goats that are here have become in-bred to such an extent that a good 

 many of them have lost their best qualities, yet where they have been 

 judiciously bred either pure or cross-bred with the best type of milch goats 

 (regardless of the breed) the best milking stock is usually to be found. 



In 1903 there was a record Association formed for the purpose of 

 encouraging the establishment of the milch goat industry in this country. 

 Considering the number of years this association has been established here 

 have been very few goats registered considering the fact that for a long time 

 any kind of a doe could be registered if she gave one quart of milk a day 

 regardless of her breeding, a buck from such a does could also be registered 

 if the sire and dam were registered. These rules allowed a lot of low 

 grade goats to be registered and did very little toward building up the 

 milch goat industry. Later the rules were changed to admit only does 

 giving two yuarts per day regardless of their breeding, and instead of 

 registering bucks from registered sires and dams of any breeding only 

 bucks from pure-bred, registered sires and dams were eligible to registry. 

 There were some good features in this but there were also some extremely 

 unjust features and a sad mistake in eliminating all bucks that were cross- 

 bred with the very best recognized breeds of milch goats. To bar the grade 

 bucks from registry would seem reasonable, that is a buck being part 

 native stock, but it is all wrong to bar the bucks from Swiss and Nubian 

 breeds that are cross-bred for, with some of them it is only possible to 

 produce the best types for our country by the judicious cross-breeding of 

 these recognized breeds of milch goats, and as the pure-bred stock is so few 

 in this country and so much in-bred that it is folly to stick to that old 

 "Royal Blood" idea, for it is a proven fact that some of America's best 

 milch goat stock is the result of cross-breeding in the hands of experienced 

 animal breeders, just as it has been in the breeding of other kinds of live 

 stock, such as horses, cattle, etc- Improvement and not deterioration is 

 what we want and must have. 



PURCHASING MILCH GOATS 



HERE can I buy a milch goat?" is often asked by many people, 

 yet if more people knew the true merits of the milch goat, there 

 would be many more such questions asked. 



In the breeding of all classes of livestock there are certain prime 

 characteristics in view in the breeding of each animal, certain predominat- 

 ing qualities are in certain individuals, and to bring out these qualities in 

 the offsprings requires the sacrifice sometimes of the pure-breeding. The 

 rnilch goat is bred for milk alone and the prime characteristic in the ani- 

 mal is the production of milk. The value of the animal will depend almost 

 altogether on these qualities and the price will naturally be in comparison 

 to the milking qualities, rather than in the breed alone. It has -developed 

 that some of the best milk stock we have are the result of judicious cross- 

 ing of breeds. 



It would be impossible to quote a fixed valuation on a milch goat in this 

 country at the present time, as that will depend to a large degree on how 

 bad the owner wants to sell or how much the purchaser wishes to pay, and 

 last but not least, how good a milker the goat is. 



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