392 AGRICULTURE ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE 



In some countries goats are kept chiefly for their milk, 

 which is very rich but has a slight " goaty" flavor, which is 

 also found in the cheese made from it. There are some 

 strains of goats specially valuable for their milk. But the 

 meat is dry and not very palatable, unless the animals have 

 been especially well fed for that purpose. 



There are however two varieties of goats that are highly 

 valued for their hair. One of these is the Angora goat, 

 % so named from its place of origin in Asia Minor. It has 

 long silky hair from which mohair fabrics are made. The 

 other is the Cashmere goat, quite similar to the Angora, but 

 prized chiefly for the fine, soft hair it produces underneath 

 the long-haired outside coat. From this inner hair Cashmere 

 shawls are woven in the valley of Cashmere and elsewhere in 

 Northern India. 



The best kid gloves are made from the skins of young 

 goats, but much of what goes by that name is made from 

 lambskins. Such skins are also used for fine shoes. 



Sheep. Many kinds of wild sheep are found in tem- 

 perate countries all around the world, but it is not cer- 

 tain from which of these our domestic breeds of sheep 

 were derived. From the most ancient times, sheep 

 have been prized for their fleece or wool, and for their 

 flesh. As with other animals, different breeds have 

 been developed to serve these two different purposes. 

 The breed most prized for fine wool is the merino, first 

 developed in Spain. The races most commonly es- 

 teemed for flesh are the Shropshire and the Southdown. 

 They are so called from the downs (or coast flats) of 

 southern England, whence they have spread over the 



