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Advantages of Goat-Keeping. 



[march, 



the kids for a time seems to spoil the mother's yield for that 

 kidding. It is also an inhumane proceeding to keep kids 

 till their mother has become attached to them and then to 

 take them from her. It is quite possible to rear kids with a 

 bottle. 



Breeds. — A higher price is asked for a pure-bred goat than 

 for an animal of uncertain ancestry. The foreign blood intro- 

 duced into this country is chiefly Swiss and Nubian. The 

 advantage derived from the blood of foreign goats is two- 

 fold. In the first place, particularly in the case of Swiss 

 animals, they have been bred for generations for milking 

 capacity. The other advantage is that they usually breed 

 more freely than our native animals. It is the nature of the 

 goat to breed once a year in the spring. With foreign blood 

 or an infusion of foreign blood it is possible to breed at other 

 times than the spring. An authority has expressed the 

 opinion that ' ' anyone could have milk all the year round with 

 three Anglo-Nubians." 



Many of the best goats in this country are called Anglo- 

 Nubian. They may be black, brown and black, white, and 

 any mixture of these markings, and still claim the name of 

 Anglo-Nubian. The most generally esteemed among the 

 Swiss varieties is the Toggenburg. There is now a large number 

 of Anglo-Toggenburgs, Anglo-Toggenburg-Nubians, and Anglo- 

 Toggenburg- Anglo-Nubians in the United Kingdom. Alpine 

 and Saanen are two commended varieties. It is doubtful if 

 there is any " best breed." As in the case of the development 

 of laying powers in hens, milking powers may be increased in 

 most breeds by systematic breeding from good milkers, mated 

 to the progeny of good milkers, with due attention to stamina 

 and the avoidance of in-breeding. 



Breeding. — The best way of getting nannies in season out 

 of the usual breeding period is to keep them for a time in the 

 vicinity of a billy. No one will go to the trouble and incon- 

 venience of owning a billy of his own who can get the services 

 of a neighbour's for a shilling. The billy-goat is a creature 

 of filthy habits and he emits a noisome odour, but the general 

 impression that the nanny has also a smell is baseless. 



The period of gestation in the goat is about 150 days. She 

 lias usually two or three kids at birth, but occasionally there are 



