42 PRACTICAL ANGOKA GOAT RAISING. 



of this method are advocated. It is claimed that the 

 price realized for the two medium length, or short 

 stapled fleeces, together with the increased number 

 of pounds shorn in the two clippings a year, pays 

 much better than the one long staple fleece which can 

 be shorn from the same animal for a year's growth. 

 There are many reasons both for and against shear- 

 ing twice a year. The mills prefer long mohair, or 

 at least fiber more than six inches in length (combing 

 length). They pay the best price for this class of 

 mohair, and it must be left to the individual to decide 

 whether it pays him best to shear once or twice a 

 year. At present possibly one-third of the Angoras 

 in the United States are shorn twice a year, and the 

 remaining two-thirds only once. In Asia Minor one 

 finds the goat shearer using a pair of long bladed 

 scissors to cut the mohair. The goats are shorn in 

 the spring, and only once during the year. The ani- 

 mal's feet are tied, and then by using both hands, one 

 at either end of the scissors, the goat is shorn. Re- 

 cently some Englishman has introduced an ordinary 

 spring sheep shear, but most of the natives prefer the 

 scissors. 



To-day one finds the hand shearer and the ma- 

 chine shearer at work in America. The hand shearer 

 should use a pair of short bladed (about five inch 

 blade) sheep shears. This is to prevent the point of 

 the shear from cutting mohair, which is not intended 



