XVlll PROCEEDINGS, AUGUST. 



In reply to the President, Mr. Stephens said this tree was Ij'ing 

 about eight miles from town. He did not know whether any portion 

 of it remained. This would, of course, greatly depend upon what 

 bush fires had happened in the locality. 



Mr. Johnson directed attention to the remains of a great tree 

 lying near the coal mines at Snug. Proofs of the huge size of this 

 tree were easily traceable in the decayed remains. It was a very 

 remarkable tree. 



ANGORA GGAT FARMING. 



The Secretary of the Royal Society stated at its last meeting that he 

 had written to Mr. James Smith, Westwood, mentioned in the discussion 

 which took place at the May meeting, on a paper on this subject, 

 and that gentleman had furnished the following particulars : — 



The Angora goat will, I believe, thrive in Tasmania, if not too much 

 exposed to the inclemency of the weather, and if not stinted in 

 its food. A pure Angora buck which I had in my flock for several 

 years, and which did not receive any special care, seemed as hardy as 

 a common goat and his successor in the flock seems to possess equal 

 endurance. Having brambles (" black-berries ") on some of my land, 

 I was first led to keep " grade " Angoras, after the trial of the 

 browsing habits of a pair, from my attention having been directed 

 by a neighbour to the fact that a common milch goat kept by him had 

 destroyed a number of brambles, which had become a nuisance, by 

 feeding on their leaves and buds. When Angoras have the choice 

 of brambles and abundance of grass, they seem to prefer the grass 

 while it is green, but turn with evident relish to the brambles when 

 the grass becomes withered or scant. For the better eradication of 

 brambles by goats they should be cut low, or so reduced by burning 

 that their young shoots may be eaten off close to the ground. It is 

 hardly necessary to say that brambles are in many places in Tasmania 

 beginning to encumber the ground to an objectionable extent. la 

 destroying brambles my "grade" Angoras have been very useful, 

 though their usefulness in this respect has been limited from the 

 necessity of specially erected fences, with little exception, to prevent 

 the goats from straying. The Angora goat is, like the common goat, 

 very prone to wander, and therefore unusually close fences are necessary 

 where it is requisite to limit the range of the goats' movements. 

 I have seen a grade Angora in passing from an enclosure, ascend a 

 stump and spring from it to the top of a post of a five-rail fence, and 

 then to the ground, and when hunted it has quickly found a log from 

 which to recross the fence in a similar manner. The first, so-called. 

 Angora goats that I obtained were not quite pure. In order to ascertain 

 the value of their "mohair" I sent a small quantity of it to London, 

 where it sold at Is. 4d. per lb., when ordinary Merino wool was 

 selling at lOd, per lb. I was afterwards informed, however, by the 

 Messrs. Salt, who, it is understood, manufacture mohair, that sim.ilar 

 mohair was not worth more that Is. per lb. It seems from my 

 observation in the matter that by crossing with a pure Angora buck 

 anal well selected common goats, a hardy race, which begins at 

 once to exhibit the qualities of the sire in a remarkable degree, is 

 produced. The following extract in reference to the selection of a 

 " stock buck " is from the American Agriculturist for April, 1876 : — 

 " 1st. Pedigree dating back to ancestor imported from Asia. 2nd. 

 Weight of long silky, ringletted, white fleece, and its freedom from 

 kemp and mane on the back and neck. 3rd. Form, size, and vigour." 

 There is an illustration in two skins which I am sending to the Hobart 

 Museum of degrees of breeding. It will be observed that the skin from 

 which the ears have not been removed has a better fleece than the 

 other. The latter skin is from a goat less pure than the former. The 

 following extract is from an article on " Goat keeping " in the American 



