33 2 ECONOMIC MAMMALOGY 



The karakul sheep (broad-tail or Persian lamb), the source of an 

 important fur, were originally from Turkestan, not Persia. According 

 to estimates made in 1921, 1,500,000 of their pelts, from Bokhara and 

 Turkestan, worth $14,000,000, were being imported annually into the 

 United States. The price of pelts advanced 180 per cent from 1895 

 to 1913, brought $12 or more during the World War, and after the 

 war again advanced 140 per cent. 39 In 15 years 2,900,000 pelts were im- 

 ported into Leipsig alone. 40 The best skins are not obtained, as is 

 popularly believed, from unborn lambs, by killing the ewes, but from 

 lambs from three to five days after birth, because later they lose their 

 curl and luster. 41 Karakul sheep have been introduced into the United 

 States and the flocks have increased rapidly. 42 



"Sheraz is half-Persian lamb. It comes from the south of Persia and 

 resembles wool more than fur. Next, astrakhan is not dog skin. It is 

 a lamb skin from the south of Russia. Gray Persian lamb is really 

 krimmer, lamb from the Crimean region of Russia. The lamb that 

 makes Persian fur, grown to a sheep makes the Bokhara rug." 43 



In many regions domesticated goats are prized for their flesh and 

 skins, and especially for their milk. They are distinctly browsers, more 

 so than are sheep. The number of goats in the United States in 1925 

 was estimated at 3,459,ooo. 44 Whether this includes Angora goats is 

 not stated. 



Angora goats, from which mohair is obtained, are in great favor 

 and increasing in number. The use of mohair, according to the inter- 

 pretation of Exodus, Chapter 35, by the Goat and Mohair Committee, 

 dates back at least to the time of Moses. It was known in western 

 Europe prior to 1554 A.D., and the goats were introduced into Africa in 

 1838. In 1927 there were 1,499,000 Angora goats in the Union of 

 South Africa, 3,160,000 in Turkey, and in the United States there 

 were 3,159,000 in Arizona, California, Missouri, New Mexico, Ore- 

 gon and Texas. The production of mohair in the United States in 1927 

 was 13,470,000 pounds, in South Africa 10,681,000 and in Turkey 

 (1926) 6,5OO,ooo. 45 Mohair is 9 inches or more in length, alpaca 12, 



^Laut, The fur trade of America, pp. 59, 66-77, 1921. 



40 Jones, Fur farming in Canada, p. 106, 1913. 



41 Ashbrook, Fur farming for profit, pp. 239-262, 1928. 



42 Marshall, Heller and McWhorter, Karakul sheep, Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agric. 

 for 1915, pp. 249-262. 



43 Laut, The fur trade of America, pp. 66-67, 1921. 



44 Statistical abstract of the United States for 1925, U. S. Bureau of Commerce, 

 1926. 



45 The Angora goat and mohair industry, U. S. Dept. Agric. and Dept. Commerce, 

 Interdepartmental Committee, Miscell. Circular, No. 50, 1929. Williams, The Angora 

 goat, Farmers' Bull., No. 1203, 1921. 



