The Yale expositor., 1901-09-06
The Goat Business.

The common conception OF the goat
business is doubtless derived from the
comic papers which depict the festive
animal masticating tin cans and the
atrical posters or butting furiously in
life or pictured upon a book beer sign.
But there is a serious side to the bust
ness and it is, of course, that phase
OF the question in which the Farmers
Review is interested. Great regions
once covered with dense forests of
pine, fir and hemlock-denuded of
their wealth of trees by man or the
ravages Of forest fres-are fast being
settled by pioneers from abroad whose
arduous duty it is to clear such lands
from second growth scrub and weeds
after the remaining timber has been
removed. To such men the goat now
comes as a boon and a blessing" It
supplies him with milk that doctors
consider the very best substitute for
mothers milk for infants, so rich yet
easily digested is It; it revels in green
herbs and tender twigs thus utilizing
as food the very things the pioneer
desires to get rid of; it produces an
nually three or four pounds of silky
mohair which sells for two or three
times the price Of wool, does not re-
quire washing and is ready to spin
without special preparation; its skin
is in demand for mats and rugs and
furnishes the choicest of lap robes for
the baby's carriages; its flesh is nu-
tritious and when young, as tender as
spring lamb; it is docile and wonder
fully tame when hand fed; 1t is much
more healthy than any other domesti-
Gated animal; 1t does not suffer from
tuberculosis, hence there is no fear in
using it's milk for infants; it usually
brings forth two kids each year and
is cheaply and easily raised and fed
So 1t will be seen that the goat is
bound to have its place in the agri-
cultural industry Of the country and
already it has taken an important po-
sition in California, Mexico and south
western sections of our country. At
the present time there is a widespread
desire for information upon this sub
ject from men who are settling the
lands of northern Wisconsin and are
investigating the virtues of the goat
as a brush clearer while at the same
time breeders of Angora goats in
other parts of the country are looking
for cheap feed on rough lands for the
maintenance of their flocks for the
production of pelts and mohair. 1t can
readily be understood that for poor
families settling in wild districts
where cows cannot we'll be kept, and
indeed having scant funds for the pur-
chase of cows, the goat, capable of
picking up its living. costing but from
sc to SIS, and producing from two to
four pints of cream-like milk per diem,
to say nothing of valuable mohair and
tender kid flesh, must be considered a
most suitable and desirable animal. So
great has the demand for goats al
ready become in the west that buyers
are now collecting large flocks in Cali
fornia and Mexico for shipment to
Iowa and other states where dealers
have engaged in the goat supply busi-
ness and there is good reason for pre-
dieting that for many years to come
there will be real profit in the bust
ness of local production of goats for
the express rates are so high that ship
ping from California makes the price
of the animal somewhat too hiGh for
the purses of poor folk. The Angora
goat is strong of constitution and alb
solutely healthy and we consider the
business to have a healthy, sensible
foundation and excuse. Taking every
thing into consideration we are there
fore free to advise the breeding of
goats on all suitable lands and think
that many farm boy would find pleas
ure and profit from embarking in the
business on a small scale. If after
further investigation If the subject
he agrees with us then let him go it!