the Cashmere or "ShaWl " Goat. 85 



by the proprietor of Weald Hall was repeated, under 

 the auspices of the Prince Consort, whose well-known 

 interest in all that concerned the industries of this country 

 led him to enquire further into the practicability of 

 utilising the home-grown produce for commercial 

 purposes. 



Referring to this experiment, Sir Samuel Wilson, in 

 his work on the Angora goaj, writes : " Desiring to have 

 some fabrics manufactured from the fleece, a quantity of 

 the wool and hair, as it was shorn from the goats, was 

 sent to a large manufacturer. The separation of the 

 wool from the hair being at that time from the im- 

 perfection of the machinery in use a very difficult 

 operation, a great number of ladies assisted the manu- 

 facturer by taking small portions of the fleece and picking 

 by hand the wool from the hair. Such was the enthusiasm 

 caused by the experiment that over a thousand persons of 

 all grades and conditions were employed in the work. 

 Each person so employed received as remuneration an 

 elegantly-engraved certificate stating that the holder had 

 assisted in bringing to a successful issue the experiment 

 of His Royal Highness in the manufacture of Cashmere 

 goats' wool. Some brocades and two beautiful shawls 

 were produced by Messrs. Haley, the manufacturers, and 

 the hair was made into a coarse fabric which was shown 

 in contrast with the finer textures." 



In 1889 a consignment of Cashmere goats was sent 

 to Queen Victoria from India, to provide fresh blood to 

 the herd in Windsor Park, which by that time had con- 

 siderably deteriorated through in-breeding. This was the 

 year when the Jubilee Show of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society of England was held in Windsor Great Park, on 

 which occasion prizes were awarded for goats. Here the 

 British Goat Society had a stall, and amongst the exhibits 

 were an Indian Cashmere shawl, lent for the purpose by 



