Chapter XXIII. 



Goat*Farming. 



IN the Mont d'Or district in France, in Switzerland, and 

 also in Norway, goat-farming has been carried out suc- 

 cessfully, though under small proprietaries. In the first- 

 mentioned locality, to the north-west of Lyons, some ten 

 thousand goats were at one time kept constantly housed 

 and stall-fed. This neighbourhood is very thickly in- 

 habited, the ground being apportioned amongst small 

 holders, whose land is so closely cultivated that pasturing 

 is out of the question, and the soiling system has to be 

 adopted. They are thus, as regards facilities for pas- 

 turing, in a still worse position than we are in England, 

 where at least cheap grazing can often be obtained, 

 though we have not advantages for turning out stock to 

 wander about at will and find their own food as have the 

 mountaineers of Norway, Switzerland, and some other 

 countries. 



At the same time, these small farmers of the Mont 

 d'Or received far lower prices for their produce than 

 can be obtained in England. These people kept from 

 twenty-five to thirty goats, each of which was reckoned 

 to yield about 600 litres, or 528 quarts, a year. The milk 

 was used almost entirely in fhe manufacture of the famed 

 Mont d'Or cheese, well known and appreciated through- 

 out France, though the sale has considerably fallen off, 

 I believe, of late years. The year's supply of milk from 



