Mr. Jobson says that a five-board panel fence 4 feet high is sufficient for goats. He also says that zigzag, or worm, fences are an incentive for the goats to climb, and that they will walk along the top of such fences as easily as on the ground.

If they are permitted to climb onto the roofs of buildings it will not be long before they will have them completely ruined.

SHELTER AND PENS.

A shelter is necessary during wet spells, and more especially if the rain is cold or in case of a sleet storm. Dry cold alone has little or no injurious effect after the kids are three or four weeks old, and they will even frolic in the snow when the mercury is at zero, and sleep with apparent comfort in an open shed. With their dense covering there is no reason why this should not be true; but this same dense covering, when soaked with cold water or driven full of sleet, is a deadly menace. Goats will not get wet if they have an opportunity to avoid it. They appreciate a shelter and will always seek it at night, and during the day in the event of storms. They are said to be excellent barometers, being able to foretell stormy weather, and always contrive to place themselves under shelter before the advance of a storm, if possible. Mr. Diehl says they will run miles to avoid an undesirable rain.

Goats should not be left on the range or in pasture over night. The latter is practiced to a considerable extent, but experience has shown that they are safer in closer confinement during the nighttime.

The pens in which the goats are kept at night should, above all things, be in such a location that they can be kept dry by drainage. Other live stock should be excluded, as they would only help to trample the ground into mud. They should have a dry place to stand and sleep, for they are apt to contract rheumatism in the knees. There would be little use in raising Angoras for their fleeces if they are compelled to wade through mud and filth, or be confined under these conditions. The fleece would soon become so soiled and matted as to be a "burden unto death.”

The sheds provided for their shelter must be of a size to give an abundance of room. The goats should not, under any circumstances, be huddled together. If they are thus crowded in cold weather they will pile up, with the result that some of the younger ones will die from suffocation. One writer states that he has known as high as 30 being killed in this manner in one night. Mr. Oscar Tom, of Angora, Oreg., describes a shelter that proves satisfactory in the following language:

The sheds should have eave troughs, and be boarded down to within 3 or 4 feet of the ground. There should be a ditch around the shed to prevent any water from running into it, and it should be open all around, so that the goats would not have to wait for others ahead of them to go in; a few cross ones could not block the way and

keep other goats in or out, and the rain would not blow in, but the goats would have plenty of fresh air. There should be a good fence around the shed at a distance of at least 50 yards, to keep cattle and horses from trampling up the ground and working it into mud. Have the fence high enough for the goats to go under, but never allow hogs to run into the goat shed, for goats are easily frightened after dark.

In some parts of the country the strong winds will blow rain under a shed such as Mr. Tom describes. In such cases, the side from which

these storms usually come might be boarded to the ground. A better plan, in the opinion of some, is to have a few solid movable panels of fence to place around the openings of the shed on such occasions. This plan is convenient, too, as the panels may be taken away in fair weather, thus permitting a free circulation of air from all sides.

Shelter from the sun's rays should be provided for summer time. Although goats are able to withstand intense heat, they do not thrive well when subjected to it. For this purpose sheds more open than that described above are preferred, for the reason that the air will have freer circulation. Better yet than a shed against the sun's rays are large trees. In this case there is no obstruction whatever to the air.

FEEDING.

The principal reason why goats will be raised instead of sheep in some places is because they are practically inexpensive so far as feeding is concerned. This phase of the subject is quite fully discussed under the head of "Browsing and pasturage" (p. 26). They eat the leaves in summer and the soft twigs in winter, and if there is an abundance of either they will not require anything else to sustain life; but this condition exists only in certain localities, and other means must be adopted elsewhere. They are fond of straw and fodder of any kind. Plate XI shows where a herd in Iowa has access to a straw stack.

Notwithstanding the ability of goats to subsist upon coarse fodder in the winter season, the impression must not be held that they will thrive well upon it in the absence of browse. They will extract from these fodders all the nourishment obtainable, which is not very great, but must receive some supplementary feed. Any kind of grain will answer this purpose. Probably the best feed is oats, and if it is sheaf oats better still. In Texas some of the large goat raisers feed cotton seed by scattering it upon the snow so that goats will have to exercise somewhat in picking it up; besides, the time consumed in picking up the seed thus scattered insures better mastication.

In feeding grain care must be taken not to make the supply too liberal, unless the object is to fatten for slaughter. Goats easily become lazy on a plentiful supply of grain and will decline to go out to feed upon the brush. This is an important point, as their hardiness to a large extent is attributed to their feeding upon browse and to the resulting exercise.

As to the coarse feed for winter use, straw is eaten with relish; corn fodder is better and more nourishing; clover and alfalfa hay are excellent. Indeed, very little grain will be required where either clover or alfalfa hay is provided. Mr. Hoerle says:

The quantity of food necessary to keep them in good condition varies according to the climate, but one-fourth pound of corn or its equivalent in other grain and 1 pounds of hay at a ration is about a fair average. With abundant winter pasture

this ration once a day (in the evening) is sufficient; if the pasture is scant, they ought to have it both morning and evening, and on wet, cold days, when they are kept in the sheds all day, feed them three times or make their rations correspondingly larger. They should be taught early to eat their hay chopped, moistened, and sprinkled with bran, oil meal, or corn meal, which, if it digests easier if given in that way, will save about 20 per cent of the feed. They should also be taught to eat ensilage where practicable.

Sugar-beet pulp has been fed with success. The goats must be taught to eat it, but after once learning they seem not to be able to get enough.

In feeding either hay or grain absolute cleanliness must rule, as goats will not eat soiled food. There is no animal more particular about his food than the goat. He has no inclination for mud or filth in which to stand or walk, much less having to pick his food out of it. Bryan Hook, author of Milch Goats and Their Management,' says: The goat is of all animals the most fastidious in the matter of the cleanliness of its food, refusing, even though ever so hungry, to eat food that has been soiled or trodden under foot. For this reason a rack should be provided for the hay, and only as much given at each meal as the animal will consume, for that which has been trampled under foot will ever after be rejected, even though carefully collected and replaced in the rack.

When the production of mohair is reduced to a fine art, the question of feed will receive the most careful consideration, because of its influence upon the fiber.

The replies received by the Bureau to the question "Do you feed in winter? If so, what is the character of feed?" are interesting in many particulars. It will be observed that in the Southwest the treatment of goats in winter is not very different from that received by them in the summer. Below are given quotations from some of the letters received, credit being given to States only:

Winters being mild, do not feed.—Arizona.

I have to feed here. They like alfalfa best. In southern New Mexico they never need any feed, and are good mutton the year round.—New Mexico.

We do not feed, there being plenty of evergreen brush.—New Mexico.

Feed only during severe storms, perhaps an average of three days in the winter, and then any kind of good hay will suffice.-Texas.

Feed some poor old goats on cotton seed and hay.—Texas.

Winters are mild, and the goats live on evergreen brush (four kinds).—Texas.

1Vinton & Co., Limited. London, 1896.

Feed only when the ground is covered with snow and sleet. I like shelled corn best. Feed in troughs or scattered on the snow. - Texas.

Yes; in stormy winters we feed hay so placed that they can run to it in the shed, for they must have shelter.-Oregon.

Native hay.-Oregon.

Very little; a few oats, and straw. -Oregon.

We manage to cut grubs in winter, but give them some straw; will eat most any kind of straw or hay.-Oregon.

I feed out in the prairie, along with the sheep; feed wild hay and lucern (alfalfa).— Idaho.

Hay, oat hay, and corn from shock, unhusked; some roots, and more or less bran.-Iowa.

Sheaf oats, fodder, straw, and hay in spring.-Iowa.

They run on the range all winter.-Texas.

Have never had occasion to feed, except during a snowstorm, when we cut down branches of live oak.-Texas.

Do not feed, except the bucks at breeding time; give them wheat hay and barley.— Texas.

In Nevada we feed our kids some alfalfa hay, at night, for two or three months.Nevada.

I find shelled oats best for weakly ones; usually cut brush for the main herd during winter months.-Oregon.

We find clover hay and wheat and oats cut in the dough. We prefer that to anything else.-Oregon.

Stock fodder and clover hay. They will do well on the same feed as sheep.Missouri.

Not much grain, a little corn fodder, and wheat straw.-Kansas.

Shredded corn fodder, wheat straw, and a little corn in bad weather.-Kansas.

SALTING.

Goats require more salt than sheep, owing to the more astringent character of their food. If loose salt is used, the general custom is to give it once a week on regular days. If rock salt is used, it should be placed where the animals can get to it at any time. Rock salt is preferable, as it can be placed in boxes or troughs raised from the ground, and thus be kept out of the dirt and be of easy access to the goats at any time; and, too, there is no waste and no danger that the animal will eat too much of it.

MARKING.

The question of marking is always proper. Several devices are in use, but the metal tag in the ear is probably best known. A practice which appears to give satisfaction is to tattoo the numbers into the ear, using indelible ink. It is found that the metal is sometimes pulled out by brush.

KIDDING AND THE KIDS.

The kidding time is the most important in the life of the goats. For two or three days after the kids are dropped they are exceedingly delicate, and there will be no future success unless good care is given at the time. They can not "rough it" at this period, but will die from very little exposure or neglect. They are more delicate for a few weeks than lambs. When the kids are large enough to follow the flock they have constitutions stronger than lambs of like age and are able to care for themselves very well. The proper time for kids to arrive is in the spring, about the time when leaves start on the trees and bushes. At that time there is milkproducing food for the doe, and the weather is also warm enough to favor the kids. The exact time may be governed, of course, by the service of the bucks and will be earlier in localities where the seasons are earlier. If kidding comes in cold weather, there will be greater difficulty in saving the kids. Warm stabling must also be provided, and the does will require extra feeding in order that they may supply milk for the kids.

A few days before a kid is due the doe should be separated from the flock. Some breeders would put her in a pen alone, while others would put as many as 20 in one pen. If the facilities are at hand, a small pen for each doe is better, for the reasons that the doe will sooner "own" the kid and there will be less danger of injury than if among a number. A doe knows her kid by the sense of smell, especially when it is young. This characteristic is so strong that some breeders assert that if two kids of different mothers are rubbed together, the does will often refuse to own them. Whoever cares for the doe at kidding time will find it an important part of his work to see that the does own their kids. This difficulty in any case will disappear in a few days, and it will then only be necessary to arrange for the does to get to the kids whenever they desire.

If kids are dropped on the range or in the pasture, they must be carried home and special care given to see that the does are made to own them, for many times they will refuse. A lamb will follow its mother very soon after it is dropped, but a doe will hide her kid as best she can in bushes, or behind a stone or log, and leave it there while she goes away to feed; and on her return she expects to find it where she left it.

The Mexican method of handling the kid is largely practiced in Texas and New Mexico and consists in staking," or "toggling," the kid. When the kid is dropped, take it to a protected place (shed or barn), seeing to it that the doe follows, and stake it out" or "toggle" it with a string about 14 inches long. Tie this string to one leg, changing occasionally to other legs to avoid lameness. This string should have a swivel in it to prevent twisting, and the kids should be