The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1899-09-30
FARMER AND PLANTER.
ABOUT THE ANcoRA COAT.
An Animal that Has Come Into Prom
inence OF Late ~ .
Money Producer.

During all the years of goat raising
/ have hardly had such joyful sur
prise as that which you gave me by
having such an excellent cut made
from that photo sent you. am only
sorry that / did not have the photo
taken when the goats had long fleece
of hair. 1t should have been taken
later on, in the fall, when the goats
have their long, wavy hair. which Is
about nine or ten inches long by the
middle of September and the first OF
October; and by December and jan
nary it would be IL or IA inches long
If we did not always shear the goats
about the middle of September.
Many of your readers continue to
ask questions. about Angora goats.
1t may be of general interest to your
readers, to answer some of the ques-
tons here:
/. Will Angora goats defend them
selves against wolves, dogs and hogs?
2. Are Angora goats as good to eat
as sheep?
8. What kind of range is best for
goats?
4. Can these Angora goats be kept
without herding?
s. Should they be penned at night?
6. Are Angora goats good for clear
ing out ihickets of all kinds of brush?
z. Is it necessary to shear them
twice year?
s. How many years will it take to
raise good shearing goats from COM
mon goats, by grading them up by
rising extra fine Angora biliies?
ANSWERS.
/. According to my experience,
find that Angoras will protect them
selves much better than sheep. 1t is
quite amusing, sometimes, to see
goat protect her kid against hogs,
dogs or anything that ventures tocome
near. Even young does appear to be
afraid of nothing when they see that
their kids are in danger. But the
whole flock is apt to run from bark
ing, chasing dogs or wolves.
2. Everybody who ever tastes a
roasted or barbecued piece of Angora
mutton will find that it is better than
any meat they ever tasted.
3. The brushier the range the bet.
ter. and the more different kinds OF
brush and weeds on their range the
better they will thrive.
4. l like it much better to keep then
without herding in a wolf proof, dog
proof, hog proof pasture.
S. 1t is best to pen them at sundowI
and turn them out when the dew Il
from the weeds and bushes in thu
morning.
6. For clearing out thickets and un
dergrowth of all kinds, there is moth
ing better than these goats. Thei
pasture will soon look as clear as ;
cleaned-up picnic place as high as the.
can reach, when standing on their hin'
legs. In this way they bend dow
everything they can reach, with thei
fore lege.
2. find it quite necessary to shea
twice year, as they suffer too muc
from heat in the summer and fall, an
even during warm days in winter
they are not sheared about the middl
of September and in spring time a
soon as they begin to shed their lont
silky hair.
8. In starting with bunch ct con
mon goats that you want to use fo
raising a graded flock of sLearin
goats, you should use only as pun
white goats as you can get, and 20
should allow no colored goats in tt
flock. You should also dispose of
those that have long, coarse hair Q
the thigh and on the fore legs, belo
the shoulder. In fact, the commo
goats that you want to start you
flock with should be nice and smoot
built. with small head and shor
smooth hair and small horns. Fro
muleys YOU can also raise hea,
shearers, but their mohair is not qui
as fine.
Many readers want to know how
make wolf proof fence. l use t.
.barbed hog wires, but the posts
feet apart, and put three stays betwe'
the posts; let the lowest wire be on
one inch from the ground, and the TO
next wires only three and one-four
inches apart, and add half an inch
every next space upward. All I
wires should be kept very tight. Ma
wolves are killed by screw worms tn
get into themby their getting wound
when they attempted to crawl throu
such fence.--H. T. Fuchs, in Tex
Farm and Ranch.