350 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 



serve very well to keep dogs from sheep. It de- 

 stroys brush effectually, if it can reach it, but 

 should have some grass along with the brush to keep 

 it in good order. And it shears a fleece of about 3 

 pounds that is worth from 7 to. 40 cents per pound. 



While the writer from his study of goats believes 

 his characterizations true, yet he believes further 

 that despite their delicacy Angoras can be profit- 

 ably grown in many states of the Union. Wherever 

 there is rough, dry, brushy land and grass, they 

 may be kept healthy more readily than sheep, 

 since they are in no danger from parasitic in- 

 fection while browsing on trees, and that the qual- 

 ity of their fleeces may be so greatly increased by 

 systematic breeding that the 7-cent fleeces will be- 

 come extinct and even the good fleeces will become 

 more valuable. 



Let us get at the history of the American An- 

 gora goat. The native home of the Angora is in 

 Asiatic Turkey, on a high, dry and rather cold 

 plateau. It may be that there is some peculiarity 

 of the soil and climate of that region or some men- 

 tal twist of the breeders there, since there are other 

 animals found there that have the long silky hair 

 that characterizes the true Angora. Cats from An- 

 gora have that quality, and dogs are said sometimes 

 to possess it. The ancient history of the Angora is 

 unknown. It has doubtless been the companion of 

 man for countless ages, and civilizations have existed 

 upon the world far longer than we have been 

 taught. This region of Angora was in the ancient 



