The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-11-05
RAISE ANGORA COATS
MILLS NOW IMPORTING HAIR
 FROM CoNSTANTINoPLE.
Government to Aid Industry = Anil mals Are of Great Value as Brush Destroyers and There is Little Cost in Feed-
 ing Them.

Is Little cost In Eeeo~
 ing Them.
 New York Special to St. Louis Republic.
 Raw wool merchants are much interest ed in the efforts of the Government Bureau of Animal Industry to promote the raising of Angora goats In New Eng land and other parts of the country.
 George F. Thompson of the bureau has Iectured in Boston and elsewhere on the possibilities of goat culture, and has par ticularly endeavored to impress the farm CTS with the practicabilty of his ideas.
 He tells them that the goats are of great value as destroyers of brush; that there is little cost in feeding them, as they find food for themselves where other animals would starve: that their fleece Is equal in value to. that of the sheep, and the meat is as nutritious, although 1t does not meet with as ready sale.
 One of the largest wool commission dealers in New York in discussing Mr. Thompson's propaganda, said:
 At present prices of mohair and with the present demand for the product, 1t would be profitable for farmers to raise more goats.
 "Yet, if a large number of farmers should engage in the business 1t might be overdone. Moreover, the fashions, which now call for mohair. might change, and this would reduce the demand. There are a number of things to be considered before encouraging O farmer to raise goats.
 Used in Upholstering. Most of the mohair goes into uphoister- ing and is used largely in railroad cars In the last year or two mohair has been called for extensively in alpaca and China camers hair cloth
 "The mohair because of its brilliant and glossy apearance. has come greatly into favor for mixing In all kinds of dress goods for ladies. The mohair gives the luster which Is so much admired.
 "The amount of goats clip in the West is now three or four times what 1t was five years ago. The price is now 5 to 10 per cent lower than in the spring. The chief sources of our supply now Are Tur- key and its tributary lands and the Cape of Good Hope.
 Palestine is still prolific in goats. In trip I made through the Holy Land I watched with interest the goats and the sheep running togeter, as mentioned in the Bible. There is economy in this as one shepherd can care for the two kinds of animals.
 There Is a shrinkage of about { per cent in wool and only IS per cent or thereabout in mohair. But the goat does not yied as much hair as the sheep.
 Unusually the foreign goatW clip is bet tre than the American, but ' have seen some splendid clips raised in this country. With care and scientific attention given to the goats our farmers could probably improve the clip so as to make 1t equal in quality to what we buy abroad.
 Suppose that we raise S,OO0. 900 or lO00,- 600 pounds more goats hair than at pres ent.
 That additional supply would cut in on the trade from Turkey and the Cape. Then the question comes up, if the Amer ican supply is increased will the price of the foreign clip be reduced in the hope of retaining this market7 Foreign sellers | might lower the level of prices so that our farmers would not make the profits | that they expect. "The American farmers would have the advantage of nearness to the factories and correspondingly lower freight rates /" MT. Thompson recently visited the mo- hair mills at Sanford, Me. He learned that the goats which furnished the hair | were raised mostly in the West
 Then he advised the New England | farmers that the goat could be reared just as we'll in the vicinity of the mills. l The head of the Sanford mills had just l returned from Constahtinople, where he bought 25O.00o pounds of raw mohair for use next winter, and he expressed to MT. Thompson the hope that before many years American mohair manufacturers | may buy in their own country all the goat | hair that they need.
 Shear Four Pounds Annually. MT. Thompson said in an address at Boston a few days ago:
 'The average goat will shear about four pounds of mohair year. This will bring at present prices 32 cents a pound. Some goats will produce ten or twelve pounds of hair, and superior qualities of hair bring 45 cents pound.
 There are goats that do not pfoduce more than a pound of hair, and of A quality so poor that 1t will not sell above IS cents There is a Small quantity of mohair of the finest grade that brings from $1 to 8 a pound. All depends on the standard of the flock
 Tn the 100000 pounds handled by the Sanford mills last year not more than fifty pounds of the $1 quality were found. and the extra price did not pay for the sorting. In general the fleece of a good goat fetches about the same price as the fleece of a good sheep.
 The price is higher than formerly be- cause the mohair is being bettered in quality through up-breeding, and the ad- VdhceHheHI ol lho Stanuar0 or goats has doubled the weight of the average fleece in the last three or four years
 Because of the enormous demand for railway plush most of the mills engaged in mohair manufacture have ceased to turn out rugs and couch covers and their looms are used entirely on plush for the | cars.
 "The Sanford mills have sixty looms turning out this one class of goods, and the Lowell mills are giving almost their entire attention to this line. Short length hair. which formerly was sorted out as l ultimate waste, is now in so much de- | mand for Zibelines that 1t commands A price equal to that of longer fleece"
 For Stomach, Liver and Bowels.