l.M 

 661. THE GOAT. [Copra hircua.) 



In commencing a paper on the " Goat," it would be impossible foi 

 the writer to follow the essayist on the frogs of Ireland and say "there 

 are no goats in Trinidad." 



There are in my opinion, far too many! Perhaps the writer is 

 prejudiced against them personally, and if. must be confessed thai lie 



lias never had any love for them. 



He has formed the opinion that the goal is an insiduous and 

 dangerous enemy of" the Agriculturist. It requires however the mosl 

 careful observation to enable one to become acquainted with all the 

 tricks and performances of the goat. To the many, the goat is a harm- 

 less animal, and useful to the poor man. Is he ? Yes! the animals 

 may be useful for a time, so long as they afford milk, and as long as 

 they are kept within hounds. In this latter sentence lies the Crux 

 of the matter, for unless the goat is kept within bounds, it is an animal 

 most destructive to vegetation and one which becomes an intolerable 

 nuisance. 



Given, a (dump of wild bush, near a village ; this if left to itsell 

 or rather to nature, would naturally soon produce some good timber 

 trees, but the goat having access, carefully searches out for the tips 

 or growing branches of the young trees and nibbles them so continu- 

 ously that they become stunted, grow slowly, and eventually succumb 

 to its attack. Show us the man who keeps goats! and it becomes 

 easy to point to the man who always happens upon unfortunate inci- 

 dents in planting a fruit orchard, or a vegetable garden. 



The goat should have been tied! it was, and nobody knows how 

 it got loose. Result, a fine young orange tree has been damaged — a 

 valuable young mango tree has lost two years' growth — a sweet Rose 

 bush has been cleared of all its leaves — the potato row is trampled 

 beyond redemption, and the favourite vine cut off just above the root ! 

 Such occurrences are not conducive to good temper, and so serious a 

 matter is it in some cases that more than one divorce suit has arisen 

 through the differences caused in families by the presence of goats. 

 Goats and poverty are usually found together. Take any West Indian 

 Colony or district, and if it maintains a large stock of goats, that 

 Colony or district may be written down as poverty-stricken. That 

 the goat is the cause of the poverty would appear from the fact that 

 previous to the introduction of this animal it was prosperous. The 

 Island of St. Helena is a country which may be said to be really goat- 

 stricken, and its native flora has nearly disappeared in consequence. 

 If we read Biblical history we find the goat in the wilderness and no 

 wonder that it was a wilderness so long as the goat was there. We 

 find the goat used tor burnt offerings, and if everyone was of the same 

 opinion as the writer, a similar fate would be the best thing that 

 could happen to all the goat family to-day — and the best use to which 

 they could be put. It is not only what the animals eat. but what 

 they spoil, and what they destroy. Many people defend the goat 

 owing to the tact that its destructive character has not been made 

 apparent, to them : but if they carefully watch the habits of these 

 animals they will, if they understand plant- life even a little, be at 

 once led to concede the destructive character of this animal. It has 

 actually become a widely believed story among L r oat haters that its 



