22 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



GOAT TEAMS OF CUBA. 



Trained Animals Bring High Prices — Great Demand for Goat's Milk in 

 Cuba — Elaborate Outfits for Children's Use. 



. Cuba is a wonderful country for goat 

 teams. There are all kinds of vehicles, of 

 rainiature proportions, hauled along the 

 roads by well-trained goats. One would 

 hardly believe that the goat could be made 

 to do such good work in harness. People 

 who come to Cuba from 

 other lands, and go out 

 through Vedado, or Ma- 

 rianao, meet numerous 

 little outfits drawn quite 

 speedily and steadily 

 along the streets just like 

 any of the horse and 

 cattle vehicles. There 

 are also a number of 

 goat teams in the city of 

 Havana. Suitable goats 

 are selected while young 

 and efforts made to 

 train them to the har- 

 ness. Often the young- 

 ster is permitted to run 

 alongside of the father 

 or mother at first, the 

 same as the young 

 colt is permitted to fol- 

 low along with the 

 mother in the hitch up. 

 Sometimes it is secured 

 to the shafts alongside of 

 the parent. Some of the 

 goat trainers depend a 

 great deal upon the boys 

 to assist them. The latter ride upon them 

 and succeed in subduing them after a few 

 davs. 



; There are thousands of goats to select 

 from, due to the great demand for goat's 

 milk in Cuba. There are goat milk indus- 

 tries which thrive exceedingly well, and the 

 trainers "■o to these people to obtain promis- 

 ing young stock for the shafts. Market 

 people and bottle collectors, of course, util- 

 ize any kind of goats for hauling their 

 junk wagons through the streets, and these 

 can be purchased for a few dollars each, 

 but the perfectly trained goat has a regular 

 niarket value. 



,,Poor people are relieved of much labor 

 by goats in hauling their stock. The wash- 

 erwomen for the troops stationed in Cuba 

 come with great piles of laundry heaped on 

 a goat rig, the patient animal standing at 

 the gate while the goods are removed. 

 There are also peddlers of wares who go 

 through the streets with heavily laden little 

 w:agons which are hauled by these animals. 



: The reader would be surprised, if he were 

 to \visit some of the places where the goat 

 teams are kept. Miniature stables as neatly 

 fitted as one could wish are common. Many 



of the Cubans do not take much care of 

 their goats, and when not using them per- 

 mit them to ramble through the junk piles 

 of the yard, seeking refuse to eat. Others 

 who use them continuousry give them the 

 best care, forage being purchased regularly 



Courtesy of Harness, 

 GOATS IN CUBA AND THEIR VARIOUS USES. 



N. Y. 



and fed to them at the right time, develop- 

 ing animals that are sleek and trim. 



The goat vehicles are exceedingly elabor- 

 ate, being constructed with ordinary box 

 bodies, fitted with two or four wheels. — 

 Harness (N. Y.). 



Goat's milk is especially 



Goat's Milk beneficial for invalids, chil- 

 Richer Than dren and cookery in general. 



Cow's Milk. It has the peculiar advantage 

 of being odorless unless 

 contaminated by foreign substances. It is, 

 again, absolutely free from the germs of 

 tuberculosis, and is rich in nutritive quali- 

 ties, and is more easily digested than cow's 

 milk. The flavor generally associated with 

 goat's milk is due to the fact that the ani- 

 mals have not been kept scrupulously clean, 

 and also' to the fact that Toat's milk is 

 affected, as is cow's milk, by the character 

 of the feed. When goats are as carefully 

 herded as cows and their feed as closely 

 watched their milk loses this foreign taste 

 and is difficult to distinguish from cow's 

 milk. The only difference is that goat's 

 milk is richer, thicker, and slightly 

 sweeter, since it contains a larger per- 

 centage of sugar and cream and less water. 



