SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 55 



few obstacles to their profitable breeding ; and which, in the Blue Ridge 

 beyond me, would find an exact counterpart of their native soil and 

 climate." 



" Aside from their flesh and wool, there is another advantage which 

 they offer, which, in the mountains beyond, would be most valuable. 

 In a cross I have made with a pure Angora buck and a Maltese ewe- 

 goat, I have raised a ewe-goat that will give four quarts of as good 

 milk as any cow on my plantation. The feed of one of my cows will 

 keep twelve goats. My cows must have certain food, or they will not 

 thrive. My goats will eat any thing almost, and do well ; and with 

 this advantage, also, that their milk and butter are not in any way 

 affected by their diet. 



" It is not, therefore, at all an open question with me, after years of 

 practical experience, whether the Angora and kindred races of the 

 goat tribe would thrive on our Blue Ridge. They would be more 

 profitable in that locality than any other husbandry." 



In confirmation of the value of one fact, among many others, 

 mentioned by Colonel Watts, it may be remarked that the 

 reports of the Society of Acclimation of France, upon this 

 animal, dwell specially upon the importance of giving milk- 

 producing qualities to the Angora ; as, with this quality, and 

 the value of its fleece, the Angora would wholly replace the 

 common goat. 



Mr. F. S. Fulmer, of Spring Mills, Appomattox County, 

 Virginia, writes us: 



" My Angora goats, fifty in number, pure bred, got their living all 

 last summer in a pasture where grass (other than broom straw) and 

 clover never grows. So far this winter I have fed them nothing but 

 coarse corn-stalks. In fact, up to this time, they have kept in a thriv- 

 ing condition almost entirely on acorns, of which they seem very fond. 

 I treat them as to shelter, &c., just as I would sheep, except I am 

 rather more careful to keep them out of cold rains [an important ob- 

 servation]. From my experience, I am led to conclude that the Angora 

 goat, aside from first cost, can be made to pay better than sheep, espe- 

 cially in the Southern States, where they can have large ranges over 

 poor land." 



The culture of this animal is now receiving much attention 

 in the Australian colonies. Mr. Samuel Wilson, who is said 



