Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1858-12-24
THE CASHMERE GOaT.

THE CASHMERE GOAT.
Cashmere ShawIs--Their Praduetion ana
COst--The Passion for shaFis.
We 10 iced few days sisoe, in one Of our Ea st.
era exchanges under the head ot - new article Of
American mauuisstures,n thss the manufacture
/ Of The fleece from The Cashmere Goa, Of Auerican
| produce has been accomplished au1 is nov being
u-ed in Opera Cssks Of tho mos. costiy We that
II is esplhle Of reeeiTOg the most vsid as sell as
The most deiicse tDcs, sad that 10 doubJs are IN
tertaned vita regard 70 the pTcduciioE oG neg and
beautiful designs fIom The fabric Of so ssf Hr Qa,
and shining m8terial. The value ofsueh product
viii be readily conceived from the fact thai sinEi
pair Of tassCls from Tie slSery fleece weighing but
! a few ounces, command 10 the markei from ten 70
/ twelve dollars.-Gql Ezqnliscr
SAGsPss LeRaon Magazine copies the following ar
iiele from contemporary Journal, with the remark
that it cOntains the pleasant iaformstOn that fhe
the Cashmere Goat has been introduced into Ame
Fiea." -nr
at is not, as yet, generally known, that the Thi
bet goat, from whose wool the famous Cashmerr
shaEls are made has been i1iroduced successful y
| into The United States. This enLsrpTisipg under
tiking vas achieved few years since, affer many
difficulties, b. Dr. J. B. Davis, Of Columbis, South
! Carolina, at that time employed By the Ottoman
Porte ia experimenting on the growth Of eotton 10
the Sultan's dominions. DR.. Davis succeeded, a.
vast expense, in securing eleven Of tho pure breed
which. on his way home he exhibited 10 London
5 d Paris Since that peTiOi the goat has been in
oduced from South Carolina into Tennessee, where
/ is said 10 thrive. The value Of q h4ek may be
estimsied from the fact that no real Thibet goa
has ever been sold for less than thousand dollars.
This enormous price moreover Is not speculative
one for no heeced animal has wool of such hneDesss
sOftRess, aud durability The wool Of all the Thi
bet goats in Tennessee. for example, has been en-
gagged at New York this year st eight dollars and
half per pound the purchasers designing 40 send
it to Paisley lin seoilandl in order 10 be manRfae
tured into shsEls-"
From time remote beyond conception, remarks
Shapes Aqga@ias, tbe sheep Of Cashmere have been
cherished on their hills and The goats Of Thibet on
their plains, and the csmels Of Tartary on the
steppss, to furnish materials for their choicest
] shsWls.
Fhe Cashmere Goat, uobler species Of The com
I uon goat, is descended from the goat Of Tibet,
which pastures on the Himalaya The climate in
Thibet is aubieet to sudden changes There islitle
rain bat much STOW, the cold in winter is below
the freezing point. Thibst is stuatedat the north
ern descent of the Himslaya Mountains, and Cash
mere at the southern; hence the latter is little
warmer than Thibet.
In Tablet the goat is domestic animal Tie
Hub AltoheA hGEF bAetulea l0e l1fOI4tt
food of these animals is buds, aromatic plants, rue
and heath. The people Of Thibst give their goats
at least once a week, some salt, which has always
| proved useful accompaniment to the customary
food Of these animals II they are transferred from
their cold, mountainous abode into warmer coun-
try, the nstural consequence follows that The wool
becomes inferior in quantity and frmness. L grows,
also, very slowly in the warm parts Of the year and
more vigorously as the cold season approaches.
The colder the region where the animal pastures,
the heavier is its fleece. Proper food and careful
lending increase the ineness Of the wool Year
lngs as is the case with MerlnO sheep, afford ibe
finest wool \ full-groWn goat yields not more than
eight ounces The goats which pasture IN the high
est wales of Thibet have a bright Ochre color In
| lower grounds the color becomes OF yeloEish
white and, still further dOwuWards, entirely white
The highest mountains Of the Himalaya inhabitabls
| By mau, contain also kind Of goats with black
wool, which, in India, and in the Mountainous cOun-
tries Of the goats, obtains the highest price, as
material for shavls.
Since 1920, this species Of goat has been intro>
dueed into France, and succeeds very well. A cor
| siderable number have also been hrought to Epg-
lsud, and kept with advantage In 1923, 3 Mr.
Tower obtained from the Society Of Arts in London
their large medal for having produced goats hair
shawl equal to those Of Cashmere, though both .he
growth and manufacture Of EngIand Mr. Towers
goats did not feed upon the rich pastures or relish
the vegetation Of the ordinary grazing ground The
| dry common wss their hvoriie resort; and their
most common food was furze; The pricEly shoots Of
which they pre- erred to every other vegetable.
The goats of Tbi5et and Cashmere have the hne
eurled wool close to the skin just as the underbar
Of our common goat lies below the coarse or upper
hair The wool is shoru in the spring, shortly be-
fore the wsrm season, the time when tbs animal, in
its natural state seeks thorns and hedges il order
to fire itself from he burden Of its warm eoveriog
and it is possible that the fact OF its being perfectly
ripeued on the back Of the animal may contribute
its superior strength. All the hard and long hairs
/ are picked out most carefully. The WOOL thus puri-
fed, is first washed in warm solution Of potash, a0d
afterEards in cold water, in which process fslLinE
must be carefully avoided It then blsaohed upon
the grass to obtain perfect whilensss and cardsd
for spinuing.
| The shawl>WOOl, however, is three times dyed
bsfors cardDg, after spinning, and in he wool, aad
thus do the natives Of India obtain those bright dyes
which are the despair Of our science and art. The
Asisies avoid spinning the WOOL hard in order iha
the shawl nay be soh shawl Of the finest eual
ity requires Eve pounds Of the wool one Of inferior
quality, from three to four pounds
The genuine Oriental Cashmere shaFls al come
srOm Asia, and are manufactured Of the wool Of
the Cashmere goat, and command almost fabulous
prices. Some Of the shaWls from Bokbsra sell, in
the market the Russisn frontier for two thousand
four hundred pounds each. Even in India il is BY
no means unusual for rajah to pay ten thousand
rupees 1--WE thousand dOlsIs) for one Of tbe finest
Of these Produetions and which, in all probability,
will have cost the labor Of whole family for life
time. The following remarks Of contemporary
writer refer to the dealers in Cashmere shawls:
'The persons who, in our own country. and Al the
present day. purchase Worsied or wooden goods IN
der the denomination Of Cashmares, are or oa hl 4
be aware that such goods are Csshmerian only n
nams. real Cashnera shawl, made b theinhah.
taats Of that Indian valley from tks Ecsl of pss1-
, 1----z-A t,-A-ta-a.- - r.-e-sa at--- - 80