THE GUIDK TO NATURE 



TIIEY ARE GOOD .MILKERS. 



Some people have an idea that goats 

 can exist on next to nothing-. This is 

 true to a certain extent, hut one has to 

 g-ive them the nearest to nothing' on 

 which they will thrive. 



The best and cheapest way to keep 

 a herd is to turn them out on some cheap 

 brush land. They will clean up the 

 brush in a wood lot as well as it can be 

 done by hand and at practically no cost. 



The State of New York stocked the 

 Adirondacks with some eight thousand 

 goats to keep the brush down. As a pre- 

 ventative of fire this is a good invest- 

 ment. 



Two invalid sisters, the Misses Wood, 

 went to California for their health. The}' 

 settled on a small farm near Los An- 

 geles. They traded three Pekin ducks 

 for a young goat. They raised the goat, 

 found it profitable and raised more. At 

 present they are milking twelve does, 

 and obtain on an average thirty-six 

 quarts of milk a da\'. The milk finds 

 regular customers at twenty-five cents a 

 quart. They figure that a goat costs 

 them a dollar and fifty cents a month. 



The Angora and other long haired 

 goats do not give as much milk as the 

 milch breeds, but contribute their fleece 

 as profit. Mohair is the product of the 

 Angora goat. The fibre is coarse, long, 

 lustrous and with little crimp. It is used 

 for the manufacture of braids, felts, 

 linings and plushes. It is also being now 

 used as a substitute for human hair in 

 switches and wigs. Alpaca, Vicuna and 

 Llama, natives of South America, are 



destructive types of goats which produce 

 fibres used to some extent in commerce. 

 Tlie annual yield is uncertain, as the ani- 

 mals are not domesticated. The hair 

 varies in color froni white and reddish- 

 brown to black. 



When the goat's good qualities are 

 better appreciated, more will be raised. 

 It is a profitable animal. 



From an Amateur Goat Raiser. 



The much ridiculed goat had been the 

 subject of much thought and discussion 

 until it was decided to give them a trial. 

 The idea was toward production of milk 

 for household use in quantities sufficient 

 and in quarters which ])rohibited the 

 keeping of a cow. 



A few goats were purchased at a verv 

 nominal figure, which is point number 

 one in favor of the goat as the initial price 



THE KIDS ARE A TOY. 



