1 Jay., 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 29 
been in-bred ; but bad milkers and poor mothers are to be found among all 
breeds and classes of pigs, and require to be looked after in selecting breeders, 
and to be ruthlessly weeded out if the discovery of their imperfections is delayed 
until a litter of pigs has been spoiled or starved. In a general way, when 
engaged in breeding ordinary stock no second chance should be given a sow 
that has proved herself unable to bring up her pigs in a thoroughly satisfactory . 
manner. There may be some hesitation in sacrificing a pedigree animal that 
has cost a lot of money, but if she does not look like a good suckler, or if she 
fails at a second try, she should at once be fatted for the butcher. She may 
have excellent points in other ways, but they cannot compensate for the loss 
which results from the dying off of half or perhaps three-fourths of each farrow. 
It is also advisable, at least where the progeny is to be kept to strengthen the 
herd, to select boars from dams which show thorough maternal capacity. 
ANGORA GOATS. 
We have persistently advocated the introduction of pure Angora goats into 
Queensland, and we have clearly shown that the mohair industry is a paying 
one, independently of the matter of goat skins and goat flesh. We are glad to 
see that Oowntry Life takes up the question, and we take from that journal the 
following excellent article on the subject, a portion of which relating to the 
Kilkivan herd has already appeared in this Journal :— ‘ 
Many people have been struck by the large number of goats to be seen in 
the townships along the Central Railway line, and at Dalby and Roma, and of 
late we have been besieged with inquiries as to whether grade Angoras could 
not be introduced in the place of these flocks. Without much care or attention 
Angoras give a better mutton, and yield a mohair which finds a very ready sale 
indeed. ‘The mountainous areas of Queensland, the rough country which is 
not suitable for other stock, and especially the arid Western lands, would be 
very suitable for raising Angoras. The old saying, ‘A. goat will live where a 
sheep will starve,” is very true The goat is very hardy, a rough feeder, and 
the Angora is in no way inferior in constitution or in the capacity to live upon 
hard fare than the common types. 
On timber country, overgrown more or less with gum and other members 
of the Eucalyptus tribe, it would take 3 acres to carry a sheep and grow a 
fleece, the return being 49d. (7 lb. at 7d. per lb.) In similar country the 
Angora will do well at one to the acre, returning 4 lb. of wool worth 12d., or, 
say, 48d. Three acres, therefore, return 144d. with Angora goats, as against 
49d. with sheep. 
In Australia the mohair industry has never been taken up seriously. Sheep, 
cattle, and horses have had nearly all the attention, and Australians are very 
conservative in stock matters. The first importation of Angoras was in 1833, 
by a Mr. A. Riley, who ran them at Raby, New South Wales; at Canterbury 
Park, near Sydney, there was a flock;. Mr. J. Black, at Muswellbrook, had a 
flock of pure and cross breds, and Mr. Keys had a fine flock which ultimately 
went to ubbo district. The export of mohair from New South Wales in 1899 
was 200 Ib. In the Singleton district the Messrs. Blaxland have bred up twenty 
pure stock Angoras, and seem inclined to persevere in the industry. 
In Victoria, in 1856, the Zoological Society of Victoria secured seven pure 
Angoras from Asia Minor, and other small importations took place up to 1866, 
when 105 were received from Broussa, in Asia Minor. With the view of 
encouraging the mohair industry, the purebred stock were distributed through 
the country, but so far no export of mohair is noted. 
As regards South Australia, the following from the Adelaide Observer of 
Ist June, 1898, will be of interest:—At Adelaide sheep market on Friday 
week Messrs. Elder, Smith, and Co. offered for sale, on account of the 
executors of the estate of the late Mr. Price Maurice, the famous Castambul 
