THE ANQOKA GOAT. 45 



dress goods known as mohair, and much of what is iisualh' called 

 alpaca is nothing less than mohair. The fine fabric called camel's-hair 

 goods is also of the best mohair, and not from the camel, as we Avould 

 suppose from its name. "Chamal''' is the Arabic word for camel, and 

 the Arabs called the Angora goat the chamal. Mohair braids contest 

 the markets with silk braids and are never out of fashion. The wa3's 

 in which it is used with silk and wool are numerous. It adds to these 

 libers not onlj^ its brilliant inherent luster, but great durability as 

 well. The growers of mohair are fond of quoting Dr. Davis, who 

 stated in the Agricultural Report for 1853 that "I have socks [of 

 mohair] which I have worn for six years and are 3^et perfectly sound." 

 He is also quoted as saying that while in Asia he saw wrappers of 

 mohair used b}^ the natives which, they assured him, had descended 

 from sire to son for three generations. 



Mr. William R. Payne, an authority, is quoted below on the uses of 

 mohair: 



The most important product of the Angora is the long, silky, wavy fleece, used 

 either pure or in connection with wool, silk, linen, or " carlton " in a variety of fab- 

 rics for house furnishings and ladies' goods, hrilliantines, linings, braid, plushes, 

 astrakhan cloth, furniture coverings, curtain material, knit goods, fancy effects in 

 shawls and dress goods, and numerous other textiles. * * * The short, low, and 

 crossbred hair is used for blankets, lap robes, rugs, carpets, and low goods generally, 

 but even then is worth more per pound than most sheep wool, varying from 10 to 21 

 cents per pound. The uses for mohair are increasing every year, and new outlets 

 are being found for it as manufacturers are advancing in the variety of their 

 products. 



THE MEAT AND THE MARKETS. 



The meat. — In building up a flock of Angoras from common goats 

 (a subject which is discussed elsewhere) the males must not be per- 

 mitted to grow into bucks of breeding age; and even among the high 

 gi'ades there are comparatively few bucks that should be retained as 

 such for breeding purposes. The}^ should be castrated earl}'. The 

 great majority of these wethers, especially if they are of the first or 

 second cross, do not produce sufficient mohair of good quality to war- 

 rant flock raisers in keeping them. These should be converted into 

 meat as soon as large enough. Those wethers and does which produce 

 a fair quality of mohair may lie retained for that purpose for a few 

 years and then killed for meat. The}^ are not, however, so good for 

 this purpose as the younger animals. 



There is a deep-seated prejudice, as has already been stated, against 

 the use of goats of any kind for meat. This is founded upon igno- 

 rance rather than experience. The most i]l-smelling " billy " of the 

 worst possible type is by many made the standard of goat meat for 

 the whole of the goat famil3\ As far back as Abraham's day we read 

 of goats being used for meat (very likely Angoras), and this, too, when 



