578 
American  people  lias  played  the  important  role  which 
lias  kept  the  goats  of  our  own  country  from  becoming 
more  popular.  We  were  not  brought  up  on  goat’s 
milk  ,  therefore  we  are  amazed  when  we  have  come 
to  know  the  facts  first  hand,  and  learned  to  realize 
lully  what  a  possibility  there  is  in  owning  a  milking 
doe.  It  will  supply  all  the  milk  that  the  average 
family  will  consume,  at  a  price  far  below  that  which 
we  must  pay  for  cow’s  milk,  and  which  in  itself  is  a 
far  superior  article.  The  cow  and  the  goat  were 
never  meant  to  be  rivals  for  the  same  place ;  each 
occupies  an  entirely  different  situation,  though  of 
equal  importance  in  the  place  for  which  it  is  in¬ 
tended. 
LITTLE-KNOWN  VIRTUES. — In  places  wholly 
unsuited  to  keeping  a  cow,  one  may  conveniently  keep 
a  milking  goat  which  will  answer  every  purpose,  and 
this,  too,  at  so  trifling  cost  as  to  be  hardly  noticed. 
!  t  seems  a  strange  thing  that  even  highly  intelligent 
people,  well  informed  in  current  events,  and  with 
the  vast  amount  of  popular  literature  of  the  day  be- 
lore  them,  should  never  have  become  impressed  with 
the  fact  that  there  is  such  a  domestic  animal  servant 
as  the  modem  milk  goat,  which  carries  the  greatest 
possibilities  of  filling  a  very  important  place  in  the 
economy  of  average  family  life.  Why  this  has  been 
so  is  largely  from  prejudice  and  nothing  else.  A  cow 
is  an  animal  'built  up  from  the  lower  form  by  a 
process  of  steady  improvement,  until  today  we  stop 
in  wonderment  at  the  great  records  which  have  ac¬ 
tually  been  made.  Fifty  years  ago  we  could  hardly 
dream  of  this  possibility,  yet  all  know  that  such  are 
true  facts.  Why,  then,  can  we  not  do  the  same  with 
the  milking  goat,  and  what  reason  can  anyone  pos¬ 
sibly  give  for  not  doing  so?  Our  modern  milkers  are 
not  to  be  compared  in  any  way  with  the  common 
goats,  which  many  are  only  acquainted  with. 
AMOUNT  OF  MILK. — The  first  question  of  the 
novice  will  he,  “How  much  milk  will  a  good  doe  give?” 
It  is  just  as  reasonable  to  ask  how  much  does  a  good 
cow  give.  Goats  are  responsive  to  good  feed  and 
care,  and  while  they  will  stand  more  neglect  than 
most  farm  animals,  yet  there  are  none  that  will  so 
quickly  respond  to  right  care  and  attention.  They 
should  be  fed  much  in  the  same  manner  as  a  xuilk 
cow,  and  upon  the  same  feeds,  though  one  may 
easily  keep  about  seven  or  eight  milk  goats  on  the 
same  feed  required  for  the  keeping  of  one  cow.  A 
good  grade  doe,  or  a  crossbred  of  any  of  the  im¬ 
proved  breeds,  as  well  as  the  purebred  stock,  often 
averages  more  than  a  gallon  of  milk  daily  for  10  to 
12  months’  lactation  period,  and  many  of  the  best 
average  more  than  this.  Some  of  the  records  made 
by  the  Toggenbergs  run  very  high.  Gretel,  a  pure¬ 
bred  doe,  has  a  record  of  2,941.5  lbs.  of  milk  in  365 
days.  This  animal  was  owned  by  the  California  Ex¬ 
periment  Station.  This  amount  of  milk  is  about  24 
times  her  body  weight.  This  wonderful  animal  has 
since  been  exceeded  in  milk  production  by  Polly  Mac. 
This  doe  is  said  to  have  a  milk  production  of  4,350 
lbs.  in  one  year. 
ESTABLISHED  BREEDS.— Many  other  very  high 
records  have  been  made  from  does  of  all  the  estab¬ 
lished  breeds,  of  which  there  are  three  in  this  coun¬ 
try,  as  follows:  The  Toggenberg,  from  the  Toggen- 
berg  Valley  in  Switzerland.  These  goats  are  brown 
in  color,  usually  hornless,  with  white  stripes  down 
each  side  of  the  face.  They  are  medium  in  size,  gen¬ 
tle  and  beautiful,  and  the  most  numerous  of  any  in 
America.  The  Saanen,  a  large  pure  white  animal, 
also  comes  from  Switzerland,  and  takes  its  name 
from  the  Saanen  Valley,  from  which  it  has  its  origin. 
The  largest  of  the  three  breeds,  and  perhaps  the  'best 
for  all  purposes,  is  the  Nubian,  which  comes  orig¬ 
inally  from  Nubia,  in  Upper  Egypt.  It  has  been 
found  by  the  earliest  importers  that  these  goats  in 
their  purity  did  not  stand  the  climate  outside  of 
their  native  heath,  and  therefore  it  was  advisable 
to  crossbreed  with  the  native  stock  of  England, 
which  was  largely  done  years  ago.  By  a  systematic 
line  of  careful  breeding  a  race  of  wonderful  produc¬ 
ing  animals  has  been  built  up,  which  we  now  recog¬ 
nize  as  “Anglo-Nubians.”  These  last  named  goats 
are  large,  usually  hornless,  and  come  in  a  variety 
of  colors,  brown,  white,  black,  and  a  combination  of 
all  three.  They  have  very  long  drooping  ears,  which 
is  the  chief  characteristic  of  all  the  Oriental  goats. 
GOAT  PRICES. — While,  as  has  been  said,  any  of 
the  improved  breeds  (the  same  as  milk  cows)  are 
good  producers  and  very  economical  to  keep,  yet  at 
the  same  time  the  prices  obtained  for  purebred  stock 
are  almost  prohibitive,  since  but  few  animabs  are  now 
to  be  had  outside  of  the  grade  stock,  which  is  neces¬ 
sarily  the  one  that  concerns  us  most  at  the  present 
time.  A  good  grade  doe,  which  will  give  about  three 
quarts  of  milk  per  day,  and  keep  it  up  for  seven  to 
10  months,  is  worth  around  $50,  and  many  bring 
even  higher  prices.  It  is  a  good  common  doe  that 
The  RURAL.  NEW-YORKER 
will  produce  two  quarts  daily,  but  those  giving  only 
this  amount  are  not  considered  when  building  up¬ 
ward,  since  nearly  all  of  the  improved  animals  give 
more  than  this  amount. 
FOUNDATION  STOCK. — Grade  doe  kids  are  best 
to  buy,  as  these  can  be  had  for  less  money,  and  you 
learn  to  care  for  them  while  they  are  making  devel¬ 
opment.  It  is  the  grade  female  that  the  masses  will 
be  interested  in  for  some  time  to  come,  for  reasons 
before  given,  and  the  prices  must  therefore  remain 
somewhat  high.  There  is  an  advantage  in  this  for 
those  who  are  so  situated  as  to  be  able  to  establish  a 
herd,  and  sell  young  stock  for  milking  pui’poses,  who 
do  not  care  for  the  milk  themselves.  There  is  a  ready 
demand  for  all  the  females  that  can  be  produced  at 
paying  prices,  while  the  buck  kids  make  excellent 
mutton,  and  I  dare  say  most  of  us  have  eaten  this 
fine  meat,  although  perhaps  someone  told  us  it  was 
‘  lamb.”  While  it  may  not  be  generally  known,  it  is 
a  fact  that  a  great  many  goats  are  slaughtered  and 
sold  as  lamb  in  many  markets,  and  they  are  cer¬ 
tainly  of  the  highest  quality  before  they  reach  a  ma¬ 
ture  stage. 
FEEDING  THE  STOCK. — As  brush  destroyers, 
goats  have  no  equal.  The  Angora  goat  is  kept  in 
many  sections  for  this  purpose,  and  while  they  are 
a  vex-y  popular  animal  for  the  mohair  which  they 
produce,  they  are  not  milking  goats,  and  should  not 
be  confounded  with  them.  Milk  goats  are  even  bet¬ 
ter  for  clearing  land  than  any  other  animal,  and 
thrive  on  nearly  every  conceivable  vai’iety  of  plant. 
They  will  not  touch  feed  that  is  contaminated  or  at 
all  musty.  Contrary  to  the  popular  belief,  milk 
goats  are  among  the  most  cleanly  of  all  domestic 
animals,  and  will  starve  before  they  will  partake  of 
foul  foods.  In  our  own  meadows  here  in  the  Adi- 
rondacks,  where  the  brush  had  almost  overpowered 
us,  the  goats  came  to  our  l-escue,  and  along  our  old 
fences,  where  once  grew  tangles  of  vines,  and  stunted 
growths  of  vaiious  sorts,  sapping  the  life  from  the 
borders  of  the  fields,  one  can  now  drive  the  mower 
close  to  the  walls  and  fences,  which  are  as’  clean  as 
the  middle  of  the  fields. 
CLEANING  THE  PASTURES.— After  haying  is 
over  we  turn  the  goats  in,  and  never  have  to  worry 
about  this  extra  labor  of  cutting  all  brush,  which, 
if  not  checked  in  the  bud,  will  soon  grow,  until  ulti¬ 
mately  the  whole  field  is  a  veritable  little  wilder¬ 
ness.  The  old  pastures,  too,  which  were  infested 
with  sage  brush  and  alders  along  the  ravines,  and 
which  shaded  much  of  the  pasture,  to  such  an  extent 
that  little  good  gi’ass  could  gi’ow,  have  now  been 
completely  cleai’ed,  and  in  all  our  fields  whei’e  the 
goats  have  been  allowed  to  run  there  are  no  un¬ 
sightly  places  left  to  choke  out  the  green  grass 
which  always  follows  the  clearing  of  the  land.  Re¬ 
member  that  the  milk  goats  will  do  this  work  in  less 
time,  and  no  expense  to  you;  on  the  other  hand, 
they  will  pay  for  this  privilege,  and  bring  you  dol- 
lars  that  could  not  possibly  be  had  from  any  other 
branch  of  live  stock  husbandry.  willet  rand  ale. 
New  York. 
April  14,  192S 
inside  of  one  tin  gasket  over  and  down  on  the  other, 
which  made  a  good  binding  (see  6.)  That  is  all  the 
binding  that  it  needs,  because  the  inside  is  the  only 
part  of  the  gasket  that  gets  any  pressure.  This  gas¬ 
ket,  of  course,  is  made  something  like  the  Ford  gas¬ 
kets,  but  is  much  easier  to  make.  It  did  not  cost 
much,  and  certainly  solved  a  big  problem  for  us. 
New  Yoi’k.  roy  bigelow. 
Water  the  Hot  Air 
We  have  a  new  school-house  with  two  class-rooms 
a  cloak-room  with  basement,  containing  toilets  with 
automatic  electric  water  system,  and  steam-heating 
plant.  We  find  that  the  air  in  the  class-rooms  is  drier 
than  it  should  be  for  the  most  healthful  conditions. 
We  wondered  if  there  was  not  made  some  device  that 
would  allow  some  steam  to  escape  from  the  radiators 
in  a  noiseless  and  satisfactory  manner,  and  thus  in¬ 
crease  the  moisture  content  of  the  air  in  the  class- 
‘Trant  "ilfe°  MkrW  °‘  “Jr  *“ 
\A/^^7  uob  Puk  pans  of  water  on  the  radiators 
and  let  this  watei’  evaporate?  Wre  practice 
that  in  our  own  house  at  times  with  good  effect. 
There  is  every  reason  why  the  air  inside  a  heated 
bouse  should  contain  the  proper  amount  of  mois¬ 
ture.  Not  only  is  this  necessary  for  health,  but  heat 
and  fuel  are  saved.  Dry  air  will  not  hold  heat  prop¬ 
erly,  for  the  heat  passes  through  it.  The  moisture 
and  the  dust  in  the  air  hold  the  heat— in  the  house 
as  well  as  outdooi’s.  This  has  been  demonstrated 
many  times  by  leaving  pans  or  tubs  containing  water 
about  the  house.  The  slow  evaporation  of  this  water 
moistens  the  air,  and  this  moisture  surely  holds  the 
heat.  It  has  well  been  said  that  in  this  way  watei’ 
will  take  the  place  of  coal  oi*  wood. 
A  Good  Gasket  for  Farm  Engine 
THE  cylinder  gasket  on  gas  engines  sometimes 
causes  more  or  less  trouble  by  blowing  out, 
thus  allowing  water  to  run  into  the  cylinder  and  put¬ 
ting  the  engine  out  of  commission.  We  have  a  13- 
h.p.  gasoline  engine  that  has  troubled  us  that  way  for 
the  last  three  years.  We  use  it  for  filling  silo  and 
Paper. . . J  ■  - 
Pin.' 
a. 
Diagram  of  Gasket.  Fig.  218 
!  i  f 
f  r 
thrashing.  A  gasket  made  of  white  asbestos  paper 
with  heavy  wrapping  paper  each  side,  and  put  on 
with  shellac,  will  work  well  on  many  engines,  but  on 
this  one  of  ours  it  would  last  only  about  three  or 
foui’  days,  then  blow  out  and  cause  a  delay  in  our 
job.  At  last  I  made  a  gasket  that  held,  and  not  only 
that,  but  the  cylinder  head  can  be  l’emoved  without 
spoiling  it,  which  saves  some  time  when  overhauling. 
I  bought  a  sheet  of  tin,  the  thin  kind,  which  is 
very  light  and  easily  bent,  and  cut  a  gasket  out  of 
it,  the  same  as  the  old  one  for  the  cylinder  head  (see 
Fig.  218)  with  the  exception  of  having  the  inside 
of  circle  a  little  larger  (see  a  Fig.  21S).  Then  I  cut 
another  one  the  same  as  first,  only  leaving  enough 
tin  inside  to  bend  over,  after  which  I  cut  a  third 
gasket  out  of  the  white  asbestos  paper  to  place  be¬ 
tween  these  two  layers  of  tin.  I  placed  them  to¬ 
gether.  the  paper  gasket  in  the  middle,  and  bent  the 
When  You  Buy  Land,  Know  It 
We  are  on  the  market  to  buy  a  farm.  We  have  seen 
several  and  gone  to  a  big  expense,  but  so  far  we  have 
not  got  what  we  want.  We  looked  over  one  farm  that 
\v®  o  „ed,  and  we  were  to  pay  a  deposit  a  couple  of 
days, after  "i6  *saw  ,PIace  ;  but  when  we  got  home 
ne  haPP“ed  to  read  The  R.  N.-Y.,  and  our  next 
(nought  from  an  article  in  thei’e  was  regardful  the 
people  who  have  lost  their  life  savings  by  being  hasty 
Never  having  had  any  experience  with  farming,  we 
decided  to  send  an  expert  to  see  this  farm,  so  went  over 
fn,.aimSlety  that  heLps  Pe°P]e  iu  gening  what  they  should 
t°i  their  money.  So  instead  of  bringing1  a  deposit  we 
a  ^tter  to  the  agent  that  was  to'  sell  us  this  farm, 
stating  that  we  were  going  to  send  an  expert  to  see  it 
lie  sent  us  an  answer  highly  indignant,  stating  that  he 
was  the  expert,  and  if  we  sent  anybody,  the  owner 
uould  sic  dogs  at  the  party.  When  this  friend  was  in 
(he  vicinity  he  went  over  to  see  this  agent.  Our  friend 
wanted  to  see  the  place,  but  agent  would  not  show  it 
blia;  .  ^  hat  could  have  been  wrong  with  this  place? 
Everything  looked  good  to  us,  buildings  and  all  but 
trouble  If  tbc  srouad-  That  »  "'“'f 
New  York.  M’  z’ 
^■011  are  justified  in  wanting  to  know  all  about 
that  fai’in  befoi’e  buying  it.  If  mox’e  people 
m  ould  act  in  that  way  there  would  be  fewer  farm 
tragedies  to  report.  It  is  a  favorite  trick  of  some 
agents  and  owners  to  sell  worthless  farms  on  con¬ 
tract.  They  take  all  the  money  they  can  get  from 
the  buyer,  and  tie  him  up  in  such  a  way  that  if  he 
fails  to  make  payments  he  loses  all  he  has  put  in. 
►Some  farms  have  been  sold  half  a  dozen  times  in 
that  way.  It  is  an  infei’ual  scheme — common  high¬ 
way  robbei-y  being  a  game  of  tag  compax-ed  with  it. 
In  most  cases  the  land  on  such  a  farm  is  woi’thless ; 
xocky  or  leacliy,  ox*  exhausted  by  long  cropping. 
The  trick  is  to  keep  the  buildings  up  in  good  shape. 
This  attracts  the  buyei’,  who  usually  knows  nothing 
about  the  land.  There  have  been  cases  where  big 
cornstalks  have  been  taken  from  rich  land  and  put 
in  the  barn  as  “a  sample  of  what  the  soil  will  do,” 
v  hen  in  l’eality  the  thin  land  could  hai’dly  produce 
a  stalk  as  lai’ge  as  youi*  thumb.  No  man  unfamiliar 
with  farming  should  ever  buy  such  a  fai*m  without 
lia\  ing  a  good  fanner  oi*  some  expert  go  and  exam¬ 
ine  the  soil.  Such  a  man  with  shovel  and  pick,  dig¬ 
ging  here  and  there,  can  make  a  fair  estimate  as  to 
the  value  of  the  soil.  At  any  rate  he  can  tell  wheth¬ 
er  the  land  will  produce  crops.  No  inexperienced 
back-to-the-lander  should  evei’  buy  thin  and  leachy 
land.  An  experienced  man  with  good  capital  can 
often  build  such  soils  up  and  make  them  productive, 
but  such  a  course  would  spell  absolute  ruin  to  a 
back-to-the-lander  who  is  short  of  money,  lacking  in 
experience,  and  who  must  pay  intei’est  and  living 
out  of  the  land.  The  chances  ai’e  that  this  agent 
knew  that  any  “expert”  would  see  at  a  glance  that 
this  soil  could  not  support  a  family.  Our  friend  has 
saved  his  money.  Let  him,  (and  others)  take  the 
lesson  to  heart. 
The  Health  Depai’tment  of  New  York  City  has  taken 
off  that  embargo  on  live  rabbits  which  we  have  men¬ 
tioned  several  times.  It  was  a  hardship  to  many  ship¬ 
pers. 
f  i  -'H  :* 
\  \  \ 
V  r» 
\\  » 
