over until some
of the small pens are vacant.

"The next day the second day's kidding is added to the wet
band. The wet band thus gradually grows, while the dry band
decreases. During the day two men will be employed at herding
the dry and wet bands, respectively, and the third man will be kept
busy inspecting the kids, feeding the does in confinement, etc.
If the weather is stormy some of the kids will have to be sheltered.
The advisability of having the kids dropped gradually through
a period of thirty or forty days will readily be seen. If help is
inexperienced they may be gradually trained, or if the weather is
stormy there will be time to get all things arranged properly.

"The kids should not be allowed to go with their mothers until
they are about six or eight weeks old. If they go before this, they
will probably become tired very soon and go to sleep. When they
awake the band will have gone, and they are liable to be lost.
During the day, while the mothers are feeding, the kids would eat
a little grass if they could be herded near the corral.

"As stated before, there may be many modifications of this

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. l.;i

method which will suggest themselves, but the above is a general

outline of a method commonly in use.

TIIK STAKING METHOD.

"This method is largely employed, even with large flocks, in
New .Mexico, hii is possibly best suited to small flocks. It is
without doubt the host method for certain surroundings. Aboul
the same amount of help will he required as w ith the corral method.
There should he a good supply of stakes similar to tent Btakes.
There should also he a supply of swivel blocks which are ahout
4 inches long and having a hole bored near each end. A piece
of rope about 6 inches long is fastened to the stake, and the other
end is passed through one of the holes in the swivel block and a
knot tied in the end. Another piece of rope of equal length is
likewise knotted and passed through the other hole of the swivel
block, the loose end being tied to the kid's leg. Any swivel will
take the place of this primitive method. The herder or owner
can busy himself during the winter months by making stakes and
swivels and by cutting and attaching the ropes.

"When a kid is born it is taken to a convenient place to stake
and the mother is gently coaxed to follow. The stake is securely
driven into the ground, and the kid fastened to it by the hind
leg. The mother is left with the kid, in order that she may know
where to find it upon returning from feeding. The kid should be
staked where he can get plenty of sunshine, shade, and shelter.
A small bush, a post, or a box will answer the purpose admirably.
If there are twins, they must be so staked that they can suckle
at the same time. The rope should be changed from one hind leg
to the other occasionally, to prevent unequal development. Some-
times a vigorous kid gets thoroughly tangled and requires help.
The kid may thus be staked until he is old enough to go with the
flock, which is after six or eight weeks, or he may be put in a
corral a few days, as is clone in the corral method.

"There are many successful breeders who use this method en-
tirely. One may expect to get good results if he follows either
the corral or staking method carefully."

There is very small loss among kids cared for as set forth above.
Many of the breeders on a large scale report the percentage of
increase as 100. This does not mean that every kid lives, hut that
so few die that the loss is offset by the number of twins thai are
dropped. The most practicable fencing to he used at kidding
time is made of portable panels. By the use of these panels a pen
may be made large or small and be moved from one place to an-
other without difficulty and with very little work.

132 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

Weaning. — Kids should not be weaned until they are 4^ months
old unless the}' are very strong; but they should not remain with
their mothers after they are 5 months old. This especially applies
to the buck kids, as they will often breed at 6 months of age or
even younger.

Castration. — The buck kids not reserved for breeding purposes
should be castrated when about 2 weeks old. The earlier it is
done, the better will be the meat and the mohair. It is pointed out
in previous pages that the mohair from wethers ranks with that
from the does, and the flesh is superior to that of the does and
inferior only in small degree to that of the kids. A cool day
should always be selected for the operation of castration and careful
attention given for a few days.

Notes on Kidding froni Correspondents.

As kidding is the most critical period in the handling of goats,
it is very important that the breeder, especially if he is a beginner,
should be well informed on this matter. It therefore seems de-
sirable to quote herewith the various views of men who are suc-
cessful and well-known breeders.

From F. 0. Landrum, Laguna, Tex. : "There are several meth-
ods of handling goats during kidding. The one employed here is
the Mexican plan. When the kid is dropped take it by the hind
legs, so that the doe will follow, to where you want to stake him.
Stake with rope about 12 inches long, with wooden swivel in cen-
ter. Leave them staked until after they are marked and cas-
trated and well owned by the mother. Sometimes kids are herded
with their mothers and sometimes by themselves until they learn
to be herded. If not handled properly and the kids are allowed to
mix together, the doe loses the scent of her kid, and young does
will often disown them."

From W. G. Hughes & Co., Hastings, Tex. : "We keep the
nannie and kid to themselves so far as possible for a day or so,
and do not allow more than 20 nannies and kids in the same pen
until the kids are over a week old, nor more than 50 nannies and
kids in the same pen until 2 weeks old. Kids are kept in the pen
day and night until a month old, and are then allowed to run
outside the pen during the day to eat a little; the feed may be
furnished them in the form of cut branches if there arc no bushes
near the pen. They should also have access to water after 4 weeks
old. When 6 weeks old they can go out with the flock for a few
hours in the afternoon, the flock being brought in at midday for
this purpose. After 8 weeks they can go regularly all day with the

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. 133

get through kidding time is to put all the doc- thai are Boon to
bring kids in a separate small pasture whore they can be looked
up easily. In case of bad weather they should be brought into
their shed every evening before sundown; but if the weather Lb
dry and not too cold they can be left out, and all the does will likely
own their kids. Of course, the kids will not follow their mothers
as lambs do, but will lie down in a thicket or under a bush, a
weed, a log, or a rock, and remain there till the mother comes
back to it, even if it should have to wait till it starved to death ;
but after a kid is a few days old it is able to follow its mother,
although it is best to keep the kids at home. Kids need not suck
oftener than twice a day."

From Josephus R. Barnette, Globe, Ariz. : "I cut out the heavy
ewes from the rest of the herd, and hold them in a close herd, and
catch the kids and bring them with their mothers to the corral,
where each kid is staked separately with a toggle, or swivel, being
careful to see that the mother knows where the kid is. After
this I let the new mothers come and go at will, only noticing them
enough to see that they come to their kids regularly. The kids
should be watched closely in order that they may not get tangled
up and hurt. When they arc about 2 weeks old they are turned
loose in a corral and a board is put at the gate over which the
mothers jump in going to and from their kids. When the kids
are 3 months old they may be allowed to go with the herd."

From Col. Wm. L. Black, Fort McKavett, Tex. : "This is the
most critical period in the handling of goats. The kids are gener-
ally collected daily, as soon as dropped and able to stand and
suckle the mothers, and are confined in a corral for several weeks,
much of the time tied to a stake driven into the ground. It is not
safe to let them run with the flock until they are a month to 6
wreeks of age, as they are liable to drop out of the flock and be
lost."

From H. I. Kimball, Maxwell City, N. Mex. : "I always keep
the kids in a corral until they are old enough to follow the doe,
which is when they are about 30 days old. In taking the kids
to the corral care should be taken to get nothing on them that
will change the scent, for does are very sensitive. If two kids
from different does are rubbed together, the does will often refuse
to own either of them. All kids should be castrated before 2
weeks old, as there is less danger and they do not get so sore."

From G. M. Scott, Malta, Idaho: "Take all the nannies out
from the other goats as soon as they kid, and put them by them-
selves. I have about 100 small pens in which 1 put the nannies.
Put the young nannies and old ones in different pens. Here they

134 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

flock. We use a bridge for the purpose of 'cutting back' such kids
as should not go out with the flock."

From H. T. Fuchs, Marble Falls, Tex. : "The easiest way to
remain for 4 or 5 days and they are then turned into a larger pen,
but not more than 50 should be put together."

From Oscar Tom, Angora, Oreg. : "I aim to have a field of
fall grain or reserved pasture to turn the does in a few days before
kidding commences, and turn the does in another pasture as fast
as they drop their kids. Keep the kids up about 2 weeks, then let
them go with their mothers."

From Henry Fink, Leon Springs, Tex. : "I stake the kid in a
barn for 2 weeks. The mother goes out in the daytime to feed
and is put with the kid at night. After 2 weeks the kid is turned
loose and kept in a pen until 2 months old, when it is allowed
to go out with the flock."

Care ot the Feet.

The toes will grow to a great length and turn up at the points,
like an old-fashioned skate, if they are not trimmed. They will
not only thus become a nuisance to the animal, but will get sore
and become very painful. Where the goat has the run of rocky
land or land that is sandy to a considerable extent, hand trim-
ming will not be necessary, but if for any cause the toes grow too
long, they should be pared oif with a knife.

If the soil is wet much of the time, the animals are liable to be
attacked with foot rot. For treatment of this disease, the reader
is referred to the chapter on "Diseases and other enemies."

CHAPTER X.

FLOCK MANAGEMENT.
The Best Floek.

It is assumed that whoever goes into the business of raising
Angora goats will do so principally for the production of mohair,
rather than meat or skins, and therefore it is to his interest to
possess a flock that will yield a profit from the beginning. The
best flock for this purpose is one composed of high grades, or
thoroughbreds. (There are no purebred Angora goats, so far as
any" one knows.) Such a flock will produce good mohair from the
first. There is a great difference between high-grade goats — in
length, strength, luster, density, and fineness of fleece. The better
these qualities, the higher will be the price.

Whoever enters upon this industry will shape his plans to con-
form to his capital, just as he would do in any other business. If
he begins with high-grade does, they will cost him from $5 to $15
each, and the prices of good bucks range from $20 to $100. Ex-
ceptionally excellent bucks, especially winners in the show ring,
will bring higher prices. A large flock of this kind of animals.
although preferable, would cost a small fortune, and so be beyond
consideration by the greater number of people who will engage
in the industry.

A riock from Small Beginning.

A plan that may be pursued by one who has limited capital
is to begin with a few first-class animals and from these build
up a flock. The result is quite sure to prove satisfactory. This
may be the wisest plan for the beginner to follow, as experience,
which is so necessary to success, will be gained as the flock in-
creases. The mohair from such a flock will bring a good price and
the kids are far more profitable than crossbreds.

Crossing Upon tlie Common Does*

It is observed in a previous chapter of this book that many
years ago the Turks began the practice of crossing Angora bucks
upon Kurd does. They had in mind the twofold purpose of pro-
ducing thereby a hardier animal than the purebred Angora and

130 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

of increasing the number of goats in order to supply the increased
demand of Europe for mohair. The practice of crossing Angora
bucks upon common does in the United States began at once upon
their introduction, and the results have been satisfactory in that
the industry was thereby saved to the country. It is probably
a safe statement that if our supply of Angoras had depended en-
tirely upon importations and their offspring, there would be noth-
ing here now worthy to bear the dignified title of industry.

Most of the large flocks of the Southwest had Mexican does for
their foundation, but it is a most encouraging sign of the times that
the practice is not followed any more except to a limited extent.
The country has no further need of such crosses, and it is desirable
that the practice cease altogether. The advantage claimed for
crossing upon common does is that good does may be purchased
at $1.50 to $2.50 each; that during the first and second crosses
there are many twins, thus increasing the flock in that proportion —
a condition not existing, except to a small extent, among the high-
est bred Angoras; and the size and hardiness of the progeny are
increased and the liability to disease decreased.

Care should be exercised in starting a flock by this method to
select only such common does as are entirely white ; any other color,
however slight, is objectionable. There should be no dark spots
on the skin. The offspring from such animals might prove satis-
factory, but the probabilities are to the contrary. In handling
crosses, the breeder finds that atavism, or reversion of type, often
becomes apparent when it is most objectionable.

It is also necessary, in order to insure best results, that the
common does should have as short hair as it is possible to obtain
it. This hair (known in the Angora fleece as kemp) will be cor-
respondingly short in the crosses. Crosses upon long-haired does
will oftentimes exhibit kemp from two to four inches long. This
means a heavy shrinkage in noilage when the mohair reaches the
manufacturer.

The buck used upon these does and upon all the crosses should
be the best one can afford. A poor buck will defeat the object of
the breeder. It must be remembered that the excellence of mohair
which is in view must be contributed entirely by the buck. All
male crosses for many generations (a dozen would not be too many
unless kemp should disappear) should be castrated and prepared
for slaughter as soon as large enough.

The building up of a flock of Angoras by the practice of cross-
ing upon common does is not so rapid as many suppose. Let it be
assumed that we have a flock of 100 common does which drop
as many kids the first season. Half of these are bucks, leaving

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138 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

50 does for the next cross. These 50 drop 50 kids, 25 of which
are does; the next cross would give 12 or 13, and the fifth cross 6.
This last number represents approximately the number of high-
grade does that would result each year from a flock of 100 common
does at the beginning.

I have spoken of the fifth or sixth cross as being high grades,
and so they are; but they are far, very far, from being purebreds,
and it is probably giving them too much credit for excellence to
call them thoroughbreds. A purebred Angora should not have
any kemp whatever. How long time may be necessary to produce
a kempless Angora from crossing upon common stock no one will
venture to say. Instances have been reported where kemp was
still in evidence after twelve crosses.

While the purpose of the above paragraphs is to tell why cross-
ing upon common stock is resorted to and how it is done, it is a
practice to be discouraged at this time. The Angora goat breeders
are just now doing their utmost to produce kempless animals, and
this crossing is persistently working against their purposes. Every
drop of common blood adds trouble extending over many years.

Proper Age for Breeding.

Goats of both sexes will sometimes breed when they are 5
months old, and often at 6 months, but from the fact that they
are at this age but a month or two from weaning time and are not
nearly full grown, it is obvious that they should not be permitted
to breed. They reach maturity when about 16 or 18 months old,
and they ought not to breed before this time. If bred earlier the
kids will not be so strong or so well developed. They are in their
prime when from 2 to 6 years old, but with* proper feeding in
winter they have been known to breed regularly until 15 years old.
The average life of goats, however, is about 12 years. There should
be no tendency to keep does until they are very old unless they
bring kids of exceptional merit, for it must be remembered that
their mohair gets coarser, and consequently less valuable, as they
grow older. Old does make very good mutton if fattened on
grain, or if a good portion of their feed is grain. The cooking re-
quires a little more time than for young animals.

The accompanying illustration shows how the age of goats may
be determined until they are four years old. After that, in the
absence of definite information, the age is a mere matter of guess,
based upon the general appearance of the animal. The new teeth
are longer and larger.

A.VHORA GOAT RAISING

139

FiRSt Year

Slcond Ye.ar

Third. Year

Fourth Year

Fifth Year
the age shown by the teeth.

In-and-in Breeding.

In-and-in breeding means the breeding of related individuals.
The term is indefinite, and with some refers to a close relation-
ship and with others to any degree of relationship. Extensive cor-
respondence with the goat raisers of the United States shows that
with them the term means generally the breeding of individuals
of close relationship.

There is an overwhelming sentiment against the practice be-
cause of the injurious result to the constitution of the offspring.
It is quite generally agreed, however, that in-and-in breeding will
produce a fleece of finest fiber, having beautiful luster and little
oil, but the weight will be reduced. The few who favor the prac-
tice contend that the quality more than offsets the quantity. The
offspring of related animals are not so large and strong as those
which are not related; they are quite delicate and naturally more
subject to disease. The fact must not be overlooked, however.
that John S. Harris, of Salem, Oreg., has followed in-and-in
breeding continuously and with evident success, and, too, they are

140 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

kept in a climate where the temperature in winter is sometimes
far below zcvo. But Mr. Harris is a gentleman who understands
the art of breeding. If all goat raisers knew so well the prin-
ciples of breeding as he does, there might not be so many to con-
demn the practice. However, they have learned much by experi-
ence, and it can not be contended that they are wrong in advising
generally against the practice.

Management of the Buck.

Bucks usually come in heat about the middle of July and con-
tinue so about six months; does, however, do not usually come
in heat until the latter part of August or the first of September.
As the period of gestation in goats is from 14:7 to 155 days (or
about five months), care must be taken in mating the animals to
have the kids dropped in proper season, which will vary some-
what with the locality. The kids should not come before the warm
days of spring or when vegetation begins to put out vigorously.
Therefore the buck should be put to service from November 1 to
December 1, so that the kids will come about the first of April or
May. The only objection to earlier kidding is the extra care re-
quired to preserve the life of the kids, for they are exceedingly
delicate for a few days, as has been stated before, and even a little
cold at this season will probably prove fatal.

A buck, like any other domestic animal, should be in the best
possible condition when put to service. He should be well fed
with grain for a few weeks before this time, and the feeding should
be kept up until a few weeks after his service is ended.

As to the number of does which a buck may serve, there is a
great diversity of opinion. The greater number of goat raisers,
however, think 40 or 50 is all that may be served with good re-
sults. Col. Richard Peters wrote that he had obtained the best
results with 200 breeding does by turning in with them ten se-
lected bucks. His object was to have the kids come as nearly at
one time as possible, thus shortening the period of careful watch-
ing. Referring to Colonel Peters's practice, Dr. J. R. Standley says
he regards it a great success, and will adopt it in the future. He
says, further: "I have tried the one-service system, also turning
in bucks at night, removing them during the day, and other plans,
but decidedly prefer Colonel Peters's plan/'

Where there are very large flocks it is not always desirable that
the kids should all come at one time. If they are dropped at inter-
vals for a month, one attendant may thus be enabled to look after
a large number, whereas if all come about the same time, one
attendant could not do the work, and assistants who mav be

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. 141

strangers to tbo flock would be necessary. (It is not well to have

many strangers with these goats at any time, and certainly not at
kidding lime.)

The handling of "riginals" (ridgels) should have a word here.
If the one testicle which descends is removed, the riginal will not
get kids, hut he will hother the does. If the descended testicle is
not removed, he will hreed without difficulty. He should be killed
as soon as practicable.

N n in i>« i of Kids*

Thoroughbred Angora goats do not generally drop more than
one kid at a time, while the common goats nearly always drop two
or three. There are many twins with the first cross, but the
number of twins diminishes as the crosses become higher. It is
stated that the purebred Angoras never dropped but one at a time,
and that the presence of twins in a flock is evidence of a base
origin of the goats. The latter statement is disputed by some,
who believe that the purebred Angora (having no trace whatever
of base blood) will drop twins as regularly as the common goat.
This is a point that is liable to remain in dispute, as there is no
way to settle it.

In the Southwest, where most of the large flocks are located
and where no particular care is given the goats on most ranches,
the average percentage of kids is about 70. In other places, where
such care is given the does at kidding time as they ought to have,
the increase may easily be 100 per cent. There are instances of
the increase reaching as high as 120 per cent. Good handling of
a flock anywhere ought to give a kid for every doe of the flock.

Size of Flocks.

All goat raisers agree that Angoras can not stand crowding
together; and the higher the grade of the goats the more suscepti-
ble are they to injury from crowding.

Special stress should be laid upon this matter of crowding, for
it is more serious than many people will be inclined to think.
They will argue that goats ought to stand what sheep and hogs do
in this respect, but the fact is they will not stand it. Let no one
crowd his animals, and be convinced of his error when he finds
a half dozen dead ones in his goat shed some morning. Goats
require much fresh air and it must be afforded them. Many who
have taken goats from the South to the North have worked injury
to their flocks when attempting a kindness by providing barns
too warm, without sufficient ventilation. For well-fleeced goats
dry barns are needed more than very warm ones.

142 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

To state just how many should be kept in a flock is difficult,
as the number depends upon the character of their restraint.
Where they have the range at day and large yards at night, the
flocks may be very large, but where they have pasturage and small
pens at night the flock must not be large. It is stated by some
that goats in small flocks shear more than those running in large
flocks. A flock ought not to exceed 2,000 in number.

Dehorning.

Dehorning the goats has received very little consideration, and
it is probable that Q. M. Beck, of Beargrove, Iowa, is the only goat
raiser who is now practicing it. Many other breeders report that
they do not dehorn but believe it practicable, while a very few ex-
press opposition to the practice. Mr. Beck writes as follows :
"I dehorned 45 head last fall (1899) and found it a success, as
it stops a great deal of bunting, which is liable to cause abortion,
saves shed room, saves broken legs, and will save many kids." These
same reasons have brought the dehorning of cattle in quite general
favor among breeders, and it is probable that as the Angora goat
industry grows into a large industry the practice of relieving the
goats of their civilized weapons of warfare will be generally
adopted. Mr. Beck dehorns in the fall after all flies are gone.

A different view of the question of dehorning is taken by C. P.
Bailey & Sons Co., who dehorned 250 head which were in a band
by themselves. They bunted as much or more than before the
horns were removed. "Goats always butt each other, but we have
never seen any ill effects resulting, except occasionally a leg being
broken from being caught between the horns. It deprives them
of their only means of defense, and we consider it unnecessary and
objectionable."

CHAPTER XL

SHEARING, SHEARS, AND SHEDDING.
Shearing Once or Twice a Year.

In Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and sometimes in California
shearing is done twice a year — in the months of March or April
and in September or October. The reasons for this are that the
fleece will often shed in the fall as well as in the spring, if it is
not clipped owing to the long warm season. H. T. Fuchs, of
Texas, says: "I find it quite necessary to shear twice a year, as
they suffer too much from heat in the summer and autumn and
even during the warm days in winter if they are not sheared about
the middle of September, and in the springtime as soon as they
begin to shed their long silky hair." There are occasional in-
stances in these localities where goats carry their fleece through the
year, but all breeders, except in some parts of California, report
the practice of shearing twice a year. In the other parts of the
country shearing is done but once a year, and that in the months
of March or April. The rule for shearing time does not depend
so much upon the calendar as upon the condition of the fleece. It
should not be delayed until the fiber begins to shed, as then the oil
will begin to go back into the body of the animal, the mohair thus
losing its life and luster. After goats once begin to shed, the
loss of mohair is considerable. A bit of the fleece may be caught
upon a twig or thorn or silver and be pulled out. When the hair
is not shedding the goat is very careful about its hair, for it gives
pain to have it pulled; but when it is shedding the skin itches,
and every effort will be made to rid itself of the fleece.

As to the relative values of the semiannual and annual fleeces,
there does not seem to be much difference of opinion. The semi-
annual fiber is shorter and therefore less desirable for fabricating,
and the price is not so high as for that of the annual fleece. It
is generally agreed that the two shearings combined weigh a little
more than the annual shearing, but probably the increase does not
average more than a quarter of a pound. However, some who
have practiced it report that the gain is not equal to the cost of the
second shearing, and that shearing twice is done from necessity
rather than from the standpoint of profit.

144 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

It is well to keep in mind the fact that our mohair manufac-
turers have never yet been able to secure all the long staple that
they needed, but at the same time the market has always been
overstocked with the shorter staple. This is especially true of the
mohair which is not over four inches in length. Much of the semi-
annual shearing is not so short as this and so brings a better price
in a more certain market.

Use of Clipping Machines.

The use of clipping machines, although largely employed among
large sheep raisers, has not yet come into general use among goat
raisers. Those who have used them indorse them, and they will no
doubt soon come into general use. They are more rapid than hand
work, and the results are more satisfactory. The cutting of the
skin is easily avoided in reasonably careful hands, while it requires
extreme care with hand shears to prevent cutting. Mr. H. I. Kim-
ball, of New Mexico, says of the use of the machines: "I sheared
them [the gcats] myself faster than the best hand shearer I ever
saw, and I got a better price for my mohair." Another gentle-
man says: "I will say that the clipping machine for sheep will
work well on goats in every respect. I have sheared ten goats in
one hour and done up the fleeces." The power machines may op-
erate any number of shears, all of which are connected with the
driving shaft. The same machine, Avith one pair of the same kind
of shears, is made for operation by hand power, A man or a boy
of good strength may easily operate this machine, while another
applies the shears to the goat or sheep. The machine is not ex-
pensive, and goat men generally will find it to be to their advantage
to use it.

Of course, the goat raiser will consider the relative cost of
shearing with machines and by hand before he will purchase a
machine. The decision will probably depend upon the number.
The cost of hand shearing is about 4 cents a head. In the South-
west there are Mexicans who follow the profession of shearing sheep
and goats; these usually receive 2 cents a head with their board.
Many of them will shear 85 or 90 a day, the average of all being
about 60. Any man who can shear sheep can shear goats. If
shearing is clone by hand, a short-bladed shear should be used in
order to avoid cutting the hair twice.

Another objection to hand shearing is that there is often double
cutting of the hair. The results are a shortening of the fiber and
an increased amount or noilage.

The shears used for goats, both hand and machine, are the
same as those used for shearing sheep. It is much easier for the

POWER AND HAND SHEARING MACHINFS.
Manufactured by the Allen Sheep Shearing Machine Co., Chicago.

14G

ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

shearer and more humane to the goat if the shears are always
sharp.

The Operation of Shearing.

Goats are not so gentle in the hands of the shearer as sheep,
and many, especially among beginners in the industry, are anxious
to know how best to handle them during the operation of shearing.
The illustration presented here is of a combination shearing
trough and table, and was devised by F. W. Ludlow, of Lake Val-
ley, N. Mex. This table is very simple and is equally suited to

LUDLOW COMBINATION SHEARING TABLE.

hand and machine shearing. It is first used in the shape of a
trough. The goat is placed in it on its back and held down by
means of an iron yoke across the throat. While in this position
all the underparts, sides, and legs may be worked upon. Mr. Lud-
low says that in machine shearing it is a good plan to start at the
brisket and shear all the belly as far back as possible; then shear
the front legs and neck; then start at the hocks and shear up the
hind legs and along the sides to the point of beginning. After
shearing one of the sides allowed by the trough, the goat is tied —
"hog-tied," to use a Western expression; that is. all four feet are
tied together. The sides of the trough are now dropped, forming
a table upon which to finish the operation. The illustration shows
that there is now free access from the tail to the head, and the goat
remains helpless. In the illustration the fleece already cut has

ANGORA GOAT RAISING

14"

been pulled away in order that the table might be Bhown, but
the proper course is to leave all the fleece upon the table until

the goat is liberated, and then roll it up inside out.

Mr. Ludlow's description of this table is given herewith: "The
table is simple in construction. It is about 22 inches high, 2 fee?
10 inches long, and 21 inches wide. The top is composed of two

9-inch sides, which are hinged to the 3-inch centerpiece. On the
lower side of these movable flaps is a narrow piece 8 inches long,
which catches on the framework of the table when the sides are
lifted and holds them stationary. When the sides are elevated, the
top of the table forms a trough 3 im-hes wide at the bottom and
possibly a foot wide at the top. Into this trough the goat to be
shorn is thrown feet up. A small iron yoke, which is attached to
the end of one of the sides, is placed over the goat's neck and
fastened to the other side. The goat's head is hanging over the
end of the table and the yoke prevents it getting free. The belly

148

ANGORA GOAT RAIDING.

and legs are then shorn. The legs of the goat are then tied to-
gether, the yoke removed from' the neck, and the sides of the table
dropped, so that one has a plane surface on which to shear the rest
of the animal. An untrained man can shear 100 goats a day with
a shearing machine and such a table." Since Mr. Ludlow wrote
the above, a Mexican in his employ sheared 226 goats in eight

hours and fifteen minutes on this table,
record for goat shearing.

This stands as the world's

Washing the Goats Before Shearing.

If the animals have been well cared for through the winter
and early spring, it will not be necessary to wash them before
shearing. And yet it is next to impossible to have a flock where
all or any considerable number of them are clean enough to shear
without washing, ana it will be time and money well spent to put
them through the water. Most goat men do not wash their goats
before shearing and this is the reason why so much very foul mo-

GOAT CLIPPING MACHINE.
Manufactured by Chicago Flexible Shaft Co., Chicago.

SHEARING PLANT. USING STEWART SHEAR.
Made by Chicago Flexible Shaft Co., Chicago.

150 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

hair is thrown upon the market. Some goat men, like many sheep
men, harbor the foolish notion that the mohair buyer is going to
pay them just as much for their dirty mohair as for that which is
comparatively clean. On the contrary, they are liable to be of-
fered less than it is really worth.

Care of the Fleece After Shearing.

The operation of shearing should be done in a building free
from straw and dirt, which might adhere to the fleece after it drops
from the goat. It should then be rolled up, inside out, and packed
in the sack without being tied in any way. This is the manner in
which the mills desire to receive it. The practice of tying the
fleece with almost any kind of twine that may be at hand obtains
very largely among goat raisers in the United States, but not with
those of Turkey and Cape Colony. The reasons why the mill
operators do not desire fleeces tied are very forcibly stated by one
of them (George B. Goodall), as follows: "I want to mention
another evil which should be corrected, and that is the use of
twine or string around the fleeces. Vegetable fibers will not take
dyes used for animal fibers, and in cutting these strings by the
sorters more or less of the vegetable fibers get into the mohair and
have to be carefully burled out from the face of the finished
goods, which adds to the cost of each piece. A mohair should be
simply rolled up without twine of any description. You never see
it on Turkey or Cape mohair. "

Previous to the year 1902 the manufacturers complained bit-
terly of the practice of many shippers of mohair tying fleeces
with all sorts of dirty and frowsy twine. Some even used baling
wire; and the instances were not rare where stones and clods
weighing several pounds were found in the sacks. These were no
doubt placed there to make additional weight, and they did: but
the mohair buyer does not pay the freight, neither does he buy
without careful examination of every sack, so the loss falls directly
back upon the shipper. For the year 1902 the mohair buyers of
American mohair state that there have been no flagrant efforts at
fraud by such schemes.

After the fleece is taken from the goat, it should be spread out
upon a clean table, as stated before, and all foreign particles care-
fully removed. The fleece is apt to contain straws, pieces of briers,
burs, and sometimes even cockleburs, and all these should be taken
out before the fleece is rolled up. While this procedure is neces-
sarily tedious and to some may appear useless, it will pay. This
work must be done somewhere, and wherever it is done the mo-
hair producer pays for it either directly or indirectly. As labor

;

48

I

:"- ■■--.'

I •

.

/

HAND AND POWER SHEARING MACHINES.

Manufactured by the Cooper Shearing Machine Co.. Chicago.

152 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

on the farm and ranch is cheaper than that in the mills, it would
better be done there.

Some have adopted the practice of baling their mohair instead
of using the old-fashioned sack ; but the baling is not so satisfactory
to the manufacturers as the sack, and it will therefore probably
not be generally adopted.

The Question of Shedding.

The question of shedding is not now provoking so much dis-
cussion as it did two or three years ago. There were a few breed-
ers who maintained that purebreds and thoroughbreds would not
shed their coats under natural conditions ; there were others who
asserted that they would shed biennially ; others who maintained
that the matter of shedding and nonshedding was a question of
feed and care and still others who stoutly affirmed that it is per-
fectly natural for the Angora to drop his fleece annually, and when
he does not, it is the exception, not the rule, which obtains. This
last view is rapidly coming to be generally accepted by the breed-
ers; at the same time, they acknowledge that there are some indi-
viduals that carry their fleece two years. This characteristic of the
individual, however, is not believed to be applicable to any partic-
ular strain; it is only an incident.

As a rule, Angora goats, like sheep, shed their fleece annually
as soon as the warm weather of spring opens up. In the Southern
States, it is found that they will shed twice a year, and it is for this
reason that semiannual shearing is practiced there.

CHAPTER Xn.

DISEASES AND OTHER ENEMIES.

Goats are less subject to a variety of diseases than sheep, yet
there are some diseases that appear to affect both alike. The two
animals are so closely allied that treatment for disease is about the
same for both.

Stomach worms (Strongylus con tortus) affect goats as readily
as sheep. They are also found in cattle and deer. In discussing
this disease, the attention of goat raisers is called to some experi-
ments conducted in Texas only quite recently by Dr. Ch. Wardell
Stiles, then zoologist of the Bureau of Animal Industry. As this
is an important and somewhat extensive disease, and as great care
is needed in proper treatment, Dr. Stiles is quoted somewhat at
length as follows:

"Sheep, goats, and cattle suffer from the effects of roundworms.
This is especially true during wet years. These parasites are found
particularly in the lungs, the fourth stomach, and the bowels, and,
when present in large numbers, they may result in death of 5 to 50
per cent of a flock. For some of these parasites treatment is pos-
sible, but for others treatment has not been found altogether
satisfactory.

"Roundworms which live free in the fourth stomach or in the
bowels may be expelled by using various drugs in drenches. A
long list of medicines might be mentioned, but many of the drugs
most highly recommended frequently fail to effect a cure. Fail-
ures are due to several causes: The drug itself may be of little
or no value; it may not be administered in the proper dose; it
may not be administered in the proper way.

"One of the most commonly used drenches is turpentine, but
more satisfactory results are obtained from the use of coal-tar
creosote, or coal-tar creosote and thymol or gasoline, or Milestone.

"I have had excellent success in treating sheep, goats, and cattle
for the twisted wircworm (Strongylus con tort us) with a 1 per cent
solution of coal-tar creosote. The medicine is easily prepared and
quite inexpensive. It may be purchased of the druggist in small
quantities of 1 ounce or in pound bottles. One ounce is sufficient
for about 20 adult sheep, and the cost of the treatment is less than

154 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

one-half a cent per head; if creosote is purchased by the pound,
the cost is reduced to less than one-quarter of a cent per head.
If creosote is called for at a drug store, beechwood creosote will
usually be dispensed. This is more expensive than the coal-tar
creosote and not so satisfactory in expelling worms.

"A 1 per cent solution of coal-tar creosote is made as follows:

Coal tar creosote 1 ounce

Water 99 ounces *

"Twisted wireworms (Strongylus contorius), taken directly
from the stomach of sheep or cattle, die in one-half to one and a
half minutes when immersed in this solution.

"If, in dosing, this liquid enters the lungs the animal may
succumb in a few minutes. If the dosing is performed carefully,
as much as 6 2-3 ounces may be given to a full-grown sheep with-
out fatal results. In some cases, however, the animal shows ill
effects, from which it usually recovers within half an hour. Six
ounces were given to a number of sheep without the slightest ill
effects. The following table gives the doses of the 1 per cent mix-
ture which were used in about 400 cases without ill effects:

Lambs 4 to 12 months old 2 to 4 ounces (about 60 to 120 c. c.)

Yearling sheep and above 3 to 5 ounces (about 90 to 150 c. c.)

Calves 3 to 8 months old 5 to 10 ounces (about 150 to 300 c. c.)

Yearling steers 1 pint (about 480 c. c.)

Two-year-olds and above 1 quart (about 960 c. c.)

"Sheep, goats, and calves which received this treatment showed
a marked improvement a feAV days after receiving a single dose.

"In experiments with creosote at Washington, D. C, sheep were
drenched with a 1 per cent solution and killed immediately after-
wards. Upon opening the fourth stomach, it was found that the
wireworms present were dead. In some cases where this was tried
later, the wireworms were found to be still alive ; but it is believed
that the explanation of this fact has now been discovered. Creo-
sote does not appear to have much effect upon the worms below
the stomach.

"If an overdose is given by mistake, and if the sheep appears
severely affected by it, the animal should be placed in the shade.
Even in some cases of very severe overdoses, where the animal
is given up for dead practically, it may entirely recover within an
hour.

"If, in addition to the stomach worms, the animals were suf-
fering from severe infection of bowel worms, such as the hook-
worms, better results were obtained in the treatment when pow-
dered thymol was added to the creosote. In cases of this kind, the

* 99 ounces equals 6 pints and 3 ounces.

ANGORA GOAT RAISIN*;. 155

creosote solution is prepared, as directed above, and 30 to 80 or
even 100 grains of thymol added to each dose after it has beer
i lie- 1> 1 1 red.

"Thymol is expensive, the price varying in different parts of
the country. It may be purchased by the ounce, but it is con-
siderably cheaper if purchased by the pound. Avoid using thymol
which has become yellowish or reddish and which has run together
in the bottle so as to form a solid mass. Powder the crystals and
have the druggist measure 30 grains. Give 30 grains to a lamb,
about 50 grains to a yearling, and 70 to 80 or 100 grains to older
sheep, according to size.

"In experiments I have had excellent results with a single
dose of the creosote and thymol mixture. If necessary, however,
the dose could be repeated after a week.

"The popular method of drenching is with a bottle. The use
of a drenching tube is, however, far more satisfactory. A drench-
ing tube may be made by taking an ordinary tin funnel, which
may be purchased for 5 or 10 cents, and inserting the narrow end
into one end of a rubber tube or hose, say 3 feet long and three-
eighths or one-half inch in diameter; into the other end of the
rubber tube is inserted a piece of three-eighths-inch brass or iron
tubing about 4 to 6 inches long.

"The metal tube is placed between the animal's back teeth, and
the sheep or calf is allowed to bite upon it. The water or drench
is poured into the funnel, which may be held by an assistant or
fastened to a post at a convenient height. The man who holds
the metal tube between the animal's teeth can control the animal's
head with the left hand, find by holding the tube in the right hand,
near the point of union of the rubber and metal tubes, he can
easily control the flow of the fluid by pinching the rubber hose.
Care must be taken not to hold the patient's nostrils closed, other-
wise the dose will enter the lungs.

"It is usually advisable to fast animals twelve to sixteen hours
before dosing.

"Different persons prefer to hold the animals in different posi-
tions during drenching. Thus (1) the animal may be left stand-
ing on all four feet; or (2) it may be placed en its haunches,
one man holding its back up against his own body; or (3) it may
be placed directly on its back on a sloping piece of ground, its
head being in a direct line with its back, and higher than its rump ;
or (4) it may be placed upon its side, the head being brought
around so that the horns are squarely on the ground; the operator
may then place one foot on one of the horns (especially in the
case of semiwild cattle) and thus aid in holding the animal still.

156 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

"So far as administering the dose is concerned, the position
on the back (3) is by far the easiest in the case of sheep, and the
side position with head down (4) is the easiest in dosing cattle;
furthermore, in these positions there is much less danger of an
accident by getting the dose in the lungs. If animals are dosed
standing or on their haunches, the nose should never be allowed
to go above the eyes; otherwise the drench may pass down the
windpipe into the lungs.

"By dosing sheep with water colored red and blue with dyeing-
material, and killing the animals immediately after the liquid
was swallowed the following results were obtained :

"If the dose was given with the sheep standing, (1) almost
the entire quantity went directly into the fourth stomach; if the
sheep was placed on its haunches, the fluid passed in part into
the fourth stomach and in part into the first (the paunch) ; if
the sheep was placed directly on its back (3), or if a steer was
placed on its side (4) with head down, almost the entire dose
passed into the first stomach (the paunch). If the animal, even
when standing (1), struggled to a considerable degree, a portion
of the fluid passed into the paunch.

"It will be immediately apparent that these facts are of prac-
tical importance in dosing. If, for instance, gasoline, turpentine,
or creosote is used, better results may be expected, if the sheep is
dosed standing (1).

PREVENTIVE MEASURES.

"First. Every ranch should have a hospital pasture situated
on high, dry ground, well drained, and without any pools or ponds.
This should be supplied with raised troughs for watering and
feeding, and the water supply should come from a well. This
pasture should not drain into any pasture in which healthy stock
are feeding.

"Second. As soon as any sick animal is noticed in the large
pasture it should be immediately separated from the healthy stock
and taken to the hospital pasture. To allow sick animals to run
at large with healthy stock means to deliberately permit the
spread of infection in the pastures and thus endanger the unin-
fected animals.

"Third. Proper watering places should be supplied in the
large pastures by digging wells and erecting windmills to pump
the water into tanks. These tanks should be raised above the
ground so that thev can not become contaminated with the ani-
mal's droppings being washed into them by rains and floods.

ANUOKA GOAT RAISING. 157

"Fourth. Select high sloping ground for pasture when this

is possible. Low pastures should be properly drained.

"Fifth. When practicable, burn the pasture- regularly, thor-
oughly, and systematically. The heat from the burning grass will

kill many of the eggs and young worms on the grass, ground, and

in the droppings.

"Sixth. As parasites are more fatal to young animals than to
old. a liberal -supply of oats or some similar food will aid in
giving to young animals strength which will enable them to with-
stand the infection. A daily allowance, say, half a pound of oat*
per lamb, ought to reduce the mortality. At first they may not
be inclined to eat it, but they will soon become accustomed to it.
This simple precaution is reported, as very effectual in Xew Zea-
land.

"Seventh. Keep plenty of salt accessible to the animals. Some
men add slaked lime to the salt; others add 1 part of sulphate of
iron to 100 parts of salt. As a matter of experience, salt kills
many young worms."

In the Southwest the goats are sometimes affected with grub
in the head. These outbreaks are usually due to local causes and
have not been difficult to overcome. The treatment followed is the
same as for sheep.

The treatment recommended for the screw worm is as follows :
Add to any one of the carholic sheep dips 10 per cent of chloro-
form. Apply this mixture, after thoroughly cleaning the wound,
with a wad of cotton. The chloroform immediately destroys the
larvae and the carbolic dip prevents the further blowing of the
wound.

The stomach worm (StrongyltLS contortus) is the same form as
found in sheep, cattle, and deer. The treatment in all cases is the
same as for sheep.

In this connection it is proper to state that there are proprietary
worm powders on the market for stomach worms which are used in
enormous quantities with sheep and goats, and they have given
quite general satisfaction. The toxaline treatment, which is well
known to readers of sheep journals, has many strong advocates
among those who have used it. These facts are given because the
goat breeder, no less than the sheep breeder, is entitled to all infor-
mation that has in any way proved valuable.

Goats have at least three kinds of scab parasites peculiar to
their species, but apparently only two kinds of seal) develop.
Psoroptic scab of sheep does not develop disease upon them, though
it can undoubtedly sustain life for a while.

158 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

Tapeworms of the genus Moniezia are found in goats. In the
intestines are also found five round worms, namely, Strongylus
pJicollis, Aesopliagostoma venulosum, Sclerostoma hypostomum ,
Uncinaria cernua, and Trie hoc cphalus affinis.

Verminous pneumonia of sheep also occurs in goats.

Tuberculosis is sp rare in goats that it may be said that they
are practically immune from this widespread and insidious dis-
ease.

Takosis in Goats. — A disease of goats which appears to be
prevalent among the flocks in certain sections of this country was
investigated by the Bureau of Animal Industry in 1902, and
described in the Nineteenth Annual Eeport under the name of
Takosis, by Dr. Jno. E. Mohler. This term is used to designate a
progressive debilitative, but none the less highly fatal, infectious
disease, the symptoms and lesions of which are entirely unlike any
of the known diseases which affect this species of animals. Reports
have been received from goat owners in Oregon, Missouri, Virginia,
Maryland, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Massachusetts, all
describing the affection as an incurable, weakening, and wasting
disease, usually accompanied by uncontrollable diarrhea and occa-
sional cough.

That this disease is not of recent origin appears evident from
an article in the Country Gentleman of April, 187G, which states
that, despite the friendly warning of a naturalist against taking
Tibet goats into Georgia, the writer in 185-1 consummated a pur-
chase and encountered some thoroughly discouraging experiences.
Later in recounting these experiences he wrote that all the Tibet
goats, pure and grades, in his flock died in a few years after the
purchase from a disease of the lungs combined with dysentery. A
writer in the Country Gentleman of February 4, 1875, also reports
serious losses in a flock placed in his care. Although no specific
symptoms are recorded the description is highly suggestive of
takosis.

Pegler (1885), in his description of a disease peculiar to goats,
has mentioned the symptoms which might in most particulars
very well be applied to a flock affected with this disease. Not-
withstanding takosis appears to have been known to some individ-
ual breeders for a long time, it seems to have remained in a
smoldering condition and not until the affection became so wide-
spread during the past year was its economic importance brought
to the attention of the Bureau of Animal Industry and the char-
acter and causation of the disease elucidated.

Takosis of goats is undoubtedly contagious and the recent

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. 1 .'/J

investigations have proven conclusively that it is caused by a
specific organism the Micrococcus caprinus, which need not be
described here.

In order to demonstrate the pathogenic properties of this
micrococcus and establish its etiological significance to the disease
in question, inoculation experiments were conducted upon white
mice, white and brown rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens, dogs,
sheep, and goats. Of these animals, dogs and rats have appeared
totally immune. The only noticeable effect of inoculation upon
sheep was a temporary rise of temperature.

The disease presents many of the symptoms usually accompany-
ing a parasitic invasion of diarrhea and pneumonia. In the early
stages of the affection there is usually little to indicate that any-
thing is seriously amiss with the animal. The first ohservable
symptom manifested is the listless and languid demeanor of the
animal evidenced by its lagging behind the flock and is usually
accompanied by a drooping of the ears and a drowsy appearance
of the eyes. The pulse is slow and feeble and the temperature is
elevated slightly at first, but becomes subnormal a few days before
death. The highest temperature observed in the natural disease
was 104.1° and the lowest, in a prostrated animal a few hours
before death, registered 99.7° F. Snuffing of the nose, as in a
case of coryza, and occasionally coughing is sometimes in evidence.
They would move about in a desultory manner, with back arched,
neck drawn down toward the sternum, and with a staggering gait.
Rumination is seldom impaired. The appetite, while not so
vigorous, is still present, though capricious, and the affected
animals show plainly that the ravages of the disease are rapidly
overcoming the restorative elements derived from the food. The
fleece usually presents a surprisingly thrifty appearance when the
condition of the animal is taken into consideration. All the
exposed mucous membranes are pale and the respirations are accel-
erated and labored. The goats become so weak that they are
readily knocked down and trampled upon by their fellows. If
picked up they move off slowly and eat a little, but within a few
hours are dowrn again, and in this way linger for several days,
shrinking to about half their natural weight, and occasionally
bleating or groaning with head bent around on the side or drawn
down to the sternum. A fluid discharge from the bowels of a very
offensive odor is usually observed in the last few days of life, but
this symptom is not constant.

This disease may assume an acute or chronic type, the animal
usually dying of inanition in from eight days to six or eight weeks.

100 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

Several owners have reported deaths after only two or three days
of illness, but the goats doubtless had been affected for a longer
period, although not noticed on account of their mingling in the
flock. It is the consensus of opinion among the breeders inter-
viewed that many of the animals succeeded in living for weeks, but
they gradually became weaker and more debilitated and finally
died in a comatose condition. In no instance has the natural
recovery of an animal been observed after once the symptoms of
takosis were noted. The younger goats seem to be the most
susceptible to the disease, although the old animals are by no
means immune. The does, wethers, and bucks all become affected,
but probably as a result of the usual preponderance of does in a
flock the latter appear to be the most susceptible.

As already indicated the general appearance of the carcass
simulates that produced by a wasting disease. The visible mucous
membranes are pale and anemic, while the fleece, which appears dry
and lusterless, furnishes a shroud for the extreme emaciated condi-
tion that is perceptible on skinning. This masking quality of the
hair prevents an accurate estimate of the condition of the animal
by the eye alone and necessitates handling of the individual cases
to appreciate to the full extent the inroads made by the affection.
The same anemic condition of the subcutaneous and muscular
tissues is observed in dehiding the carcasses. The lungs in most
cases are the seat of a peculiar diversified inflammation, never of
a remarkable extent. The external appearance of these organs is
at times mottled, caused by a few congested areas, several patches
of an iron-gray color similar to areas of pneumonia during the
process of absorption and normal tissues. The liver is usually
normal, but necrotic areas were observed in one case, due probably
to parasitic invasion. The kidneys are anemic and softened. The
intestines may contain normal fecal matter or semifluid feces of
disagreeable odor.

The effects of internal parasites upon goats are very similar in
many of their outward manifestations to the symptoms of takosis,
but the infectious nature of the latter when compared with the
enzootic course of a parasitic invasion will justify one in making
a definite diagnosis. In attacks of takosis symptoms of pneumonia
will be frequently noted, especially labored breathing or rapid
respiration. These symptoms are not diagnositic of parasitism.
The edamatous lump under the jaw so frequently present in cases
of parasitism fails in takosis. The luster of the fleece is less
affected in takosis, while diarrhea is more frequently noted. Finally
in parasitism a careful postmortem examination will quickly dis-
close the presence of the offending parasites.

ANGOKA GOAT RAISING. p,l

In goats anemia is very rare and when it does occur it is usually
secondary to some previously existing disease as chronic pneumonia,
peritonitis, or to poor food and starvation. It does not assume an
infectious character and may be differentiated from the anemic-
condition accompanying takosis by the absence of the specific
organism on microscopic examination.

Watery cachsia or hydremia usually results from poor feeding,
innutritious food, and pasturing in low lands. The natural goat
pasture is high, dry lands. The animal is weak, readily exhausted,
breathes rapidly and heart palpitates. The mucous membranes of
the eyes, nose, and mouth are pale and swollen. The edema which
is present about the head and neck and abdomen will serve to dif-
ferentiate this disease from takosis. This edema of the head dis-
appears when the animal lies down. Icterus may accompany the
disease when the discoloration of the mucous membrane easily
establishes the nature of the affection. A change of pasture and a
more nutritious diet are accompanied by a return of health to the
flock.

In the study of takosis, four points have been brought promi-
nently into view which may properly be grouped together when
considering measures for the prevention of the disease. Sudden
climatic changes should be avoided so far as possible, and when
shipments of goats for breeding purposes are to be made, which
necessitate their transportation northward over considerable dis-
tances, the changes should be made during the months of summer
or late spring, and not in the fall or winter, when the contrast
of temperature will be so much greater. The second precautionary
measure is closely allied to the first, namely, Angora goats should
be provided with stables that are thoroughly dry, not alone in their
ability to shed rain, but they should be placed upon ground that
has perfect natural drainage, and these should be accessible by
them at all times, as the effect of rains upon the general health
and strength of these animals has been frequently proven to be
very disastrous. So great is their natural aversion to a wetting
that they will seldom get caught out in a shower if shelter is within
their reach, but will leave their browsing and march under cover
before the downpour. As a third measure of prevention may be
mentioned careful feeding. Xo animal is as well fortified against
the attack of an infection when reduced by lack of nourishment as
it is when in a vigorous, thriving condition. Among the predispos-
ing causes of disease, usually enumerated by general pathologists.
will be found debility due to insufficient or unsuitable food, and
although the reason for this may not be established beyond the

162 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

reach of argument, it is pretty generally conceded that the con-
tinued lack of proper nourishment establishes in the blood of an
animal an abnormal degree of alkalinity which grants an increased
susceptibility to the inroads of pathogenic organisms. The last
preventive measure to be mentioned is one that is applicable only
after the disease has made its appearance in the flock. The segrega-
tion, or isolation, of all affected animals as soon as they evince any
symptoms of the disease, will be found a most valuable means of
protection for those that remain unaffected, and a strict quarantine
over all of the diseased members of the flock should be maintained
so long as the disease remains upon the premises.

The sheds, yards, and corrals where the animals have been kept
should be disinfected with a five per cent solution of creolin or
carbolic acid.

The most pleasing results that have been derived from the use
of drugs have followed the administration of calomel given alone
in .10 gram doses twice daily for two days, to be followed by
powders composed of arsenic, quinine, and iron as follows:
Arsenious acid, 1.40 grams; iron, reduced, 12 grams; quinine
sulphate, 6 grams. Mix and make into twenty powders, giving one
to each adult goat morning and evening, at the conclusion of the
administration of calomel. After an interval of two days this
treatment is repeated.

Experiments are at present under way with a view of procuring
a vaccine for the preventive inoculation of exposed goats, but the
results thus far obtained are not uniform, and further investigation
must be made before any definite statements will be hazarded.

Goats are apt to have foot rot, but a cure is easily effected by
the use of sulphate of copper (blue vitrol). It is usually applied
by driving goats through a trough containing a solution of strong
blue vitrol. The solution should be about an inch in depth. Oscar
Tom, a breeder of much experience, says: "Butter of antimony
applied with a stiff feather will cure it, or mix 1 ounce of sul-
phuric acid with 2 ounces of vinegar and apply as above. Go over
the whole band. Generally one application cures if well done.
Change the range at the same time if you can."

All goats become infested with lice if they do not receive
proper attention. It is not a difficult matter, as all men agree,
+o rid goats of this annoyance by dipping them, as sheep are
dipped, in any of +he common sheep-dip preparations. The ani-
mals can not thrive to best advantage when they are carrying a
fleece full of lice; oftentimes the lice become so numerous as to
cause the goat to lose much flesh and finally to fail to produce a

ANGORA GOAT RAISING !,;;>

good quality of mohair, or even to produce a kid, if the infested
animal is a doe. Goat raisers should know that an animal which
is badly infested with lice in the winter always requires an extra
amount of feed ; in other words, if lice are to be raised they must
be fed. The better practice is to dip goats twice a year — in the
spring just after shearing and again in the fall.

One of the principal enemies of the Angoras is the wolf. The
best guard against wolves is a good wire fence. Sometimes the
wolves dig under the fence, and then it becomes necessary to trap
them. This is practiced by H. T. Fuchs, who says : "Three steel
traps are fastened to each other, but to nothing else, and catch
the wolves. If the trap is made fast the wolf will break loose, but
the weight of three traps fastened together simply tires the wolf
out, and it rarely drags them more than 200 or 300 yards."

In many localities the wildcats are especially troublesome.
Their prey is the kids.

CHAPTER XIIL

THE SKINS AND THEIR USES.
Their Use as Rugs, Robes, and Trimmings.

The skins of the Angoras, if taken when the hair is about 4
inches long, make very handsome rugs. The hair retains its origi-
nal luster, and may be used in the natural white or dyed any
color desired. The pure white ones are more generally preferred.
There is a demand for Angora rugs in the United States which so
far has not been supplied by domestic production. These rugs
can be purchased at prices ranging from $4 to $8.

Another article of manufacture from the skins is the carriage
robe, rivaling in beauty and durability the buffalo robe, which
is no longer a factor in the market. They are not expensive when
the demand for skins is considered, and may be purchased for
about $20. The smaller skins of the does and wethers and the kid
skins find an extensive use in baby carriages, and are exceedingly
attractive in their brilliant whiteness.

These skins are used largely in the manufacture of children's
muffs and as trimmings for coats and capes. The finest kid fleeces
adorn the collar and border of the ladies' most handsome opera
cloaks. In the stores they are sold often under some peculiar
name which does not inform the purchased that they are orna-
mented with the hair of the Angora goat, and so thousands of
such articles are worn by people who are unaware of the true name
of their "furs."

Their Use as Leather.

While the skin should always be taken as an item of salvage,
it is not at all probable that it will ever be profitable to produce
them for leather. The skin should be removed from the carcass
very soon after death, else decomposition in its most incipient
stage will cause the hair to "slip." If the skin happens to con-
tain a fleece of sufficient length, it might be converted into a rug
or robe; if not, it can be tanned and used for binding books or
manufactured into gloves of excellent quality. The skin of the
Angora is of a more delicate texture than that of the common
goat and so is not suitable for shoe leather. This feature will

ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

165

forever preclude tho possibility of its becoming a competitor of
the goatskins, which are now imported for shoe leather. Angora
skins for leather will not hring as good a price in the market as
those of the common goat. A prominent Xcw York dealer in
skins says: "Domestic skins are worth from 50 cents for kids up
to $2 each for large full-fleeced pelts. The low, crossbred com-
mon skins and short pelts not suitable to dress are used by mo-
rocco and glove leather manufacturers, and are worth from 15 to
18 cents a pound for large sizes down to 10 and 11 cents for small
ones and kids."

Tanning and Dressing the Skins.

There are many recipes in various books for tanning and dress-
ing skins; but the sale of Angora rugs and robes at good prices
depends so much upon their excellent appearance that it is rec-
ommended that the work be placed in the hands of a professional
tanner. Even then it is well to be certain of the character of his
work, for goat men have frequent cause of complaint that their
skins have not been well manipulated. Tanners who have done
good work with Angora skins should advertise in those papers
which devote space to Angora goat discussion. They will help
themselves and at the same time aid a feature of the industry
that is to be ever present.

Importations of Angora Goatskins.

While there is a duty of 12 cents a pound on mohair and a
varying schedule applying to mohair manufactures, skins having
fleeces attached are admitted duty free. Importations are without
doubt very considerable, as large numbers are in use, and we know
that the domestic production is yet very limited.

The two tables herewith will give some idea of the extent of
importations at Boston and Philadelphia. The importations at
New York must be much greater, but the reports previous to 1002
are not readily available.

IMPORTATION OF ANGORA GOATSKINS INTO THE PORT OF BOSTON FROM 1898 TO

DECEMBER 15, 1901

Date of Entry.

July

August.

1898.

April

July

August

October

November . . .
December 15.

1901.

Number
of skins.

Weight.

Pounds.

1,800

5,388

750

•2,292

2,378

6 942

2.585

8.308

400

2,247

750

•2.190

900

2. 80S

1,500

4.306

Value.

F5T4
244

705
914
239
245
319
480

166

ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

IMPORTATIONS OF ANGORA GOATSKINS INTO THE PORT OF PHILADELPHIA FROM

1896 TO 1901.

Date of Entry,

1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901

Pounds.

Value.

706.571

$ 76,378

716,343

86 841

19 540

2.754

1,113.974

152.601

790,782

144.577

430,458

62,707

*
I

t \ < * * ** -i ■

AFRICAN GOATS.

CHAPTER XIV.

MINOR FEATUKES OF [MPORTANCE.
Enrichment of the Land.

In the chapter dealing with goats as brush exterminators ref-
erence is made to the enrichment of the land by their droppings.
This benefit is decidedly noticeable on land where they are kept
a year or more. This is a factor of no small importance, not only
where the goats have been employed to destroy brushwood, but on
cleared land which may have grown up to weeds which the goats
eat greedily.

The sheds where the goats are kept at night should be cleaned
out frequently and the manure preserved in bins where it can be
kept dry. This manure may afterward be put upon the land in
accordance with the farmer's plans. Goat manure was applied to
the corn crop on a worn-out farm in Maryland with wonderful
results. Land which ordinarily would not yield over fifteen bush-
els to the acre gave forty bushels after the goat manure was ap-
plied. Owing to the scarcity of the manure, much of it was ap-
plied by the handful at a time in the hill as the corn was planted.
This is the practice with commercial fertilizers and is getting the
most out of little. Manure is considered as one of the resources in
the best system of modern farming, and it should be taken into
account by any one who is keeping goats or is contemplating
doing so.

There is no better fertilizer for fruit trees and lawns than goat
manure, and none equal to it for this purpose except sheep ma-
nure. The droppings of goals and sheep are about equal in fer-
tilizing value. It has been estimated that the value per ton of the
manure produced by a sheep is $3.30, and it is certain that the
goat produces as much and probably more than the sheep.

Protection for Sheep.

The statement that an Angora buck running with a flock of
sheep will protect them from the attack of dogs has received wide
publicity. Much that has been published is without foundation,
yet much also is correct. Some breeders state positively thai the
goats are as cowardly as sheep ami just as liable to be attacked by

1(38 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

dogs, while others cite instances where dogs have actually been
driven off. No doubt both statements represent the experiences of
the respective breeders. It is a fact that one or two bucks will
serve to protect a flock of sheep if they are trained to attack dogs.
Very little effort is required to train them, for they are fighters
naturally, and their pugnacious disposition is easily developed.
Indeed, the most docile- doe may be trained to do the same service.
Some pertinent remarks along this line are made by H. T. Fuchs,
of Marble Falls, Tex., a well-known breeder of Angoras. He says :
"It is quite amusing to see the courage of a doe when she protects
her young kid from a dog, or hog, or fleck of buzzards. Two of
my neighbors' dogs got in the habit of killing my kids, and one
doe protected her kid quite a while from the two large vicious dogs
until the neighbor caught one of the dogs and gave him a good
whipping, when the goat assisted in this work by butting the dog
with all her might. You should train the goats to be brave by
taking your dogs into the goat pen with you, and, in case the dog
refuses to ran from a brave goat, scold the dog to make the goat
think that she whipped him. If you had a tame wolf trained in
that way you could train your goats to fight wolves.''

Because of their inclination to fight dogs, bucks have been em-
ployed in small numbers — say from one to three — to run with
sheep. A few will remain with sheep for their company, but a
considerable number are apt to separate to themselves and remain
away from the flock.

There is very little complaint regarding the ravages of dogs
by breeders of Angora goats, while the sheep raiser has them as
his foe always. Ordinarily an Angora buck will vanquish a dog
and it is not likely that the goat industry will suffer from the
ravages of dogs.

Notwithstanding all this, the owner of Angoras will be wise
if he keeps a close watch upon them until they demonstrate their
ability to care for themselves in a contest. It might be well to
send a few bucks to the kind of school mentioned by Mr. Fuchs.

Disposition of the Angora.

The remarkable intelligence of these little animals has already
been mentioned ; but a question often asked is "Are they ugly ?"
Yes, if they are made so by teasing, just as dogs, cats, horses, or
pet roosters are made ugly. In flocks they are as docile as sheep
and very soon learn to regard man as their friend.

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. 100

Their Use as Pets.

The highbred Angoras are very graceful, and their beautifully
shaped bodies and fine silky hair make them very attractive. There
is no animal, except possibly the horse, that is more beautiful than
these goats, and no animal is more cleanly in his habits. As peta
for children they are very popular, if they can be kept where they
will be harmless to vegetation and anything made of cloth. They
have all the propensities of the common goat for destroying fruit
trees and chewing any kind of cloth and of climbing upon roofs.
All kinds of goats are mischievous in the extreme. The Angoras
are tractible and are often harnessed to carts, as are common goats,
and their beauty makes them more desirable for this purpose.
They are remarkably intelligent and are easily trained. The high-
grade Angoras are free from the "goat odor" so objectionable in
the common breed, and this is a very good reason why they are
preferred as pets even if their beauty is not considered. It is true,
however, that the average high-grade Angora is a smaller and more
delicate animal than the common breed and must not be expected
to draw heavy loads.

Where to Buy Angora Goats.

In this industry, as in every other, the public is informed that
there are breeders of good goats, breeders of poor goats, brokers
in all kinds of goats, and a host of unscrupulous dealers who are
taking advantage of the great interest manifested at this time
and have no reputation to lose. Most people who purchase ex-
press a desire to sec the animals they buy. This is natural and
affords some satisfaction ; but the fact is that, unless such a buyer
is familiar with goats, he will know very little about them after
seeing them. There would be no difficulty in imposing upon him.
If one is not familiar with the points of an Angora, he would
himself be liable to choose the poorest animals out of a flock. Be-
cause an animal is large, lively, and strong is not an evidence
that it is worth the cost of expressage to the next town.

In this industry, as in all others, the purchaser must depend
largely upon the reputation of breeders. There are very many en-
tirely reliable breeders, and it is not a very difficult matter to
ascertain the standing and practice of any one who offers goats
for sale. Prospective purchasers should consult the advertise-
ments of goat breeders, and, if any question arises in the mind,
ask such breeders for references. And, too, let such a man, if he
orders goats, to be paid for on delivery, furnish references as to
his own reliability. If he writes to some one not directly interested,

170 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

let him inclose a stamp for reply. A stamp is a small matter, it is
true, but the postage bill of some breeders amounts to several
dollars per month.

How to Handle Angora Goats.

The best way to catch and hold an Angora is by the horns. It
will struggle but little after it finds that its horn is in a secure
grasp. To catch hold of it any other way gives it an opportunity
to show all its strength, which is not a little in a healthy goat.
Sheep are often caught by the wool and held without giving pain
apparently, but it is painful to a goat to be caught thus. Many
who are not familiar with the Angora seize it by the fleece at once,
without a thought of the pain they give. This is not only painful
for the animal but it is difficult to hold it when caught in this
way.

If it is desired to place the animal on its haunches, take its
right horn with the right hand, if standing on the right side of the
goat, and seize the left front leg with the left hand, and then lift
it up, at the same time pulling it backward over the feet or knee.
This is easily done and done without injury. To place the animal
on his back or side, reach both arms over its back, seizing a front
leg and a hind one and then lift it up onto your knees quickly.
It can then be placed in any position desired.

Will Angoras Cross with Sheep ?

They will not cross with sheep, for the reason that goats and
sheep are not of the same genus. This statement is made upon the
authority of leading naturalists in this country and with full
knowledge of the reports of the existence of such crosses, but they
are, like the petrified human being, "somewhere else." There is
a peculiar animal in New Mexico called the "cabrito" (male) or
"cabrita" (female), Spanish words for the young of the goat.
It is commonly but incorrectly spelled "eabretta." This animal,
especially when young, resembles the young of the goat very much,
and from this fact it probably receives its name. It is nothing
else than a. lamb, the offspring of the Navajo ram upon a ewe of a
common and better developed breed of sheep. There is no goat
blood in it. The Navajo sheep, especially the ram, is said to be a
coarse-wooled, leggy, upstanding creature, with horns extending
backward like those of the goat, and might, upon casual observa-
tion, easily be taken for a goat. It is the wool of this sheep that
is made into the well-known Navajo Indian blankets.

Schreincr cites several records of hybrids of the goat and the

ANGORA GOAT RAISING. 1 T 1

sheep, and says lie had himself seen four animal- "reprea inted ae
being the hybrid progeny of such a cross."

The facts which confront us in discussing this question are that
Angoras and sheep have been running together in this country for
the last fifty years, and yet no one of scientific standing has ven-
tured to say that he has seen a hybrid from them. From the
practical standpoint of the breeder it is entirely safe to say that
the goat and sheep will not interbreed.

Colonel Peters, in the American Agriculturist. November,
J 876, says: 'Trior to the year 1860 I tried many experiments, in
hopes of obtaining a cross between the goat and sheep, and failed in
every instance. Extensive correspondence with other breeders has
convinced me that the cross can not be obtained. Dr. John Bach-
man, the celebrated naturalist of Charleston, S. C, wlio was in
correspondence with the most distinguished naturalists of Europe,
informed me that he had no faith in the theory, and did not be-
lieve the cross obtainable. He stated, however, that Cuvier, the
renowned French naturalist, claimed to have examined a speci-
men of such a hybrid, but Dr. Bachmau himself believed that
Cuvier had been deceived, or had made a mistake.

How to Designate the Sexes.

The proper designation for the male goat is "buck'7 and for
the female "doc." Previous to the issuance of the Government
bulletins, the buck was indiscriminately referred to as male, sire,
buck, ram, and billy; and the female was known as doe, ewe, and
nanny. The terms "buck" and "doe" used in the publications re-
ferred to are generally adopted at this time, and are given official
sanction by their use in the catalogues and premium lists of the
American Angora Goat Breeders' Association.

The castrated goat is designated as a "wether/' as with sheep
In Cape Colony he is called a "kapater," and the sheep wether is
there called a "hamel;" but these arc foreign words which mean
no more than our own American words, and there is no reason why
they should be adopted by us.

The young is called "kid,"' and there appear- to be absolute
unanimity in this designation.

What to Call the Flesh.

The flesh of the Angora goat has not yet been found in many
markets, and there is yet no general accepted term for it. Some
speak of it as '"Angora mutton" and others as "Angora venison."
It is claimed that if an animal has had a liberal diet of leaves
and twigs while being fattened its flesh has the game flavor of

172 ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

venison, and people who are familiar with this kind of feeding,
call the meat Angora venison. If an Angora is fattened largely
on forage and grain, its flesh will have a taste very much like
mutton fattened under similar conditions. Those who have eaten
of this kind of Angora flesh call it Angora mutton. Since it is
entirely probable that most Angoras that will go into the market
for meat will be finished off on grain, and so resemble mutton,
it is better that the flesh be called Angora mutton. The term is
just as good as "Angora venison/' and it has a domestic sound.

By-Products Not Elsewhere Mentioned.

In the modern methods of economic production and manufac-
ture nothing is permitted to go to waste. Whoever it was that said
facetiously that the packers saved every portion of a hog but his
squeal spoke the truth. The same truth applies as well to the
carcass of any food animal. In the case of goats the horns find
many uses, and the fat is said to be the best tallow known for the
manufacture of candles. Any part of the carcass not useful in
any other way is converted into fertilizer.

Registration Association.

The American Angora Goat Breeders' Association was organized
in 1900 at Kansas City, Mo. Previous to that time there was in
existence the National Angora Kecord Association, with headquar-
ters at Salem, Oreg., but its members generally entered the first
mentioned and the latter went out of existence.

As it is not known that there exists anywhere a purebred An-
gora goat, it was manifestly impossible to base registration upon
pure blood. The association created a force of inspectors whose
duty it was to inspect goats for registration upon application and
recommend to the secretary. Any goat fulfilling the standard re-
quirements was registered. The number thus registered was
40,000.

The registration books were closed against all such inspections
on December 31, 1901. Since then only the offspring of regis-
tered parents are eligible for registry.

The Tariff.

The act approved July 24, 1897, places a duty of 12 cents per
pound upon mohair. Mohair cloth for buttons is taxed 10 per
cent ad valorem. These rates are subject to increase under certain
conditions of shipments. Angora skins with mohair attached are
admitted free of duty.

ANGOKA GOAT RAISING. 1 T.{

The Province of a Goat Paper.

The purpose of this manual is to touch upon all points of the
Angora goal industry, yet the author is conscious of the fact that
a thousand questions will grow out of the experience of the next
i'vw years. No one could pre! end to assume to know what they
will be and to answer them at this time. While a manual of goat
raising is invaluable and ought to be in the hands of every goat
raiser, and its contents thoroughly familiar to him, it can not
take the place of the journal which devotes space to the industry.
Every day little matters of perplexity will arise and every week
they find answer in the goat columns. The horse, cattle, sheep,
and hog industries are represented by scores of volumes, yet no
breeder of any one of these animals would try to succeed without
a paper devoted to the subject ; so goat raisers will do well if they
decide at once to take a paper which is alive to their interests.

A Few Words About Common Goats*

While this volume does not deal with the subject of common
goats, there are innumerable questions continually arising about
them. No effort will be made here to answer all these questions,
but it is deemed advisable to touch upon a few of the leading
ones.

There are about a million common goats in the United States,
according to the Twelfth Census. They are widely disseminated,
but there are very few flocks of any considerable size. Where they
are most numerous they are not kept for any special purpose and
no particular attention is paid to them. Like Topsy, they "just
grow." The kids are sometimes used for meat, and are nice, and
occasionally a doe is milked for family use. They are not raised
in this country for their skins, as they are found not to be profit-
able. The effort to do so has been made under very favorable
circumstances, and the result was that the gross income averaged
but 80 cents per head. The domestic supply of skins, therefore,
is nothing. We depend altogether upon imports for our goatskin
manufactures. The table herewith, from Treasury reports, shows
that we import goatskins, morocco leather, and gloves in very large
quantities;

174

ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

QUANTITY AND VALUE OP IMPORTS OP GOATSKINS, MOROCCO SKINS. AND GLOVES

POR THE YEARS 1896 TO 1901.

Year.

1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901

Goat Skins.

Quantity. Value

Pounds.

38.882,234

59,177,556

65,546,570

80,064,583

69.104,372

88,043,928

Dollars.
8,803,609
13,802,504
16,854,430
20.992,949
19,008,097
25,265.670

Morocco

leather.

Value.

Dollars.

2,808.322
3.748,341
2,452,655
2,831.035
2,940.949
2,399.603

Gloves.

Value.

Dollars.
5,618,311
6,337,410
5.686,464
5,544,871
6,433,941
5,060,224

Will Sheep Destroy Brushwood.

The statement is frequently made through the press that sheep
will destroy brushwood just as effectually as goats, and the ques-
tion whether they will or not is often asked by those who con-
template the purchase of either goats or sheep to clear their land.
The sheep is naturally a grazer, but it will browse a little occa-
sionally, while the goat is naturally a browser and will graze occa-
sionally. Sheep will not long thrive or even subsist upon a brush-
wood diet. Neither will they completely annihilate brushwood
as the goats do. Where goats do this an equal number of sheep
would hardly make an impression. The sheep has its uses — and
great they are — but the extermination of brushwood is not one of
them.

The Rocky Mountain Goat.

The Rocky Mountain goat is a large strong animal, with a
dense fleece of mohair and coarse hair, about equally divided as to
quantity, and about equal in length. Samples which have been
examined by the author show the mohair to be of good quality so
far as fineness and luster are concerned, but whether it could ever
be produced in quantity sufficient to be of any economic use is
doubted. The goats are exceedingly rare, and it is not probable
that they would thrive well outside their present high altitude —
that of the higher Rocky Mountains.

The hair is of two colors — white and black. The Avhite would
bring from 12 to 15 cents per pound, and the black about 5 cents,
at the mills. It would be serviceable in the manufacture of
carpets.

Several writers have suggested the possibility of producing a
stronger Angora by crossing with the Rocky Mountain goat. The

* Imported chiefly from Germany and France, and from other Europe in smaller
quantities.

ANGORA GOAT RAISING.

176

writer is not inclined to think well of the suggestion. There is
already too much foreign blood in our Angoras, and the future
success of the mohair industry depends upon our ability to get
rid of it.

I

CHAPTER XV*

MILCH GOATS.
The Milch Goat Situation.

Milch goats are a familiar feature of the live stock industry
of Europe. They are especially prominent in Switzerland, Italy,
Germany, France, and Spain, and the Island of Malta. Many
may also be found in Egypt, Russia, and Norway. They are, by
their habits of life, peculiarly adapted to the needs and surround-
ings of the peasantry, or poorer classes, of these countries. There
is, indeed, nothing truer or apter than the homely saying that
"the goal is the poor mans cow." This is so because milk, which
is food and drink to all mankind, is furnished by the goat in its
cheapest form; because its quality is superior to cow's milk for
all purposes; and also because the proportionate yield is much
greater than that of a cow. It is frequently said that the feed
required for one milch cow is sufficient for eight milch goats.

In the old countries goats hold a respectable place in the live
stock industry. There they are not the subject of every one's
effort at jesting, as they have always been here. The Angora goat
industry in this country has developed to such proportions that
it is now looked up to with dignity, even by the jesters, and is
sharing its respectability with the milch goats. The implied slur
at the milch goat which occurs in a published remark concerning
a certain small breed of dairy cattle that athey might do for a
man who is too poor to own a cow and ashamed to own a goat/'
is no longer in order.

It is true that a milch goat is not handsome: neither is the
best milch cow handsome. II must be confessed that it is de-
structive in its habits and tendencies if not restrained; so also
are cattle and hogs and chickens. Everybody knows that it is
mischievous, oftentimes to an exasperating degree, but this same
charge applies to your neighbor's boys as well. Remember this, that
the waste from the kitchen will keep a hog or two, the waste grains
and other food about the yards will feed a few chickens, and the
weeds and twigs and waste vegetables will, with the addition of
onlv a small amount of hay and grain, keep a goat or two. The

MILCH (JOATS. 177

cow must have her regular meals of a particular menu; she is uot
allowed to convert waste of an}' sort into meat or milk.

There are no statistics at hand showing the number of goats
in any of the European countries except Germany. The number
in that empire for several years are given herewith:

1873 2,320,000

1883 2.&41.000

1885 2.W0.994

1892 3,091,287

Dettweiler gives some statistics of interest with reference to
the annual value of the goats in Germany. His estimates follow:

TyTo -plra

Value of goats 50.000,000 ($11,900,000)

Value of milk produced 150.000.000 (35,700,000)

Value of kids slaughtered 7.500,000 (1, 785,000)

Value of goats slaughtered 6,500,000 (1,547,000)

These statistics show that the milch goat industry of Germany
is one of importance. The same general situation obtains in the
other European countries mentioned.

The milch goat situation in the United States is at the present
time practically confined to an awakening interest. There is an
insistent demand for information on the subject. Physicians who
know of the healthful qualities of goat's milk are considering the
advisability and possibility of obtaining a supply for the needs of
their patients. People in moderate circumstances in the suburbs of
our large cities are asking whether they can not do better by keeping
goats. The poorer classes of these suburbs, to whom milk is a lux-
ury, are wondering if they can not find a blessing in a milch goat.
It is more than probable that the miners in the coal districts would
find in the goat a profitable friend.

The author would j.eel that something of value, especially in
the way of suggestion to persons of wealth, would be lost if he
failed to mention the work undertaken by Mrs. Edward Roby, of
Chicago. She is well known throughout the country, being a
member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughter
of 1812, member of the Woman's Federation and the Woman's
Press Clubs, and numerous other well-known patriotic organiza-
tions. She is also the founder and president of the Ladies of the
Grand Army of the Republic, and at her home is serving her
thirteenth year as president of the Woman's South Side Study
Club. This much is said with the reluctant consent of Mrs. Eoby,
in the hope that her work with milch goats for the benefit of the
poorer classes will afl'ord suggestions to others. It shows that
any work which has for its object the benefit of these classes is
dignified by the support of such people.

MRS. EDWARD ROBY.

MILCH GOATS. ]7«,

Mrs. Roby has been purchasing common goats which are giving
a fair amount of milk, and has a few head which -lie personally
selected on the Bermuda Islands. With these and such other.- as
she may be able to obtain, she proposes to do all she can toward
the development of the American goat. As fast as she has good
milch goats to spare she purposes selling them at low rates and
on time, if necessary, to the heads of such households as are most
greatly in need of them, in order that the children may be better
nourished and be relieved from the danger of disease that lurks
in much of the cow's milk that finds its way to such households.
Besides, if such a family possesses a milk-giving goat, it will save
many dollars to the owner during many months of the year, and
the problem of obtaining a livelihood will not be so difficult of
solution.

It is everywhere acknowledged that the best way to help people
who need assistance is to help them to help themselves. To intro-
duce the milch goat into communities such as the suburbs of our
large cities or into the coal-mining districts, will almost certainly
wrork out wonderfully in economic results. German writers say
boldly that the milch goat in its later development has done great
service to the state, in that it supplies a want which before caused
great unrest among the peasantry.

The real demand for milch goats will not cease. The need
will always be present so long as there are mothers who can not
or who will not nurse their infants — so long as there is tubercu-
lous cow's milk — so long as there are children that need more
nourishing food than is supplied to them — so long as there are
people who can afford to own a goat but not a cow.

The Ulilk of the Goat.

Its various uses. — The various uses of the milk in its natural
state (butter, cheese, and whey not considered) are these: (1)
Food for the poor; (2) food for the invalid; (3) food for infants;
(4) medicine for certain diseases.

As a rule the goat is the only useful domestic animal of the
poorer people of Germany, especially of the day laborer, and it
plays an important part in his household. Of necessity, it plays
the part that the cow does in the households of the better classes.
Says Dettweiler: "It furnishes to its owner without doubt the
best milk for nourishing infants, for the household, for the cook-
ing of food, and for coffee, besides butter and cheese. When one
considers that it very often depends solely on the milk production
of the ffoat whether the nutrition of the child and the whole family
is bad or good, and the nutrition from infancy on has a bearing on

180 MILCH GOATS.

the ability to a greater or a comparatively small amount of work
in later life, then one will believe me when I say that the goat
is in a position to wield a great influence in sustaining life."

Petersen, having the peasantry of Germany in mind, sums up
the value of the goats in this wise: (1) The possibility of pro-
curing a goat is generally within the reach of the poorest families;
(2) the risk and the insurance premium are disproportionately
much less in the case of the goat; (3) the goat utilizes its food
better than the cow, and gives considerably more milk in propor-
tion to its body weight; (4) the goat is satisfied with little feed,
and with feed of any sort, which is to be had at much less cost;
(5) by keeping two goats instead of a cow, the family of the
working man may be provided during the entire year with milk
by the proper regulation of the time of the birth of the kid; (6)
the goat gives a more wholesome milk than the cow and the milk
is richer in fats."

Hilpert, in .discussing the keeping of goats from a patriotic
and social standpoint, comments as follows: "As to the question
of human nourishment, the goat occupies an important position.
It yields a wholesome nourishment for the family, serves as a use-
ful and agreeable occupation for wife and children, and awakens
in its owner a desire for industry and a spirit of frugality. So
long as the workingman is glad in the possession of a business,
has a small bit of ground to call his own, and has a profitable
domestic animal, just so long will he be an opponent of social
strife, a careful provider for the family, and an adherent of some
recognized creed."

Hoffman says that in 75 per cent of the households of Ger-
many where goats are kept they play an important role, not alone
with the poorer classes, but with the more prosperous middle
classes as well.

The following from Dettweiler shows something of the use of
goat's milk for the food of the family in Saxony: "The cattle
owners who keep goats in addition to one or two cows, number
13,400, with 17,439 goats. If this number be included with the
one above, it is evident that with 60,974 goats owners keeping
80,048 goats, or about 75 per cent of all the goat owners in Saxony.
the goat plays an important role as the source of the milk of the
household; likewise (hat the homes that are here under considera-
tion belong to thai class <>f people who are without much means.
Especially in the industrial districts of the mountains, with a
preponderance of the smaller manufactories, the goat is the sup-
porter of the family — in a broad sense, of the people among which

Eh
<
O

182 MILCH GOATS.

it finds its manifold uses. In this way it comes about that goat's
milk is such a universally established food material and 'one of
which the people have become so fond that they will pay the same
price (or in many places even a pfennig higher price) for it than
for cow's milk, which latter serves to help out when there is a
scarcity of goat's milk. The reason for this may be found in the
higher nutritive value of goat's milk, and the assertion is often
made here that anyone who has become accustomed to the use of
goat's milk for coffee feels it a degradation if he is compelled to
be content with cow's milk in its stead, which is not so good
tasted and is poorer in fat than goat's milk. But the goat is
beginning to rise in prominence and gain in numbers in highly
developed, thickly settled districts where the people are more
prosperous."

It may have already occurred to the reader that cow's milk is
the universal milk of mankind and is, withal, a very good product,
and is rendered free from tubercle bacilli by boiling. The advo-
cates of goat's milk assert that boiling transforms the casein into
a condition in which it is very difficult of digestion. Dr. Schwartz,
medical counsellor for Cologne, holds this opinion and says that
"it has come about that very often the boiling of milk is dis-
pensed with." He also states that it is very difficult to accomplish
complete sterilization of milk.

While discussing this feature, let us quote Renesse: "At the
present time the effort is made to sterilize the milk by long con-
tinued cooking and to make it free of all germs, and for this pur-
pose the most complicated apparatuses have been put upon the

market. But it has been scientifically demonstrated that imoor-

>. j.

tant substances are destroyed in the milk simultaneously with the
long continued cooking, which are of great value in the feeding
of suckling babes, especially in the development of the bony frame-
work, and so it transpires that these so-called 'bottle babies' develop
a picture of illness similar to rhachitis, in spite of the greatest
care on the part of the parents. Furthermore, it turns out that
the washing of the apparatus requires so much vigilance and time
that the question of the use of it can not be entertained in the
case of the incredulous working man who has quite a number of
children and where the mother takes the entire care of the house."
Goat's milk is said to be especially desirable for use in tea
and coffee and for pastry ; and that whoever becomes accustomed to
using it thus prefers it to any other kind. They like its taste and
recognize its wholesomeness. It is recommended that, if one pur-
poses to use goat's milk instead of that of the cow, two goats be

MILCH GOATS.

183

employed, one of which should become "fresh" in the spring and
the other in the fall. By this means a constant supply is possible,
whereas with one animal it would not be possible.

While we are discussing the use of this milk as food for the
family, it will be interesting to read what was recently written to
the American Sheep Breeder by J. R. Chisholm, of Xorth Queens-
land, Australia, who said : "We had a terrible season last year
and most of us lost heavily in sheep, but the goats kept us going
in milk all the time, and it was in that dry time I overcame my

COMMON MILCH GOAT OF QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA.

prejudice and ate and relished goat meat, or, as you would call
it 'venison." The goats served us well until the rains came. I've
just asked my girls about the flock, and they tell me they milk
eighteen nannies and make four or five pounds of butter weekly
from them and have, besides, an abundance of milk for our house-
hold of seven and a hired man. We think of selling our cattle."

As food for invalids the milk of the goal is almost universally
endorsed. This is not only so because of its apparent medicinal
qualities, which are discussed a little further along, but because of
its high content of solids, which average a little over 14 per cent,
and also because of its easy digestibility. This latter characteristic
is due to the fact that the globules of goat's milk are much smaller

184 MILCH GOATS.

than those of cow's milk, and therefore the fat remains longer as
an emulsion. Goat's milk creams very slowly and usually very
unsatisfactorily, owing to the smallness of the fat globules.

The tables of analyses given show the fat of goat's milk averages
about 4.5 per cent. A recent writer in the Rural World says it
would be accurate to say that goat's milk contains about twice as
much fat as that of the average Shorthorn cow and is far superior
to that yielded by the best Jerseys. The same writer (Sirgar)
says: "Individual instances, though they do not, of course, prove
the average, may be quoted to show its extraordinary richness.
The milk of an Angora goat which was analyzed by F. S. Lloyd,
analyst to the British Farmers' Association, contained no less than
8.69 per cent of butter fat, and 9.85 per cent of casein and milk
sugar, the water amounting to only 80.53 per cent; the water in
the average cow's milk would be about 87 per cent. A crossbred
Toggenburger and Nubian goat gave 8.11 per cent of fat, and we
have seen no Jersey records that have reached these figures."

This from Hilpert is direct: "That it serves as a means of
preserving health, witness the cures with goat's milk in the moun-
tain sanitaria, especially for pulmonary diseases." It is certainly
the best kind of argument that whatever acts as a curative agent
should be the very best preventive agent as well.

A strong argument is made by Renesse for the use of goat's
milk as a preventive of tuberculosis. In his paper he states that
in Germany 100,000 people die annually from tuberculosis and
the number of those who are sick with the disease is estimated at
ten times as many; and they are, as a rule, persons in the prime
of life. And this is not all — these tuberculous persons, through
their long period of illness, are ever a menace to those who are
not already infected. To counteract these conditions, Renesse
advocates goat's milk as a curative and preventive agent.

In connection with the consideration of goat's milk as a food
for invalids, one should read what is said further on regarding
the relationship of goat's milk to tuberculosis.

The use of this milk for infants — say, babes under a year old —
has given rise to contrary opinions. Those who have studied the
goat's milk as a diet all agree to its beneficial results upon all who
are old enough to have a good flow from the salivary glands, but
some maintain that it may take the place of human milk from the
birth of a child. For instance, Dettweiler says: "Goat's milk
most nearly resemble" woman's milk, and, on account of the ease
with which it is digested, is attended with happy results in the
case of the feeding of the sick and children." Hoffman says:

MILCH GOATS. 185

"Goat's milk more nrarly resembles mother's milk than cow's milk
when it comes to infant feeding." He also states that in Germany
many children take the milk direct from the udder "as the kid
does" and thus escapes any chance of milk infection. Zurn men-
tions the same practice and also says that goats will consent to
suckle other young animals, such as colts and little pigs.

"Goats should prove to be very valuable as nurses. Prof*
Magne makes note in regard to this fact in his 'Handbook of Agri-
cultural Cattle Breeding/ Goats are good mothers and readily
adopt infants, calves, lambs, etc. The use of goats for suckling
infants is familiar enough (in Germany, I do not know so much
about it). In this regard they are of great value. The goats con-
ceive a liking for the life which they nourish, since they conduct
themselves with extraordinary ready willingness toward the one
who takes their milk in the matter of gratifying the whims of the
suckling or of the person who milks them. With lambs, they will
lie down entirely when these can not easily reach the udder, and
with infants they will submit to being brought indoors that they
may be placed upon the cradle (bed)/' (B. E. Haddrup.)

A contrary opinion as to the value of this milk for babes is ex-
pressed by a few who state that the greatest objection to the use
of goat's milk is its indigestibility, not only for the new-born but
also for adults. The Milch-Zeitung (vol. 25, p. 716) says: "Most
of the authors who are assured of the complete digestibility of
goat's milk and who recommend its use above all others base their
opinions on results obtained from feeding children several months
old. * * * Ought not the great richness of casein which
goat's milk possesses, as compared with woman's milk, make the
milk harder to digest?" This paper points out the function of
saliva in the process of digestion, and says that, in the case of the
new-born infant, the role of saliva is almost nothing.

The chemist of the Philadelphia board of health has published
two analyses of human milk, one when the glands were probably
nearly empty and the other when full. The average of the two are
given herewith and Hoffman's analysis of goat's milk and cow's
milk added to the table for use in comparison. All are in per-
centages :

Element.

Human.

Goat.

Cow.

Albumin and casein

1.885

4.-140
5.850

3.68
4.78
4.50

4.00

Fat

:ihO

4.;"i0

Ig6 MILCH GOATS.

It will be noted that in the matter of albumin and casein
human milk falls far short of the goat, and the goat shows a con-
siderably lower percentage than the cow's milk. There is not
much difference between the fat content of human milk and goat's
milk. Human milk is much richer in milk sugar than that of the
goat.

This phase of the subject is so important that it will bear a
somewhat lengthy quotation from Dr. 0. G. Place, of Boulder,
Colo., whose fields of observation have been New York City, Chi-
cago, London, and Paris among the larger cities, and many of the
cities of Italy, Arabia, India, China, and Japan. He says in a
recent letter: "Anyone who will take the trouble to look up the
data will readily see that in those countries where the goat is do-
mesticated and its milk is used in the family there is very little
tuberculosis, almost no scrofulous glands, and the infant mortality
is decidedly less for those children which use the milk.

"There is certainly no danger in infection from either the
milk or the meat of the goat. The following table will help us to
draw conclusions along this line. This shows the infant mortality
in the several countries named per 1,000 :

United States, approximately 200

Engrl and 197

Asiatic countries (European children) 150 to 170

Italy 134

Norway 44

"The Asiatic countries do not have the sanitary enlightenment
that, is boasted of in this country and in England, and yet we find
to-day not only the death rate lower in infants, but we also find
markedly less tuberculosis among the adults. Asia is a goat
country.

"Italy is a country noted for its unsanitary customs, and yet
we find the infant mortality 66 per cent less than in our own
country; and here, too, tuberculosis is seldom found. Italy is
decidedly a goat country, and there the feeding bottle is scarcely
heard of. Children that are not so fortunate as to be nursed by
their mother find in the little Italian goat their next best friend.
It is not an uncommon sight there to see an infant or small child
drawing its dinner direct from the little goat, which has been
brought onto the steps or into the house for the purpose.

"In Norway, which is a colder climate, and where people no
doubt live more in harmony with sanitary laws than any other
countrv in the world, v. c get the low death rate of 44 per 1,000.
Here if a mother does not have nourishment for her child, some
other mother nurses it for her as a rule ; but where no mother is

HORNLESS BUCK. From Hilpert.

STAKKENBURGER BUCK. From Hilpert.

188 MILCH GOATS.

at hand the milk of the goat is the universal food, and this is fed
direct from the little bowl into which the goat is milked. Feeding
bottles are unknown in this country/'

What has been said in the preceding pages concerning the rela-
tionship of goat's milk to health has its application in the use of
the milk more as a preventive than as a curative agent. The use
of the milk and also the whey as a medicine, or curative agent, are
considered at some length in a brochure issued by C. F. Eeuss
in Leipzig in 1763. He states that in the days of Hippocrates
the milk cure was ordered to be taught in the medical schools as
a curative of almost all breast affections and consumption; and
he gives a long list of old physicians who used the cure, naming
the disease treated by each. Some of the diseases mentioned are
arthritis, nephritis, goat, whooping cough, scurvy, jaundice, diar-
rhea, worms, and inflammation of the liver.

Eeuss states that these old physicians ascribed the curative
properties of the milk to the kinds of herbs which the goats ate.
He also says: "It is well known to the medical profession that
the marked laxative quality and the characteristic smell of goat
milk depends to a large extent upon the food which they get. And
likewise it is easy to reach the conclusion that the efficacy and
qualities of other drugs (than the laxatives) easily pass over into
the milk. And right here also belongs the further statement that
the goats give a rather large amount of milk, the whole spring,
throughout the summer, and a part of the fall, to say nothing of
the fact that the goats are much stronger and digest their food
better than sheep do."

So much for the milk cure as a matter of history. While milk-
may not now be generally considered a medicine, it forms an im-
portant part of the sick-room diet. The relationship between milk
and medicine is very close indeed. This is especially true of the
milk of the goat.

Quantity. — Question: How much milk will a goat give? An-
swer: How long is a string? With goats, as with cows, so much
depends upon individuality, breed, feed, and care that it is not
possible to say how much milk goats will give. We may, however,
arrive at an approximate conclusion if we study the animal with
the above elements in mind.

A goat which gives less than a quart a day is not to be con-
sidered a good milch animal; if it yields 2 quarts it is a good ani-
mal, provided the period of lactation (which is discussed else-
where) is not brief. In the European countries the c:oats which
yield from 3 to 5 quarts a day are numerous and the period of
lactation is a long one.

MILCH GOATS. 189

Indeed, it is stated in the German literature on this subject
that many goats yield ten times their body weight of milk annu-
ally and exceptional animals as much as eighteen times their
weight. This is very much greater than th< yield of cows pro-
portionately. On this point Petersen says: "In its form the goat
exhibits, as it were, the complete type of a milch animal and by
demonstration gives annually ten to sixteen times its own weight
in milk and considerably more even, whereas, in the case of the
cow, we must be well satisfied with five times its weight/' This
from Zurn: "The milk reaches ordinarily ten to twelve times the
body weight, exceptionally eighteen times this weight, in each year.
In the case of very good goats, 4 to 5 liters1 can be produced for
each kilogram2 of body weight, or, at the least estimate, double
what a good milch cow can show for each kilogram of her weight."

It is a good goat of any breed that will give 2 quarts of milk
a day for seven or eight months of the year. One that will give
more than this is specially desirable. The Angora goat, which is
not considered a good milch animal, owing to the uncertain quan-
tity and its covering of long hair, gives from 2 to 3 liters of very
rich milk. The Nubian produces from 5 to 12 liters. The yield
of the best goats of Switzerland is, on an average, about 4 liters per
day. This amount is not produced without proper care and feed.
To show how the yield varies, Dettweiler is quoted with reference
to the annual yield per head of 24 goats in the vicinity of Alten-
burg, Geising, and Lauenstein:

9 grave 600 to 700 liters. 1 gave 900 to 1.000 liters.

7 gave 700 to 800 liters. 3 gave over 1,000 liters.

4 gave 800 to 900 liters. I

Ten animals in the city of Sebnitz were also reported upon,
and their production annually was as here given :

2 gave 600 to 700 liters.

2 gave 700 to 800 liters.

3 gave 800 to 900 liters.

1 gave 900 to 1.000 liters.
1 gave 1.100 to 1.200 liters.
1 gave over 1,200 liters.

These goats were not of any particular breed, but they had
been bred from selected parents, as are all the goats in Germany.
This illustrates what may be done in our own country with the
goats we now have if we handle them properly.

Petersen records the statement that one Langensalzaer goat
gave 1,800 liters in one year. He also says that this breed has
jriven a maximum daily vield of 10 liters.

Analysis. — It is not probable that any two analyses of the milk
of any animal would agree; indeed, analyses o? the milk taken at

*A liter is 1.0567 quarts.

2A kilogram is approximately 2.20 pounds.

190

MILCH GOATS.

different times of the clay seldom agree exactly. The ingredients
of milk are governed, first, by the species of animal, and then by
the kind of feed it consumes, the time of day when the milk is
taken, and by the part of a particular milking, whether the first
part or the last, and other minor causes. Therefore an analysis
of milk is only a general guide to its composition, and any varia-
tion between analyses does not prove that either or anyone of them
is wrong. The analyses which are here quoted from several dif-
ferent authorities are not from individual goats, or from one milk-
ing, but are the averages of a number of analyses and are, there-
fore, a very good basis from which to form conclusions.

The following is from Eenesse, and shows a comparison in
percentages between goat's milk and cow's milk:

Element.

Goat.

Cow.

85 50

5.00

4.80

4.00

.70

87.25

3.90

Fat

3.30

4.60

Ash .

.75

We find in the Oesterreichisches landwirthschaftliches wochen-
blatt another comparison in percentages between the milk of the

goat and that of the cow :

Element.

Goat.

Cow.

85.6
.7
3.5
1.3
4.6
4.3

87.5

Dry substance

.7

3.5

Albumin

.5

Fat .

3.5

4.3

Professor Hoffman gives the following percentages in com-
paring goat's milk and cow's milk:

Element.

Goat.

Cow.

86.19

3.68

4.73

4.50

.90

87.50

Albumin and casein

4.00

Fat

3.50

Sugar . .

4.50

Salts

.50

The above three analyses are all of foreign goats. The total
solids shown by them afe, respectively, 14.50, 14.40, and 13.81
per cent. The two analyses of foreign cow's milk show, respect-
ively, 12.50 and 12.50 per cent. The difference in favor of goat's

SCHWARZENBURG-GUGGISBERGER DOE. From Hilpert.

HINTERWALDER DOE. From Dettweiler.

192 MILCH GOATS.

milk is one that is maintained in general in all analyses. An
American analysis of goat's milk — one reported in 1896 by the
chemist of the board of health of Philadelphia — shows the total
solids to be 16.33 per cent. This indicates a very rich milk. The
same analysis shows a percentage of 5.11 for sugar and of 5.85
for fat. This analysis, it should be stated, is of the milk of one
goat and in all probability does not represent the quality of the
American goats, as a whole. Who would not wish that it were so ?

Quality. — The element of quality is shown in detail in the para-
graphs under the head of "Analyses." This entire chapter has to
deal with quality, but the reader is referred especially to the re-
marks under the head of "Its various uses/'

Period of lactation. — This is a feature which, at first glance,
would not seem to be appropriate under the head of milk; but the
period of lactation is so intimately connected with the quantity
which may be produced that it must be discussed here in order to
best elucidate the subject.

The period of lactation, as in the case of the quantity, depends
almost wholly upon the individuality of the goat, its ancestry, and
upon the feed and care which it may receive.

Ln a general sense it may be said that the period of lactation
is about 7 months. Many give milk 8 and 9 months, even 10, and
some would continue throughout the year if permitted ; but it is
not well to permit the milk to flow up to the time of the birth of
a new kid, as it works injury both to the does and the kid. On
this point, we quote from a correspondent of the Landwirthschaft-
liche Zeitung: "A doe giving milk continuously during 9 to 10
months can be made to do so during 11 months and even for the
entire year through by generous feeding and good feed in winter."
A goat that is compelled to find most of its food, and if such as it
gets is not very suitable for milk production, the yield will be low
and the duration of lactation about 3 or 4 months.

If there is a milch goat industry built up in this country, it
will be established to a large extent among the poorer people, who
are unable to own and feed a cow ; and these people will have need
of a supply of milk throughout the year. Every such family
should have at least two goats, and matters should be so arranged
as to have them become fresh alternately six months apart. Thus
each doe would drop kids but once a year, and they ought to be of
such breeding and have such feeding as would insure a constant
supply of milk.

Flavor. — People are inclined to believe many things that are
not true, and one of them is that there is an inherent ill flavor in

MILCH GOATS 1!.;;

the milk of the goat. Therefore, withoul parley, they decide that
they have no use for either the milk or the animal. Briefly, it
may be said that this is erroneous. However, in order to under-
stand the matter, an explanation is accessary. If the goats are

allowed to roam about and cat weeds and twigs and all kind- of
vegetation at will while they are giving milk, the milk is apt to be
strong, or of ill flavor. The tendency of the goat is to eat these
very things at all times, and so it is but natural always to expect
to note their influence upon the quality of the milk. On the con-
trary, if the animal is fed properly, with the purpose in view of
obtaining palatable milk, no ill flavor is noticed. Switzerland is
one of the greatest of milch goat countries, and travelers there,
always observe that the milk of the goat possesses a strong flavor.
Bryan Hook, as well as some of the German writers, state that the
animals there are not fed, but find it necessary to gather their
subsistence from between the rocks on the mountain sides, where
much of the vegetation is made up of aromatic plants. Hook
further says: "The milk from goats fed upon what an English
meadow or roadside yields has no flavor to distinguish it from
cow's milk, except, perhaps, its extra sweetness and creaminess; in
short, it is only distinguishable by its superiority/'

Felix Hilpert, a well-known German writer on milch goats,
says that milk with good taste may be obtained if the following
points are scrupulously observed : (1) Good stable, dry stall, clean
hands and bucket at milking time; (2) daily cleansing of the
skin and washing off of the udder with warm water before milk-
ing; (3) the feeding of wholesome, pure, and "good tasting'' (not
strong tasting) food; (4) attention to fresh air in the stall, and,
if possible, allowing the goats to exercise in the open air.

The Milch-Zeitung (vol. xxv., p. 099) says: "An after-taste
of goat's milk, according to statements of veterinarians, should
not exist, and, if any rich taste or smell should exist it must be
traced to unclean stables or bad feed. Even cow's milk very fre-
quently smells badly under these conditions."

Dettweiler says: "It [the milk] possesses a singular but not
unpleasant sharp taste, the strength of which varies with the feed-
ing and keeping. The better the feed, the cleaner the bedding,
the better ventilated the stall, and the more painstaking the care,
just so much more pleasing will be the taste of the milk. The
goatish taste is always to be attributed to the lack of attention to
one or more of these points."

Kloepfer says: "A scrupulous care of the skin itself is abso-
lutely necessary even with the best conditions of bedding. If the

194 MILCH GOATS.

pores of the skin, which partly serve to bring air into the body
and partly to emit excrementitous materials [such as perspira-
tion] from it become filled with dirt and stopped up, on the one
hand, metabolism suffers and, on the other, these materials remain
in the body, the proper excretion of which is interfered with. Thus
the rather unpleasant after:taste of goat milk, for the most part,
is to be traced to the fact that the gaseous and liquid excrementi-
tous materials can not pass from the body because of the occlusion
of the pores of the skin and they therefore impart to the milk their
unpleasant taste. The milk of healthy and cleanly goats has the
same good wholesome taste that cow's milk has and excels it in the
amount of fat and albumin contained. For these reasons it is
imperative carefully to observe the following points: (1) To clean
with a brush and comb the hair, first upward, then lightly down-
ward, each day; (2) to wash the goats with soda water or soap
suds on still sunny days in the spring before turning them out
to pasture and in the fall before housing them, repeating the opera-
tion a few days later in each season. By this means all vermin is
destroyed and many skin diseases prevented; (3) to look carefully
after the cleanliness of the udder by washing it frequently and
with great care and pains."

These opinions of writers of prominence and men of experi-
ence are given to point out the source of unpalatable milk and also
the way it may be avoided. If a goat is fed all sorts of vegetable
rubbish, it must not be expected to yield milk of the best flavor.
Onions, garlic, aromatic plants, and all varieties of twigs and
bark alone are not the best for good milk. We should not forget
the philosophy of the old saw that "you can't make a silk purse
out of a sow's ear." If the same sanitary practices obtain in the
goat dairy that are now followed by the best cattle dairies there
need be no fear of unpalatable milk. However, goat's milk has
a characteristic taste which, it is said, is always distinguishable
in some degree, but not so pronounced in the fresh state. This
may be so far eradicated by good feeding, good care and cleanli-
ness that it may be almost imperceptible. The taste can not be
observed when the milk is used in coffee or in cooking.

The milk of the goat is nearly always pure white — very seldom
having a yellowish tinge — and it is so thick as to lead one not
familiar with it to doubt its purity and wholesomeness.

Odor. — Besides the flavor of the milk, which is discussed above,
there is often a disagreeable odor. This may be due to one or
more of the various causes, but it is not a natural characteristic and
therefore, as in the matter of ill flavor, may be avoided by proper
care. Dr. M. Aiken of the London Agricultural Gazette says that

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196 MILCH GOATS.

the slight odor which the milk sometimes possesses is not a char-
acteristic of the milk, but is peculiar to the skin of the goat and
is imparted to the milk externally. Zurn mentions the cause of the
odor and tells how it may be prevented. He says: "It is admitted
that goat's milk sometimes has the smell of the buck. Much can
be done toward lessening this and toward its ultimate entire re-
moval by furnishing a dry, sweet stall, bedded with lots of clean
straw, by good care of the skin and by permitting the continuance
as long a time as possible in the open air."

A German agricultural paper says that in consequence of un-
cleanliness and the lack of proper action of the skin there is a
strong smell of a decomposition product — namely, caporic acid.
The article continues: "With a view to the greatest possible
diminution of the goatish smell of the milk, there are here given
the following directions for good stable goats: (1) Short hair;
(2) uniformity of color; and (3) goats without horns. The
argument in favor of short hair is that the skin may be the better
cared for. With reference to the color, it is claimed by some that
the purer the breeds the freer they are from the disagreeable odor,
and that a pure bred goat is of solid color. Most of the German
writers state that goats without horns are the better milch animals.
Why so the writer is unable to say. The paper referred to above
intimates that goats with horns are more active, thus causing
perspiration, and this gives rise to the ill odor. Hilpert says that
hornless goats should give milk less strong to the taste than other
goats, but does not give a reason for his opinion. He makes a
point with reference to the odor of the milk, however, which breed-
ers should note — namely, that "at times an individual character-
istic is responsible for this, and from such animals offspring should
not be obtained/' He also says that if the goat's milk savors of
the buck or of manure it is seldom the fault of the goat, but gen-
erally that of the owner.

Knowing, as we do now, the cause of the ill odor and how to
prevent it, there is no reason why this characteristic should be
quoted as an objection to the goat.

Concerning tuberculosis. — The question of the milk of goats
being the carrier of the germs of tuberculosis will be discussed
under another head, as it is one that concerns the animal's body
as well as the milk.

Cost of product ion. — All estimates of the cost of producing
milk are confined to German experiments. Of course, they can
not be applied literally to the conditions in the United States.
yet they indicate what may be expected. Dettweiler states that
a goat which, under ordinary dairy conditions, yields 500

MILCH GOATS 197

liters annually does so at a cost of 12 pfennigs1 per
liter. If the yield is GOO liters the cost te reduced to

8.3 pfennigs; a yield of 700 liters costs 7.1 pfennigs, and 800
liters costs 6.25 pfennigs each. He continues: "According to
Dr. Lobe, a goat weighing 30 kilograms- needs a supply of hay
weighing 1.05 kilograms, and gives on an average of 1.72 liters of
milk at 12 pfennigs per liter; thus the goat converts 50 kilograms
of hay, by means of the milk given, into a value of 9.80 mark- ;
an evidence of the fact that the goat is a good utilizer of food. In
the same way a cow weighing 300 kilograms, with a daily food
supply of 10.5 kilograms, must give nearly 17 liters if she would
utilize the food as well as the goat. Under very many circum-
stances the keeping of two or three goats will be more profitable
than that of one cow, for with the feed that a cow requires one
can keep eight goats at quite an additional profit and at compara-
tively less risk of loss."

Description of a Good Milch Goat*

The points of this description are those which are considered
important in Europe. There seems to be no reason why the best
milch goat here should not answer in all respects to the best type
there. The goat should be hornless, short haired and of solid
color. Long hair is an objection only as it is a nuisance at milk-
ing time and makes the work of keeping the animal clean very
difficult. The animal should usually present a lanky appearance,
with broad muzzle, clean-cut head, graceful neck, deep in the
stomach rather than broad. The chest should be broad and deep.
The udder is hard rather than soft and fat. The size of the udder
will depend upon the number of years the animal has given
milk. In some of the old does, especially of the short-legged
Maltese, the teats sometimes touch the ground. A very excellent
description and one full of suggestions is that of Hilpert and is
given herewith : "In a good milch goat the following points are to
be described : A long body, growing larger at the hinder parts and
beneath, nently rounded form, a deep and broad breast, short legs,
broad buttocks, wide but filled out 'hungry hole' (the depression
in front of the hip bone), a neck that is not too long nor too thick,
a light, broad head, wide mouth and good udder. The udder
should be of considerable size. Only those goats can give plenty
of milk which have a bulky, well-developed milk gland; that i-. a
large udder. But it is not always the case that a capacious udder
signifies a high milk yield. The amount of glandular tissue in the

1 A pfennig is one-fourth of a cent.

- A kilogram equals, approximately, 2.20 pounds.

198 MILCH GOATS.

udder can be augmented by the surrounding flesh and fat, and
then the udder is spoken of as a fleshy or fatty udder. A large
udder is, then, a favorable sign of an abundance of milk when it is
a genuine udder. A fatty udder feels soft and full; its skin is
generally somewhat thicker, sparsely covered with long, coarse
hair; does not wrinkle after milking and diminishes only slightly
in circumference. A genuine milk udder feels tight and as having
kernels in its upper portion; its skin is thin and tender, covered
with short, fine hair, and forms very perceptible folds and wrinkles,
which fall together after the milking is done, if the condition of
the udder is not too tense. Moreover, the blood vessels course along
very noticeably on account of the thin skin when the udder is
filled — a condition not present in the case of a fatty udder. A good
milch goat should have a fine, thin skin, which is best examined
over the ribs, and it should be covered with fine (not bristly),
smooth, glistening hair. That the absence of horns possesses an
alleged influence in making the milk mild in taste has been spoken
of before. When all these characteristics coincide it is certain
that one is dealing with a good milch goat."

In the matter of selection one should buy only well-bred stock.
Goats designed for breeding should be descended only from such
animals as gave an abundance of milk. In this connection it is
well to remember that the milk yield is a quality which is inherited
not only through the mother goat, but through the buck also, and
handed down to the young. If both the males and females be
descended from milch-giving animals, then it is of the utmost
probability that the offspring will be blest with an abundance of
milk later on.

An American Milch Goat Suggested.

Having in view the great difficulty that will be encountered in
efforts to import foreign breeds of milch goats, it occurs to the
writer that the people of the United States who are interested
in the question may find it necessary to develop a strain of milch
goats from the stock already available. Everybody calls this stock
"common goats," as, indeed, they are. Mrs. Roby lias patriotically
suggested that the term ''('0111111011 goats" be discontinued and
"American goats" be substituted. But a change in name will nol
change the animal, and ii will si ill remain a common animal, nol
only in the United St.ites, but everywhere. Let us. rather, adopt
a further suggestion of Mrs. Roby and by the use of our common
goats as foundation stock develop an animal that shall produce a
good quality of milk ; and. so soon as some breeding characteristics
are fixed, call the new animal the "American goat."

MALTESE GOAT. Raised in Tunis.

NUBIAN GOAT. Photo by Wm. G cle Ooligny

200 MILCH GOATS.

Such an outcome is not an impossibility by any means. En-
glish breeders soon learned that the purebred milch goats from the
continent and the Island of Malta would not thrive in their cli-
mate; so they began crossing with their common goats, with the
result that they now have a very good milch animal which they
name the English milch goat. In our own country Daniel F.
Tompkins of Jersey City, N. J., has met with very good success
in efforts to develop such an animal as suggested here. Mrs. Roby,
who has already been mentioned, is making efforts without regard
to cost in the same direction.

Breeding and Kidding.

Milch goats as a rule are very prolific animals. They seldom
drop fewer than two kids, and some breeds drop as many as four
at a time. The Nubian, one of the best milch goats known, has
had as many as eleven kids in a year. It is well known that An-
gora goats will breed but once a year, but other goats breed very
soon after kidding; and, as the period of gestation is only from
155 to 157 days, their increase may be quite rapid.

The buclc. — First, the buck should be from a milk strain and
himself have the characteristics of a milch animal. He should
have a pedigree showing ancestors of milk propensities; even then,
if upon trial he fails to transmit the milk characteristics, he should
be dispensed with. He should be killed for the good of the indus-
try.

The Question of Feeding.

The thought will no doubt come to many people at once that
the best and cheapest manner to feed milch goats is to turn them
upon brushwood and weeds, where they can feed as Angoras do.
While this will prove to be a feed very much relished by the goaf
and at the same time prove an effective means of destroying the
brush and weeds, it will be observed that the milk supply will dimin-
ish in quantity and the palatability will be greatly affected. Such a
location will not answer for a goat dairy. The goat is a single-
purpose animal; she can not produce good milk and destroy brush
and weeds at the same time. She must be regarded as a milk-
producing machine and fed such things and in such manner as will
enable her to do the best at the pail.

In a general way i( may be stated that eight goats can subsist
and yield a good flow of milk upon the amount of feed that is
required for one cow. It is proved by experiments in Europe that
the goat makes much better use of its feed in producing milk than

MILCH GOATS. 20]

does a cow. Considering its proportionate weight, the goat is the
greatest milk producer of all domestic animals.

Some writers state that the average amount of hay required
annually for a milch goat is ahout 300 pounds; but m an examina-
tion of experiments where large milk production was the object
in view it is shown that some goats will consume as much as 700
pounds. Let us be generous and allow our goats 500 pound- to
eat; if we arc not careful Ave shall waste that much or more and
charge it against the goat. For the milch goat hay is indispensable,
winter and summer. Without hay goat keeping is scarcely possi-
ble, because it can not be displaced by any other food. Of course, an
abundance of dry fodders will answer the same purposes as the
hay. Kioepfer says: "From my experiments, which I have con-
ducted in the past two years upon my experimental animals, one
must figure on at least 3 cwt. of hay yearly for each mature animal.
If one can obtain more of course it is so much the better. As a
means of saving the hay it is suggested that it be cut up and fed
in a narrow rack and mixed with straw. By this means the animals
will be prevented from tramping the feed under foot. It is best
in the morning to feed half of the day's ration of hay, mixed with
equal amount of straw, and after this to give water which in
severe weather has been allowed to stand in a warm room or in the
kitchen. The offal from the kitchen serves as the usual noon meal,
which should be given not with, but without, a large amount of
liquid."

Good hay, especially clover hay, exercises a stimulating influ-
ence upon the digestive organs and serves as an active element in
the production of milk. Fresh hay, which has not yet undergone the
sweat, is difficult of digestion and easily induces bloating. Old,
dusty hay which has lain more than a year is tasteless and pro-
vokes shortness of breath. The best food for goats is found in the
pasture "where, nature has spread the table"; but before they go
out and after they return from the pasture hay should be given
them.

Bran is an excellent feed ; its use will depend upon its cost.
The daily ration may vary between one-half and three-quarters of
a pound. Dampen the bran with a little salt water. The morn-
ing and evening portions may contain the solid materials from the
kitchen slops, such as potatoes, carrots, turnips and bread crusts.
Malt is recommended where it can be had regularly and at rea-
sonable cost. It is an excellent milk-producing feed. It should
not be fed when sour. Dry malt (which has been preserved for a
vear) is also srood for milk.

202 MILCH GOATS.

Oats and barley are good. Green oats are especially good for
kids at weaning time.

Linseed cake meal may be fed in amount from 50 to 75 grams
daily as an auxiliary feed. Its influence upon digestion and nour-
ishment is excellent. Kloepfer says: "It is absolutely invaluable
before delivery. When, on account of its digestibility and ready
assimilation, it is a prophylactic against milk fever." A breeder
of many years' experience declares that out of 100 cases of milk
fever, 50 of which used to be fatal, now his herd is almost free
from it because of feeding with linseed cake. This precautionary
method is so simple and reasonable in price that all ought to be
able to employ it. If, by reason of drouth, soiling is necessary,
leaves, vegetable refuse, peelings of the apple or potato, bread
crusts or stale bread, if they are sweet and clean, will be all the
feed that is needed. All goats, however, will not eat the same
food, and the feeder will have to study the appetites of the indi-
vidual animal. Frequent feeding and a variety of food in winter
will be found beneficial.

Fencing and Housing.

The fences and houses required for milch goats are very much
the same as those required for dairy cattle. While the goat does
not jump, except when trained to do so, it will climb and creep
just where one would not expect it. Goats should not be tempted
with a poor fence or one that offers any opportunity for climbing.
If such opportunities are offered, the garden, shrubbery, and fruit
trees are sure to suffer in consequence.

The plan of a very convenient house is shown in Hook's
excellent little English work, "Milch Goats and Their Manage-
ment/' The stalls are very convenient; the rack above for the
hay is easily accessible to the animal, and yet permits of no waste;
the slatted floor favors cleanliness; if for any reason the goat
should not be tied — at the time of kidding, for instance — the box
stalls are available; a loft immediately over the stalls holds the
forage, which may be fed directly to the rack below ; a hopper is
provided for grain or soft feed. Anv goat hov.se should be ventilat-
ed, for goats must have an abundance of fresh air.

A goat house must be comfortable in winter, as all short-haired
breeds suffer much from the told. It must not leak rain at anv
time.

There should be a yard in connection with the goat house where
animals may exercise un warm days in winter season.

6

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204 MILCH GOATS

Tlie Operation ol Milking.

The act of milking by the milk vender in European countries
and also in our insular possessions is usually done on the street at
all hours of the morning or evening. The vendor drives his goats
from door to door, and at each one draws the amount of milk de-
sired. The better way, as our own people will at once recognize,
is to have a place near the goat house for milking, just as we have
an established place for milking the cow. Under no circumstances
should milking be done in the stalls or in that part of the house
where the stalls are located. The act of milking is done from the
rear, as is shown in the illustration of the Maltese goat.

All authorities agree that goats should be milked three times
a day. This must be done regularly as to days and hours, if the
goat is to be kept in milk — "in profit,7' as they say in England.
This is an important point; a disregard of it is apt to render
futile all other efforts in the way of breeding, feeding, and care.

Kindness and gentleness is now a recognized necessity in the
best cattle dairies. These characteristics are even more necessary
with goats. On this point Von L. Albrect is quoted: "Milch
goats will be particularly gentle and of kind disposition when
handled and cared for, so far as possible, by the same person. To
this end the milking must be done with regard to gentleness and
regularity, and with the closed hand so far as possible. The strokes
and tugs must be performed with care. The milking is clone besi
by a stroke directed from above downward/*'

Some excellent advice is given by Renesse as follows: "Before
beginning to milk the two teats are to be washed off with luke-
warm water and then dried off with a soft cloth, also the udder is
to be stripped a few times from above downward. It is advisable
that the animal be milked by one and the same individual with
clean hands at regular and definite times. The milk pail is to be
entirely sweet and clean. Milking must not be done in the stall.
Tuberculous persons must not be allowed either to expectorate in
the stable or, much less, to milk. That the milk may not depre-
ciate in taste it should be put away in a suitable place. A state-
ment of the amount of milk given daily should be kept in a book
by dates, in liters, in order to have an accurate account as to the
.profit."

Milch Goat Dairies.

Since there is almost universal indorsement of goat's milk for
infants and invalids, am! since the cost of keeping is so much less
than the keeping of cows, it would seem thai a goat dairy would
prove a success, especially if it is in proximity to the large cities.

MILCH Gi - LTS -H):,

Instances arc known where the milk lias been sold in limited
quantities at prices ranging from 12% cents to 85 cents a pint. It
may not be that such prices would be maintained, brat there can not

be a doubt that a much better price could be obtained than can be
had for cow's milk.

After a milch goat industry shall have been established in this
country other matters in connection with it \\\\\ arise for attention.
The matter of condensed milk will be one of the first. Thousands
of infants are now compelled to live during their first tew months
on condensed milk of cows, and it is not the best food for some
stomachs.

The Cheese.

The cheese that is made from goat's milk is considered very
choice and always brings good prices. Some of the varieties quite
well known in the United States are the Roquefort, Kieotto,
Schweitzer and Altenburger. It is stated that on an estate near
Lyons, France, 12,000 goats are kept in flocks of 40 to 60 for the
purpose of cheese manufacture.

The goat cheese made in the vicinity of Mount d'Or enjoys a
worldwide demand, and there are employed at this place about
15,000 goats. We are informed that the annual production of
cheese there is valued at 1,500,000 francs ($289,500). The
French goat cheeses worthy of special mention are Fromage de St.
Marcellin, St. Claude, Cheverctin, Gratairon. The first one is a
combination of the milk of the goat and the sheep.

The strong taste and odor of goat cheese are qualities very
pleasing to many. In Norway a goat cheese called Hoitcost is
quite a favorite. On this account the French as well as the Ger-
man, especially the Dutch and Swiss, dairymen have been in the
habit of making cheese of an especially pronounced odor and
flavor, and, in pursuit of this habit, some of them have uslmI the
milk of the goat in part with that of the slice]) and the cow in
the making of cheese. But while in some instances the milk of
the sheep is used wholly as the basis of a special kind of cheese,
that of the goat is only used when mixed with the ewe's or row's
milk, simply for the purpose of securing the special flavor of it.
And as the special kinds of cheese thus made find a market in
our large cities to considerable extent, it is quite probable that
the making of this kind of cheese may become an established and
quite profitable industry. And, in fact, in view of the great
enterprise and engenuity of the American citizen in all the busi-
ness of life, it may easily become so to an enlarged extent when
goat's milk cheese shall he offered in our markets.

206 MILCH GOATS.

With reference to the manufacture of goat's cheese, Eenesse
gives the following: "The milk is treated in a kettle, warmed to
25° to 26° K., and, while being stirred evenly, is brought to coagu-
lation by the addition of rennet. By this moans the socalled curd
is separated out of the whey. The curd is then manipulated with
a strainer and the whey allowed to run off. When the curd after
several hours has become dry, salt and caraway seed are intimately
mixed with it and it is made into small cheeses. These little
cheeses are to be placed on racks in the cellar to dry and are
turned daily. After about fourteen days they are ripe and ready
for use. The cheese takes on an especially fine taste and sweet
odor if, after a long period of ripening, it be laid in the dried
leaves of the sweet-scented woodroof. As a rule, 1 kilogram
of cheese can be obtained from 10 liters of milk."

The Butter.

There is nothing about goat's milk to recommend it for butter
making, although in those countries where milch goats are com-
mon it is made frequently, but not extensively.

There are several reasons why it is not satisfactory, and these
will be mentioned here, but not discussed to any extent. Goat's
milk is very slow to cream, a condition due to the fact that the
fat globules are very small and consequently held much longer in
emulsion. Owing to this condition the ordinary method of sep-
arating the cream by skimming after the milk has been set is not
successful, as only a portion of the cream will have separated in
the time allowed. According to Zurn, 50 kilograms of milk, when
skimmed in the ordinary way, yield only 1.5 to 2 kilograms of
butter.

Good goat's butter is usually white, rarely of a yellowish tinge,
tastes sweet, and is very fat; because of the last characteristic it is
softer than cow's butter. If it is used in its fresh state the taste
is pleasant, particularly if it is freed by much washing of the
peculiar taste which ordinarily clings to it, but which in a degree
is pleasant to some. This taste returns again, however, if the but-
ter is set aside for several days. Goat's butter becomes rancid
very soon and very easily. It can be used as cooking butter only in
a fresh state.

The Milch-Zeitung (1893, p. 756) published an analysis of
goat's butter, which is reproduced here:

Per cent.

Water

Fat 86.5

Salts and ash 3.7

Proteids 0.8

Carbohydrates 0 . ?

100

SAANEN BUCK. From Wilsdorf.

SAANEN DOE. From Wilsdorf.

208 MILCH GOATS.

The low content of water is especially noticeable, being but 8.2
per cent. Cow's butter of good quality carries as much as 12
per cent.

Tlie Wliey.

Goat's whey is highly recommended by foreign authorities on
account of its medicinal and nourishing properties. This para-
graph will deal wholly with their opinions. Zurn says: "Goat
whey is used for medicinal purposes and is recommended especially
for diseases of the lungs for those suffering from bronchial catarrh,
for weak anemic persons suffering from innutrition, and also for
weak consumptives. The whey is easily, quickly, and completely
separated from the milk." The same author publishes the follow-
ing approximate analysis of the whey:

Per cent.

Fat 0.02

Sugar 4 .969

Salts 0.665

Albumin 0.581

Water 93.765

100

The composition of the ash is as follows :

Per cent.

Potassium 44.58

Sodium 7. 18

Calcium 5.99

Magnesium 2.48

Phosphoric acid 13.78

Sulphuric acid 2.42

Chlorine 30.41

The whey has a laxative effect on most people, a fact easy of
explanation when the composition of the ash is considered. Zurn
says : "The abundant amount of acid phosphate of calcium, which
is presented in easily assimilable form in goat whey, has the power
to influence favorably the upbuilding of the bony structures; the
amount of potassium present, the activity of the blood and circu-
lation, especially the heart. By means of its sugar the whey
supplies carbohydrates in composition easily to be assimilated and
which serves as a means of strengthening the respiratory activity.
The amount of water contained in whey has the power to assist
in carrying off the non-assimilable materials which are present,
especially in the blood of those who are ill."

The consideration of whey will close with the following sum-
mary of its benefits, as given by Dr. H. May, physician and director
of the royal sanitarium at Kreuth, Germany: "It is my opinion
that the whey is of advantage in consumption because the sugar
which it contains checks the albuminous and tissue waste and its
salts compensate for the loss of inorganic matter as the result of
increased bronchial and mucous secretion. The tests of the physio-

MILCH GOATS.

logical and therapeutic value of the whey brings us to the con-
clusion that it is a valuable nourishment and healing agent which
can take the place of other means of cure and we have do ground to
fear that all the whey-cure institutes will be transformed into
milk-cure institutes. While it is not possible to draw a hard
and fast line of difference to say how many of the results we see
in the whey-cure institutes are to he credited to the account of the
whey and how many to other agents, especially climatic conditions,
I learn from the history of my cases that I can attribute them in
very great part to the healthy therapeutic action of the whey.

"When we gather together the conclusions of what has been
said they are these: (1) The salts of the milk and milk sugar are
largely responsible for the physiological and therapeutic value of
the whey.

"(2) The sugar limits by its disintegration the further breaking
up of the glycogen fats and albumin in the body and serves in
this way for the maintenance of the body aright and puts the body
in shape to take on more fat.

"(3) The principal value of the sugar for our bodies is seen
best in emaciated people when the possibility of keeping up nour-
ishment is lessened and the life of the cells is hindered. Here the
sugar acts similar to alcohol as a maintainer of strength.

"(4) Though, it is not absolutely essential to have a surplus
of salts in case of a sound, healthy body, it is very often that the
presence of these salts acts to dispel pathological conditions in a
remarkable degree when the body is sick.

"(5) This is especially the case in fever, in suppuration, ex-
udates, continuing catarrhal secretions, profuse expectorations, etc.

"(6) Besides this compensating influence, the salts of whey
exercise in the bodv a diuretic action and serve as a mild laxa-

■j

five.

"(7) A specific action of whey in the diseases of the respiratory
organs is not worth while to mention when we know its physio-
logical and therapeutic action.

"(8) Wrhey contains by careful preparations no lactic acids;
its milk sugar is not transformed into lactic acid in the intes-
tines.

"(9) From the irritation caused in these organs by the action
of lactic acid we can see how valuable the elements of whey (salts
of sugar) are, inasmuch as they are absorbed unchanged.

"(10) Whey is a valuable means of nourishment and healing,
which can be substituted and placed by the side of all the other
means of cure.

210 MILCH GOATS.

"(11) For the transformation of all the whey institutes into
milk institutes we are not ready for the reasons cited/'

Immunity from Tuberculosis.

Whether or not goats are immune from tuberculosis (or con-
sumption, or phthisis) is a question of the greatest importance,
since those who advocate the keeping of goats for milk lay much
stress upon the healthful qualities of the milk, especially in its
relation to tuberculosis. If it were true, as is often stated, that
goats are never affected with tuberculosis, they would no doubt be
regarded as the most valuable of the animal kingdom to mankind.
This would be the case because milk is the first food of man, and
he is dependent, to a large degree, upon it throughout life; and
we are assured by the medical fraternity that the dread disease of
tuberculosis is transmitted more often and more readily by cow's
milk than by any other cause. Hence, if there were a domestic
animal which would prove to be absolutely immune from this dis-
ease it would be one of the greatest boons to humanity. However,
the goat is not entirely immune, as we shall see from the testimony
of several who are thoroughly informed on this matter; but it
may be safely said that it is practically immune from tuberculosis
and that a very few goats only are affected.

The subject of milch goats is a new one to the United States and
our people, who always desire the opinions of men of experience,
demand the fullest information before formulating their judgment.
For this reason the opinions of scientific men and others in
Europe are quoted here in reference to the goat and its relation to
tuberculosis. Hook says : "Undoubtedly the most important of
all the qualities of goat's milk, especially in its relation to its
adaptability to the feeding of infants, is its immunity from the
danger of carrying the germs of tubercular disease."

A writer who signed himself "Sirgar" to a recent article in
the Eural World, a person who writes with such force as to exhibit
an acquaintance with goats, says: "I have seen this statement
questioned — I do not know by what authority — but some years ago
the British Medical Journal boldly declared that goat's milk is
not liable to tuberculous infection; and in support of the state-
ment quoted the greatest living authority on bacteriology, the
well-known Professor Nocard, whose researches have proved so
valuable in many directions to the stock keeper. Professor Nocard
states that 'out of over 130,000 goats and kids that have been
brought to Paris for slaughter at the shambles of La Villette every
year, the meat inspectors have failed to discover a single case of
phthisis.' This testimony should be sufficient to decide the ques-

MILCH GOATS. 211

tion and its value would be little disturbed by the discovery, if it
were made, that the goat is not immune. For all practical purposes

the animal, when kept under healthy conditions, is free from the
dreadful disease from which very few [cattle] herds in the coun-
try can claim to be exempt."

A German agricultural paper indorses goat's milk because of
its "anti-tubercular properties, insuring a pure milk yield"; and
the paper continues: "Since Lobe, Ehode, and others ascribed to
goats an almost total immunity from tuberculosis, Koch makes
the statement, in his first study concerning tuberculosis due to
infection of cow's milk, that recently there are well-authenticated
cases recognized in the literature due to inoculation by cow tuber-
cles or in consequence of rearing goats on tuberculous cow's
milk/'

Hilpert says that since the goat is much more healthy than the
cow and sheep, tuberculosis (which can be transmitted from them
to man) attacks it very rarely, and so its milk is very much better
and is especially adapted to children. Dr. A. von Eenesse says,
with reference to the milk of the goat, there need be no "fear as
to the transmission of tuberculosis." Dr. Schwartz, medical coun-
sellor from Cologne, in an address at Frankfurt (1896) before the
Association of German Naturalists and Physicians, directed the
attention of the convention toward goat milk as a food for children
because goats rarely have a tendency to tuberculosis, and even
when they have it they become infected by coming in contact with
tuberculous cattle.

A few references follow to show to what extent one may expect
to find tuberculosis in the goat. The first is from Herr Hoffman,
professor of animal breeding at the Royal Veterinary High School,
Stuttgart, Germany (1898), who says: "While the statement is
not entirely true that goats are absolutely immune from tuber-
culosis, yet, of 1,500 goats publicly slaughtered in one year only
0.6 per cent were affected. This bears no comparison to the
prevalence of tuberculosis among cattle. For example, in the
slaughter house at Kiel, Germany, in 1896, 41.03 per cent of all
slaughtered cattle and 45.82 per cent of all cows were found to be
tuberculous."

This from Dettweiler: "In the kingdom of Saxony, according
to a report concerning veterinary affairs for the year 1894, it is
stated that out of 1,562 goats slaughtered only 10 (0.64 per cent)
were found to be tuberculous, of which 2 were destroyed, 1 was
kept under observation and 7 were found salable. In Prussia
in 1899, in 381 slaughter houses 47,705 goats were killed. Of this
number only 148 head (0.41 per cent) were infected, either gen-

212 MILCH GOATS.

erally or locally. This result must be the more astonishing be-
cause the goats, with only a few exceptions, were kept under con-
ditions eminently favorable to the spread of tuberculosis. Peter-
sen, quoting these same figures, says that the goats ran freely in the
cattle sheds, ate out of the racks with tuberculous cows, and, owing
to their well-known proclivities for mischief, took hay out of the
mouths of the cattle, whereby they exposed themselves to the
greatest possible infection. Hoffman continued as follows:
* * * «Qf 4^146 goats slaughtered [in Saxony] in 1899, only
25 were found tuberculous. Of these 3 were destroyed and 22
passed inspection — that is, were salable."

The opinion now quoted from the Deutsch Landwirthschaftliche
Presse (vol. xx, p. 833) is on the other side of the question:
"Assistant Eichhorn informs us as follows in 'Report of Veter-
inary Science in Imperial Saxony/ concerning the appearance of
tuberculosis in goats: 'There was a goat (in a large herd of 28
head) which had been brought for treatment and which, after its
death, which soon followed, was found to be tuberculous to a high
degree. This made it imperative to inoculate the entire remaining
27 head with tuberculin. In 18 of these, in consequence of the
inoculation, a rise in temperature occurred of 1° to 2.5° C, and
only in 9 did the increased temperature amount to less than 1° C.
(0.6° to 0.9° C). Because of this result G8 per cent of all the
goats had to be retained on suspicion of being tuberculous, and
only 32 per cent were to be looked upon as probably free of tuber-
culosis. The owner could only make up his mind to have 3
slaughtered, of which 2 were suspected of being tuberculous and 1
was probably free of the disease; the result justifying the con-
clusion that the diagnosis was correct. This shows how necessary
a greater degree of care is in the use of goat's milk as food in the
milk cure.' "

To discuss the tuberculosis question is a delicate matter and
one which only the medical man and the scientist would dare to
venture upon. The writer must be content witfi a presentation of
the views of others who have made the question a study. There
are, however, some conclusions which may be drawn from the
quotations given above — namely, (1) goats will contract tubercu-
losis; (2) they do so with some difficulty, thus showing that they
are what may be termed highly resistant to the disease; (3) they
are not likely to contract the disease if in good health and ordinary
methods are employed to prevent exposure.

MILCH GOATS. 213

Diseases ol milch Goats.

Milch goats are subject to the same diseases as the Angora breed.
The reader is therefore referred to the chapter on the diseases of the
Angora goat for information on this subject.

Some of Mi « Breeds.

There are a great many different breeds of milch goats. The
number is augmented by many cross breeds. It would subserve
no useful purpose to give an account of all these here, or of even a
considerable number of them. We shall be content with some
general remarks about a few breeds that have received in their
native home land high commendation as milch animals.

The Malta goat. — It is probable that in no country has the rais-
ing of fine milch goats been brought to such a degree of perfection
as in the Island of Malta. The population of this island is about
200,000 and the people there rely almost wholly upon the goat.
The number of goats there is very large, but no one seems to know
just how many. There are various estimates ranging all the way
from 12,000 to 30,000. They wander about in small flocks. David
G-. Fairchild, to whose courtesy the author is indebted for the
Malta pictures, notes that they feed largely on scraps of all kinds,
such as they can. pick up on the streets. It is not strange that
this method of subsistence gives to the milk a strong, unpleasant
flavor, and on this account the English contingent prefer con-
densed milk from England and the United States. There are no
regular grazing fields for goats, such as are known in the United
States, but every morning the flocks are driven out along the roads
and uninclosed plots along the sides of the hills, where the goats
pick up whatever they can find in the way of weeds, but there is
seldom any sort of grass. Sometimes they get the leaves from the
maize and the prickly pear. At night, when they are driven back
to shelter, their day's feeding is supplemented by the carob bean.
The proper winter food for these goats is the chick pea, broad bean,
and sulla, all of which are grown all over the island. How these
animals can give so much milk upon such feed as they get is a
matter of frequent remark by foreigners who visit Malta.

The amount of milk produced varies, of course, with the ani-
mal and with the period of lactation. Hon. John H. Grout, TJ. S.
Consul at Malta, says an average goat produces 44 pints of milk
per day, and sometimes as much as 5 pints. Fairchild's informa-
tion is that the average yield is between 3 and 4 quarts a day.
Often the owner has an income of 16 cents a day from a single
goat.

The Maltese goats are about 2 feet (> inches in height, while

214 MILCH GOATS.

they will often weight 100 pounds. They are usually hornless,
and many that grow horns are dehorned. The predominant color
is white, although there are many of other colors — red, brown, and
black. The ears are moderately long, and horizontal. The ud-
ders are very large, oftentimes nearly touching the ground when
the animal stands. It is said that the milk characteristic of the
breed has been so perfectly developed that nearly every doe kid
becomes a good milker. There are two varieties of Maltese goats — ■
the long haired and the short haired. The hair of the former is
often 4 to 5 inches long.

The prices of good Maltese milkers range between $10 and
$25.

They have been imported into England out have not thrived
there. In Malta it is asserted that they never do well when ex-
ported. There is no record of any importations into the United
States.

The Toggenburger goat. — This breed is from the Toggenburg
valley of Switzerland, a district forming a considerable portion of
the Canton St. Gallen, in the northeast section of the republic.
It is of the hornless type, though occasionally one is found with
horns; the hair is medium long, and usually solid fawn color,
but sometimes dark-brown mottled. The average weight of this
animal is about 121 pounds. The Toggenburger has a somewhat
slender body, and, except as to its larger size, very much resembles
the Appenzeller, which comes from the same section of country
and is sometimes considered by some not well informed to be of
the same breed. Hook says: "The general appearance of the
Toggenburger is attractive ; the color is a peculiar shade of brown,
or mouse, color, and with white marking distributed with perfect
regularity. The legs below the knees and hocks should be white,
and a white streak runs down either side of the face and round
the ears. The head is without horns ; the ears are pricked and of
moderate size, as is the case with all the Swiss varieties, and the
face bears a remarkably intelligent, gentle expression.*'

Professor Anderegg, who was secretary of the Swiss Agricul-
tural Society, in a monograph upon Swiss goats, speaks of the
Toggenburger as one of the most valuable of Swiss goats. He
also says that she is easily acclimatized, and will thrive as well in
the stable as on the hills. Hook also says of this breed in Eng-
land: "The Toggenburger goat is, in my opinion, by far the
most valuable and the best suited to our climate of all the pure
breeds that have been introduced into this country, and, having
now become fairly common and well established with us, is the
breed I should unhesitatingly commend to the attention of goat

SWISS MILCH GOAT. (Toggenberg Breed.)
Photo by Will C. Clos.

216 MILCH GOATS.

keepers." This animal is always somewhat lean and bony looking
when giving milk, as it seems to throw all the strength of its
constitution into the production of milk.

Anderegg says the daily milk product of this breed is about
41 liters. This must be regarded as a very heavy yield.

The president of the British Goat Society is quoted as authority
for the statement that a Toggenburger in England yielded a frac-
tion less than a gallon per day. Although not equal to 4 liters,
it is probably more than the average daily product of a year.

In discussing this breed, Hook points out an important feature
which, in the opinion of this writer, is applicable to all breeds,
namely, that the high position occupied by the Toggenburgers as
milk producers has been attained by the careful selection of indi-
viduals for breeding, and from their offspring, preserving those
only for breeding which have proved themselves to be good milkers.
This method of practice will certainly lead to definite results if
intelligent selection is made. It may be surmised, therefore, as
has been stated in discussing the Saanen breed, that there are in
Switzerland many Toggenburgers which are useless as milch goats.
So, while it may be true that this breed has been so handled as to
possess more definite or fixed characteristics than other breeds,
it is by no means certain that any Toggenburger doe will prove
herself to be a good milker.

There are very few goats of this breed in the United States ;
indeed, there is but one record of importation. On July 12, 1893,
W. A. Shafor, of Hamilton, Ohio, now secretary of the American
Oxford Down Eecord Association, imported through the port of
New York 4 head of Toggenburgers. These were located on a
farm in Indiana. From correspondence with Mr. Shafor, it is
evident that there has been some difficulty in acclimating them,
for as late as in 1898 he wrote that the purebred stock had reached
the number of 7 only. Half-bloods and three-quarter-bloods had
proved themselves, like the pure breeds, to be good milkers. This
fact tends to confirm the statement of Hook that "they have a
remarkable power of transmitting their characteristics to their
offspring, many half-bred animals showing aU the distinguishing
peculiarities of the race."

The Saanen goat. — The Saanen breed of goats, according to
Dettweiler, takes its name from the Saanen valley in Switzerland,
but it is quite commonly kept also in the upper Simmon valley
of the same country. The pure Saanen goat is rather large, of
dainty white color, and is hornless. The neck is proportionately
long, shapely, and not very heavy; breast well developed; udder

1 A liter equals 1.0567 quarts.

MILCH GOATS. 217

very pretty, as a rule; milk production is plentiful under good
food, averaging 4 quarts per day. Wilsdorf Bays the milk of this
breed is, like that of most breeds, pure white (in rare caa
yellowish white)- and somewhat thick in consistency as compared
with the milk of the farm, or native, goats of Saxony, and that it
is characterized by a positive pleasant taste.

The statement of the milk production is upon the authority
of Anderegg, but Dettweiler says that, so far as he is able to form
an opinion from his own observation, the quantity is too large for
the breed taken as a whole. Anderegg was writing of the Saanen
goats in Switzerland, and Dettweiler acknowledges that in all
goats in Switzerland the production of milk is noticeably higher
than in Saxony, "where no one bothers himself about the goat."

Petersen says concerning this breed: "The quantity of milk
given when the animal is fresh is stated at 3 to 4 liters, increased
in isolated cases to 5 or 6 liters; and it is also true that in other
cases it remains under 3 liters. The average daily quantity for
a lactation period of 9 to 10 months is estimated as a rule at 2
liters or a little over; so that the annual production runs about
GOO liters.

Germany imports large numbers of Saanen goats, not alone on
account of their milk yield, but because of their becoming easily
accustomed to the climate and the feed, and also because of their
clean white color. The result of this large demand has been
known to raise the price of a doe to 100 marks and of a buck to
200 marks.

Doctor Kohlschmiclt, director of the agricultural school at
Freiburg, Saxony, conducted experiments in 1896 and 1897 with
various goats to test their capacity for milk production, and one
of his conclusions was that the Saanen goats, which had been
imported into Saxony in 1894, with the same feed and methods of
keeping that the German goats had, could be classed as anything
but better than the Saxony goats, as regards both quality and
quantity of milk.

Wilsdorf, however, after stating that the Saanen goats, after
kidding, give from 4 to 6 liters of milk daily, and that "this yield
happens not occasionally but as a rule in the Saanenthal/' probably
gives the reason why these goats in Kohlschmidfs possession
proved to be so inferior. He says that the owners of the Saanen
goats are not so lacking in foresight as to dispose of their best
milch goats, for by so doing they would soon have competitors in
a lucrative business. Besides, lie calls attention to the depend-
ence of the Swiss upon their goats, and for this reason also they
will not sell the best animals out of their stalls. For the most

218 MILCH GOATS.

part those which are exported are fit only for slaughter. An idea
of the enormous exports of Saanen goats may be had when one
learns that there were shipped out of the Saanenthal and the
immediate vicinity in 1893 something over 50,000 head. "We have
seen exports of goats from Switzerland purchased at a large total
cost which would have been considered almost worthless to an
intelligent breeder/' (Wilsdorf.)

But let us return to Kohlschmidt^s experiments giving the re-
sults as they are quoted by Petersen: Ten Saanen goats were
employed — 7 of them from 3 to 3 1-3 years old, and 3 from 2 to
2^ years old. The average quantity of milk produced during
a year by these 10 goats was 678.41 liters per head. The largest
annual production was 911 liters, and the smallest production was
421.94 liters. The following statement shows the annual pro-
duction per head:

2 gave over 400 liters (423 quarts).

3 gave over 500 liters (528 quarts).

1 gave over 600 liters (634 quarts).

2 gave over 800 liters (845 quarts).
2 gave over 900 liters (951 quarts).

Animals of this breed which were 14 months old gave an aver-
age during their first lactation of 509.72 liters per head per year.
The maximum was 665.69 liters and the minimum 351.31 liters.

The duration of the lactation of the animals 3 1-3 years old
was 364 days as a maximum, 193 days as a minimum, 296 as an
average. For the animals 14 months old the maximum during
the lactation was 348 days, minimum 265 days, average 330 days.

The Nubian goat. — The Nubian goat is larger by half than
the common species, and many who are unfamiliar with it take it
at first glance for a horse, says one prominent writer. Below
the top of the head the forehead rises so as to form a conical
prominence, then sinks toward the nose until the nostrils are in
an actual depression. The lower jaw protrudes beyond the upper
and the teeth oftentimes extend above the nostrils. The ears are
flat, long, large, and pendant. Sometimes, however, an individual
is found with ears short, straight, and pointed. There is an entire
absence of beard. The females have no horns; those of the male
are flat and short and lie upon the back of the head ; midway the
horns are curved from within to without.

The udder is deeply indented, so as to form two very distind
lobes; the teals are situated, as in all species, upon the lower part
of the udder, but in this breed upon the outside and below. The
eyes are very large and iie Hal in the head — do not protrude. The
hair is usually quite long, dee]) brown or black, and quite fine.

There is no odor connected with this breed, even at rutting

SPANISH MALTESE BUCK.
Bred by B. H. Van Raub, Van Raub, Tex.

220 MILCH GOATS.

time, which occurs at all seasons of the year. It is an exceedingly
prolific animal, having been known to give birth to as many as
11 kids during one year — 4 on each of two occasions and 3 at
another. No member of the goat family is more peaceful or
gentle.

This breed is very sensitive to cold, apparently being unable to
withstand even a slight degree. This necessitates a warm barn or
goat house. They should never be sent to pasture when there is
frost. We are informed that the slightest cold produces abortion.
A ration of dry, nourishing food — good hay will answer the pur-
pose— is always advisable.

Crosses of Nubian bucks upon other breeds of milch goats have
been successful. Du Plessis says: "The half-bloods are more
vigorous, better built, less delicate in their food requirements,
and withstand the climate of France without the slightest in-
jury."

The records show that the Nubian is the most productive milch
goat known. Du Plessis says: "We have known Nubian goats
of good constitutions, when intelligently handled, to give from
5.28 to 6.34 quarts per day."

There are reports of a few Nubian goats in the United States,
but whether they are the real Nubian breed is not known to the
writer. It is quite evident that they would not thrive in the
colder sections of our country in their pure state ; but they would
undoubtedly do well in the South and half-breeds would be able
to withstand a colder climate.

The Spanish-Maltese goat. — This breed of goats is found in
Texas and New Mexico.

It is known that Spain imports from Malta a great many
Maltese goats and it is said that during the last hundred years
large numbers have been exported from Spain to Mexico, where
they are known as the Spanish-Maltese. While this is the claim
made for them, which carries the inference that they arc the pure
Malta goats under another name, there are many reasons to cause
one to doubt that they are of the pure Maltese breed.

The following description of Spanish-Maltese breed is by
B. H. Van Raul), of Van Raub, Tex., who has been a breeder of
them for more than twenty years: "The Spanish-Maltese goat
is about the average size of the common or the Angora goat, pos-
sibly a little larger, it is white or grayish in color, but many
have brown, bluish black, or reddish spots. Many have coarse
hair, some have long, fine, silken hair, and sonic have short coars<
hair. As a rule, they have pendulous ears, but there are some
superior milkers having fox-like ears. There are more horn!

SPANISH MALTESE DOE. Bred by B. H. Van Raub, Van Raub, Tex.

HORNLESS SPANISH MALTESE I > O ' :
Bred by B. H. Van Raub. Van Raub, Tex.

222 MILCH GOATS.

or muley, goats among the Spanish-Maltese than among any other
breeds/'

The description shows that there are two varieties of Spanish-
Maltese goats, and the illustrations show them to be so different
in many respects as to lead one to suspect them of being distinct
breeds. The short-haired one has several markings which are
characteristic of the Toggenburger and has very few markings of
the pure Maltese. The long-haired one varies in form and feature
from the pure Maltese.

It does not follow, however, that the Spanish-Maltese goats
are not a good milch breed, even though they may not belong to
the Maltese breed. There is no statement at hand to show what
is the average daily production of milk or how long is the period
of lactation, but if the does can be made to produce as much as
2 quarts daily under ordinary care, it should be considered well
adapted to the goat dairy. Mr. Van Kaub reports some which do
much better than this.

The literature concerning milch goats in the United States
is but little and that unimportant. So far as the writer knows,
there has been but one importation of milch goats, and that about
twelve years ago. Those numbered about a dozen head of Toggen-
burgers. They have not seemed to thrive well here, but what it is
in particular that prevents their thriving is not known to the
writer. The remnant of the original importations is somewhere in
Indiana at this time. It is probable that if they were taken into
the mountains to a location like that from which they came, they
would do better than they are now doing.

Switzerland, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Egypt, and Malta,
all have milch goats of great worth, but, unfortunately, the Uni-
ted States has found it necessary to established a prohibitive
quarantine against all these countries because of the presence in
them of contagious diseases of domestic animals. Fairly good
animals may be secured in England, but none of pure blood.
England found it necessary to evolve an "English" goat, just as
we may find it necessary here to produce an "American" goat.

There is no registration in the United States for milch goats of
any breed. England has a registration, and as any importations
we may make for some years are likely to come from that country,
it would be well if registration papers were secured of all goats
and held until such time as an association might be formed here.
As soon as we in this country produce a goat that will yield as
much as 2 quarts of milk per day, with a period of lactation of

MILCH GOATS. 22.',

5 or (i months, it will then be time to think seriously of a n
tration association. Until such an organization ia formed, let
the breeder keep a record of his goats' performances in the pro-
duction of milk; stilted otherwise, let each breeder have an indi-
vidual record for his flock. These will in time prove of great
value to the milch goat industry.

The skins are among the best of the goat kind, and they add
a little to the profits of the industry. There should be no difficulty
in disposing of them wherever hides are handled. There are many
tanneries in our country that use them and they import millions
of dollars' Avorth annually. There would be no profit in raising
these goats for their skins alone, or even for both their meat and
skins. The value of our imports of goatskins for a series of years
is given in the chapter on "Minor matters of importance.*7

These goats will destroy brushwood as readily and completely
as the Angoras, but in doing so they produce a poor quality of
milk and not much of it, and the period of lactation is shorter
than if stall fed. An Angora succeeds in excellent manner in
converting brushwood into mohair, but the dairy goat can not
convert the same sort of feed into good milk.

INDEX.

Page

JEsophagosloma venulosum affecting goats 158

Age, how to determine 139

proper, for breeding 138

Aiken, M., remarks on odor of goat's milk 194

Alabama, number and value of all goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Albrect, Von L., remarks on milking 254

Albumin in goat's whey 208

Allen, Richard, remarks on Davis importation 36

Altenburger cheese from goat's milk 205

American milch goat suggested 198

Anderegg, Professor, remarks on Toggenburger goat 214

Angora and Kurd goats, similarity of breeds 19

goat, absence of ill odor 32

description 30

hornless, remarks 32

industry, reasons for renewed interest 28

modern, description 31

native habitat 13

origin and history 11

purebred, description 30

purebred ruined by crossing 30

quantity of milk given 189

question of hardiness 117

goats, distribution previous to Rebellion 27

from whom to buy 169

how to handle 170

in United States 19

nonshedding, remarks 32

number in South Africa, 1893-1898 52

number in Turkey 52

number in United States 49

pastured with other stock 77

Arizona, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Arkansas, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1S99 55

Ash in goat's and cow's milk 102

Bachman, John, description of purebred Angora 31

remarks on crossing of sheep and goats 171

influence of climate on coats of ani-
mals 17

Bailey, C. P., concerning Diehl and Brown importation 39

226 INDEX.

Page

Bailey, C. P., development of industiy in the West 27

& Sons Co., importers 44

opinion of Angora mutton 98

remarks on dehorning 142

remarks on fences 122

Willard C, difficulties encountered in Asia Minor 44

general remarks on kidding 127

importer from Asia Minor 44

Barnes, Almont, remarks on land available for goat raising 106

Barnette, J. R., remarks on kidding 133

Beck, Q. M., remarks on dehorning 142

Bezoar goat, ancestor of the Angora 12

Binns, Henry O., remarks on crossing of Angora and Kurd goats. . 18

Black, William L., concerning Chenery importations 37

Davis importation 36

remarks on influence of climate on mohair.... 105

kidding 133

Bluestone for roundworms 153

Blue vitriol, remedy for foot rot 162

Bond, George W., remarks on value of fleece 24

Brannin, S. S., remarks on grazing of goats 76

Breeding and kidding of milch goats 200

in-and-in 139

proper age 138

Breeds of milch goats 213

Brewer importation of Cashmere goats 38

Bridge, separating, description 127

Brown, Charles S., importer 39

Browsing, adding game flavor 77

and pasturage, chapter 62

supplementing feeding 76

Brushwood, as permanent pasturage, treatment 70

destroying by sheep 174

extermination, availability of common goats 77

use of Angora goats 62

one year not sufficient 72

some objectionable features 72

Buck, remarks on management 140

Butter fat in goat's and cow's milk 102

from goat's milk, analysis and characteristics 206

Calcium in ash of goat's whey 208

California, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Cape Colony, production of mohair, 1857-1900 58

Capra wgagrus, subdivision of the goat family 12

description by Schreiner 13

falconeri, subdivision of the goat family 12

description by Schreiner 12

Carbohydrates in goat's butter 206

Casein in goat's and cow's milk 102

Cashmere and Angora goats, similarity of breeds 19

goat, description 34

goats, Brewer importation 38

[NDEX.

Castration of kids, remarks 132

Cawootl, R., breeder of Bailey importation 14

Cheese from goat's milk, remarks 205

Chenery importation, remarks 37

Chesnut, V. K., note on laurel 74

Cheveretin, French goat cheese 205

Chisholm, J. R., remarks on milch goats in Queensland

Chlorine in ash of goat whey

Climate for Angora goat raising 104

of Asia Minor, description 14

Clipping machines, remarks 144

Coal tar creosote for roundworms 153

Coburn, F. D., opinion of Angora mutton 97

Coligny, William G. de, remarks on Angoras for milk 102

Colorado, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Connecticut, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Corning, W. O., remarks on Angora goats as brushwood destroyers. 6G

Country Gentleman, remarks on fleeces 24

Stiles importation 39

Crosses upon common does 135

Cumberbatch, H. A., remarks on climate of Asia Minor 14

Dairies, milch goat, remarks 204

Davenport, Colonel, owner of some of the Davis goats 26

Davis importation, difficulty in obtaining the goats 36

James B., appointed cotton expert grower for Turkey 19

note on durability of mohair 86

Dehorning, remarks 142

Delagoa Bay, source of importation 43

Delaware, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

Dettweiler, Fr., remarks on cost of producing goat's milk 196

flavor of goat's milk 193

goat's milk 179, 180, 184

quantity of milk given by goats 189

tuberculosis in goats 212

value of goats and goat products in

Germany 177

Diehl and Brown importation 39

Diehl, Israel S., description of Cashmere goat 34

importer 39

Dips for lice 162

Diseases, chapter 153

of milch goats, remarks 213

District of Columbia, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900. 50

Drenching for wireworms, remarks by Ch. Wardell Stiles 155

how to do it 155

Dressing and tanning the skins L65

Du Plessis, remarks on Nubian goat 220

Emery, George G., note on domestic and foreign mohair SI

quality of mohair S2

opinion of Turkish and American mohair 18

remarks on price of mohair 88

228 INDEX.

Page

England, use of goat's milk 186

Eutichides importation 39

Fairchild, David G., concerning milch goats in Malta 213

Fat in goat's whey 208

butter 206

Feed and care, influence on mohair 86

tor Angora goats, remarks 124

Feeding of milch goats 220

Feet of Angoras, care 134

Fencing and herding Angoras 120

housing milch goats 202

Ferguson, J. A., opinion of Angora mutton 97

Fink & Co., importation 43

Henry, remarks on kidding 134

Flavor of Angora mutton, remarks 100

goat's milk 192

Fleece, care after shearing 150

Flesh, what to call it 171

Flock from small beginning, remarks 135

management, chapter ] 35

the best 135

Flocks, remarks on size 141

Florida, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Foot rot, remedy 162

Fromage de St. Marcellin, French goat cheese 205

Fuchs, H. T., opinion of Angora mutton 98

remarks on Angoras as cocklebur destroyers 69

kidding 134

shearing 143

training goats to fight dogs 168

trapping wolves 163

Fulton, John W., interest in exploiting Angora mutton 97

Game flavor added by browsing 77

Gasoline for roundworms 153

Gatheral, Gavin, remarks on quality of mohair in Asia Minor 15

Georgia, number and value of goats, all breeds, 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Germany, number of goats in 1873, 1883, 1S85, 1892 177

remarks on value of goats and goat products by Dett-

weiler 177

Gloves, imports, 1896-1901 174

Goat, Angora. (See Angora goat.)

Goat house, remarks 202

paper, its province 173

Rocky Mountain, remarks 17 4

Goating, one year not sufficient on brushwood 72

Goatskins, imports, 1896-1901 174

Goats, brief description by Hayes and Wood 12

common, as brush destroyers 77

remark? 173

all breeds, number in United States 49

and sheep affected by same diseases 153

jxm.x

Goats, milk cheese, remarks

cost of production ] 96

remarks on flavor

odor 194

quality L88

number of species 11

to an acre of brushwood 77

Goodall, George B., first to weave plush in the United States

remarks on kemp 84

the care of fleeces 150

Grass considered injurious when wet 125

springing up after goats 74

Gratairon, French goat cheese 205

Grazing of goats 76

Green briers injurious to goats 74

Grout, John H., remarks on Maltese milch goats 21S

Habitat of Angora goats 13

Haddrup, B. R., remarks on goat's milk 185

Hardiness of Angora goats 117

Hales, C. H., remarks on availability of Oregon for goat raising. . . . 194

Hampton, Wade, owner of some of the Davis goats 26

Harris and Hall importation 40

John S., development of industry in the West 27

difficulties in importing Angoras 40

importer 40

note on influence of feed on fleece 87

remarks on climate of Idaho for Angoras 105

grazing of goats 76

in-and-in breeding 139

Hawaii, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

Hayes, John L., opinion of the Angora 12

Hays, George M., opinion of Angora mutton 98

Herding and fencing 120

Hilpert, Felix, description of milch goat 197

remarks on flavor of goat's milk 193

goat's milk 180, 184

tuberculosis in goats J 1 1

Hoffman, Doctor, analysis of goat's milk 190

remarks on goat's milk 170. 184

tuberculosis in goats 212

Hogg, James S., remarks on Angoras as brushwood destroyers. . . . 66

Holmes, R. C, breeder of Landrum importation 46

Holter, A. M., opinion of Angora mutton 97

Hook, Bryan, remarks on feed of goats 125

flavor of goat's milk 192

milch goat house 202

Toggenburger goat 214

tuberculosis in goats 210

Houck, George A., opinion of Angora mutton 100

Housing and fencing of milch goats 202

Hughes, W. G., concerning Chenery importation 37

opinion of Angora mutton 9S

remarks on kidding 132

230 INDEX.

Page

Hughes, W. G., separating bridge 127

Ibexes, brief description 12

Idaho, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Illinois, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Importations, a glance into the future 46

Importers and importations, chapter 36

In-and-in breeding 139

Indiana, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Indian Territory, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900. . . 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899. 55

Iowa, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Italy, use of goat's milk 186

Jenks, C. W., concerning Peters importation 43

Kalmia latifolia (laurel), poisonous to goats 74

Kansas, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Kemble, A., remarks on Angoras as brushwood destroyers 66

Kemp, general remarks 82

why objectionable 83

Kentucky, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Kidding and breeding of milch goats . . 200

the kids, remarks 126

corral method, by W. C. Bailey 127

notes from correspondents 132

staking method, by W. C. Bailey 131

Kids and kidding, remarks 126

castration 132

number at a birth 141

weaning 132

Kimball, H. I., remarks on kidding 133

use of clipping machines 144

Kloepfer, G., remarks on feeding milch goats 201, 202

flavor of goat's milk 193

Kohlschmidt, Doctor, remarks on Saanen goat 217, 218

Kurd goat, crossing with the Angora 18, 30

Land available for goat raising 106

enrichment by goats 167

Landrum, William M., concerning Chenery importation 37, 38

Eutichides importation 39

Peters, or Jenks, importation.. 43

development of the industry in the West. . 27

importer from South Africa 46

of first goats into California 27

remarks on kidding 132

Laurel (Kalmia latifolia), poisonous to goats 74

Leather from Angora skins 164

Lewis, Morris, remarks on Angoras as brushwood destroyers 68

Lice, how to kill them 162

INDEX. 231

Page

Louisiana, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 ■""

quantity and value of mohair production in L899 55

Ludlow, F. W., inventor of combination shearing table and trough. 14»;

Machines for shearing Ill

McMurtrie, William, remarks on mohair measurements 79

McPherran, E. W., availability of northern Michigan for Angoras. . 109

Magnesium in ash of goat's whey 208

Maine, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Markets for goats for meat 100

Marking of goats 125

Maryland, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

Massachusetts Mohair Plush Company, note 95

number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

Ploughman, concerning Chenery importation 38

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899. .. 55

May, H., remarks on goat's whey 208

Meat, what to call it 171

Micrococcus caprinus, organism of goat disease 159

Milch goat dairies, remarks 204

description 197

situation 176

goats, breeding and kidding. 200

breeds 213

chapter 176

diseases 213

fencing and housing 202

general remarks 213

notes on their skins 223

number in Germany, 1873, 1883, 1885, 1892 177

period of lactation 192

possibilities of importations 222

the matter of registration 222

Zeitung, analysis of goat's butter 206

remarks on flavor of goat's milk 193

goat's milk 185

Michigan, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Milking, remarks on operation 204

Milk of Angoras, remarks 101

cow, analyzed 102

goat, analyzed 102, 185, 189

cost of production 196

its various uses 179

quality 192

remarks on analysis 1 S4

sugar in goat's and cow's milk 102

Minnesota, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Mississippi, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Missouri, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

232 INDEX.

Page

Mohair and mohair manufactures, chapter 79

articles manufactured 91

description of quality in Asia Minor by Gavin Gatheral .... 16

influence of feed and care 86

manufactures, general remarks 91

prices at Bradford, 1856-1894 90

production, chapter 49

of Cape Colony, 1857-1900 57

Turkey, 1875-1900 56

United States 54

products, durability 86

remarks on foreign competition 55

luster 81

price 87

the question of overproduction 58

Mohler, John R., remarks on takosis 158

Montana, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Morocco leather, imports, 1896-1901 174

Mutton, Angora, discussion 96

Nebraska, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Nevada, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

New Hampshire, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900. . . 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899. 55

New Jersey, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

New Mexico, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899. ... 55

New York, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

North Carolina, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900. ... 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899. 55

North Dakota, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

Norway, use of goat's milk 186

Nubian goat, general remarks 218

quantity of milk given 189

Odor of goat's milk 194

Ogden, Philo, grazing of goats 76

Ohio, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Oklahoma, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Oregon, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Osborn, A. O., disposition of the Davis goats 26

Parasites, remarks by Ch. Wardell Stiles 153

scab, affecting goats 157

Paseng, ancestor of Angora goat 12

Pasturage and browsing, chapter 62

permanent, treatment of brushwood 70

Pasturing goats with other live stock 77

Pegler, S. Holmes, note on durability of mohair 86

[NDEX.

Penny Magazine, notes on collecting and selling pashm

Pennsylvania, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900

quantity and value of mohair production in L899. . ■ ■

Pens and shelter 118

Peters, or Jenks, importation 43

Richard, concerning Davis importation 36

crossing sheep and goats 171

founder of Angora industry in the United States.

management of buck 140

purchase of Angoras from Doctor Davis 25

Petersen, Peter, milk of the goat 180

quantity of milk of goats 189

remarks on Saanen goats 217

Pets, use of Angoras 169

Phosphoric acid in ash of goat's whey 208

Place, O. G., milk of the goat 186

Plush manufacture in United States, history 94

Pneumonia, verminous, affecting goats 158

Potassium in ash of goat's whey 208

Power, T. C, opinion of Angora mutton 98

Proteids in goat's butter 206

Registration association 172

Renesse, A. von, analysis of goat's milk 190

remarks on goat's milk 182, 184

making goat cheese 206

milking 204

tuberculosis in goats 211

Reusse, C. P., remarks on goat's whey 188

Rhode Island, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899... 55

Ricotto cheese from goat's milk 205

Ridgels (rignals), remarks 141

Robes from Angora skins 164

Roby, Mrs. Edward, efforts to develop American milch goat 200

interest in milch goats 177

suggests American milch goat 198

Rocky Mountain goat, remarks 174

Roquefort cheese from goat's milk 205

Roundworms affecting goats, remarks by Ch. Wardell Stiles 153

Rugs from Angora skins 164

Saanen goat, general remarks 216

Salting of goats, remarks L25

Salts in goat's butter 206

whey 208

Sanford Mills, mohair manufacturers !,:>

Scab parasites affecting goats 157

Schreiner, S. C. Cronwright, crossing of sheep and goats 171

description of Capra falconeri and C.

cegagrus 12

description of purebred Angora 31

influence of climate on coats cf ani-
mals 17

feed on fleece s7

234 INDEX.

Page

Schreiner, S. C. Cronwright, origin of the Angora 12

production of mohair in Cape Colony. 28

Schwartz, Doctor, remarks on milk of the goat 180

tuberculosis in goats 211

Schweitzer cheese from goat's milk 205

Sclerostoma hypostomum affecting goats 158

Scott, G. M., remarks on kidding 133

Sexes, what to name them 171

Shafor, W. A., importer of Toggenburger goats 216

Shaw, Thomas, availability of Minnesota lands for Angoras 112

Shearing by hand, note 144

care of fleece after operation 150

description of operation 146

machines, remarks 144

once or twice a year 143

washing goats before operation 148

Shedding, remarks 152

Sheep and goats, affected by same diseases 153

crossing with Angoras, discussion 170

destroyers of brushwood 174

goats as protection 167

Shelter and pens 118

Skins and their uses 164

importations 165, 174

Sodium in ash of goat's whey 208

Soil desirable for Angora goat raising 105

South Africa, number of Angoras, 1893-1898 52

South Carolina, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900. ... 50

quantity and value of mohair production 55

South Dakota, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900.... 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899. . . 55

Spanish-Maltese goats, general remarks 220

St. Claude, French goat cheese 205

Standley, J. R., goats as brushwood destroyers 63

management of buck 140

Stiles, Ch. Wardell, remarks on drenching for wireworms 155

parasites 153

roundworms affecting goats 153

Stomach worms 153

Stiles importation 39

Stomach worms, preventive measures 156

(Strongylus contortus), discussion 153

use of worm powders 157

Strongylus ftlicollis affecting goats 158

Sugar in goat's whey 208

goat's and cow's milk 102

Sulphuric acid in ash of goat's whey 208

Summer, A. G., owner of some of the Davis goats 26

Takosis in goats, remarks by John R. Mohler 158

Tanning and dressing goatskins 165

Tapeworms affecting goats 158

Tariff on goat products 172

INDKX.

Page

Tennessee, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Texas, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Thymol for roundworms 153

Toggenburger goat, general remarks 214

Tom, Oscar, remarks on kidding 134

shelter required 120

Tompkins, Daniel F., efforts to develop American milch goat 200

Toole, J. K., opinion of Angora mutton 97

Trichocephalus aflinis affecting goats 158

Trimmings from Angora skins 164

Trowbridge, George, concerning Brewer importation 28

Tuberculosis, immunity of goats 210

in goats, remarks 196

note 158

with reference to Angora goats 102

Turkey, mohair production, 1875-1900 56

number of Angora goats in 1894 52

number of Angora goats in 1902, estimate 52

Turpentine for roundworms 153

Uncinaria cernua affecting goats 158

Utah, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Van Raub, B. H., breeder of Spanish-Maltese goats 220

Vermont, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Verminous pneumonia affecting goats 158

Virginia, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quanity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Water content of goat's and cow's milk 102

in goat's butter 206

whey 208

Watering goats, remarks 125

Washing goats before shearing 148

Washington, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Watts, J. Washington, concerning Stiles importation 39

Weaning kids, remarks 132

Wellington, Duke, note on durability of mohair 86

West Virginia, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899. . . 55

Whey, goat's analysis 208

composition of ash

remarks 208

use as medicine 18S

White, Mrs. Harriet E. Davis, concerning Davis importation 36

remarks on fleece of first importa-
tion U

sale of Davis goats. ... '26

Wildcat, enemy of kids 163

Williamson, H. M., discussion of overproduction of mohair 59

Wireworms, remarks on drenching 155

236 INDEX.

Pagre

Wisconsin, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Wolf, enemy of goats , 163

Woods, C. D., remarks on Angoras as brushwood destroyers 64

Worm powders, remarks , 157

Wyoming, number and value of goats, all breeds, in 1900 50

quantity and value of mohair production in 1899 55

Zurn, E. S., analysis of ash of goat's whey 208

notes on goat's whey 208

quantity of milk given by goats 189

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