FARM ANIMALS 289 



and the buck kids that are not intended for breed- 

 ing purposes should be castrated at ten to twelve 

 days of age. An Angora herd may be bred up 

 from common goats by the use of a pure bred 

 buck. It is commonly considered that five crosses 

 of this sort produce an animal about as good as 

 the average so-called pure bred Angora obtained 

 in this country. The cost of producing a small 

 herd of Angoras is, therefore, not very large. Goats 

 are sheared once or twice a year according to the 

 climate, twice in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, 

 in March and September, and once in the north- 

 ern states. The mohair is removed by hand 

 shears or by clipping machines, as is the case 

 with sheep. 



It is often stated that goats are practically im- 

 mune to the diseases which attack sheep and that 

 the business of raising goats is, therefore, com- 

 paratively safe. Such, however, has not been 

 found to be the case. Goats are very susceptible 

 to stomach worms as a number of men who have 

 engaged in the industry have found to their cost. 

 They are also subject to tuberculosis to a slight 

 extent, notwithstanding the fact that they are com- 

 monly said to be immune. Recently a serious 

 disease broke out among goats in this country 

 and was thoroughly studied by the Bureau of 

 Animal Industry. This disease is called takosis 

 and is exceedingly fatal to goats. What is still 

 worse, there is no satisfactory remedy for this 

 disease, so that the goats are rapidly carried off 

 when the disease breaks out in a herd and the 

 owner stands in a helpless condition. Fortun- 

 ately takosis seems to be somewhat less prevalent 

 during recent years than in the past. 



Recently there has been a revival of interest 



