The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1888-01-21
ANGORA GOATS IN FLORIDA.
The Prof, In Them-Ho~ a Stock May be Had.

the Front IN Item-how STOCK MAY De rad
Florida Dispatch,
In reply TO quite a number of inquiries
about the Angora goat, l will give what
little information four years of exper-
ience has given me.
First, the Angora goat is a native Of
Asia Minor, and was imported TO tho
United States some years ago by an en-
terprising gentleman Of California. And
from that they have scattered pretty
well all over the United States. There
are several extensive ranches i'm Texas,
New Mexico and Colorado They are
not as large as the Cashmere, Maltese
aud some other breeds; nor is the wool
as long as Cashmere, but il is much
finer and more valuable. The wool sells
for from So cents TO $l.l0 per
pound, and il spun into thread
from which the finest socks are knit.
They are soft and comfortable to the
feet and wear longer than sleeps wool
socks, and are worth from one to two
dollars per pair. The Mexicans often
make saddle girths of the wool which
they sell for from five dollars to seven
dollars per pair; also, brides and halt
ers are made by them of Angora wool,
which sell readily at twelve dollars 10
fifteen dollars each.
The hides of the Angora, when dressed
with the wool left on, are worth five dol
lars to seven dollars; ard in New York
they are sod for twelve dollars each.
These prices are first-class hides. They
are also used for mats, and when dyed
they make very beautiful ones, which
sell very high. And when they are
tanned they make fine leather, which is
very durable and also quite valuable.
They are much finer mutton than sheep,
and very much better than the common
goat: but they are like all goats that i
ever saw about dying. They make
terrible fuss when You start the butcher
business among them. We have owned
the common goat, some years later we
had considerable experience with sheep,
some 800 to 900 head; also some consid-
cradle experience with cattle all in Tex
as, though-but we are satisfied that
goats are the 0best stock OF three above
named. First, because they can live
and do well where sheep and cattle
would starve; for the goat goes best on
bushes, briars and herbs, things that the
others eat but sparingly of. So you can
have cattle and sheep on the same range
with the goat, and the goat will be an
advantage to the range, for they will
keep down the underground so that the
grasses can thrive and do well. Put
them in thick, bushy woods and they
will soon have them opened much better
than our usual forest fires do, and with
out injury to the land. which always at
tends the firing of our forests. The sec
ond reason IL. the goat Is a great lover
of home il treated well. Build them a
shed and there viii he no trouble, they
will go off in the morning and be sure
to be home by the middle of the after.
noon and at the first warning peel Of
thunder, they start for their house. They
seldom ever get separated on the range;
if they do, they all come in together at
night. That alone saves the owner
great amount of trouble and expense
that he has TO undergo In she y raising:
then by always being at home at nights,
they are a great source of profit TO the
owner i'm the way Of fertilizer. My goats
(200) will make one acre OF land each
month az ch ar ! want IL, and that in
Florida find no small item.
Some people seem to think the name
goat is enough; that all kinds of mean
ness u to be expected, wherever they are
to he found. Ny goats are not mischiev-
Gus, they do not bother my neighbors
nor myself. A three and a half to four
foot fence IL sufficient To turn them; they
do not climb or bother In any way.
Don't think that l want to sell, for I do
not have had the chance to sell twice
the number that have since / got to
Florida. i drove them from Texas to
Florida last winter, over eight hundred
miles in the dead of winter; then one
hundred and thirty-six miles on steam
boat To New Orleans, then by rail to
Gainesville. Fla, then by fiat-foot con-
veyance To Citrus County, Fla. i would
make the same trip over sooner than be
without my goats. They are doing
fairly well now and i think will do bet
ter in another year. as they will then he
acclimated.
Now let me say to ali that want to
start into the goat raising business, get
| you some common nannies and fine
male, or as many as you need. and cross
them mp. You will find that with small
capital you can do best in that way. In
four years you will have goats that are
quite as fine as you can buy from great
many dealers that advertise to sell thor
oughbred stock, and by that means you
can get you a snail fiock TO start with
which is best. because they will go oui
on a range better than two or three will,