104 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



August, 1905 



The breeding of the Angoras is, therefore, a matter of 

 careful attention to the details of the mohair crop. Length 

 of staple, fineness of each fleecy hair, even and uniform 

 growth all over the body and density of yield are all points 

 that the fancier considers, and which the owner raising the 

 goats for profit should equally emphasize. In pure- 

 bred goats tine mohair is, in time, produced on the hind 

 legs to the very hoofs, and to the very tips of the ears 

 and tail. It is all a matter of 

 careful breeding and feeding. 



The Angora park or inclosure 

 needs ample shed space for the 

 goats to find shelter from storms 

 and for sleeping at night. In the 

 winter season the barns or stables 

 should be wind-tight, free from 

 drifting snow or rain, carefully 

 ventilated and kept in clean, sani- 

 tary condition. The quality of the 

 fleece will depend a good deal upon 

 the winter treatment of the animals. 

 Although natural roamers in the 

 pure air, the Angoras get their 

 fleece wet and matted in summer or 

 winter, and if the sheds and stables 

 are not kept clean the filth that 

 attaches to the hair may breed skin 

 diseases. Lice, ticks and other ver- 

 min find favorable cultural grounds 

 in wet, matted, filthy hair of sheep 

 or goats. Such troubles can be 

 largely avoided by keeping the 

 sheds and stables absolutely clean 

 and fresh, and, if necessary, fre- 

 quent washing and combing of the fleece should be practised. 



It has already been said that there is little or no profit in 

 Angora goats raised in small flocks of less than fifty or 

 sixty; but if the initial expense of inclosing the pasture with 

 wire fence can be dispensed with this conclusion may not 

 always be true. Where a natural pasture or woodland has 

 already been inclosed, a few goats could be turned upon it 

 with a chance of fair remuneration. 



Caught on the Stump 



The fancy breeder, however, considers qualities which 

 appeal to the eye rather than to the financial possibilities. 

 The Angora goat becomes to him a pet and companion. 

 With an agreeable disposition and fine companionable 

 qualities, the doe or kid is easily made a pet on the coun- 

 try place. Even the buck is not an unworthy pet, and 

 if properly treated he will develop qualities of attach- 

 ment worthy of all admiration. 



The fleece of the Angoras, under 

 the name of mohair, enters largely 

 >>^ into the manufacture of plush 



goods. Textile mills employ it ex- 

 tensively to give a silken finish to 

 woolen goods. The fleece brings, 

 just as it is sheared, from twenty- 

 five cents to one dollar a pound, 

 the price depending upon the qual- 

 ity of the hair. As a rule, the 

 young Angoras yield the finest and 

 heaviest fleece, and when long and 

 lustrous the outside quotations are 

 obtained. Shearing is done in the 

 spring of the year. The old breed- 

 ing animals when finally killed fur- 

 nish good meat, and the pelts are 

 used for making carriage robes, 

 rugs and fur trimmings for chil- 

 dren's garments. 



Recently golf clubs of promi- 

 nence have purchased Angora goats 

 to turn loose on their links. Be- 

 sides lending beauty to the land- 

 scape, they improve the quality of 

 the links by packing the sward more 

 firmly and keeping down weeds and bushes. Nearly all of 

 the large country estates contain at least a few of the goats 

 for ornamental purposes, while their value as farm animals 

 is unquestioned. 



The author is indebted to the proprietor of Ward's 

 Angora Ranch, Livingston Manor, N. Y., for courtesies 

 extended in the preparation of this article. 



The Lightning Rod 



OR four years past a Lightning Research 

 Committee, organized by the Royal Insti- 

 tute of British Architects and the Surveyors' 

 Institution of London, have been conduct- 

 ing a series of investigations into the use and 

 value of lightning rods. The recently pub- 

 lished report sums up and recapitulates the results of much 

 new study on this important subject, the practical suggestions 

 of which are as follows: 



1. Two main lightning rods, one on each side, should be 

 provided extending from the top of each tower, spire or 

 high chimney stack by the most direct course to the earth. 



2. Horizontal conductors should connect all the vertical 

 rods, (a) along the ridge, or any other suitable position on 

 the roof; (b) at or near the ground line. 



3. The upper horizontal conductor should be fitted with 

 aigrettes or points at intervals of twenty or thirty feet. 



4. Short vertical rods should be erected along minor 

 pinnacles and connected with the upper horizontal conductor. 



5. All roof metals, such as finials, ridging, rain-water and 

 ventilating pipes, metal cowls, lead flashing gutters, etc., 

 should be connected to the horizontal conductors. 



6. All large masses of metal in the building should be 



connected to earth either directly or by means of the lower 

 horizontal conductor. 



7. Where roofs are partially or wholly metal-lined they 

 should be connected to earth by means of vertical rods at 

 several points. 



8. Gas pipes should be kept as far away as possible from 

 the positions occupied by lightning conductors, and as an 

 additional protection the service mains to the gas meter 

 should be metallically connected with house services leading 

 from the meter. 



In discussing this report the Electrical Review raises the 

 question as to whether lightning conductors are a source of 

 danger or not. A building " protected " by a lightning con- 

 ductor, it says, is probably more often struck by lightning 

 than it would be without it; and unless the conductor offers 

 a sufficiently clear run direct to earth, there is the danger of 

 side-flash, when a portion of the discharge will pass through 

 the masonry or metal-work of the building to earth. Ex- 

 perience appears to teach that the safest way to protect a 

 building from lightning is to keep the conductor quite clear 

 of the building, that is to say, sufficiently far from it abso- 

 lutely to prevent side-flash. If this be so, the best way to 

 treat an isolated building is by an isolated mast. 



