THE HEART OF THE HERD— THE DOES 167 



the pitiful sight of a well bred, heavy doe running wildly, 

 her great bag flopping from side to side, sprinkling the 

 dust with its milk, would silence forever the remark that 

 it is " natural " for goats to leap and run. Not for our 

 dairy goats in full milk ! 



Methods of Feeding. — There are some authorities 

 on the care of goats, notably M. Crepin, the eminent 

 French writer, who go to the other extreme and insist 

 that a goat only attains her best yield when she is kept 

 closely tied in a stall day and night throughout her 

 period of lactation, and is fed a forcing ration for 

 heavy production. 



Our American methods very sensibly choose a middle 

 course in the management of the milking doe. If she 

 goes out for her feed on range or pasture, she goes in the 

 care of a watchful herder, a moderate distance only, and 

 always at a slow, easy pace. M. Crepin gives us the 

 outstanding figures for the yield of his stall imprisoned 

 goats. These figures are constantly being surpassed in 

 our records by does that have the freedom of pasture 

 and range. Certainly if one remembers that the doe is 

 not only a milk factory but also the mother of valuable 

 kids we will be the less trustful of the too highly arti- 

 ficial regime insisted upon by M. Crepin. Such pro- 

 longed confinement could not but prove detrimental to 



