THE GOAT 277 



agrees with weak stomachs better than the heavier 

 milk of the sheep or cow. It is remarkably abun- 

 dant, too, considering the smallness of the animal. 

 Two liters of milk a day, from six to nine months in 

 the year, make but a moderate yield. There are 

 goats that, when well-fed, give three and four liters 

 a day. 



6 ' Thus the goat, so easily maintained, is a valuable 

 resource in mountainous and arid countries ; it takes 

 the place of the milch cow in the poor man's hut, as 

 the donkey serves instead of the horse. 



"This abundant milk supply is about the only 

 merit of the goat, for its stringy flesh is tasteless and 

 of no value. Only the kid is prized for eating, es- 

 pecially in the South, where the aromatic vegetation 

 of the hills takes away its natural tastelessness. 

 The goat's fleece, though used for certain coarse 

 fabrics, is not of much importance, either, and can- 

 not in any way take the place of sheep 's wool. But a 

 breed native in the hilly regions of Central Asia, 

 the Cashmere goat, furnishes a down of incompar- 

 able fineness, from which precious stuffs are made. 

 This goat, under a thick fur of long hair, bears an 

 abundant down that protects it from the rigors of 

 cold and is shed naturally every spring. When that 

 season comes the animal is combed with a long 

 toothed comb that gathers from the rest of the fleece 

 the fine down detached from the skin. 



"Another breed, the Angora goat, almost rivals 

 the Cashmere in fineness of down. It takes its name 

 from the town of Angora in Turkey in Asia. Noth- 



