[219] 



WILL FULL BLOOD BUCKS PRODUCE THIS WOOL WHEN BRED 



TO NATIVE FEMALES, SIMILARLY AS WITH 



PURE-BRED BUCKS? 



This question has been affirmatively settled by the expe- 

 rience of every breeder of Angora goats in the United 

 States, so far as I have ever known or heard, yet while sim- 

 ilarly yet not so perfectly as by pure-bred males ; the fleeces 

 which are produced by the full-blood bucks being more 

 subject to long and coarse hairs in them, than those which 

 are the product of pure-bred bucks. But the question is no 

 longer of practical value, since the pure-bred animals have 

 become more common, and the price of them has been re- 

 duced. 



The experience of breeders and of manufacturers has also 

 well established the practical value of the mohair produced 

 by crossing the pure-bred bucks on the native females for 

 five or more times. About ten years since thirty-six fleeces 

 ot' my clip of 1868 two only of which were pure-bred, and 

 many less than full-blood were forwarded to Messrs. 

 Bauendahl & Co., Nos. 45 and 47 Park Place, City of New 

 York, which were sent by them to a manufacturer, and 

 then sold at $1.25 per pound, upon its merits. In this cir- 

 cular for October, 1868, they say: "Mohair, etc. The 

 present condition of this article offers a favorable opportu- 

 tunity for raising full-blood goats' wool," etc. drawing a 

 distinction between pure-bred and full-blood. These gen- 

 tlemen are well-known as among the highest and most re- 

 liable authority upon this subject in the United .States. 



While I hold science and philosophy in the highest es- 

 teem, it must not be forgotten that they learn their best 

 lessons in the school of practical experiment, and their true 

 teachings can only be in conformity to established facts. As 

 improvements and varieties in domestic stock have hereto- 

 fore been produced by crossing, climate and subsistence, it 

 will be unwise to reject the uae of any of these means in 



