The Angora or "Mohair" Goat. 77 



nople, may be regarded as a perfect type of the breed, 

 though in some the fleece is still longer. 



in England. 



The experiment has been tried both in this country 

 and in France of breeding the Angora for its fleece, but 

 it has never been carried on with any great success, 

 neither the soil nor the climate being suitable ; for though 

 the animals have lived and even thrived, the quality of the 

 mohair has deteriorated. One experiment in England was 

 attempted by the then Duke of Wellington. In 1881 he 

 imported from the Cape a herd of some half a dozen, which 

 he placed in his park at Strathfieldsaye, near Winchfield, 

 Hants. For the first six months these animals seemed 

 to thrive well, and a good clip was secured, but as the 

 winter season came on several died, and by the following 

 spring the herd was very much reduced in number. This 

 was doubtless owing to want of proper management, there 

 being no one who understood their requirements. Later 

 on, however, this difficulty was to a great extent remedied, 

 and the goats again increased and multiplied, till at the 

 Duke's death there were about five-and-twenty, including 

 kids. From these animals a good quantity of fleece was 

 collected, though the quality was coarser than that 

 obtained from either Asia Minor or the Cape. It served, 

 however, for manufacture into a coarse kind of cloth, being 

 mixed with the hair from some llamas, also kept on the 

 estate. Many of the clothes worn by the Duke were 

 made of this mixture, and I myself possessed an overcoat 

 cut from the same stuff. The Strathfieldsaye herd was 

 in 1885 sold by auction, when I took the opportunity 

 of securing two couples of young stock ; these, during the 

 six years I had them in my possession, did well, but there 

 was no demand for the breed in this country, so I 

 disposed of them, 



