Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-08-04
NAMES GoAr.eRow,ne COMPANY.
Reports 81 Z New Industry Expected % PAY
Better Than Sheep Raising.

! The following from the New York
Sun regarding goat raising in Maine
| will doubtless be read with interest and
| pleasure:
Lee, Me-. July 27.-The long promised
| experiment Of raising goats upon the
| newly cut but uncleared lands of
| northern Maine is about to be made
and Major Charles j. House of Angus
ta the president of the goat company,
| and promoter of the enterprise. is here
securing leases of wild land and hiring
goat herders.
According to Major Houses theory
there is more money in goats than in
sheep. A sheep is doing well ii she
raises one lamb in year and brings
it up to salable age. goat brings
forth young twice in year, producing
two or three at birth. and can be
relied upon to rear three young ones
every season Since the price of wool
went down the pelt of fat kid is worth
as much as lambs skin with the wool
on it, while the meat of young goat
is fully as good to eat as that of lamb.
Sheep are subject to many diseases, the
fiocks are constantly raided by dogs
and wild animals. and the farmer who
would grow sheep for profit must build
barns, buy provender. and make
great outlay for hay. Goats are hardy,
cropping the sprouts from stumps in
the clearing, eating coarse hay, and
enduring all kinds of weather without
harm. The billy goats in a flock are
able to keep the dogs and bobcats
away.
For these reasons Major House pro-
poses to turn the great raspberry and
blackberry wilderness of Maine into a
goat pasture. stocking a half million
acres and putting them In charge OF
goat herds. who must attend the iiocks,
cut meadow hay TO carry them through
the winter, and eull out the young
males for market as fast as they grow
The females will be kept for breeding
purposes for n few years until the
waste territory is occupied. The com
pany will start out with about 500 goats
and two hcrders. II the experiment
succeeds Major House hopes 10 have
100000 goats at the end of this century.
and thinks the company VIII get a net
cash profit of 81 head for every goat
Major House was seen at the Stat.
House, Tuesday. by journal repre-
sentative and told OF all these things
He said that he hasn't said goat" for
years. But, then. Il II must be so, he
will be president OF the company
Many cf the young men in town have
applied to him for any vacancies there
may be on his lists as expert goat
herds He has no vacancies as yet NJ
says. He win, at least. deliberate
upon all applications.
That the genial major is widely rec
ognized as a bone fide goat company
president viii he seen from the follow
ing letter which he received, Tuesday
quests to be withheld from the public:
New York, August . 1897
Major Charles J. House. Augusta, Me:
My Dear Sir: In the Sun of yester-
day, is a descriptive article of the new
enterprise in stocking the uncleared |
lands of northern Maine with goats |
Your name is given as the president of |
the company and we write TO offer you |
some Angora goats. photographs OF |
which we enclose and which we ask |
that you will please return. There are |
{. goats in the flock. bred directly from |
imported stock from Persia, and about |
equally divided as TO sex. There are no |
finer goats than these in America. As
you no doubt are fully acquainted with |
the value of the fleece. as we'll as the |
meat. of the Angora goat will not |
lengthen the letter to describe same
We can deliver these goats to you
for $50 head f. o. b.. Augusta. Me. We
hope you will take this matter up as
we can assure you that aside from your
profit on the kids YOU will have a
profit from the fleece. which Is at pre-
sent very valuable and will always con-
tinue to be so. A recent edict of the
Shar Of Persia prohibits the exporta-
ton Of Angora goats and makes the
penalty death for anyone caught taking
them out of the country.
Yours truly,
I