BREEDING THE ANGORA CAT. 
now TO BUILD A CATTERY. 
What the Business Promises. 
Possibilities in Cat Breeding 1 .— The Angora cat 
has been a mint for the original breeders in thiscoun- 
try. While the breeding of these cats is now in its 
infancy, there are larger Helds for their breeding, and 
the market is not limited. The best Angoras are 
always in demand, and the best specimens can be sold 
at fabulous prices. The fancier who has a peculiar 
strain, that possesses some different qualities from 
that of his neighbor, is certain to sell and succeed, 
and is confident of receiving a lucrative sum. These 
facts should surely encourage the further breeding 
and keeping of these pets, which can be so easily 
raised without any additional cost to the average 
farmer, who has plenty of food for them, and can in 
many ways raise them cheaper than the city farmer who 
is obliged to confine his animals to close quarters and 
pay higher prices for his milk, his meat, and his fish. 
Furthermore, he has better opportunities for their 
growth and development in the chances for them to 
play and run about the long grass, which develops 
muscle, produces size, and allows the perfect growth 
of the beautiful hair which so becomes a perfect 
Angora. 
Many farmers have given considerable attention to 
the rearing of the Angora cat of late, as the demand 
has increased so wonderfully the past few years, and 
as there seems to be a local market near every city. A 
fancier can raise six or a dozen of these pets, dis¬ 
posing of them at the best prices, without any addi¬ 
tional cost, making for himself a neat little sum from 
means with which he had not hitherto been acquainted. 
Where farmers can offer Angoras locally, and can sup¬ 
ply the best specimens to fashionable people, they find 
a large profit, especially if they are successful in pre¬ 
senting their stock in a favorable way, at the age 
when the kittens are cunning, playing about on the 
piazza, or climbing trees. Women are better able to 
raise these cats than men, as they have a certain fond¬ 
ness for them. A small capital is necessary. The 
best Angora eats bring good prices, and it will cost 
something to establish a kennel at the 
start. The amount will depend upon 
the magnitude of the beginning. One 
may expend 825, or 8100 and secure, 
perhaps, a pair or two pairs of pure¬ 
bred adults. It is best, too, to start 
with the very finest stock, as it is just 
as easy to raise the best kittens as the 
poorest. 
Ilow to Keep Cats. —The fitting 
up of a suitable kennel need not cost 
much, but there are important points 
in the construction and the care of the 
kennel, which should not be neglected, 
and which the owner of an Angora is 
always ready to explain. If one is to 
have but a single pair, no special 
quarters should be provided other than 
the usual corner behind the stove in 
the kitchen, or the barrel in the cellar. 
It is well to allow the cats as much 
freedom as possible. It is no more 
necessary to house them, or to chain 
them, than the ordinary house cat. 1 f 
three or four cats are to be kept it is 
not necessary to have any special quarters ; but, of 
course, if 12 or 25 cats are to be kept, it is necessary 
to separate them, to have separate compartments, and 
to keep each pair away from the others. 
The best buildings and the best methods to employ 
are the same as with hens. Of course, in the construc¬ 
tion of a cattery, the interior has to be arranged a 
little different than for poultry. The house should 
be warm and dry, free from draughts, and well lighted 
and ventilated. Cats like a good deal of straw and 
earth, and in the arrangement of floors and things it 
is a good idea to place high shelves of easy access, 
that they may steal away when they take a special 
not ion. The yard can be constructed the same as if 
wired for pigeons. Of course, where the cats are to 
be separated, it would be necessary to put in parti- 
A TYPICAL ANtiOLtA CAT. Fig. 
tions, but avoid any woodwork, if possible, as that 
prevents much sunlight and ventilation. In Angora 
cat breeding, it is wise for the breeder first to accord 
his animals strength, and keep them well and hardy ; 
second, to raise only such specimens as are of value. 
There are many mistakes in trying to raise all of the 
kittens. Too many strive for quantity rather than 
for quality. The proper breeding of these animals is 
little short of a science. Fven small details cannot 
be neglected in the early stages. 
What Cats to Buy.—In buying Angoras, it is 
always best to purchase when about three to six 
months old. 'The animals can be obtained much 
cheaper then than when they reach maturity. They 
are more easily trained at that age, and become well 
acquainted with their home and master. It is well 
for one in selecting Angoras to decide on one special 
color from which to breed, and in any event, select 
the color which is most likely to be popular. Many 
rich shades now come in the Angora, some of which 
are very pretty and attractive, yet do not attract the 
connoisseur, who prefers odd specimens and choice 
colorings. Probably no better color can be kept than 
black or blue. These two have a stable demand, and 
kittens in those colors always look well, usually have 
a very rich coloring, and one gives the other enough 
comparison to make them look attractive. 
The special reasons why a farmer should encourage 
the keeping of an Angora instead of the ordinary 
house cat, is because the expense of keeping this ani¬ 
mal, while it is capable of performing as much service 
to its owner as the ordinary eat, is less, as he is cer¬ 
tain to sell his kittens at high prices, where ordinarily, 
he is obliged to dispose of common kittens in a way 
that is not at all lucrative. The fact of having a 
mother cat is sufficient to say that there are to be 
eight to ten kittens a year, and they sell at the lowest 
at 810 apiece, or the highest 825. A certain sum can 
be annually secured for pocket money without any 
expense, which ought to be considered attractive. 
The sale of these kittens is in the immediate vicinity 
of summer resorts, or places where city people are 
likely to visit. They will become very much attached 
to the little kitten on the lawn or door stoop, and the 
question of price is scarcely considered. 
A Cat Mats a Mortgage.—It has been known that 
a little girl in the country, who had three Angoras, 
two mother cats, and who started with very nice 
stock, being a Christmas gift to her, raised one season 
something like 18 kittens. The profit from these 
was enough to send her to school for a term, partly to 
pay the mortgage on the farm, and to pay her mother’s 
doctor bill. It would hardly seem at first that these 
three little kittens roaming about unnoticed would be 
capable of performing so much, but where the value 
of these animals is known, one can readily see that 
their rearing has been exceedingly neglected by the 
farmer of the present day. Of course, there is as much 
in raising kittens and selling them, as there is in buy¬ 
ing. If a farmer buys the best stock, 
cats from a well-known farm, he has a 
backbone to his cattery, and has a cer¬ 
tain pedigree which gives an extra 
value to his stock. I think that, where 
such an opportunity is opened to the 
farmers, and where the demand is so 
large and, in many cases, the market 
is theirs, more of them should enter 
into the raising of these pets, which 
can be easily done without any extra 
expense, and with a very little capital 
invested. bobkrt kknt jamks. 
R. N.-Y.—Angora cats! It is true 
that thousandsof these animals are de¬ 
manded every year by fashionable peo¬ 
ple. They are wanted for pets. They 
gratify a desire which is, perhaps, as 
legitimate as that for Christmas straw¬ 
berries or hothouse melons. If a 
wealthy woman thinks more of a eat 
than she does of a child, we feel sorry 
for her, but at the same time, as a 
business measure, we would like to 
furnish the eat! Instead of sneering 
at a taste which we cannot appreciate, we would like 
the job of gratifying that taste by breeding a first- 
class Angora. That strikes us as the way to look at 
eat breeding. You can’t expect to sell any old Tom 
or Tabby to such people. A cat isn’t always a cat, 
that is, a cat that will bring a good round price. 
Breed and pedigree are as necessary here as in the 
case of other live stock. 
