i<)4 MAixi'! A(;I<n•^I.'r^•I^\I. i:xi'i:rimi;\t s'iwtiox. 1903. 



cnahks the I'aniuT in a woodrd l(»cally to use lluiii lo lii'l]) in sul)- 

 jugalinsj the forest; their ilesh is exccechnf^^ly delicate and nutri- 

 tious ; the milk. thou,c^h not so abundant as with tlic milch breed 

 of goals, is richer than cow's milk ; their tanned skins, though 

 inferior in cjuality to the skins of the common goat, are used for 

 leather ; their pelts make the neatest of rugs and robes ; they are 

 excellent pets for children ; a few of them in a flock of sheep are 

 a protection from wolves and dogs; their manure is noticeably 

 helpful to the grass which follows them after they have cleaned 

 away the underbrush." 



The claims made for their l)n)wsing habits as a hel]) to 

 clearing wooded areas and particularly "sprout land" especially 

 attracted the attention of this Station. ]\Ir. Libbey of Bum- 

 ham during 1900 and 1901 imported into !\[aine from Texas 

 and New ^Mexico several hundred Angoras, from which number 

 the Station purchased in 190T six does and a "registered" buck, 

 not akin to the does. 



The buck bought by us has the Angora type and is probably 

 at least fifteen-sixteenths Angora. The does are grade and 

 apparently differ in their purity of breeding. 



During the winter months the goats have been kept in a room 

 m the sheep house with the run of a yard. In the summer they 

 have been kept in woodland and in pasture growing up to bushes 

 and in young woodland. In the barn the only feed has been hay, 

 and no supplementary food was given when in pasture. This 

 care was not suflicient in this case to successfully build up the 

 flock. In the spring of 1 902 live of the does dropped one kid 

 each and in the spring of 1903 only two of the does produced off- 

 spring. The flock at the end of two years would thus have only 

 doubled or increased from 7 to 14. The kids were vigorous 

 when dropped and presented no difficulties in rearing, but at the 

 end of 18 months they were not as large as their dams. One of 

 the wethers was killed to test its flesh and one of the does died 

 before it v;as a year old, so that Ave had the same number or 12 

 in the pasture during the seasons of 1902 and 1903. When fed 

 on hay, the goats ate on an average 4 pounds per day. In the 

 summer of 1901 the goats were put in a pasture with some bushes 

 and weeds. The goats ate these in preference to the grasses. 



The pasture was fenced with ordinary woven wire fencing, and 

 the goats persisted in puti:ing their heads through the meshes and 



