THE MILCH GOAT 



6 77 



As with most breeds, the color varies considerably from white or grey to 

 black, whilst some are spotted. Those I have kept or seen have been gener- 

 ally either greyish-white or reddish-brown. Their breed is regarded as prac- 

 tically hornless, but it is not absolutely so, as a few of those in Malta are 

 horned. The ears vary somewhat in regard to their position. Some are carried 

 horizontally, whilst others are what we should call semi-pendulous, and a few 

 completely so, these being extra long and with a slight outward curl at the 

 extremities, showing more or less of the Syrian, from which this breed is 

 supposed by some to have originated, in part at least. The facial outline is 

 straight, the head long 

 and narrow and free from 

 beard, this last being a 

 noticeable and special 

 feature of the Maltese, 

 imparting to the female 

 a more feminine appear- 

 ance than with some 

 breeds. When horns are 

 present, which is un- 

 doubtedly a defect, they 

 are small and curl back 

 over the head. The udder 

 of the Maltese is a long, 

 narrow bag, with large, 

 unshapely teats like little 

 udders themselves, its 

 color, like that of the 

 skin generally, being of 

 a peculiar orange red. 



FIG. 318. Prince Bismark 159, a noted Toggenburg 

 buck owned by Winthrop Rowland, Redlands, Cali- 

 fornia. This buck weighs 203 pounds. From photo- 

 graph, by courtesy of Mr. Rowland 



This is highly re- 

 garded as a milk- 

 producing breed, the 

 better individuals producing from three to four quarts a day. 



In the summer of 1905 the late Professor G. F. Thompson went 

 to Malta for the United States Department of Agriculture and 

 imported sixty-eight of these goats, but they developed Maltese 

 fever, and the importation was quarantined and proved a failure. 

 Thus far the breed is essentially unknown in America. 



The Nubian goat is found in Nubia, Upper Egypt, Abyssinia, 

 and also in South Africa. It is very large and has long legs. The 

 head is of striking appearance, being almost always hornless, and 

 has a remarkable Roman face with depressed nostrils. The lower 



