Selecting a Milch Goat. 10 1 J V 



therefore always more satisfactory to see the goat under 

 selection at the owner's house and milked by the usual 

 attendant, when all disputes can be thus avoided. 



Selecting a "Breed. 



I devote a paragraph to this matter because one is so 

 often asked about it by people who have no experience in 

 goats, and who think they have the same choice as regards 

 varieties as if they were dealing with poultry or dogs. 

 There is, as a matter of fact, very little scope for the 

 goat fancier in the way of selection of breeds. It may be 

 all very well to point to the various breeds of goats men- 

 tioned in the earlier chapters ; such goats, with a few ex- 

 ceptions, are not for the British goat- keeper. He can take 

 only what these islands contain. A time may come when 

 facilities for importation will be greater than now, but, 

 dealing with the present, the would-be goat-keeper has many 

 restrictions. The only pure breeds the United Kingdom 

 affords him are : Irish goats, or the common English 

 goats and purity here is questionable Toggenburgs, and 

 Anglo- Nubians. The first two only are the genuine vacca 

 pauperis, the third are the goats for the rich, and the 

 last those for the average goat-keeper who can afford a 

 five-pound note for a fairly good animal. The Irish goat 

 not being recommended owing to its long hair, the choice 

 really rests between the short-haired, prick-eared English 

 goat, the Toggenburg (including crosses with these and 

 the Alpine known as " Swiss"), and the Anglo-Nubian. 

 The first of these are fairly plentiful and cheap, and 

 answer very well to begin with. The Toggenburg pays 

 best to keep because the milk is generally more abundant, 

 and the demand for stock being great, the kids fetch high 

 prices. As for the Anglo-Nubian, if obtained from a good 

 milking strain, it is as an all-round goat hard to beat and 

 about all that need be wished for. Many people prefer the 



