SHEEP 415 



Feed and care have a great influence upon the weight and fine- 

 ness of the fleece. If goats are exposed to sudden changes of weather 

 the effect is shown in the fleece. In some parts of the United States 

 where the climate is dry and the soil is distinctly alkaline the natural 

 yolk disappears from the mohair, leaving it dry, fetid, and harsh. 

 The fiber becomes coarser as an animal grows older. The best fiber 

 grows upon goats of the best blood, and among these that upon kids, 

 yearling wethers, and does, in the order named, is preferred. The 

 best fiber is usually very curly, or, rather, in ringlets, but not kinky. 

 It loses its curl and becomes thinner, coarser, and straighter as the 

 animal grows older. (Agr. Dep. F. B. 137.) 



MILCH GOATS. 



The present situation regarding the milch goat industry in the 

 United States is confined largely to an awakening interest, although 

 there are now some communities of foreigners where a considerable 

 number of goats are kept for milk, and the kids being fitted for 

 slaughter. 



So far as we can apply the leading features of the milch goat in- 

 dustry of Europe to the conditions prevailing in the United States, 

 it can be said that the goat is needed by the poor man who can not 

 afford to keep a cow, and by those people especially who live in the 

 suburbs of the large cities and those who work in the mining dis- 

 tricts. Dairies should also be conducted according to approved mod- 

 ern methods, so that a constant supply of milk may be had for sick 

 people and for children whose mothers do not properly nourish 

 them. These are matters of such importance that German writers, 

 referring to the industry in their own country, say that the milch 

 goat in its later development has done great service to the state, in 

 that it supplies a want which before caused great unrest among the 

 peasantry. 



In Germany the goat plays the part in the households of poorer 

 people, especially of the day laborers, that the cow does in the house- 

 holds of the well-to-do classes. Hoffmann says that the proportion 

 of households in Germany that keep goats is 75 per cent, and that 

 the keeping is not confined to the poorer people, but that the pros- 

 perous middle classes consider the goat of advantage to them also. 



It furnishes to its owner, without doubt, the best milk for nour- 

 ishing infants, for the household, for the cooking of food, and for 

 coffee, besides butter and cheese. When one considers that it very 

 often depends solely on the milk production of the goat whether the 

 nutrition of the child and the whole family is bad or good, and the 

 nutrition from infancy on has a bearing on the ability to perform 

 a greater or a comparatively small amount of w r ork in later life, then 

 one will believe me when I say that the goat is in a position to wield 

 a great influence in sustaining life. 



Yield of Milk. The first question that most people ask concern- 

 ing this industry is, "How much milk will a goat give?" A mo- 

 ment's reflection is sufficient to convince one that this question can 

 not be given a definite answer. Such matters as the healthfulness of 

 the animals, the character of feed, the regularity of feeding, the kind 



