THE ANGORA GOAT. I(j7 
and indicate their descent from an ancestor with a 
double coat of hair and wool. When, by man's skill 
in selection, together with other influences to which 
the sheep has been subjected, the outer hairy coat has 
altogether disappeared in our best sheep, why may not 
the Cashmere goat be similarly modified, so as to be 
more suited to the wants and requirements of man ? 
From the great value of both pure breeds, I have 
hitherto refrained from making this most interesting 
experiment until they should increase to a larger 
number, when a few could be spared for this object. 
In the Cashmere goats, I have endeavoured to obtain 
by selection one uniform colour, by the use of pure 
white bucks with the golden tinge referred to. I have 
hitherto kept the breed scrupulously pure. 
I have on the Wimmera a small flock of these 
beautiful animals, descended from an importation of a 
male and two females, brought from India by the agent 
for the Peninsular and Oriental Company, at a cost of 
about £200. I have at various times combed out small 
quantities of the shawl wool or under down, but, from 
having only a small number, did not obtain a sufficient 
quantity to enable me to test its market value. 
A number of Cashmere goats were introduced into 
Victoria about the year 1863. The animals were 
brought by Dr. Chalmers from Chinese Tartary, and 
travelled a distance of 2,000 miles overland to Cal- 
cutta, having been nine months on the road. One-half 
of the flock was lost through being delayed at Calcutta 
m waiting for a vessel, the moist heat of the tropics 
proving fatal to them. Of the other moiety, only 49 
were landed in Melbourne, and more than one-half of 
these perished soon after from the effects of the con- 
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