GOATS OlST FAR WESTERN RANGES. 27 



TYPE AND GRADE OF GOATS FOR THE RANGES. 



The greatest profits are made from the growing of pure-bred 

 Angoras and the sale of the surplus for breeding. Very few range 

 growers, however, are properly equipped to produce and dispose of 

 valuable pure-bred breeding animals. The effort on most ranges, 

 therefore, should be to produce high-class grade Angoras. Grade 

 Angoras have been developed until the production of mohair from 

 some of them equals the production from some pure-bred Angoras. 

 Range herds of grade Angoras made up of young, fine-haired, heavy- 

 shearing does and wethers furnish very substantial profits. 



The mohair should be of fine, strong, even, long staple, be closely 

 curled, pure white, lustrous, and as free from kemp as possible. It 

 should also be dense on the animal, though fleeces of equal length 

 and weight are more dense on a small animal than on a large one. 

 Mohair becomes coarser as the age of the goat increases. Mohair 

 from kids is very fine, and that produced by yearlings, 1 while coarser, 

 is often sold as kid mohair. The very fine mohair not only brings a 

 higher price but is much more easily marketed. Accordingly effort 

 should be exerted to produce mohair of fine quality on all the goats, 

 and just- as much high-quality kid mohair should be produced as 

 is possible. 



The quantity of fine mohair produced by grown does and wethers 

 varies from 1| to 9 pounds, the average being about 3^ pounds. 

 Better selection of the present range-breeding stock and better care 

 and management should make possible an average annual produc- 

 tion of at least 4 pounds of fine mohair per range goat. While this 

 is an increase of about 15 per cent over the present range average, 

 4 pounds is so far below what some Angoras produce that the aver- 

 age should increase much above this by further improvement. 



Most range growers have emphasized the mohair side at the 

 expense of other desirable qualities. Where mohair alone is the 

 object and the production of meat has been lost sight of, it is some- 

 times difficult to make a profit from goats during times when the 

 market for mohair is dull. With a dual-purpose type of Angora, 

 raised for the production of both meat and mohair, the double rev- 

 enue not only furnishes a greater profit at all times but insures a 

 profit when either the mohair or slaughtering market is dull. 



Range Angoras should be heavy producers of fine mohair, but 

 they should also have a large, plump, S3 r mmetrical body and a good 

 constitution. The body and chest should be relatively broad and 

 deep, the shoulders broad and nearly flat, the back wide and straight, 

 the thighs full, the ribs well sprung, and the legs short, strong, and 



1 " Yearling " is used throughout this bulletin to mean a goat in the second year of its 

 life. 



