Chapter XXII. 



He*Goats and Goat ^Carriages. 



I HAVE had occasion to refer to the male goat whilst 

 writing on Breeding, but as this is not the only purpose 

 that the animal serves I find it necessary to give him 

 a chapter to himself. 



The buck goat, vulgarly known as the " billy,"* is 

 not a creature to be held in much esteem or to command 

 any great degree of admiration, owing to two most 

 objectionable attributes, viz., his disgusting habits, 

 and the unpleasant smell he emits. The former I need 

 not particularise; let it suffice to say that an entire goat 

 is an animal which it is best, as a rule, to keep at a 

 distance. It is doubtless on this account that so com- 

 paratively few are met with. The peculiar odour 

 emanates from the skin, and begins to be noticeable about 

 the age of puberty, which may be any time after six 

 months old, according to the precocity of the animal. 

 This odour develops as the goat gets older, being always 

 much more powerful at the rutting season than at any 

 other time of the year. The scent may then in an old 

 goat be distinguished half a mile distant. 



* It is high time that goat-keepers abandoned the almost childish 

 terms "billy" and "nanny" and adopted the more sensible old 

 English words " buck " and " doe " in use in America. I am hoping 

 that the B.G.S. will give official recognition to this suggestion. 



