Connecticut western news., 1886-04-07
A GOAT FARM
A wonan's Venture which
 has Proved Profitable.
Raising Angora Goats and Selling Their Wool at One Dollar Pound.

Wool at One Dollar Pound.
 l A Nyack, (N. Y.,) letter to the New | York Times, says: Three miles from this village, near the Hudson River, is an | Angora goat farm, which from it's nov l. | ty attracts much attention hereabout It is looked upon as something in the ma | turc of a farmers freak, like the raising of bees or silkworms. Goats browse and goats prosper on this farm on the heights that border Rockland Lake as readily as they do on the rocks about Shantytown, in New York City. But they arc a,tlitfer- ent breed of goats, more aristocratic than their city relatives as to wool, more epic urean in their tastes, and more blue | blooded as to ancestry. The herd in this somewhat novel farm just now num- bers 75, varying in age from the tiny ob- 1 ject of three months which looks like a cross between a dog, a rabbit. and a lady's powder puff, to the handsome pa triarch of the flock, magnificent speci men of the pure Angora breed, with im- mense curling horns This handsome old fellow with his wife were imported by Dr. Agnew, the famous oculist of New York, from Asia Minor, and the impor tation cost him a heap of money as the price of goats goes. Their present own CT is the good woman who now runs tn | ,h~ <f canting on the good qualities of her pets. They know her voice, and answer to their names when she calls them. Kind and gentle they appear when visitors are about, but the fondness for fighting, as characteristic of goats as it is of native of Tipperary, crops out when the herd is together and apparently out of sight of mankind.
 A strange fact noticed in the breeding of these animals is that the females do not thrive in this locality as we'll as the male. The hardy female goat of the or dinary species was introduced into this flock for experimental breeding purposes, and with marked success. Repeated crossing with the.common goat and her offspring has produced apparently pure Angora goats, the tendency being in all cases for the kids to revert in the texture of their wool toward the male side. As consequence the third generation has all the appearance of its distinguished an- cestry. and in the fourth generation even the best experts cannot tell the pure blooded from the grade Angora. This fact Is matter of considerable interest to breeders of goats, as an Angora buck cost $1OO or over, while the common goat can be had almost for the asking The fecundity of the Angora is not so great as that of the common goat, the Angora eve giving birth to but one kid yearly.
 As source of profit the goats have turned out well. The wool is from four to six inches in length, silky, and of beautiful texture. A full grown animal will yield four pounds of wool, which will readily sell at $1 per pound. Just now the demand for this wool is not par ticularly lively, as the lustrous dress ot fabric into which it was at one time largely converted is out of vogue with fashionable ladies. It is therefore used almost exclusively in the manufacture oi plush for upholstery purposes. Wher the kid is months old it's hide, un- dressed, is worth $3, and will sell readi ly for that amount to glove manufacture CTS. Kids on the farm in question meet with sudden death on that account al about that age with considerable regular ity. When it is necessary to kill then the good lady has them chloroformed SC that she may not hear the death cries O her little pets. The milk of the goat i
 much sought after by dyspeptics, by per sons suffering from pulmonary troubles and by otherwise delicate persons, and it
 brings much greater price than COWS
 milk. As to their use for food little cal be said, because the goat does not flesl
 up well, but the kid, when killed young
 furnishes fair amount of tender mea which some people like. It will neve become great delicacy in the market, o
 be in sufficient demand to become
 source of income to the goat raiser
 There is nothing in the world so cheap t
 raise as goats, because they will find am : pie food in lots up here where other ani , mals would starve to death. Acorns ar favorite article of food with them, an s as these abound in the woods the cost fc l Winter fodder is mainly confined to tn ? trouble of gathering the acorns.