178 MODERN MILK GOATS 



hand, if the doe is allowed to go dry as soon as her flow 

 is no longer abundant, this will tend to confirm a brief 

 period of lactation. But, of course, she should be dried 

 off when she is within two months of kidding. 



If these special suggestions are followed, together 

 with the general advice given on the care of the milking 

 doe, and if the rations are abundant and suitable, as in- 

 dicated in the following chapter, one will have every ad- 

 vantage in developing a doe of outstanding capacity. 

 Granting a good inheritance these methods will not fail 

 to bring their reward in a record to which one may point 

 with pride and delight. 



The "Capricious" Doe. — But with all our careful 

 rules and method, there is still one thing that all goat 

 keepers must bear steadily in mind. It is the signifi- 

 cance of the English word " capricious," which is de- 

 rived from the Latin, " capra," a goat. 



In the use of our language, to what sorts of things 

 is this word most usually applied? To the wind that 

 bloweth where it listeth, to the whims of Our Lady For- 

 tune, to music, to the play of little children, to all kinds 

 of gay and sweet and lovely things, but all alike in this 

 one respect, that they cannot be subjugated or brought 

 under the control of our human wills. And all of these 

 things — lovely, desirable, elusive — what do we mean 

 when we call them " capricious "? We mean, the word 



