Chapter X. 



Selecting a Milch Goat. 



feints of a Good 



There are certain points by which a good milch goat 

 may generally be recognised, and which may here be men- 

 tioned as a guide to the purchaser, in case he (or she) 

 may not have experience with these animals. A good 

 milker has a rather long but neat head, broad at the 

 forehead, and tapering towards the muzzle, with horns (if 

 any) fine that is to say, thin small, and tapering. A 

 goat entirely devoid of ho'iyis is, in the estimation of 

 most people, preferable, but their presence or absence 

 has no bearing on the question of milk. The eye should 

 be large and bright, and the expression of the face 

 thoroughly feminine. This is an important point, though 

 many people might not suppose it, a thick-headed, 

 "billy-faced" animal, with large coarse horns and a 

 masculine appearance, being rarely good for milking. 

 The principal features, however, consist in the shape of 

 the body, and in the udder and teats. Always look for a 

 goat with a long body and a large deep frame, the ribs 

 being well rounded, so that there is plenty of room for a 

 big stomach ; a heavy milker is generally wedge-shaped 

 that is to say, it is much deeper at the hindquarters than 

 at the chest. A broad chest is an indication of a tendency 

 to accumulate meat and fat rather than milk, though it 



