342 FARMING FOR LADIES, [chap. xni. 



treasure, as cheaply furnishing a sufficiency 

 of the best quality for the supply of a small 

 family ; for the female will yield on an ave- 

 rage from three pints to two quarts, for at 

 least six months after parturition, and half 

 that quantity for nearly the remainder of the 

 entire year, even if fed upon a common. The 

 milk, or "goat's whey," as it is in many 

 places called, is, indeed, eminently light, rich, 

 and nutritive, with the peculiar quality of 

 not curdling upon the stomach, as does that 

 of the cow, and is, therefore, much sought 

 for by persons of weak digestion or consump- 

 tive habits ; though in taste, or appearance, 

 it would be difficult to discover any differ- 

 ence. In Lisbon, where we resided during 

 some years, it is almost the only milk in use ; 

 and we have had a goat, at sea, which, 

 during a long voyage, gave full two quarts 

 a day, though fed more upon broken, and 

 frequently mouldy, biscuits, and the remains 

 of pea-soup, than upon any fresh vegetable 

 food, except perhaps the peelings of potatoes : 

 but she was of the Portuguese breed, and 

 they are remarkably fine. 



The goat is rather longer lived than the 



