THE GOAT AND CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 531 
Added to the refuse and waste of the home and dairy, twenty 
goats can be kept where one cow is now kept. And every fe¬ 
male goat will pay compound interest on the investment on her 
account. The laborer’s family in a modest rural or subnrban 
home, can keep a goat or two on the refuse of the table, and the 
value of one-quarter of her milk, value in hay, oats, and roots, 
or their equivalent in other goat food, and at the same time 
have the satisfaction and safety to health, of the richest and 
most digestible of all kinds of milk, beside the enjoyment of a 
male kid to make merry with the family and friends. My market 
friends tell me that a six-weeks-old-kid fattened on goat’s milk 
is among the most delicious kinds of young meat, favorably 
comparing with that of the lamb or of the calf. I will seek an 
early opportunity to verify the undoubted truth of my friends, 
though the brother of the prodigal seemed to esteem the fatted 
calf above that of the kid. 
The goat with a flock of sheep is a self-instituted guar¬ 
dian. He is brave and bold, attacking animals ten times his size ; 
not only in self-defense, but in the defense of the sheep. Were 
a few goats kept in every flock of sheep, the fearful destruction 
of sheep by dogs in the United States would be far less than at 
present. A dog that would attack a ram or bull will not attack 
the goat. Besides, the goats would leave the flne pasture for 
the sheep and live on that the sheep would leave. 
The goat, obeying his pristine instincts, delights in high 
places, and when he assumes the guardianship of a flock of 
sheep, his high position and keen sight readily detects every 
approach of an enemy. This is the natural position to watch 
his own wayward frolicsome kids who are prone to long and de¬ 
vious excursions. 
Goats enjoy the company of men, and are especially fond of 
frolics with children, though they suffer many cruelties from 
them. They are inteliigent animals, and proud of colored 
trappings. They foster the young of many other species of 
animals. The female has been known to suckle a motherless 
fowl, calf, puppy, or kitten. Hindoo and African children, it is 
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