“ The goat should be shorn before he commences to shed, as the mohair loses its weight and luster after the shedding process begins. There are a few goats, which, under certain kinds of food and climatic conditions, will not shed their fleeces, but most goats will shed, and even goats which have carried their fleeces over a year in one section, may shed if they are moved a few miles and the food is changed. ”

“ The wet band could be herded as in the corral method.
In this staking method if a mother refuses to own her kid, or if she dies, the kid has no chance to steal milk from some other wet doe, and unless closely watched, quite a number of kids will starve. The rope should be changed from one leg to the other occasionally to allow symmetry of development. The preparation of ropes and stakes for a thousand kids is quite a task, and it keeps the energetic herder busy during his spare moments getting ready for kidding time. ”

“ During the past two years the price of raw material has been low, but there has been a margin of profit in the industry, and considering the fact that fashion's decree has eliminated the manufacture of luster fabrics for the present, the mohair producer can feel assured that there will be a steady market for his material. With the occasional good times when luster goods are in demand, the mohair grower should do well. ”

“ On some of the older goat ranches, where the Angora has been raised exclusively for the mohair and mutton, it has become quite a problem to prevent the goats from killing out the brush. The goats have done well where other kinds of livestock would have starved, but as soon as the brush is killed the land produces almost nothing, and even the goats cannot make a living. To prevent as far as possible their killing the brush the flocks are moved frequently from one range to another, so that the shrubs have a chance to recuperate between visits. ”

“ By experience we have learned that the common short coarse haired goat can be crossed with the Angora goat, and that after sufficient crosses have been made, the cross-bred Angora so nearly resembles the thoroughbred that for all practical purposes he is an Angora. We have also learned that certain kinds of common goats respond rapidly to the infusion of Angora blood, and that others retain certain peculiarities of the common goat for generations. The Angora will not cross with sheep. ”

“ Grown goats rarely need much shelter, even in the winter, if the weather is dry, but during cold, damp storms the fleece wets through and the animal chills. Just after shearing, or just before kidding season, one is liable to lose some grown animals, or to have many kids slunk, if the goats are not protected from cold storms. Young kids also require attention, and proper sheds more than pay for themselves by preventing excessive mortality. ”

“ When he comes to breeding the Angora he leaves that to his servants, if he be wealthy enough to have any. Most of the breeders cannot read or write. They have never traveled. They have no ambition, and they know nothing of the principles of selective breeding.46 As a natural consequence the Angora goat of to-day has not improved, nor is he likely to improve under Turkish management. ”

“ Lice rarely kills the animal infested, but they do annoy the goat greatly. Goats will not fatten readily, and the mohair is usually dead (lusterless) , if the animals are badly infested. It is an easy matter to discover the lice. The goats scratch their bodies with their horns and make the fleece appear a little ragged. On separating the mohair the lice can easily be seen with the naked eye. The best means of ridding the goats of this annoyance is with almost any of the sheep dips.95 A dip which does not stain the mohair should be selected. ”

“ Packers and butchers still insist that Angora venison must be sold as mutton. They pay about one-half a cent to a cent a pound less for the goat than for sheep.
The goat never fattens as well along the back as the sheep, and hence the carcass does not look so well. The fat is more evenly distributed throughout the animal in the goat. An expert once said that to know whether a goat was fat one should feel the brisket, and if there was a considerable layer of adipose tissue between the skin and the breast bone, the animal was fat. ”

“ For furniture upholstering there is nothing more elegant and durable than mohair plush. The amount of plush thus used is governed by fashion. In countries where large military forces are retained there is always a heavy demand for mohair braids. There is no braid made which has the luster, combined with the durability, which mohair braid possesses. Here it may be stated that a coarse yarn can be used in making braids, so that when there is a heavy demand for braids there should be a proportionately high price paid for coarse long mohair. ”

“ The changeable weather of the Turkish spring, the frequent cold rains and the lack of proper shed accommodations, have more than once not only destroyed the increase, but also killed the grown goats. The Turkish methods of handling kids are of little practical value. They know how delicate the kids are when they are born, and they usually bring the kid and its mother to the house as soon as it is dropped. ”

“ At present possibly one-third of the Angoras in the United States are shorn twice a year, and the remaining two-thirds only once. In Asia Minor one finds the goat shearer using a pair of long bladed scissors to cut the mohair. The goats are shorn in the spring, and only once during the year. The animal's feet are tied, and then by using both hands, one at either end of the scissors, the goat is shorn. Recently some Englishman has introduced an ordinary spring sheep shear, but most of the natives prefer the scissors.
To-day one finds the hand shearer and the machine shearer at work in America. ”

“ The color of the common goat is of some importance. A brown or reddish brown goat retains the reddish cast at the base of the mohair much longer than one of a bluish or bluish black color. It is equally true that a pure white mother may drop a colored kid occasionally. In Constantinople the mohair is graded into parcels containing red kemp, black kemp, etc. There it is the kemp which retains the color. As has been stated, there is also a breed of brown Angora goats, or at least mohair-producing goats, in Koniah in Asia Minor. ”

“ It is important to select a proper place to tie the kid. He is to stay in this place for about six weeks, and he needs protection from winds and wild animals, and should have some sunshine and some shade. Usually a small tree, a bush, a fence, or a post will offer a good place to stake. The does which are expected to kid during the day are separated from the flock as in the corral method. The balance of the band are herded, so that the kids dropped on the range can be more easily handled. ”

“ Henderson made the first importation of Angora goats into South Africa, but while the number reaching the Cape was fourteen, yet only two proved to be perfect animals, a doe and her kid. The twelve bucks seem to have been tampered with, and they would not breed. Mr. Schreiner says: "But for the fact that there were several million Boar goats, thoroughly accustomed to the country, to furnish innumerable ewes for grading up purposes, the industry would still have been in its infancy." ”

“ A heavy carcass and a large skin are of more value than a light carcass and a small skin.
If the Angora breeder would produce the animal which will yield the most money per head, he should aim to produce an animal which will shear the heaviest fleece of the most marketable mohair,55 regardless of fashions, and one which, when put upon the market, will dress the most possible pounds of desirable meat, and yield a readily marketable skin. There are not many such animals on the market to-day, but the time when there will be plenty is coming. We have the fineness of fiber ”

“ If the manufacturer has to do this, he puts a price on the mohair which will leave him plenty of margin. That is, he pays the grower about one-half as much as the mohair would be worth if it were free from this foreign material. If the mohair is very burry, it has to be treated chemically, and this spoils the luster. Sometimes the grower can make good wages by having the burs picked out before the animals are shorn. One man can pick the burs out of from fifteen to twenty-five animals a day, if there are not too many burs in the mohair. ”

“ The Turkish Angora goat men usually range small flocks, and they also have a surplus of help, so that this is a comparatively easy method. The kids are allowed to go with the flocks as soon as they are old enough to travel. The principal objection to letting young kids go with the flock is that the kids go to sleep, and sleep so soundly that the flock feed away from them. When the youngsters awake they are lost. If there be wild animals about, the kids may be killed, or they may starve before they are found. ”

“ Stomach worms affect goats, and in some instances their ravages prove fatal. There are a variety of these worms, but the general effect on the animal is about the same. They are usually worse in wet years. The goats affected become thin and weak. They usually scour. Sometimes the worm, or part of the worm, can be found in the feces. These same symptoms are caused by starvation, so the two should not be confounded. There are many drenches in use for the treatment of this trouble, and some of the proprietary remedies have given some relief. Goats running on dry, high land are rarely affected. ”