30 BUEEAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTEY. 



Of no less interest is the following extract from an article by Col. 

 William L. Black, of Fort McKavett, Tex. , who writes from an expe- 

 rience of many years: 



The brush question is a most serious one in a great many of our States. So long 

 as land can be kept under cultivation the brush can be kept down; but when it is 

 once thrown open to pasture briers and brush of all descriptions begin to grow and 

 soon cover the entire surface. Even in our own State of Texas many millions of 

 acres are growing up into brush thickets and will sooner or later become worthless 

 for pasturing cattle, and in many of the Western Territories the same conditions 

 exist. It is supposed that this has been produced by an increase in the rainfall, but 

 I am inclined to think it is not altogether due to this fact. That brush and trees are 

 indigenous to many of our so-called arid districts can be very easily proven by the 

 great quantities of roots that the present inhabitants dig out of the ground for fuel 

 purposes. Not a tree can be seen for hundreds of miles, yet these great roots can be 

 found almost everywhere on the prairies and are a substantial witness to the fact 

 that there was an abundance of trees there at some time or other. Before this por- 

 tion of the United States was occupied by the white man it was a common practice 

 of the Indians to burn the high prairie grass every fall or winter in order to hunt 

 wild game that was so aljundant in this part of the country. Buffalo and deer were 

 as common then as cattle and sheep are now, but the grass was so high in places 

 they could not be seen, and the Indian would burn it off to be able to hunt them 

 more readily. This undoubtedly destroyed much of the growth of trees and, in my 

 opinion, is the true explanation of the roots that are now found in many parts of 

 west Texas, New Mexico, and other Western Territories. 



The question is a very important one; and if the goat can be used to keep this 

 growth back, it is certainly well worth the attention of many of our landowners, 

 who may, in a few years, find their land practically worthless. A personal friend 

 writes me that "many pastures are growing up to oak brush and hazel brush in the 

 North, and in New England they are bothered with ferns (called brakes), berr>- 

 bushes — blackberries, raspberries, etc." This kind of fare would be "peacheaand 

 cream" to a goat, and in a year or two the owner would be relieved of a great nui- 

 sance, the goats would grow fat, and the land would be restored to a proper condition 

 for grazmg other stock on it. Another correspondent in Massachusetts speaks of a 

 certain small island he owned which was so densely covered with brush as to be 

 utterly valueless except to grow mosquitoes. I hear of many parts of the East that 

 are seriously troubled with brush, where many thousands of acres are of no use for 

 grazing purposes, and the prf)fit in farming will not justify the cost of grubbing it. 

 In the Southern States many farms have become worn out and are growing up into 

 brush and weeds. The Angora goat is the proper animal to employ to put these 

 lands in a condition either for cultivation or grazing cattle. But a number of my 

 correspondents have asked me what they could do with the goats after they had 

 cleared the land. In reply to this I will say they can well afford to slaughter them 

 and feed them to hogs, but this is not necessary now. The fashion has changed 

 since I slaughtered goats for their hide and tallow, and there is no trouble in selling 

 all the goats you send to any of our large meat-packing markets. 



Mr. E. H. Jobson, having in mind the markets as well as the 

 clearing of land, writes as follows: 



The best and most effective way to clear brush land with Angora goats is as follows: 

 It will not be necessary to put up a very high fence; 4 feet of close fencing is plenty 

 and will l)e sufficient to keep the goats in. The proportion of goats is two and one- 

 half to three goats to an acre of ordinary tliick l)rush land. I believe the cheapest 

 way to clear your land is with yearling wethers, as will be seen later on. If wethers 



