California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



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The Angora Coat Again^ 



T is natural enough for people living in 

 ' sections of the country where the Angora 

 ■eW goat will not thrive, and where they have 

 5^ failed at it, to think the business of 

 breeding them a failure. But the stock men 

 on this coast know there is profit in Angoras. 

 We give the following criticism, which ap- 

 peared in the Prairie Farmer some two years 

 ago, to show the off side of the goat question: 



And now comes Mr. Wm. Laudrum, of 

 Messrs. Landrura & Rodgers, of Watson- 

 Tille, California, "pioneer breeders of Cash- 

 mere or Angora goats," who desires to be 

 heard on the "goat business." That Mr. L.'s 

 position may be more fully comprehended, we 

 should also state that the firm is connected 

 with a company who have purch.ised the 

 Guadalupe island, and propose to devote a 

 considerable part of it and of the capital 

 stock ($500,000) to breeding goats. Whether 

 there are any shares to sell we are not advised. 

 The essential points of his letter, which is 

 very long, are as follows: 



He gives the address of several brokers 

 who, he says, can sell, or rather have sold, 

 mohair at from '24 cents to $1 2.5 per pound, 

 and calls these "full prices." As those who 

 buy, he names Messrs. Sheppard Bros., of 

 Philadelphia, and Messrs. Hall, Broadhead & 

 Co., of Jamestown, New York. He also cites 

 general order No. 9'2 of the War Department, 

 requiring certain uniforms to be ornamented 

 with mohair cords and tassels, and says the 

 contractors for these goods "must have mo- 

 hair." These furnish the market for the 

 fleece. 



In a former article in the paper to which 

 the letter of Mr. L. is iu response, we asked 

 the question whether any one who purchased 

 breeding goats purporting to be Angora or 

 Cashmere, at the prices ruling a few years 

 ago, could now realize for his stock, including 

 increase and wool, and excluding co.st of keep- 

 ing, the amount he paid for the original stock, 

 and stating that if such a person could be 

 found we would gladly publish his address, 

 together with the address of the party willing 

 to buy at such figures. In reply to this the 

 writer presents the names of several who, as 

 he says, have made purchases of goats, prin- 

 cipally from himself, within fourteen months 

 past, at prices ranging from $50 to $2.50 each, 

 and also instances others who, commencing 

 some years ago, have made money in selling 

 goats, pelts and mohair. There is, however, 

 nothing new or valuable in the information 

 his letter affords us on this point, except that 

 there still are parties willing to pay about 

 one-tenth to one-fourth the prices at which 

 these goats were sold in this region a few 

 years ago. Even this, however, is not cer- 

 tain, in view of what he says of the past trade 

 in goats in Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois and 

 Ohio in the following extract: 



" I have carefully watched the Angora goat 

 business for 25 years, and have kept a record 

 of all the pure breeds ever imported to Amer- 

 ica; their ijuality, breeding, and to whom sold 

 and their whereabouts, save a very few scat- 

 tering animals, sold one or two in a place. I 

 also know of many failures .and the causes 

 thereof. Also of many successes. There has 

 been two causes of failures: First, like all 

 new enterprises, the majority of pc'Ople know 

 but little about the busini'ss, and designing, 

 dishonest men practiced deception, and do 

 ceiveil farmers with worthless low grades for 

 pure breeds. With such goats they could do 

 no better than make a failure, and without the 

 knowledge of the cause, naturally would con- 

 demn the whole Angora business. 



" Ttainessee, Kentucky, Illinois and Ohio 

 Buffered worse than any other states. Wil- 

 liamBon and his associates sold over $80,000 



worth of grade goats in those States of a cross 

 between the Thibet goat, the Angora and the 

 native goat. Such goats could not be bred up 

 iu ten years, with good Angora bucks, to be 

 Worth anything for fleece, hence you will 

 daily meet men who will tell you iu that coun- 

 try that the Angora is a humbug. They or 

 their neighbors tried them, and paid fabulous 

 prices for them, and failed. Richard Peters, 

 of Atlanta, Georgia, has a small band of pure 

 breed Angoras. I. S. Diehl, perhaps, has ten 

 head; the remainder of his are grades. I 

 could give their history. Robert S. Scott, of 

 Kentucky, has one pure ewe; and three years 

 increased two or three bucks; the balance are 

 grades. Ogden, of Ohio, had one pair of pure 

 breeds. Chenery, of Boston, sold a few pairs 

 of pure breeds to go West, in 1HG7, that I 

 failed to get the address of, but no lots of over 

 one ewe in a place that I heard of, and I in- 

 terrogated him very closely at the time; and 

 up to that time I hiive a record of all the pure 

 breed transactions in America. I assert pos- 

 itively that the failure is not in the Angora 

 goat, but in the deception and dishonest re- 

 presentations made by men about the goat to 

 persons who have no facilities to find out the 

 truth. It is very true that they will not do 

 so well any where east of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, as they do on the Pacific coast. Had 

 they not jiroved to be a great source of profit 

 to the breeder on this coast, they could never 

 have been sjjread over the country, from the 

 fact, that the word goal was unpopular, and 

 attached to it was the history of all the Cash- 

 mere swindles in the East, as they were 

 termed. We even have men here now offer- 

 ing grades as pure breeds in this state, and 

 often deceive men with them, to the disgrace 

 and injury of the business." 



It will be news to our readers in the States 

 named to be told that the animals for which 

 they paid from $500 to $2,300, a few years 

 ago, were after all only grades, and it is cer- 

 tainly curious that these could not have been 

 bred up by the use of pure crosses iu ten years 

 to be worth anything, while even now Mr. 

 Landrum is selling grades at what seem big 

 prices. 



In closing he gives the following advice to 

 breeders ; 



"Accept no goat as a pure breed that can- 

 not be traced to the man who shipped it from 

 Angora. Secondly, all imported goats are 

 not pure breeds. A pure breed goat has no 

 under coating of any kind mixed with his 

 fleece, no coarse main hip locks or kemp; 

 should be clear silver white, and fleece all 

 over alike, belly and breast well covered. 

 Many other points may be considered, but 

 these are indisiiensable." 



The most reasonable conclusion on the 

 whole subject seems to be that some portions, 

 or the rougher and less fertile districts of the 

 western slojie of this continent, may be ad- 

 apted to the profitable culture of these goats, 

 in competition with those countries from 

 which the European and the fe'J American 

 manufacturers of lustre goods from mohair 

 now obtain their sujiplies of the fibre. The 

 islands of the Pacific ocean may aft'ord still 

 othi;r fields for the enterprise, but there is 

 nothing iu the history or present condition of 

 the traffic in mohair or the goats in this coun- 

 try that is likely to attract a careful farmer to 

 the culture of the goat in preference to the 

 culture of sheep. The day has gone by when 

 any man iu the centra! states has any such 

 preference, so far as our knowledge extends. 



Impkovkment of Riieep. — The improve- 

 ment of a llui'k by means of breeding, re- 

 quires very considerablt! and long continued 

 care. 



The quality of both parents must be con- 

 sidered, both with a view of correcting evils 

 and pepetuating good qualities. It must bo 

 acknowledged, however, that in the majority 

 of cases the influence of the male preponder- 

 ates over the female, and the characteristics 

 of the former are neu-o likely to be iuqiressed 

 on the ort'spring than those of the latter. 



This is shown in most animals. The mule 

 partakes much more of the nature and size 

 of its sire, the ass, than of its dam. the mare. 

 A large Cotswold ram put to a Southdown 

 ewe produced an offspring much more resem- 

 bling the former than the latter, and a pony 

 mare put to a full sized horse will produce an 

 animal half as large again as the dam. Though 

 this, however, seems to be nature's rule, it is 

 not one without exception, for occasionally 

 we see the very opposite results. 



In breeding animals of a pure kind, the 

 principal rule to be observed is, to breed from 

 the very best of both sexes, to cull the faulty 

 ones every year, saving only the female lambs 

 for the future flock tliat are as free from de- 

 fect as possible. Of course, the flock must be 

 kept up to its proper size, but year by year 

 the finest animals should be selected, until, in 

 the course of time, the flock will entirely con- 

 sist of them. Until this is nearly accom- 

 plished it will not be prudent for a farmer to 

 employ his only tups for the purpose, as he 

 will probably be able to hire or buy superior 

 rams from others, and it will not do to spare 

 some expense iu thus raising the character of 

 his sheep. 



There are various poiuts that are sought 

 after by breeders, not because of the particu- 

 lar value of those points, but because they are 

 evidence of other valuable qualities, such as 

 aptitude to fatten and early maturity. Thus, 

 iu the Southdown breed, small heads and 

 legs, and small bones are esteemed, as they 

 are qualities which are always found connect- 

 ed with fattening properties. Black muzzles 

 and legs are also valued, probably because 

 they denote the good constitution and hardi- 

 hood of the animal. We must, however.take 

 care, lest, in carrying these points to an ex- 

 treme, we neglect other valuable qualities. 

 Straightness of the back, breadth of the loins, 

 and rotundity of frame are points that cannot 

 be disputed, and are not merely sirjnx of good 

 qualities, but good qualities themselves. The 

 Straightness of the back, so perfect in the 

 Leicester, is by no means natural to the 

 Southdown in an unimproved state, but rath- 

 er the contrary. In the improved breeds, 

 however, it is present, and is justly reg.arded 

 as an excellent point, giving a better surface 

 for the laying on of flesh, and affording more 

 scope for the abdominal organs. Its converse, 

 too, a round or convex back, is produced or 

 increased by the effects of poverty and cold, 

 and is almost sure to follow if the breed is ne- 

 glected and exposed. 



The development of bone, of course, re- 

 quires nutriment, as well as any other part, 

 though not perhaps in the same degree. Large 

 bone, therefore, abstracts nutriment which 

 would otherwise be more profitably employed 

 and thus is anything but a desirable point in 

 sheep. Horns, for the same reason, are much 

 better dispensed with. One point in sheep, 

 which is justly regarded as extremely favor- 

 able, is a soft, mellow feeling of the skin and 

 parts beneath. These parts are the cellular, 

 or rather adipose membranes, which in fat 

 sheep are full of fat, and in lean sheep, when 

 possessing this mellow feeling, denote the 

 plentiful existence of these membranous cells 

 ready for the reception of fat, which is de- 

 posited in them almost in the form of oil. 



Breadth of loin and rotundity of frame are 

 qualities that require no observation, having 

 been above alluded to. The former denotes 

 the presence of a large quantity of flesh iu 

 the spot where it is most valuable, and it also 

 bespeaks a largo and roomy abdomen. A 

 round frame is al.so the sure attendant of a 

 large abdomen, and an extended surface for 

 the muscles of the back and loins. A general 

 squareness of frame besjieaks large muscles, 

 particularly from the (piarters. 



What, indeed, is wanted, in a good-formed 

 animal, is as much flesh and as little bone 

 and gristle as possible, and this flesh is re- 

 quired where it is most valuable; for instance, 

 it is much more valuable on the loiiis and 

 ([uarters than about the head and upper or 

 scrag end of the neck. A largo development 



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