Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-10-02
Some Things You Want to Know
Goat Raisers' Meet

American raisers OF Anaora goats will
meet in annual convention in Kansas City
next week There are hundreds OF farmers
in the. western part OF the country who
find the Angora one Of the greatest Of
mortgage filters. The number Of goats in
the United states, including the monde
script plebeian OF the city alleys and the
kingly Angora Of the fancy stock farm,
reaches a total OF more than 100000, and
II is believed that America Is just awaken
ing to the possibilities of goat raising as
profitable business. Their freedom from
tuberculosis their ability to find a living
where only a goose could pasture, their
value in the destruction OF brush and
weeds their fine hair and the high quality
of their milk, make them one of the most
profitable Of all domestic animals
There are millions Of Americans to whom
the goat represents nothing but frowsy
smell, a propensity for butting and a taste
for tin cans Experienced goat men de
clare this conception TO be a mental Sian
der. It-is said that no other animal kept
under the same conditions as those under
which q good farmer keeps his cattle and
his sheep is more clearly or has more
pleasing appearance than the Angora goat
at the same time a profit maker for the
owner. This hair is used in the manufac-
ture Of mohair and brings good prices in
the market. A good goat will yield three
pounds of hair clipping, which sells at
from 80. to 40 cents a pound. This alone
renders-the goat a profit-maker as it's feed
costs hut little.
One Of the principal advantages in rails
gr1l
convert tract Of ground covered with
scrub oak and other underbrush into a
field where bluegrass may thrive luxuri-
antly. These goats prefer the leaves Of
trees and bushes to the best grass that
ever grew, and SO long as they can find a
briar patch or field of weeds, bluegrass
and red Glover have no attraction for them.
Pictures OF land where Augora goats have
been kept show that they are invaluable
in clearing away underbrush The briar
patch 10 their banquet table and the
weedy spot their favorite eating place The
farmer whose fence rows are overrun with
briars and whose fields are covered with
weeds finds one goat to be worth several
boys in the process of cleaning up.
Many goat raisers make a speciality of
buying old. rundown farms and placing
thereonsa herd OF goats. In the course of
9 year Or two they will succeed in killing
every brush and weed within reach. The
boy whosgoes out to grub, invariably leaves
a part OF the roots of the brush, but the
goat goes at his work in a different way.
As fast as the leaves appear he eats them
off, and this kills the plants to the very
low root. In this way the land Is cleared
more completely than II otherwise could
be. Sheep In a measure are good for this
same purpose, but not as valuable as the
Angora goat. That animal will even eat
the buck bush" plant which no other
farm animal will touch. In many states
drastic legislation against the Canada
thistle has. been enacted. but no legislation
has proved so effective as the Angora
goat
The various breeds OF milk goats are no
less profitable than the Angora. They
have all the good, qualities of the Angora
as brush, brtar and weed eaters, and are
known as poor mems cows, q title which
they well deserve. Like the Angora- the
milk goat will thrive where other animals
would starve. II produces more milk in
proportion 70 it's body weight and the feed
At eats than the COW. Farm writer's gen
orally agree that goat milk is much better
than that of the COW for invalids, children
oilu lOI SOOhlhB PURPOSES me oNSIabe
goat Will produce two quarts a day and
some Of them have been known TO yield
as much as four quarts. II is not reason
able to expect that the town or city goat
with little but garbage and rubbish TO eat
will yield as good milk as one kept under
wholesome conditions, and it is through the
milking of the alley goat that the American
people have acquired their prejudice against
goat milk .s
The fr0edom of the goat from tibercu.
loss makes IL a valuable aid TO the medica
profession in combating the great white
plague. While there are some cases o.
tuberculosis In goats on record, they are
so exceptional as to make them almost 1
negligible quantity. There are q number o.
goat diaries in the United states, which
retail goat milk AT from 20 to 70 cents lps
quart II Is generally agreed that ther'
can be little said in favor of goat butter
although some of 1t is produced IN THU
country Is In the manufacture Of cheese, thu
milk ofiJths goat is favorts in Europ,
and Asia, and Is growing In favor in tn
United States, In many cases the bull
of the milk used Is cows milk, with onE
enough goats milk added 10 give the chees
the flavor peculiar TO goats milk.
In Germany the value of the great in
dustry amounts to about $40 100000 a year
il is said that at least 70 per cent OF tn
families of the Fatherland get their mill
supply erom the goat. Those who hRbitu
ally use goats milk declare Il 60 be supe
rior % the milk OF the COW. Many hotel
and sanltariums in Europe advertise tn
fact that their milk supply comes from tn
goat instead Of the cow and a few Ameri