SHEEP 413 



ANGORA GOATS. 



In keeping goats on a large scale it is not alone the skins and 

 fleeces ^ which enter into the account of profit, although they form 

 the chief part the flesh, tallow, bones and horns constitute an item 

 of considerable importance. In some countries the production of 

 milk is quite important, and so available is the goat as a dairy ani- 

 mal that she is called "the poor man's cow." A female goat is rel- 

 atively one of the most profitable of domestic animals. 



The goat readily adapts itself to a great variety of soils, cli- 

 mates and conditions. 



There is hardly a State in the Union where Angora goats can 

 not be raised advantageously if properly cared for (which, of course, 

 has to vary according to the local conditions). They have done 

 well in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Illinois, and other Northern 

 States. Whether in those States they will do as well under a herder 

 has yet to be learned. The excellence of winter pastures is more 

 important where herded than where they are kept within fences 

 in but small numbers and easily taken care of in winter. But 

 south of the Ohio River they should do well everywhere, both on 

 farms and ranches. 



As to the South, and especially its rough, elevated regions, there 

 can be no doubt of its suitability to the Angora, and therefore even 

 more to the common or short-haired goat, both in climate and food. 

 Mr. J. T. Henderson, commissioner of agriculture of Georgia, in his 

 annual report, states: 



"Experiments in the raising and keeping of the Angora goat 

 in these mountain pastures are making a very favorable impression. 

 It is thought, with some reason, that this particular branch of stock 

 raising may be easily carried to a very large and important develop- 

 ment in our mountain counties. The adaptedness of this locality to 

 the raising and support of the Angora has been so marked that those 

 accustomed to the care of this valuable animal are sanguine that we 

 shall see in the near future a very important source of profit in this 

 branch of industry. * * * It is hardly possible that the native 

 habitat of the Angora is better adapted to its keep and development 

 than are the mountain counties of this State." 



Land can be cleared of the worst brush known to this country 

 for a little less than nothing by Angora goats. Some one asks how. 

 Simply this: Angora goats will pay a profit and live on leaves and 

 weeds, leaving the land cleaner and nicer than can be done in any 

 other way. Many persons have the idea that goats bark the trees 

 and in that way kill them. They also think that goats wholly eat 

 the hazel and other small brush. There is nothing in this, uoats 

 are no worse to bark trees of any kind than sheep. The way in 

 which goats kill brush is by continually cropping the leaves, which 

 serve as the lungs of the brush. The continued cropping of the 

 leaves makes the brush, as it were, sick, caused by lack of nourish- 

 ment. This sickness sinks to the very extremity of the roots, thug 

 preventing sprouting. ^ Any and all kinds of brush are in this way 

 easily killed. Some kinds of brush and some kinds of stumps are 



