The Republican journal., 1901-04-18
HOPES IN ANeoRA GOATS.
The Newest Plan For Reclaiming Unprofit.
able Farms.

The Newest Plan For Reclaiming Unprofit.
able Farms.
II Deputy Naval Officer George Corey
had his way, no American family would
attempt to be happy without raising q
IeW Angora goats. Ii there Is such
thing as Angoramania, Mr.. Corey has
II. His isn't an isolated case. Secre-
tary Wilson of the Department of Agri-
culture is in the violent stages of the
mania, which shows marked signs of
becoming epidemic. A young goat
raiser from the northern part of the
State has, in the last few weeks, been
spreading the infection in New York
city, and has stirred up considerable in
terest in goats, especially among men
VINO have made large investments in
unlmproved Western land.
Four years ago this young man, who
owned small improbable berry patch
dlgnified by the name of farm, con-
celved the idea that there was more
money in the Angora goat business.
He discovered that the United States
imports S25, 900, 900 worth of goat skins
each year, and that $15,00O,0OO is paid
for imported mohair Then he looked
up the AngOra goat record in this cOun-
try and found that there not more than
$500, 900 worth of Angora here, although
every experiment made with them in
any part of the United States had sue
ceeded.
With these statistics for basis, the
young man from up the State did
large amount of figuring. Finally he
bought five Angora goats and turned
them loose in his berry patch. When
he came down to New York a few weeks
ago he left sixty-fve Angora goats eat
Ing brler bushes and weeds on the farm,
and his days were buta perpetual hymn
| OF praise to the creatures. He talked
goat, IN season and out OF season. He
: advised every man he met to throw up
his business and betake himself to goat
raising: He could prove beyond refu-
tatlon that the business was all profit.
1t figures couldn't floor skeptic, all he
needed to say was:
Come and see my sixty-five goats
that were five but four short years ago,
and have filled my pockets while they
increased and multiplied.
Other men had been looking into An
CORA goat possibilities. The Depart
ment of Agriculture had been advising
experiments in goat raising. Brokers
had clamored for home grown goat skins
and mohair and promised market for
all that could be supplied. But the
goat man from up the State furnished
finder for the enthuiasm. Various
men offered to set him up in business
and share profits He had decided to
lead his goats to a 300-acre farm near
New York, and forge ahead on capital
furnished by New York man. Then,
suddenly, there came a ranchman out
of the West. He met the owner of the
sixty-five and listened to his song. The
goat mania attacked him. He shifted
at the berry patch. He pointed the
finger of scorn at the 3OO-acre farm.
young man," he said, Il have 10000
acres of land out West and don't know
what to do with it. Bring your sixty
five goats and turn them loose on the
range"
He incidently mentioned large sala-
ry. The goat enthusiast gave up his
schemes Of inaugurating an era Of pros.
perity on Long Island and Staten Island
and in New Jersey and Westchester
county. He turned his face toward the
setting sun, and only the enthuiasm
that he excited fingers here.
Although the noble fashion in which
the five goats rose to the capacity OF
the berry patch furnishes ground fol
llllllLllCOu COullutllCC, IL Id PlCdodHo "
know that the sixty-five goats are not
land and expected to grow into it
Three hundred more goats are to be
: bought and added to the original flock
} Any one with a taste for higher mathe
matics may, by taking and 65 as {
basis, figure out how many goats will be
capering gayly over the 10000 acres IL
ten years.
"My partners and | are going to pu1
Angora goats on all the poor land of Oul
Wyoming RANCH" said Mr.. Corey, il
talking with Sun reporter, land ex-
periments are being made with the
creatures all over the country. Secre
tary Wilson says he believes that goat
raising is the most promising agricul
tural problem before the country to-day
1t would practically rejuvenate New
England, if it could be introduced there
and it would make every inch of unim
proved and rough land throughout the
country profitable.
Il have been interested in the thing
for some time, but there has seemed tC
a wave of interest in the industry re-
Gently. You see, a goat lives on nothing
At least it requires no food that could
possibly be put to any other use. 1t eats
| VI 1Oo oWL GIC VAdG llO
cattle or sheep will touch. A rocky,
bushy ground, useless for other grazing
purposes, is exactly what goats want
They will clear a pasture Of shrubs,
briers, dock, &C., and leave good grass
untouched. They live well all winter
on cornstalks and acornS
There is little labor connected with
the care Of them, save that they need
some sort of protection from severe
storms. Their long wool gets soaked
and doesn't dry quickly, so that they
cannot stand winter snow and sleet as
the common goat can. They breed
three times year and are not subject
to any of the diseases that make sheep
raising so uncertain. Then they are
ten times as profitable as sheep. The
mohair has high value, and the goats
are sheared twice year.
''The demand for goat skins is shown
by the $25,OOO,OOO Importation of them.
That Importation indicates a slaughter
of over 100000 goats and kids year,
which stands for live tlocks of foreign
goats aggregating about 30, 900, just