THE EARTH'S BOUNTY 



used in upholstering railroad cars in use dur- 

 ing 1904, it seems as if that material alone 

 would consume sufficient mohair to encourage 

 farmers to keep small herds. About their 

 economic value as land-clearers there are many 

 erroneous ideas, some people in fact, the ma- 

 jority believing that the poor animal has to 

 eat the entire bulk of material destroyed, and 

 are therefore skeptical about their utility. 

 True, the goats are naturally browsers rather 

 than grazers, yet their efficacy as land-clearers 

 lies in the manner of browsing rather than 

 in the quantity consumed. They are restless, 

 energetic creatures, who never settle down to 

 take a meal in one place, but nibble leaves and 

 sprouts as they wander about, cropping the 

 young growth from many bushes in a day. 

 Plants and shrubs depend on their foliage 

 for air and much of their sustenance. Some 

 species will succumb after one season's crop- 

 ping, others possess sufficient sap and root- 

 strength to spring the following year, but it 



is only a final struggle which exhausts them 



275 



