124 The 'Book of the Goat. 



ment than with the object of conducing to the 

 animals' comfort. Indeed, goats appear to prefer being 

 without it, for instead of seeking warm beds to lie upon, 

 like dogs, pigs, and many other animals, they give 

 preference to hard but dry ground; and when straw, 

 bracken, or similar litter is provided, they generally 

 scrape it away with their fore feet to the rear. For the 

 purpose of collecting and utilising the manure, however, it 

 is necessary that some kind of bedding should be provided, 

 and the more absorbent it is the better. Cheapness is the 

 great point here, generally speaking, and whatever is most 

 available is usually preferred. When straw is at a low 

 price it answers well enough in winter, but should not be 

 employed in summer. In hot weather the goats seem to 

 have a decided objection to being enveloped in straw 

 bedding, and the rapid evaporation of ammonia from the 

 droppings makes the air of the stable unpleasant. 



Where a common is close at hand, and dried brake- 

 fern, or bracken, can be obtained and stored for winter 

 use, it answers admirably; and being obtainable for 

 merely the trouble of collection, has no drawback on the 

 score of expense. Sawdust, when easily available and 

 cheap, is cleanly, cool, and absorbent; but it does not 

 make good manure. In summer, dry soil is very good, 

 acting both as an absorbent and deodoriser, and is easily 

 got rid of by digging into the garden on removal from the 

 goat-house. (The objection to this is, however, that it 

 forms into mud when wet and makes the udder dirty and 

 gritty.) Straw or bracken, on the contrary, requires to 

 be collected in a heap to ferment, becoming a nuisance, 

 or at least being regarded as such, in a closely-inhabited 

 neighbourhood. 



The best substance of all for litter is dried peat; it 

 has the advantage of being absorbent to a considerable 

 'degree, at the same time that it acts to a certain extent as 



