344 FARMING FOR LADIES, [chap. xvii. 



skin is also valuable for gloves and ladies' 

 shoes, and that of the old goat for the manu- 

 facture of Morocco leather and soldiers' knap- 

 sacks. Even the very hair is of use, for it 

 makes excellent linsey ; and Martin Doyle 

 vows, in his ' Hints to Small Holders,' that 

 " if he ever puts on a wig, it must be made of 

 it, as being the whitest and most comfortable 

 thatch for the head." 



The animal, although thus useful, is, how- 

 ever, not a little mischievous, since — such is 

 its activity and reluctance to restraint — no 

 fence of common height can confine it ; and 

 if it gains access to a shrubbery, it will gnaw 

 the plants and bark the trees with gTeat 

 avidity. It should, therefore, be tethered with 

 a light chain, attached to a collar fastened 

 round the neck : the chain being hooked to a 

 swivel, fixed in the head of an iron spike, 

 which is driven into the ground by a mallet, 

 and is removable at pleasure, affords the goat 

 a circular range of pasture, without allowing 

 it to do injury to the pleasure-ground. If, 

 however, allowed to have the range of a 

 common, it will not stray far from home, and 

 will regularly return for its evening meal. 



