THE ANGORA AND MILKING GOATS 361 



make milk better and cheaper than cows. Further- 

 more, goats are almost never attacked with tuber- 

 culosis and their milk is said to have tonic properties 

 of especial value to children. Then there is the fact 

 that a goat is very much smaller than a cow, is 

 easily sheltered, is tractable, requires but one-eighth 

 as much food, and is in many ways better adapted 

 to village or suburban life. 



Taking these facts into consideration, it is sur- 

 prising that we have not had a larger development 

 of the milch goat in America. There are two prin- 

 cipal reasons : the incapacity of the average Ameri- 

 can for independence and self-help, and his false 

 pride that makes him fear ridicule if he adopts a 

 practice that is followed by his poorer neighbors. 

 Near many cities there are colonies of European 

 emigrants who make more or less use of the goat 

 as a milk-giving animal. Many a well-to-do subur- 

 banite could follow this example with profit and 

 gain great comfort from the assurance of a supply 

 of pure milk, produced under his own eye. 



The writer has often seen cottagers in the old 

 world employ goats for this purpose of milkgiving. 

 Very often they would be tethered near the dwelling 

 and children would bring them forage, clippings 

 from the lawn, refuse from the table and surplus 

 vegetables from the garden. Children would often 

 do the milking also, and the friendship between the 

 gentle goat and the appreciative children was very 

 real. 



The amount of milk given by a well-bred goat is 



