A LIVING FROM THE LAND 



linseed meal. In the summer when pasture is 

 available they should be fed I to iM pounds of 

 the grain mixture. Data from experiment stations 

 indicate that the annual feed cost of a milk 

 goat is about $11 and the feed cost per quart 

 of milk produced, about iK cents. 



Good milk goats bring good prices and in 

 most instances will cost almost as much as a 

 cow. They are much more prolific, however, 

 permitting more rapid additions and offering 

 greater revenue from the sales of young animals, 

 wherever there is a market for them. The two 

 principal breeds are the Toggenburg and the 

 Saanen, both originating in Switzerland, and 

 the Spanish Maltese whose original home was 

 in the island of Malta. Goats are thoroughly 

 domesticated, are contented with a small grazing 

 area and may be easily handled. They are subject 

 to stomach worms, indicated by loss of flesh and 

 weakness, and to Malta fever, which can be 

 transmitted to man, in whom it is evidenced by 

 recurring high temperatures. The former can 

 be controlled by using, as a drench, a copper 

 sulfate solution of I ounce to 3 quarts of water. 

 Where the latter trouble is present the milk 

 should be pasteurized or scalded before it is 

 consumed. As an economical source of easily 

 digested milk, the goat is recommended, espe- 

 cially to those families with rather small acreage. 



168 



