104 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ February 1, 1883. 
contribute to profitable results. One of the first objects to be 
noticed is the fact that to obtain mohair in our climate the animal 
must be treated to a certain extent artificially, and in doing this 
we may no doubt collaterally secure a corresponding or additional 
advantage in the increase of milk and improvement in condition 
with a larger production of meat, and at the same time defend 
the animals as much as possible against accident or disease. The 
important point, however, is to protect the animals by housing 
in the winter months entirely, and partially in the summer, by 
either moveable or fixed sheds or shades, against the extremes of 
weather either of great heat or heavy rains, and thereby endea¬ 
vour to give them artificially the advantages which our choicest 
varieties enjoy in their native country—Asia Minor; and this 
will no doubt prove of great importance in Goat-farming, especi¬ 
ally in obtaining commercial profits. 
Whether Goat-farming is to be carried out by a company having 
a large and sufficient capital at command, or by individuals upon 
a smaller scale, we propose to apply our observations, in order 
that the principles and practice may be adjusted to the require¬ 
ments of either large or small concerns. We will suppose that on 
choosing a farm suitable for our purpose that it should consist 
of dry soil, either of sand, chalk, or limestone subsoil, and quite 
dry and friable on the surface. It is also desirable that it should 
consist of two-thirds in pasture and the remainder in arable, so 
that the grazing may be obtaiped in summer, and the root crops, 
&c., the produce of the arable land, to furnish vegetable food in 
the winter, in very much the same way as takes place upon the 
majority of dairy farms for cows. It is also necessary that the 
pastures should be divided either by live fences if they exist; if 
not, by iron fencing, for the latter will be required under any 
circumstances, as the animals will be sure to gnaw and destroy 
any live fences. These if required to remain must be protected by 
the strongest and largest pattern of galvanised wire net fencing 
not less than 5 feet high ; and even then it should be placed on 
the top of a dwarf bank about 14 or 2 feet high, the ground being 
lowered inside the fence and removed to form the dwarf bank, 
as this tends to make approach to the fence more difficult. The 
other kind of fencing should consist of a kind of moveable iron 
hurdle not less than 5 feet high, made with upright bar iron and 
looped at the top above the lateral bar, for points would be serious 
Fig. 24 .—Me. J. b. Evans’ Angoea eam. 
in the event of accidental attempts to break the fold. Such 
moveable fencing would be available for all purposes on the farm, 
not only for division of root crops for folding, but also the division 
of the cultivated or pasture grasses. 
The nature of the sheds or shelter for the animals must be 
next considered; and in order that the same may be available 
both in summer and winter they should be moveable, so that they 
may also be made a useful and necessary place and accom¬ 
modation for milking the animals at all times, as well as being 
their quarters for feeding and lying, the internal arrangements 
for which are very important in connection with the system and 
arrangements generally. It must be remembered that in case 
we raise mohair on the animals that any old building loaded 
inside with dust and cobwebs would seriously interfere with 
the cleanliness which is so desirable, and which is so much 
sought for by the animals in their native haunts and habits. We, 
therefore, recommend iron buildings, iron divisions inside, iron 
fixtures for various purposes, iron troughs for food, water, and 
salt; in fact, for every item connected with Goat accommodation 
iron is the best material, and cannot be easily broken or gnawed 
by the animals. It is also more easily maintained in a state of 
cleanliness for all and every purpose, which is so important for 
animals carrying a fleece of mohair of great value ; it may even 
be necessary, with all and every precaution, found that insects 
may be bred in the fleece, but they may, no doubt, be removed 
by the use of the same means as required to destroy ticks or lice 
in sheep. At the same time it must be remembered that our new 
type of animals could never be curried or combed with the dandy 
brush in the same way as the best short-haired milking Goats 
are often treated, by reason of the length or hair and mossy fur 
next the skin upon all Goats valued for their mohair. 
In a herd of the description which we have indicated as 
desirable, we having various objects and productions in view, we 
should therefore have several departments or herds of different 
ages. The females for milking would be kept separate from the 
castrated males, the former being fed of producing milk chiefly, 
the latter more particularly for meat, or mutton as it may be 
called, and also mohair, and be sold at three years old just after 
being shorn. The kids also of both sexes, which would be weaned 
at about six weeks old and fed in a particular manner, must 
when separated from their parents be accommodated at a con¬ 
siderable distance from, and quite out of hearing by each other. 
