1882 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
365 
upon the Mexican frontier, has several times 
served to a dining party a leg of young 
goat, which was eaten as mutton. The name 
•of the animal was not mentioned, but the 
fact that the plates were sent for more 
.showed that there was nothing unpleasant 
about the meat. If the Angora will give 
better meat than a young, well fattened 
•common goat, it should be encouraged as a 
source of food. The milking qualities of the 
Angora are said to be much superior to those 
stated, on good authority, to be over four 
millions of dollars. The hair of the common 
goat is woven into a coarse “linsey,” and it 
is also spun into very durable ropes. The 
horns of the goat are used for the handles of 
knives and forks, and the tallow makes ex¬ 
cellent candles. In his new and valuable 
volume just published on the Origin, Cul¬ 
ture, and Products of the Angora Goat, Dr. 
John L. Hayes, President of the Tariff Com¬ 
mission and Secretary of the National Asso- 
tion of the best Angora fleece, which in this 
country starts to grow the first of August, 
and stops growing in January. An indis¬ 
pensable condition of success in the Angora 
husbandry in this country is a provision of 
acclimated stud flocks of thorough-bred 
bucks and ewes for regenerators, meaning, 
by thorough-breds, Angoras imported from 
Asia Minor of unquestioned selection, and 
their progeny. 
The most rapid and advantageous method 
}TfftrKAV///<F . 
A GROUP 
OF ANGORA GOATS . —Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
of the common goats, and the grades are 
reported to be abundant producers of very 
rich milk. The keeping of goats as milk 
producers appears to be, in this country, at 
least, confined to those who live upon the 
outskirts of large towns, where grassy road¬ 
sides and commons afford pasturage for these 
animals. In such localities the squatters and 
dwellers in shanties keep many goats, which 
are a great annoyance to the neighborhood 
when allowed to get loose. In this country, 
beyond this keeping of the “Nannies’’for 
milk, and the breaking of the “ Billies ” to a 
rude harness, to be sold singly or in pairs to 
the wealthy, but little attention has been 
given to the common goat as a productive 
animal. There are large tracts in the far 
Southwest, in New Mexico, Arizona,Western 
Texas, and parts of California, where goats 
may be profitably kept, even the common 
kinds, if only for their skins. The skins of 
the goat are used for morocco leather, and 
largely for gloves. Very few are aware of 
the extent of the commerce in goat skins. 
The annual importation of goat skins into 
England from the East Indies and Africa is 
ciation of Wool Manufacturers, furnishes 
the following information: 
The Angora Goat (Capra Angoriensis ), 
specifically different from the common goat 
(Capra cegagrus), is derived from Falconer's 
goat (Capra Falconeri), inhabiting the moun¬ 
tains of Little Thibet, in Asia, and is proba¬ 
bly of comparatively recent origin in Asia 
Minor, its present most important habitat. 
The Angora Goat is completely acclimated 
in the United States, and the race appears to 
have been actually improved in this country 
in favorable locations and under intelligent 
culture. It survives in all sections of this 
country where there is not an excess of mois¬ 
ture ; but is most advantageously kept in 
localities where there is a range for open-air 
feeding and pasturage throughout the year, 
and where there is no necessity for winter 
stabulation. The notion insisted upon in 
Asia Minor, and formerly entertained here, 
of the pecessity of a high altitude for the 
successful culture of the Angora, appears to 
be negatived by experience in this country 
and elsewhere. Regular summer and winter 
food is an important factor for the produc- 
of forming large flocks of Angoras is by 
crossing thorough-bred Angoras upon com¬ 
mon goats, and the ewes of the resulting 
product, with the object of merging the 
common race in the superior. Good results 
are obtained at the fifth cross. It is indis¬ 
pensable that thorough-bred bucks should 
be invariably used for propagation. Millions 
of acres in this country, unsuitable for sheep 
husbandry, may be advantageously occupied 
by flocks of Angoras, which may be grown 
at half the cost of sheep in their most favor¬ 
able locations, and with at least an equal re¬ 
turn in the product of the flocks. There is 
now a complete assurance of a domestic 
market for all the fleece of the Angora, of 
good quality, that is likely to be grown in 
this country for many years. While extra¬ 
ordinary profits are not to be relied upon 
permanently in any branch of production 
open to competition, the Angora husbandry 
offers opportunities in favorable localities in 
this country, equal at least to those in any 
other branch of stock-growing, provided suf¬ 
ficient duties upon the products of the 
Angora and mohair industries are preserved. 
