4 MODERN MILK GOATS 



ing rather than upon the products of the tilled fields. 

 Into this stage the hardy, hght footed goat fits admir- 

 ably, sustains herself successfully, and makes a valuable 

 return for the efforts of the primitive husbandman. The 

 development of the dairy cow, on the other hand, does 

 not attain importance until conditions are stabilized to 

 such an extent that an abundant and dependable amount 

 of feed can be produced for her, to supplement her own 

 efforts at forage. 



Such conditions existed and were admirably devel- 

 oped in England and Holland, the homeland of most of 

 our first colonists, at the time that our country was being 

 settled. These colonists, trained husbandmen, found in 

 their new homes for the most part such generous soil, 

 such favorable climate, and such an abundance of cheap 

 and fertile land, that the maintenance of the cow, from 

 the beginning of our history, was easily provided for and 

 assured. In such a type of agriculture the dairy cow 

 found conditions the most favorable possible for her de- 

 velopment. Therefore, it is not strange that the goat, 

 as a milk animal, fell into oblivion in the United States, 

 although she maintained unbroken her prestige in the 

 more crowded civilization of the Old World. 



Early Spanish Importations. — Meanwhile, in the 

 vast coimtries to the south and west of the colonies a very 

 different kind of goat history was in the making. 



