46 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



there were many cattle and sheep. Certainly no prejudice existed 

 against them at that time. 



There is not much to be said about the meat of the common goat. 

 It is not so generally used as that of Angoras. The flesh of their kids 

 is considered very fine, and in some sections of the countr}^ goats of 

 all ages are killed for meat. There are comparatively few common 

 goats in the United States, and no attempt is being made to put them 

 upon the market. The current report that goats are sold to the pack- 

 ers in the large cities for canning purposes is true in the main, but 

 refers to the Angora grades. The discussion of this question in this 

 paper deals with the Angoras of all grades. 



The flesh of the Angora is exceedingly nutritious and palatable. 

 Shropshire lambs, which are considered as among the best kinds of meat, 

 are said not to be superior to a well-fed and well-cooked kid. In the 

 Southwest these animals are as readily sold for meat as sheep, and the 

 market has never been overstocked. A gentleman in Texas found a 

 read}^ market for his canned Angora mutton, but was compelled to 

 close his cannery because the supply of goats was not nearl}^ suflicient 

 to supph' the demand. In the Northwest the principal use of the 

 Angora is for clearing bushy land, and consequently they are not so 

 extensively used as food. However, in nearly every locality there 

 some have been killed for mutton, and there has never been a deroga- 

 tory^ statement concerning its quality, so far as the writer is able to 

 learn. 



In Cape Colony it is said that the old does are slaughtered to fur- 

 nish meat for farm hands and young wethers are sold to butchers in 

 the town. In California many miners purchase Angora wethers in 

 preference to sheep wethers for salting down for winter use, because, 

 as they state, the Angora contains less fat, is more easily kept, and is 

 just as palatable. 



Mr. John L. Hayes, in the Overland (1870), said that, in order to 

 test the qualities of Angora and sheep mutton, a dinner was to be pre- 

 pared with the two kinds of meat, and that the guests were not to be 

 informed as to which was sheep and which was goat, but they were to 

 decide upon the merits of the dishes. 



Twelve disinterested men were invited to partake of the dinner anci express their 

 opinions of the various dishes they had eaten. Four-decided in favor of tlie sheep's 

 and eight in favor of the goat's flesh; and since that breeders in Monterey County 

 have no difficulty in selling their goats to the neighboring butchers for the same 

 price paid for the best mutton. 



Mr. E. H. Jobson, of Lake Valley, N. Mex., is authority for the 

 statement that the wealthy people of St. Louis recently began eating- 

 young Angora mutton and that it is now a regular portion of their 

 fare. 



