The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-25
PROFITABLE GOATS.
Raising the Animals Lucrative IN
dustry i'm south Africa.

PldCk ana Wnlte.
One of the most lucrative industries in
the Karoo districts of South Africa is
Angora goat farming, and, although 1t has
only been established for less than forty
years, the cape bids fair to become the
most important center of mohair production
in the world. The early attempts TO import
this goat from Angora were attended with
great loss OF money and great dlsappolnt-
ment, nearly all the goats dying either on
the way TO the cape or very soon after
landing; in fact, of the early mportations
only very small number survived. But
in 1879 a large importation was successfully
made by three dlIerent hrms or individuals
VINO landed a large number of pure bred
Angora goats at Port Elizabeth, here
they were sold at from e100 TO &400 apiece.
Soon after that the expectation of Angora
goats from Turkey was prohibited for
time; but in 1894 Mr. Rhodes obtained the
relaxation of this prohibition. Early in 1895
a shipment of two hundred Angort goats,
after being quarantned, was sold at Port
Elizabeth at an average of 500 apiece, some
Of the rams selling for as much as $500
each At present there are somewhere
about four million Angora goats in the
colony.
The Angora in the colony is not now pure
bred: the original imported rams were
crossed with carefully selected pure white
Boer goat ewes, and from the succeeding
in-breeding the present flocks have sprung,
and d fine glossy, silky fleece secured. In
deed, it is accepted that mohair can now be
produced in Cape Colony as perfect in, quail
ity and as beautiful in luster as any pro-
duced in Angora itself.
The goat itself is a pretty looking little
animal looking with its long white wavy
fleece. more like a sheep than goat The
beard, too SO characteristic of the goat, is
almost hidden in the long hair about the
neck and face. The head is small and mar
row with dropping or lop ears. Horns
light in color, iattened, twisted slightly
and spreading outward-are possessed by
both rams and ewes though they are
smaller in the latter
The small body is thickly covered with
beautiful long fleece of white, lustrous,
wavy silky hair, which IN weil-pred goats
nearly reaches the ground and. in addition
to this long hair there is an inferior under
coat of halr, or second coat, which has it's
own separate market value.
The Karoo and higher lands of the
colony are the places where the Angora
fiourishes best Almost every farmer in the
Karoo has his flock of Angoras, some sew
erai aocks of several hundred in each
Every morning the fiocks are driven out of
kraals or sheltered Enclosures into the veldt,
Craze all day, but at night they are driven
back to the shelter of the kraal after be-
ing taken to the dam TO be watered
AngoraS are Sheared about June, when a
good fleece will average from five to six
pounds in weight with hair from five TO
six inches long About November the goats
it the farmer again shears In October. Aft
er shearing the wool is packed into large
bales which are fastened securely with iron
bands; it is then exported to England for
manufacture, a large part going to York
shire In 1895 mohair to the value of &nO,-
S67 was exported, and at the present time
one-tenth of the total British supply is re-
ceived from the cape.
Among the n.ost dreaded foes Of the timid
little Angora are the jackal, the red lynx
and the baboon; the two former kill the
kids for their flesh, but the balloons rip
open the udders of the ewes in search OF
kids for the sake of the curdled milk they
may obtain. The first two animals pois-
oned and hunted down. with dogs where
possible and to keep down the baboon
shooting parties are frequently organized.
BY way of encouraging the extinction of
these pests the government pays shillings
a tail for jackals and / shilling a tail for
balloons.