u 



58 



the fonrtb IMoml:!y ia JMiiy,, proximo. In ■,<„ eirciihu' is:ui('(i hy the Pve«- 

 ident, F. Jnlina Lo IMoyiio, esq., the iuiportanco of tlio meeting- is wet 

 jbrtl), and every .'igriciiltiirnl ori^'anizatiou t})roiij>liout llio connti-y 

 nrgecl to send reprosentative.s. 



Angora goat-ereeders' oonviontion. — The ,aoat- breeders; of Cali- 

 fornia met ill convention, in the city of Sacramento, on the 28th day of 

 February last. A permanent organization was cficcted, and rules and 

 regulations for the government of the nssoeialion adopted. The follow- 

 ing-named gentlemen were elected officers for the (turrent year : Thomas 

 Butterfield, president; Nathan Gilmore, secretary; ajid L. A. Upson, 

 treasurer. 



A committee, j)rcviously appointed, made a report on the condition, 

 &c., of the Angora, or Cashmere, goat on the Taciiic (.'oast, from which 

 we make the following condensed statement: 



First. The experiment of importing and accUmating them has been 

 crowned witli success. They have proved both iieaKby and prolific. 

 The offspring of the pure blood goats are improving in size, and bear 

 heavier fleeces than the imported, fully retaining their rich, silky, and 

 glossy character. The fleece will range in weight from three to three 

 and one-half i)ounds each from one-third to pure-hlood, v/here they are 

 in large bands; where they range in small bands, and are properly shel- 

 tered and cared for, tliey v>dll average four to five pounds each. The 

 number of i)nre- blood imported goats, including tlieir oiispriug, Avill 

 a'pproximate two hundred and forty, about one hundred of which 

 are o^Yned by one partj^ in Monterey County, about fifty in the hands 

 of another party in El Dorado County, while the remainder are scattered 

 throughout the coast. 



JSecond. The crossing of tlie Angora Avith the native goat (breeding 

 the Angora buck to the common female goat) has also proved success- 

 ful. The progeny is healtliy and increased in size over both native and 

 pure-blood stock. The fourth cross produces as heavj' a tleece, and of 

 as good quality, as the imported, while the tiesh of the grades makes 

 excellent mutton, whicli commands a ready sale.. They are found to be 

 far more healthy than sheep, being free from scab and other cutaneous 

 diseases, and with none of the rank, musky smell so oli'ensive in the 

 common goat. 



Third, it is found that the arid plains, bushy foot-hills, and rough 

 mountains of the Pacific coast are well adapted to their growth, as they 

 are now flourishing from Oregon on the north to ►San Diego on the 

 south. The total numher of tliese go^its on the I'acific coast is esti- 

 mated at forty tliousand. 



Fourth. A large majority of those wlio first engaged in raising An- 

 gora goats wer« induced, from various reasons, but principally from the 

 scarcity of pure-blood and high-grade animals, to use xhyx low-grade 

 bucks, a great proportion of them being less than sevea-elghths.. ]>Jo 

 fleece has resulted from such crossing; neither is it possible to atttiin 

 that end so long as such bucks ar© used. This much, however, has been 

 jittained : A large number of grades have been, by this system of breed- 

 ing, worked up to a point that by now crossing Mith tiro pure-blood 

 bucks a flock of valuable wool-bearing goats will be the immediate re- 

 sult. In crossing, the fleece all comes from the buck, consequently tl)e 

 blood of the buck should bo pure. 



Fifth, There is no market or machinery for the manufacture of the 

 fleece in Cidifoniia, and the principal market is found in Philatlelphia. 

 liere the fleece brings 40 cents per ])onnd for the lowest grades, ran- 



• 



