California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



M\nf aiul 6oatjj. 



Angora Coats and Mohair — Criti- 

 cisms Answered. 



f& (Continued frontpage 12H. J 

 <<y|j;T is now fifty years since these 

 • goats were tried in France, and 

 j- they failed there. More than 

 thirt}' years have eUipsed since 

 they were taken to the At- 

 lantic States, to South America, and to 

 the Cape of Good Hope, and in none of 

 these places have they succeeded. They 

 have not been taken in large numbers 

 from Asia Minor to any part of Europe; 

 they have not increased rapidly in Asia 

 Minor; they have not paid enough profit 

 to their owners to raise them out of a 

 social condition so low that it borders on 

 barbarism; and the supply of wool is not 

 increasing. In and near Asia Minor is a 

 region including Syria, Palestine and 

 Armenia, Kurdistan and Transcaucasia, 

 with an area sixty times as largo as Cali- 

 fornia, and capable of sustaining not 

 less than 50,0UU,000 goats; whereas not 

 10,<J(I0,0U0 are now shorn regularly in 

 the world." 



To this we reply: The history of the 

 pursuit shows that the first attempt to 

 appropriate the race in Europe was made 

 by the Spanish government, which im- 

 ported a llock in 1703. This disappeared. 

 Following this came the importation of 

 the eminent agriculturist, President 

 Tour d'.iigues, who introduced some 

 hundred upon the Lower Alps in 17S7, 

 and his experiment, according (o his own 

 testimony, apjjears to have been wholly 

 successful, as he declares that his liocks, 

 without any special care, were constantly 

 preserved in good health, and that "no- 

 thing is easier than to raise and nourish 

 the species." This fiock, together with 

 one imported by Louis XVI. to Kam- 

 bouillet towards the close of the last cen- 

 tury, disappeared in consequence of the 

 revolution. Better results were obtained 

 in Spain from the importation of a ilock 

 of a hundred in 1830 by the King, and 

 pastured in the mountains of the Escu- 

 rial, where they produced "a magnificent 

 fleece," to quote the words of M. Graells 

 who saw the fiock in ISiS, when it was 

 200 strong, all the primitive individuals 

 having disappeared, and those which 

 succeeded them having been born in and 

 naturalized to the climate, the food and 

 other inherent condition of the central 

 region of Spain. The same observer re- 

 ports another flock of a hundred head at 

 Huelva, also thriving. In 1854 the Im- 

 perial Society of Acclimation of France 

 secured a flock of ninety-two head of 

 Angoras, and subdivided it, and placed 

 the goats in difl'erent districts. The re- 

 sult was not a success. "Many died, and 

 thsse that survived gave fleeces which 

 were far from satisf actorj', " saj'S the 

 record of the experiment. In 1858 all 

 the separate flocks were re-united and 

 placed in the mountains and trachytic 

 districts of the Cantal, where "the ani- 

 mals rapidly recovered their health and 

 were increased without sufl'eriug any 

 malady." The fleeces were pronounced 

 "in admirable condition," and were fab- 

 ricated into velvets of such fineness that 

 it was declared "the wool of the Angora 

 goat has been ameliorated in France." 

 The increase of this flock was ihsastrous- 

 ly checked by the rigorous winter of 1850 

 and the rainy and damp summer which 

 succeeded. M. Richard, writing of the 

 , experiment, says: "The goats, always in 

 a damp atmosphere, eating wet grass, 

 contracted as well as the sheep an aque- 

 ous cachexy; a third of the animals suc- 



cumbed from this malady. * * » » 

 The malady was arrested by a tonic and 

 fortifying medication." The flock re- 

 duced from ninety-two head in 1855 to 

 seventy in 1802, was at the latter period 

 in good health. 



So much for the experiments with the 

 Angora iu Europe, which, while not en- 

 couraging in all respects, are by no 

 means the failures the Alta would have 

 us believe. A useful lesson is to be 

 learned from these experiments, viz: the 

 destructive effect of exposing the Angora 

 goat to a damp climate. This fact is 

 well known among exjierienced American 

 breeders. To this danger the Angora is 

 not exposed in California. 



2. Only about twenty-seven years have 

 elapsed since the advent of this goat in 

 the United States. It was first intro- 

 duced into South Carolina (not into the 

 "Eastern States," as the Alta declares) 

 from Turkey in ISiO. From that period 

 up to 186G no further noteworthy impor- 

 tations were made. It has only been fif- 

 teen years since the Angora's first ap- 

 pearance on the Pacific Coast (summer 

 of 1861). In no section of the country 

 was there any extensive and vigorous 

 prosecution of the industry previous to 

 180(3; so that the business, «.s a buainesa, 

 is not thirty, but only ten years old in 

 America. What was the now great Me- 

 rino sheep interest at the end of ten years 

 from the first introduction of that race 

 into the United States in 1812? and what 

 would have become of it had it been 

 brought up for judgment and condemna- 

 tion, without a fair trial, in 1812? 



3. As to the Cape of Good Hope: — 

 When the Dutch planted a colony at the 

 Cape, they took a few Angoras with 

 them ; but during the subsequent war the 

 goats were permitted to run at will with 

 the common goats of the country until 

 the pure stock was lost — swallowed up 

 by promiscuous breeding with the nu- 

 merically superior plebeian race; not, 

 however, before almost the entire goat 

 stock of the cimntry had become mixed 

 with the Angora blood, so powerful is it 

 for the reproduction of its kind. But 

 the amount of fine blood being altogether 

 disproportioned to the common, owing 

 to the fact above stated that the common 

 stock so largely out-numbered the Ango- 

 ra, no results in fleece were obtained 

 worthy of mention. This is doubtless 

 the failure to which the Alta refers, for- 

 getting later facts. The goat herds of 

 the Cape remained in this condition un- 

 til 1800, when the increasing demand for 

 mohair induced some enterprising Eng- 

 lishmen to ship 400 ' ead of Angoras, 

 mostly bucks, to that country from Asia 

 Minor. About half of these were lost in 

 transit. The remainder were put where 

 they would do the most good, having 

 been thrown among the low-grade ewes 

 of the country for breeding purposes. 

 From time to time since that date (180G) 

 there have been perhaps, in all, six hun- 

 dred more pure Angoras landed at the 

 Cape by English breeders. What is the 

 result? The Cape now exports over a 

 million pounds of mohair annually, 

 which is regularly quoted in the Liver- 

 pool market — all the results of ten years' 

 operations from almost a first beginning. 



The exportatious of mohair from the 

 Cape of Good Hope to England are given 

 in the commercial statistics as follows: 



In 18G7 49,000 9)s. 



In 1807 07,000 lbs. 



In 1800 147.000 lbs. 



In 1870 450,000 lbs. 



In 1871 1,000,000 lbs. 



Iu 1872 (estimated) 1,500,000 lbs. 



The exports since 1872 doubtless show 

 the same ratio of increase, though the 

 figures are not at had at this writing. :^ 



If this Cape of Good Hope experiment 

 is a "failure," we should like to see 

 some more failures of the same kind 

 happen in this country. 



4. We have no record of any consider- 

 able or intelligent experiments with this 

 goat in South America, but have a brief 

 account of their introduction into the 

 colony of Victoria, Australia, in 185G, 

 accompanied by statements that they 

 have thrived there, and have spread to 

 other prts of the continent, where they 

 are now found in fair numbers — notably 

 in the neghborhood of Sydney — produc- 

 ing a fair quality of mohair. 



5. If Angora goats have not increased 

 rapidly in Asia Minor, as the Altti as- 

 serts, there is abundant cause for it in 

 the terrible famines which have afflicted 

 that unhappy country from time to time 

 for years, forcing the starving people to 

 eat their goats or die themselves. The 

 devastating famine of 1874 has not been 

 forgotten by America, though it seems to 

 have been ignored by the Alia in its zeal 

 to make a point against the mohair in- 

 terest. Here is a single paragraph — a 

 compilation in the New York Hun of No- 

 vember, 1874, from the Turkish news of 

 that fearful period — that will show bet- 

 ter than columns of argument what has 

 become of a large share of Asia Minor's 

 mohair goats. (We think the original 

 publication was probably made by the 

 Levant Herald) : 



"It is estimated that the people who 

 have fallen victims to the famine in Asia 

 Jlinor number over 150,000. As an in- 

 stance of the terrible devastation among 

 the cattle and flocks, it is stated that in 

 one village, out of more than 1,000 sheep 

 and goats, just one sheep and one goat 

 remain, an(l of 100 cows two remain. In 

 another, from a flock of 1,200 sheep and 

 goats, 8 are reported; and from another 

 liock in the s line village, numbering 800, 

 of which 700 are mohair goats, the same 

 number, 8, is reported." 



Tcis wholesale devastation, it will be 

 observed, was all in two villages. An 

 estimate, made at the time, of the entire 

 desti-uction of Angora goats iu the whole 

 territory of Asia Minor footed up the 

 enormous total of half a million (500,- 

 000). And it must be borne iu mind 

 that this loss of the precious race was 

 not from disease, but because of famine 

 among the people, causing them to kill 

 their favorites in order to preserve their 

 own lives. Will not the Attn admit that 

 there has been some reason why these 

 goats "have not increased rapidly in 

 .\sia Minor" in late years? 



G. The fact that the people of Asia 

 Minor are iu "a social condition so low 

 that it borders on barbarism," instead of 

 being an argument against the profitable- 

 ness of goat-raising, is strong proof of 

 the incapacity of those people for mak- 

 ing this valuable animal yield those large 

 results of which it is capable in the 

 hands of an enlightened people, employ- 

 ing scientific systems of breeding and ap- 

 proved methods of culture. The people 

 of Asia Minor are semi-barbarous; never- 

 theless the mohair goat is their chief 

 support in many districts, and the pur- 

 suit leads all othei's there, and has done 

 so for more than a century; hence it 

 must be a success, or it would long since 

 have fallen into the back-ground. 



7. We consider it hardlj" necessary to 

 go into a consideration of the inscruta- 

 ble reasons why that distant and rather 

 shadowy region, that sort of terra incoq- 

 nito, "including Syria, Palestine and Xr- 

 menia, Kurdistan and Transcaucasia, 

 with an area 00 times as large as Califor- 

 nia, and capable of sustaining not less 

 than 50,00a,000 goats," has not got that 

 number, which we freely admit to be the 

 case for the sake of the argument. You 



might as well ask why the Old Harry the 

 Digger Indians haven't got 50,000,000 

 thoroughbred Short-horn bulls; and then 

 proceed to argue elaborately and exhaust- 

 ively that thoroughbred Short-horn bulls 

 are a fraud, a delusion and a failiie. But 

 if the AlUj. will just quit that kind of wild 

 figuring and come down in good honest 

 faith to the possibilities within reach 

 right here in California, and help work 

 them out, the editor may live to see this 

 mohair business assume such dimensions 

 that the 10.000,000 goats which he as- 

 serts are not now shorn in the world will 

 be clipped here, in the Angora's natural 

 home, on the slopes of the Pacific. 



To wind up with, the Alta practically 

 surrenders its entire position by publish- 

 ing the following well-authenticated facts 

 — being some of the practical results iu 

 the breeding of Angora goats which have 

 been achieved in California; 



"Against this array of facts we have 

 the assurance of several persons that the 

 animals of pure, or nearly pure blood, in 

 this State are hardy, increase rapidly, 

 and yield heavy fleeces of wool, com- 

 manding a high price in the market. It 

 is reported that Stockton & Buffum, who 

 have a herd of 550 goats, including 30 of 

 pure blood, near Hornitop, Mariposa 

 county, obtained a ton of wool for last 

 season's shearing. From the California 

 AomccLTOKLST wc clip the following fig- 

 ures and remarks about their goats: 



" 'One pure-bred ewe sheared 7 lbs; one 

 31-32ds ewe's fleece weighed 71bs; a 15- 

 IGths ewe sheared G/i fts; a 7-8ths ewe 

 sheared iy, ft)s; five 7-8ths ewes sheared 

 18?'4 lbs; three 15-lOths sheared llfi 

 ttis; two 31-32ds ewes sheared 13% ftis; 

 four pure bred ewes sheared 25^;^ lbs. 

 Gne of their purebred bucks sheared l^'i 

 ft)S, and a pure bred buck kid 3% lbs, 

 while a grade kid sheared iy, lbs; twelve 

 kids sheared 39 lbs of fine mohair; three 

 pure bred bucks sheared 20 Its. But the 

 most remarkable fleeces were the weth- 

 ers'. One wether sheared OJ, lbs! ten 

 wethers sheared 70 lbs fine mohair. We 

 must make special mention of the pro- 

 duce of wethers. Evidently they will 

 make the best mohair. The expenditure 

 of vital force incident to breeding, caring 

 for and nursing the young detracts from 

 the fleece production of breeding anim- 

 als. The wethers keep in more uniform 

 and better order on the same feed, and 

 their fleece is not only fine and heavy, 

 but uniform in textnre during its growth 

 the entire year.' 



"The same paper obtains the following 

 figures about pure-blood fleeces from C. 

 P. Bailey, who has a herd near San Jose : 

 •' 'Buck Romeo 2d, five years old, 

 eleven months' growth of fleece, 8;-^ lbs; 

 a two-year old buck, one year's fleece, 

 7;,^ lbs; ewe, Scotch Woman, six years 

 old, twelve months' fleece, 0% lbs; ewe. 

 Queen of Monterey, three years old, 

 twelve months' fleece, 6 ft>s; ewe, two 

 years old, oy, ft)S. The above fleeces are 

 worth $1 per pound net. From a flock 

 of 1000 young goats, one and two years 

 old. were sheared llUW pounds. "These 

 were grades from 7-8ths to 31-32d!!, and 

 the fleece will average worth 60 cents per 

 pound. Mr. Bailey says that he can get 

 as good results from 31-32ds and 63- 

 64ths as from pnre breeds.' " 



These few figures have more good 

 square, convincing argument in them 

 than all we and the editor of the Alia to- 

 gether have said on the subject. The 

 logic of results is irresistible. 



improved Breeds of Sheep. 



As the season of fairs is n good time 

 to compare the difl'erent varieties of 

 stock, we copy a portion of an essay read 

 by Dr. L. E. Brown before the Kentucky 



