186 
Nubian 
fay li: RTAIN breeds of goats possess special 
aptitude for being modified in various di- 
rections by intelligent selection and judi- 
cious crossing. The experiments which 
have recently been carried out in France 
by Crépin prove that the Caprine species 
can be greatly improved in this way and 
that the rearing of goats can thus be made profitable. 
The Alpine goat, the best known breed, yields a large 
quantity of thin milk which is very suitable for the feed- 
ing of young infants, and it continues to furnish milk for 
a long period, if it is protected from the cold and rain of 
winter. ‘The large size of this breed makes it a promising 
subject for experiments in the production of still larger and 
better breeds, by crossing with breeds which possess other 
desirable qualities. 
The Syrian (Mambrino), Nubian, Maltese and 
cian breeds, for example, are hardier than the Alpine. The 
Mambrino and the Nubian, especially, easily adapt them- 
selves to all climates, and crossing with these breeds would 
undoubtedly improve the common goats of Europe and 
America. ‘They yield a fine, rich milk and the celebrated 
Aleppo butter, which is scarcely inferior to the best Nor- 
mandy butter in richness and flavor, and does not reveal its 
origin by any peculiar taste. It is notable, also, that the 
penetrating and disagreeable 
odor of various goats is not 
present in these Oriental 
breeds. By crossing short- 
haired native goats with a 
Nubian, Crepin has obtained 
superb animals which, very 
curiously, are superior, as 
milch goats, to either of the 
parent breeds. 
These encouraging  at- 
tempts have brought about 
the establishment in France 
of small goat farms, con- 
ducted by amateurs, who are 
endeavoring to produce, by 
cross-breeding and_ rational 
feeding, animals possessed of 
certain useful or ornamental 
qualities. It is also proposed 
to establish, in and around 
Paris, dairies for the produc- 
tion of goats’ milk for the use 
of infants and of invalids who require milk that is easily 
digested. 
Goats are notoriously insusceptible to tuberculous infec- 
tion and they can be kept very well in the city, furnishing 
milk rich or poor in fat, according to the breed, but always 
fresh and pure. Unfortunately there exists, in several 
Mur- 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
New Breeds of Goats 
By Jacques Boyer 
M. Lamarque’s experimental flock of goats 
May, 1911 
Alpine 
’ 
countries, a prejudice against feeding infants with goats 
milk, which is popularly regarded as too stimulating. 
There is no trustworthy evidence in support of this opinion. 
The inhabitants of Greece, Malta and Naples are not 
nervous wrecks, yet they use goats’ milk almost exclusively. : 
Goat-keeping, intelligently conducted, should be a very: 
remunerative occupation. In Algeria and Tunis, where’ 
goats’ milk is a staple commodity, the milk of one goat’ 
is worth about 40 cents a day, and it would have the same, 
value in Paris. The profits of goat-keeping, furthermore, ° 
will be increased when it becomes more generally known that. 
goats’ flesh is as palatable, digestible and nourishing as 
mutton, and when the butchers will buy fully matured ani-. 
mals, as well as kids. Goats’ milk cheese is already highly: 
esteemed; some breeds furnish butter of the finest quality;: 
and the hide and hair of the goat are largely used in the 
manufacture of articles of clothing and ornament. A 
goat can be kept in small quarters and fed cheaply, with a 
daily ration of four or five pounds of hay, seasoned with. 
kitchen refuse. Goats furnish more than five times the. 
fertilizer value of ordinary barnyard manure. Hence, in 
Germany, goats are considered to be more profitable than: 
hogs. 
Goats, when kept in numbers, were formerly lodged in 
groups of three or four in box stalls, where they could. 
move freely. The wall of the 
building formed the back of 
the stall, which was inclosed 
on the remaining three sides 
by breast-high wooden parti- 
tions, the front partition hav- 
ing a door. A rack was af- 
fixed to the back wall and a: 
trough was placed beneath the 
rack. 
This system saves space, 
but it has defects, in view of 
the natural habits and dispo- 
sition of the goat, which pro- 
digally pulls down the fodder 
from the rack, but is too fas- 
tidious to eat that upon which 
it has trampled. The result 
is that three-fourths of the 
fodder is wasted and the ani- 
mal is insufficiently nourished, 
unless an enormous quantity is 
supplied. Furthermore, Al- 
pine goats are so quarrelsome that when one goes to the 
rack her companions endeavor to drive her away by sav- 
age thrusts with their horns, and the weakest of the com- 
pany often goes hungry. 
M. Lamarque has remedied these defects by doing away 
with the lateral partitions and separate stalls, and tether- 
