238] 



Alabama, as well as the pine woods of Georgia, Alabama, 

 Mississippi and Louisiana, are well suited to breeding An- 

 goras, the pine woods particularly exempting the young kids 

 from danger of extreme cold, which frequently proves fatal 

 in more northern latitudes. 



The period of gestation with the Angora goat is from one 

 hundred and forty-five to one hundred and fifty days, and 

 as they produce but once annually, the period of pregnancy 

 should be so arranged as to terminate in early spring, after 

 all danger from cold winds and rains has passed, which in 

 this State is about April 1st. In States south of Tennessee 

 October 1st, and in Tennessee November 1st, is the proper 

 time to couple the ewes with bucks. Until young kids 

 have suckled they are sensitive to cold, but having once 

 nursed their vitality is probably greater than the young of 

 any other domestic animal. When three weeks old all 

 male kids not needed for sale or for use in the flock should 

 be castrated, as the kids are easily taken at this age on the 

 range, and the wound is rapidly cicatrized. The wethers, 

 if kept until two years old, become fat and command the 

 same price as sheep of the same age. 



The flesh of a two year old wether in juiciness, texture 

 and delicacy of flavor, is superior to the finest Southdown 

 mutton, partaking of the flavor both of mutton and venison, 

 and often sold as the former from the butchers' stalls. The 

 Angora clips from two to six pounds of mohair, and is finest 

 when the animal is one year old, maintaining quite a uniform 

 standard of fineness until four years of age, when the quality 

 begins to deteriorate, and becomes coarse at eight years old. 

 Its age is from eight to twelve years, and death is generally 

 the result of superannuation. 



The claims of this animal on the attention of agriculturists 

 and stock breeders have been held in abeyance through pre- 

 judice, and a want of a proper conception of the uses for 

 which nature designed it. Independent of the value of the 

 animal for its fleece and flesh, it possesses a mechanical 



