The age-herald., 1901-09-29

Few departments of animal industry country in recent years or given prom ise of better commercial results than that of the culture of Angora goats. The United States government has done a great deal to encourage and advance the industry. The Hon. James Wilson, Sec retary of Agriculture, has been person. ally interested in the goat question and
 the bureau charged with the collection and dissemination of information per
 taining to the animal industry has pub
 lished and distributed, in it's series of farmers bulletins, a readable and in- structive brochure on the Angora
 AS the editor of this brochure or book let remarks, a large class of people in some way have become possessed of the
 opinion that the goat is practically a useless animal. They do not reach con clusions, however, upon investigation, he says, and do not discriminate between the different breeds. To them goat is a
 goat" and there the argument ends
 But the Angoras are not only classed among the most useful of the domestic animals. and have been so classed for thousands of years, but their value is manifested in a variety of ways. And here are some of the points set forth by the bureau editor:
 ''The fleece, called 'mohair,' furnishes some of the finest of fabrics among la dies goods and Is used in various other manufactures; their habit of browsing enables the farmer in a wooded locality to use them to help in subjugating the forest; their flesh is exceedingly delicate and nutritious; the milk, though not so abundant as with the milch breed of goats, Is richer than cows milk; their tanned skins, though inferior in quality to the skin of the common goat, are used for leather; their pelts make the neatest of rugs and robes; they are excellent pets for children a few of them in a flock of sheep are a protection from wolves and dogs; their manure is notice ably helpful to the grass which follows them after they have cleaned away the underbrush. These are all vital subjects of varying degrees of importance.
 Markets for the mohair and the meat of these goats are usually near at hand and as to factories there are more than a sufficient number in the United States to manufacture the fleece. The best proof of the profitable character of the Angora goat industry is the fact that those who have tried it under fav- orable conditions and conducted it intel ligently never give it up.
 Angora goats were introduced into the United States by pr. James B. Davis of Columbia, s. C.. in 1S49 The Sultan had requested President Polk to recommend some one who would experiment in cotton culture in Turkey. Dr. Davis was named and he received the appointment His work was so gratifying to the Sultan that he presented the doctor with nine Angoras-seven does and two bucks.
 In 1853 the Davis goats were purchased by Col. Richard Peters of Atlanta, Ga, with the exception of one owned by Col. Wade Hampton of South Carolina, one by MT. Davenport of Virginia, and one by MT. Osborne of New York Later Colonel Peters imported others but they did not prove satisfactory. He is generally looked upon as the real founder of the Angora goat industry in the United States. Other importations occurred from time to time up to 1876. In 1881 the Sultan absolutely prohibited the exporta- tion of Angoras, and this prohibition Is still in effect A few animals have been imported from Cape Colony.
 The bureau authority says that the goats of these several importations found tral states, but that from some reason they seem not to have become per manent industry in the early days. At the close of the civil war about all of the goats of this breed that remained in this country were in the Sout hwestern States, principally in Texas, New Mex leo, Arizona and California. Within the last few years many have gone into Ore gon in large numbers, and quite recently several thousand have been taken into Iowa and Missouri. At the present time 1t can safely be said that they may be found in every State of the union
 I have heard it predicted that the in dustry would die out In the Southern States because the climate would cause But the authorities do not take that view of 1t.
 Today Angora culture Is carried on in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, as well as Tennessee and the Carolinas. Only the other day I read