154 City Homes on Country Lanes 



$200, is prohibitive for many, even if the goats are 

 available in sufficient numbers to meet the very great de- 

 mand that may be anticipated in the next few years. 

 In this dilemma the question is, What can be done to 

 safeguard the self-sufficient garden home in the matter 

 of milk, butter and cheese? This is a question to which 

 Miss Irmagarde Richards, one of the most successful 

 breeders of Toggenburg goats, and a high authority 

 on the subject, has given much thought and study. She 

 says: "Don't buy a goat, but 'make' one." And con- 

 tinues : 



"Go out into the highways and byways and you will 

 find, wherever there is a district settled by foreigners, 

 a fair sprinkling of goats staked on small spaces of 

 green, open ground. Find a fresh goat that you like 

 and buy her. She will probably have horns. She may, 

 or may not, be a good milker ; but, at any rate, use your 

 best judgment. If possible, get a doe with a buck kid, 

 and include the kid in the purchase. If you have to 

 learn to milk, and are not much of a success at first, 

 the kid will finish the job for you and so prevent your 

 ignorance from spoiling the doe. At any rate, the doe 

 would the more quickly adjust herself to the new home, 

 if her kid is with her. As soon as the new duties and 

 relationships are established, the kid can fulfill his 

 destiny as a Sunday roast." 



The next point in her advice is particularly prac- 

 ticable for the people of a garden city where large 

 numbers are thinking of a little goat dairy. She urges 

 that 50 to 100 families who have bought these common 

 does shall combine in the purchase of a high-priced, 

 thoroughbred buck, and proceed to produce half-breeds, 



