The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1886-07-23
RURAE ECON0Is
The Attempts Being Made to
1:sterest People in Breeding
and Keeping Goats.
Tho Success that Has Attended Agri-
cultural Settlements Founded
by Colonies.
Goats Popular.

A strong effort is being made in Eng
land to render the keeping of goat.
popular. Several years ago soc;et,
was formed for importing and breeding
choice goats and for publishing and
distributing information in respect to
them. This enterprise has been pro.
noted by Lady Burdett- Coutts, who
has spared no pains to render it a sue.
cess. She became convinced while
travelling in Algeria and Asiatic Turkey
OF the great value of the goat to the
people of these and other countries in
Asia and Africa, and determined to do
what she could to make the animal
popular and useful in the British is.
lands. She obtained the finest speci.
mems OF milking goats obtainable in all
the countries where they are kept for
the purpose of supplying milk, and
bred them on her estate in England.
She also obtained at large expense MI
bian, Ahgora, and Cashmere goats. all
of which produce silky hair, which is
manufactured into cloth and used for
various ornamental purposes. Her in
tention in doing so was TO ascertain If
they would be healthy in England, and
il they would continue to produce as
fine flceces as they did in the countries
from which they were obtained Hay-
ing apparently demonstrated these facts.
She set to work to render at-keepino
popular in England. 1t was her opine-
ion that nearly every family of cot
tagers could keep few goats that
would supply them with milk during
the year, thus saving the money that
was paid out to dealers. Observation
had convinced her that goat could be
kept on the refuse of the table and the
vegetation produced in gardens of
which little use was commonly made.
The kids, she thought, would be OF
considerable value in supplying meat
for the family. In short, she believed
that goat would be Il very fair substi-
tute for COW, while il could he kept
for much less.
The last annual meeting of the
British Goat society was held during
the second week in the present month
at the Aquarium at Westminster. The
exhibition was an attractive one, and
brought together a large number of
people, including many of the mobility
and gentry" Specimens of all the
domesticated varieties of the goat
family were on exhibition. One goat,
MIXED in the presence of the visitors,
yielded half a gallon of rich milk,
which was pronounced to be equal to
that drawn from a Jersey or Attorney
COW. Several specimens of butter and
cheese made from goats milk were also
on exhibition. Several bcaut ful
trained goats drew baby carriages
about the exhibition building. Some
magnificent goats from Nubia and the
Cape OF Good Hope attracted much at
!cntion by their longl aud silky hair,
II is claimed that the Nubian yoat, if
properly fed, will give gallon of milk
per day during eight or ten months of
the year, The show was regarded as a
great success. Still il is doubtful if tho
society will succeed in making goats
popular animals in the British islands.
The hardest things to remove from the
human mind are prejudice and
Ignorance. The English race is preiu-
diced against the goat and the mule,
and no amount of argument or informa-
ton will make them hold these useful
animals III high esteem. they will
drink goats milk and praise it ii they
90 not know what il is, They admire
cheese made Of the milk of the goat till
they are informed that COWS are not
kept in the district where it was manu-
featured. Every cpicurc is delighted
with the flesh of the kid that is dcsle-
natcd as ''venison'' on the bill OF fare.
but he would probably refuse it or call
i ahominable if il is pallad by iia tue
name. Many of the gamc-dcalers in
London, ii is said, aall large quantities
Of kid for yonison every year, and their
patrons alever discover that they have
been imposed upon.
Very many good. and only few bad,
things can be said of the goat. Its
milk is not only more nutritious but
more easy of digestion than that of the
COW. 1T is employed in the manufac-
turc of many of the finest kinds of
rleeeo. The flesh of the young animal
is esteemed as q dclicacy.' fine skin OF
The goat and kid make tie finest leather
known and is almost Invaluable for
making glayes and faney articles. The
horns are of value for making knife
handles. The tallow makes excellent
candles. In many countries goats are
10 high fayQr us ppts fer Children, and
many of Thorn are used for drawing
carts. Tho most costly cloth in tho
world is made Of tho hair OF tho goat.
Goats will not only live but become
quite fat in places where almost every
other kind of domesticatcd animal will
starve. They will eat vegetation that
is rejected by Che mule and sheep.
They will climb rocks and pirecipices
that men cannot ascend. They will
endure being deprived of water longer
than camcls. For these aud other rea-
sons goats are kept in very large num-
bers in all the dricr portions of Asia
and Africa. 1t is mistake, however,
to presume that the goat will not do
well except in countries having warm
climate. Goats aspa.ently thrive as
well in Greenland and Iceland as in
Arabia and Tunis. They will endure
almost any degree of heat or cold.
Goats rarely ever have any protection
whether kept in the torrid or the tem-
pcrate zone. The goat is the most pro-
life of all the domesticated animals ex-
cept the pig. Goats have been known
to breed when only aJear old, and they
produce Young twice in IA
year. Some varieties of goats ordin-
arily produce twins or tripicts, and in
stances aye on record OF their producing
four kidsset a birth. But few goats are
VICIOUS. As r rule they are afIectionate
in their disposition and very fond OF the
persons.who have charge of them.
Still the number of goats in England
has been steadily decreasing for more
than n century. "a considerable num-
Der are kept in The mountain regions
of Ireland and Wales, but as rule
they are not bred by persons who have
tho means to own cattle and have
places where they can pasture them.
Many attempts have been made TO
popnlarize goaf-raising in this country,