25 
American Agriculturist, July 12, 1924 
Are Goats Profitable? 
And an Opinion on the TB Question 
M ANY questions come up for advice 
on how to start in with milk goats, 
whether it is a profitable business and 
so on. 
Any one wishing to start in the venture 
should subscribe for the “Goat World” 
and obtain all literature possible on milk 
goats and acquaint himself somewhat 
with the business before he starts in if 
possible, unless he has to start like I did 
with one plain goat. 
In the East it makes a good sideline 
with farming, especially where the land is 
rough or in need of being cleared of 
brush. Unfortunately, like any other 
farm enterprise, it is no get-rich-quick 
business, but it can be made to pay, and 
of course the animals will respond to good 
care as would cows. 
It is slower to begin with native or 
grade stock than with purebreds; how¬ 
ever, you are gaining experience all the 
time with less expensive material, but one 
point I would emphasize is to always use 
a purebred sire. - 
Be Sure of Market 
If one wants to keep goats and sell 
milk they must be in a reasonable dis¬ 
tance for manner of distributing to a city 
or sanitarium. Before undertaking such 
a venture I would advise getting in touch 
with physicians in such places to ascertain 
what the demand would be, as the milk is 
used largely for infant and invalid feeding. 
Personally I can not say how this would 
work out; I have had some inquiries for 
milk, but am not near enough to any city 
to make it a profitable venture, but there 
are many goat dairies in the West. Peo¬ 
ple in the eastern States are just waking 
up to the value of goats’ milk in the past 
few years, although the foreigners here 
could tell us its virtues, as in many foreign 
countries the goat is the dairy animal, 
and in some of these countries the herd 
is driven from door to door and milked for 
the customers. 
I prefer breeding goats for sale, and the 
sales have been largely to people wanting 
milk for babies and children and at sum¬ 
mer camps. The demand for castrated 
grade bucks for drivers is so small we do 
not bother with them, selling them for 
“roasters” when a few weeks old. To 
market stock we advertise in the “Goat 
World,” reliable farm papers, and locals. 
Easily Shipped 
It is a small task to ship goats by ex¬ 
press. The crates can be easily made from 
light material and when shipping in cold 
weather covered with burlap to keep out 
drafts. We find they don’t get milked 
en route, however, and many a fine doe 
has had her udder injured during trans¬ 
portation. So a fresh doe should have 
kids shipped with her to be shipped later 
in the lactation period. I have never had 
trouble disposing of stock and have 
shipped to several different States. I 
have received requests from many parts 
in the United States that I have had to 
refuse. 
Success in any business depends upon 
what you put in it of cash and energy. 
It is a business you can not go to your 
neighbors for advice—you have to learn 
from experience and reading or seek 
advice from those who have been in the 
business. 
In figuring the cost of keeping a herd of 
goats the comparison figured by breeders 
is that as an average eight goats can be 
kept for the cost of keeping one cow.— 
F. B„ New York. 
T B Develops in Damp Weather 
T the Ayrshire show in Boston, your 
representative handed me a copy of 
your magazine and I was much interested 
in an article “How Shall We Control 
TB?” From that article I drew the con¬ 
clusion that eradication of tubercular 
animals will result in an endless amount 
of money being expended unless con¬ 
certed action be taken to find the cause 
of tuberculosis in animals. 
Is this possible or not? I have been an 
inspector of foods for years and when 
younger served for U. S. Government on 
bench, in one of the largest slaughter 
houses where thousands of animals were 
killed daily. It was my duty to detect 
and mark diseased animals, so I became 
interested in the course or manner in 
which disease invades the animal system. 
I noticed the following facts: Between 
May and September very few animals 
were infected, possibly as low as 3 or 4 
per cent., and those which were, were only 
slightly stricken in the more exposed por¬ 
tion of the animal’s body, the submaxil¬ 
lary gland. When the frost and damp¬ 
ness came around the percentage of those 
infected increased greatly, as high as 40 
per hundred in some lots killed. About 
80 per cent, of these, if not more, were 
infected primarily in the submaxillary 
gland. This infection appeared as a 
minute caseation, the size of a millet seed. 
It seems to me, that what first is neces¬ 
sary, is to find out what causes this gran¬ 
ular substance to appear and then to find 
out what will dissolve it. If allowed to 
remain in the gland it appears to irritate 
it and causes suppuration, disintegration 
and spread of infection. 
To study this matter further,- Jet us 
consider the following: fowls are subject 
to tuberculosis and their produce, an egg, 
by incubation will develop into a live 
body. This egg has an oily outer coating, 
a shell, two inner membranes, a white, 
yolk and nucleus, thus resembling animal 
structure. I think it is fair to assume 
that, whatever affects an egg, likewise 
may affect animal structures. 
A round fertile egg may be kept from 
April to January in cold, dry storage; 
during the hot, moist days of August and 
the shell slightly broken, within two days 
it will become totally decomposed and is 
known as a “black rot” owing to its being 
attached or invaded by a fungus micro¬ 
organism. 
(Continued on 'page SO) 
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What’s Wrong 'with this Picture? 
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