110 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES 



of people who are capable of giving it the care and atten- 

 tion it should have. In fact, the breeding of Turkish An- 

 goras has been seriously lowered in recent years through 

 the carelessness and lack of good judgment by breeders 

 who recklessly crossed their best blood with the common 

 Kurdish goats in an attempt to improve the character of 

 the mohair. The result of this has been an increase in 

 kemp which has seriously injured the value of the mohair. 

 Kemp is the coarse chalky-white hair which is found in 

 even the best of fleeces, and which many breeders believe 

 can never be wholly bred out of Angoras. It is a remin- 

 der of the common goat from which the Angora was 

 originally bred. Some American breeders believe that 

 with careful selection kemp can finally be entirely elimi- 

 nated. The objection to kemp, apart from its coarse- 

 ness, is that it will not take the various dyes used, and 

 thus it greatly injures the quality of the manufactured 

 product. 



The best grade of mohair should hang in long curly 

 ringlets from all parts of the animal's body and possess 

 a beautiful silky sheen. To be of value it should not 

 be less than six inches in length, of uniform size from 

 root to tip and free from stain. The price per pound 

 rises rapidly with the length. As much as $14 per 

 pound has been paid for twenty-two-inch lengths, while 

 there is a steady demand for good fleeces between ten 

 and fifteen inches long at prices ranging from $6 to $10 

 per pound. The sum of $115 has been paid for the fleece 

 weighing eighteen pounds from a single Angora raised 

 in Texas, and buyers will take all they can get at such 

 high figures, if it comes up to the desired standard of 

 length. 



