The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-02-28
9be Farml.
The Angora Goat.
BY JOSEPH PHILLIPS, OF NASH
VILE. TENN.

was made BY DR.. Dayie, of South
Carolina about twenty-three years
ago. The prices obtained for these
and their Immediate offspring, were
enormous; the bucks brought from
$1,000 to 81, 800, the females from
$500 to 500. The late civil war
paralyzed the interest in stock
breeding of all kinds, and partlcu-
larly of the Angora goat, as most
If not all of these animals were
owned in the Southern States.
Numerous importations have been
made in the last twelve years, the
larger portion coming to the Pacl-
tic Slope, where the rearing of An
goras is assuming proportions IN
harmony with the magnitude OF all
enterprises in that wonderful coun-
try.
The intrinsic value of the Ango-
IA consists in its feeces of mohair,
which hangs in long silken ring
lets over the entire body, giving
the animal a graceful and symme-
trical beauty possessed by no ether
domestic animal. The fleece is
shed annually in aspiring, unless pre-
viously clipped.
The proper time to clip the
fleece is in early spring before she'd
ding commences, and after the pc
riod of raw wintry weather. The
mode and manner of shearing
is the same as that of sheep.
The fleece looses in value when
it begines to shed, caused by felt
ing of the fibres and loss of lustre
and softness consequent to a want
of vitality if permitted to mature
and be thrown off as dead hair by
the natural functions of the capil-
larry glands.
From the fifth to the tenth of
March in the latitude of South
Carolina, Mississippi, and Texas,
and from the first to the fifth of
April in Virginia, Tennessee and
Kentucky, are the approximate pc
riods for clipping.
Care should be exercised after the
animals are shorn to protect against
bleak winds, cold rains and
chilling weather. Unless the
weath-r is fair and mild the flock
should be confined for a week or
ten days after shearing to accus-
tom them to the loss of their win
ter coat, guarding againt yer
c~rowding in the same enclosure.
The goat, more than any other an
imal, demands the freedom of space
and thorough ventilation.
Until the adoption of machinery
in the last few years by several mills
In the Eastern States suitable for
carding and weaving mohair into
textile goods, the entire clip of the
United States was absorbed for ex-
portation to Europe and England.
Since the creation of a home de-
mand for mohair, the competition
naturally arising between domestic
and foreign manufacturers has
been productive of an enhanced
value, and brings in the New York
market from fifty cents to $1,25
per pound, depending On length,
fneness and l~ustre; the first price
representing the clip from low
grades, the latter of the full bloods
and pure-breds.
The Angora by physical constitu-
ton and natural taste, is best suit
ed to high, dry, rocky attitudes,
and delights in browsing on the
scant vegetation usual in such To-
calities, like briers, dwarf bushes,
MOSES and lichens, When these
are accessible the goat will reject
the richest grasses, and owing to
this peculiar and eccentrictaste is
Invaluable aid on any farm infes-
ted with buckle-bushes and under
growth prejudicial to improved
garsses. They can subsist for q
long time without water, and this
characteristic fits them for large
areas of territory in the West sub
Ject to annual visitation of drouth.
The Angora hybridizes with re-
markable facility with the native
American goat, and after SIX
crosses of the pure Angora on the
native is visible. The elimination
OF the native strain is so complete
that no expert can distinguish the
full blood on high grade from the
pure Angora. The first cross Of
the pure Angora on the native pro.
duces the half breed, the second
three-fourths, the third seven.
Fights, the fourth ffteen-sixteenths
the fifth thirty-one thirty-seconds
the sixth sixty-three sixty-fourtt
Angora. The continued use o.
the pure Angora on these higl
grades or full blood is so minute AZ
to establish a perfect identity o
type in the high grade. ct will b.
borne in mind that grade are syn