570 Home Nature-Study Course. 



from goat's milk is quite inferior to that made from cows'. The milk when the 

 animals are well taken care of and fed is pleasant to the taste and is exceed- 

 ingly nourishing. It is thought to be the best milk in the world for children. 

 The trouble with goat's milk in most cases is that the animals are not kept clean 

 nor care taken in the milking. Germany has produced many distinct and excel- 

 lent breeds of milch goats; the Island of Malta, Spain, England, Ireland, Egypt 

 and Nubia have each developed noted breeds. Of all these the Nubia's give the 

 most milk, sometimes yielding from four to six quarts per day, while an ordinary 

 goat is considered fairly good if it yields two quarts per day. 



The MuJiair goat. — There are two noted breeds of goats whose hair is used 

 extensively for weaving into fabrics ; one of these is the Cashmere and the other 

 the Angora. The Cashmere goat has long, straight, silky, hair for an outside coat 

 and has a winter under coat of very delicate wool. There are not more than two 

 or three ounces of this wool upon one goat, and this is made into the famous 

 cashmere shawls. Ten goats furnished barely enough of this wool for one shawl. 

 The Cashmere goats are grown most largelj^ in Thibet, and the wool is shipped 

 from this high tableland to the Valley of Cashmere and is made into shawls. It 

 requires the work of several people for a year to produce one of these famous 

 shawls. The following topics would be excellent for essays, which the pupils 

 can write through consulting encyclopaedias and books of travels : " How Cash- 

 mere Shawls are Made;" "Thibet, its People and its Industries;" "The Vale of 

 Cashmere." 



The Angora goat has a long, silky and very curly fleece. These goats were 

 first discovered in Angora, a city of Asia Minor, south of the Black Sea, some 

 200 miles southeast from Constantinople. The Angora goat is a beautiful and 

 delicate animal, and gives us most of the mohair, which is made into the cloths 

 known as mohair, alpaca, camel's hair and many other "fabrics. The Angora 

 goat has been introduced into America in California, Texas, Arizona, and to some 

 extent in the Middle West. It promises to be a very profitable industry. (See 

 Farmers' Bulletin No. 137. " The Angora Goat," United States Department of 

 Agriculture). 



The skins of goats are used extensively; morocco, gloves and many other 

 articles are made from goat's skin. In the Orient the skin of the goat is used 

 as a bag in which to carry water and wine. 



References. — " American Animals," p. 55 ; " Neighbors with Claws 

 and Hoofs," p. 190; " Familiar Annuals," p. 169 and 183; " Camp Fires 

 of a Naturalist," Chapters VHI and XHL " Lives of Animals." 



THE PINES. 



PreHiniiiary work. — ^ Tjiis lesson should not be given unless there are pines 

 at hand for study. Tiie pupils arc naturally attracted to the pines when otlicr 

 trees are bare of leaves ; and therefore, these trees offer excellent material for 

 winter study. The teacher's point of attack should be based upon the pupil's 

 interest, Tliis may be the birds which find refuge during storms in the pines, or 

 the squirrels which are shelling the seeds from the cones, or because of tlie 

 beauty of a pine tree laden with snow. The wise teacher will always begin the 

 nature-study lesson at the point where the child's interest impinges upon the 

 subject. 



