INFORMATION CONCERNING THE ANGORA GOAT.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

The goat has accompanied civilization into all parts of our countrynot numerously, but persistently. He is everywhere, and is well known. There are very few people who have not seen a goat, and there are fewer still, no doubt, who have seen many goats. The comic writers, playing upon his peculiar habits, have brought him into disrepute, although these habits, to a large extent, are such as are recommending him for special favor at this time. His fame is as a denizen of vacant lots and back alleys, subsisting upon anything or nothing, and a foe to everything. So far as the general public is concerned, he has not been reckoned with as a useful animal and has been tolerated only as a pet for children.

During more recent years a great interest has been awakened in the goat, and it now seems that he is about to receive the consideration that is due him. One of the causes contributing to this awakening was an article in the Yearbook of this Department for 1898, entitled "Keeping goats for profit," by Capt. Almont Barnes, of the Division of Statistics of this Department. The information which this article contained was widely disseminated. The Yearbook was distributed to the extent of half a million copies, and, besides, in order to meet the growing demand, the article was reprinted separately and mailed to many thousands of inquirers at the Department for information on the subject of goats; and not alone the agricultural papers, but the daily press as well, took up the matter and exploited the good points of the goat industry. The article set forth, among other things, the great value of the goatskins which we import annually, and how we ourselves might easily produce them; the usefulness of the carcass for food, especially of the Angora breed; the exceedingly small expense involved in raising the animal, owing to his habits of feeding upon that vegetation which is in greatest abundance and which other ruminants refuse; the million of acres of land in the United States that might be made available for goat raising which otherwise would remain, as heretofore, unemployed.

The result of this wide distribution soon developed the fact that the goat was present in the United States in larger numbers than was supposed. This is especially true of the Angora breed; in fact, the number of common goats in the United States is less than 50,000. Although

very little has been said or written about Angora goats during the last forty years, they have been extensively bred in the Western States and Territories, especially in Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Florida, California, and Oregon. In a general sense, all those animals which are a cross in any degree of the Angora goat are considered as Angoras, for the Angora and the common goat readily cross, and the latter frequently becomes the foundation stock of a good flock of fleece-bearing animals.

It is the purpose of this article to deal with the Angora goat only, and the effort is made to answer such questions as have been received by the Bureau from all parts of the country. These answers are based upon the experiences of those who have raised them, some of whom have been in the business forty years and more. Differences of opinion are found to exist on several important points, where each contestant appears to occupy plausible premises; but this is not at all strange when the history of the Angora goat is considered, for it is not certain that all of the animals imported as purebreds were pure; indeed, it is held by some of our leading breeders that there is no longer in Turkey or elsewhere any such thing as a purebred Angora goat. Besides, there has been no general register for Angora stock in the United States until within a year or two, and each breeder has been at liberty to judge points for himself. If a general Angora register had been established thirty or forty years ago, the industry would now be conducted upon somewhat definite lines, and most of the questions now arising as to points in breeding would have been settled. In this connection it should be stated that C. P. Bailey & Sons Company, of San Jose, Cal., have kept a private register of their goats since 1867, but there appears to be no other similar record.

ORIGIN AND HISTORY.

The purpose of this paper is to give prominence to those phases of the Angora goat industry that are of practical importance; therefore a brief space only will be devoted to the history of the breed.

Naturalists generally agree that there are about ten species of wild goats, all confined to Europe and the Himalayas of Asia. These are divided into two groups, as follows:

I. The ibexes.-These, according to Hayes, have, as a distinctive characteristic, horns "flat in front, with a horizontal triangular section, furnished with large transversal knots."

II. Goats proper.-These, according to Hayes, have horns "compressed and carinated in front," and, according to Wood, "may be distinguished from the ibex and the sheep by the peculiar formation of the horns, which are compressed and rounded behind and furnished with a well-developed keel in front."

The second group is subdivided into two subspecies-Capra falconeri and Capra agagrus. The latter is also known as the Paseng, the Bezoar goat, or wild goat of Persia, and is generally accepted as the goat from which the Angora is descended through Capra hircus, which is claimed to be the origin of all the common breeds of goats.

As to the parent of the Angora stock, there is a difference of opinion between the two best-known writers on the subject-John L. Hayes, author of The Angora Goat, etc. (1882), and S. C. Cronwright Schreiner, author of The Angora Goat (1898). The one takes the position that it is descended from Capra falconeri, the other from Capra ægagrus. Owing to the additional information which has been obtained since the appearance of Hayes's book and which is embodied in Schreiner's work, there can hardly remain a doubt of the correctness of the contention that the Angora goat descended from Capra

ægagrus.

Schreiner, who has made extensive research, has described these two subspecies as follows:

Capra falconeri has a beard which extends from the chin to the shoulders and chest, and long spirally twisted horns, the twist being outward from the base. The males, when old, become whitish all over. The ewes have a beard confined to the chin, and small horns with a slight spiral twist. It is a native of the Western Himalayas, northern Afghanistan, and possibly of Persia; it is also found generally in Cashmere and on the Tibetan side of the Himalayas. Fossil remains show that it is one of the oldest types of goats.

Capra ægagrus1 is chiefly remarkable for its enormous horns, which are larger proportionally than in any other ruminant animal; they approximate the triangular in form, transversely rigid, and are bent backward as in the domestic varieties, being scimitar-like in shape of curve, and having no spiral twist. Large horns of Capra ægagrus measure 40 inches along the curve, but a length of upward of 524 inches, with a basal girth of 7 inches, has been recorded. It stands somewhat higher than any of the domesticated varieties of the goat (an adult male stood 37 inches at the withers), from which it further differs in its short and powerful neck, its stouter limbs, and slender body. In the female the horns are exceedingly diminutive or are altogether wanting. The fur, which over the greater part of the body is short, is of a grayish brown color, with a black line running along the entire length of the back, while the under surface of the neck and the beard, which is present in both sexes, are of a brown color. In the winter coat the hair on the neck and shoulders is rather longer than elsewhere, and in the same season, in the colder part of the animal's habitat, a coat of woolly fur is developed beneath the hair.

'There is evidence that in classic times this goat was widely distributed over the Grecian Archipelago, although in Europe it is now found only in Crete, the island of Antemelo, in the Cyclades, and perhaps also in Guire to the northeast of Euboea. Eastward it is found in the hills and mountains of Asia Minor, being especially common in the Taurus range, and it extends thence through Persia into Baluchistan, Sind, and Afghanistan. In India its range does not extend beyond the western side of Sind. It is found in Sind and Baluchistan in hills a little above the sea level; in the mountains of Persia it ascends to an elevation of 11,000 feet to 12,000 feet.— Schreiner.

The Angora breed of goats originated in the vilayet of Angora, in Asia Minor, but it is not known when this was. Some have ventured to say that it was 2,400 years ago. There is pretty strong evidence which goes to show that they were a distinctive breed when Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Goats' hair was spun by the Israelites for curtains and other purposes for use in the temple.' In the story recorded in I Samuel (chapter 19) of the artifice of Michal in deceiving the messengers of Saul by placing an image in the bed in place of David and giving it a pillow of goats' hair, is believed by Pennant to refer to a pillow made of the Angora fleece.

The city Angora, or Enguri, the capital city of the vilayet of Angora, is the ancient Ancyra, and is located about 220 miles south by southeast from Constantinople. Angora was the seat of one of the earliest Christian churches, and was probably established by the Apostle Paul. The province is mountainous to a considerable extent and furrowed by deep valleys. It is about 2,900 feet above the level of the sea. Of the climate Mr. H. A. Cumberbatch, British consul at Angora (1895), and quoted by Schreiner, says:

The climate is extreme. In the months of January and February the thermometer will mark a minimum of 10° F. for several days at a time, reach as far as 0° F., whilst in June and July the maximum readings of 85° F. are maintained day after day, with little or no rain. The country is covered with snow in the winter, rain and snow falling frequently. In 1894 the total rainfall at Angora was 8.12 inches, but that was an exceptionally dry season. For the first six months of 1895 the rainfall was 10.10 inches, which is somewhat above the average; the heaviest rainfall in twenty-four hours having been 1.20 inches.

It was here that this famous goat reached its perfection—and such a state of perfection as has not yet been reached by the goats of either the Cape of Good Hope or the United States. That the altitude, the soil, or the climate, or all of them together, had much influence in producing this fleece-bearing goat is supported by strong evidence. Dr. John Bachman and the Encyclopædia Britannica both state that the fineness of the hair of the Angora goat may perhaps be ascribed to some peculiarity in the atmosphere, "for it is remarkable that the cats, dogs, sheep, and other animals of the country are to a certain extent affected in the same way as the goats." The same opinion was

'Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; gold, and silver, and brass, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair.—Exodus xxxv, 5, 6.

And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers' skins, brought them.— Exodus xxxv, 23.

And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats' hair.— Exodus xxxv, 26.

And he made curtains of goats' hair for the tent over the tabernacle: eleven curtains he made them. The length of one curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits was the breadth of one curtain: the eleven curtains were of one size.-Exodus xxxvi, 14, 15.

expressed by Captain Conolly, quoted by Southey (1848): "It is remarkable that wherever these goats exist the cats and greyhounds have long silky hair also the cats all over their bodies, the greyhounds chiefly on their ears and tails." These statements lead Schreiner to the conclusion that the atmosphere is the chief factor. He says: "At any rate, there seems to be no doubt that a limited and comparatively well-defined region around the town of Angora possesses in a degree unapproached elsewhere in Asia Minor, and probably in the world, those conditions favorable to the development of the soft, silky, lustrous white mohair goat." Too much credit must not be given to the atmosphere of Angora in the production of mohair. That it has a marked influence on animals anywhere is generally accepted. The experience of the Angora breeders of the Cape of Good Hope and the United States shows that, with the best animals, a fleece equal to any produced by Turkey may be obtained. There are other and stronger reasons why the mohair of these two countries is not equal to that of Angora province, chief among which is the adulteration of the blood. Besides, the breeders of this country have learned that the feed of the animal has a telling influence on the quality of the mohair in the same way that it has a pronounced effect upon the meat.

Mr. Henry O. Binns, who had about twenty years of experience with these goats in the vilayet of Angora, says the pure animals were about bred out in 1863. The reason for this was the extensive crossing with the common Kurd goat, reference to which has already been made. As early as 1839 there ceased to be a demand for the spun yarn of Asia Minor, owing to the fact that Europe could spin the yarn at much less cost; but there was a European demand for the raw hair which exceeded the supply. This condition of things led to complications and a mixture of breeds from which the mohair world has not yet recovered. There can hardly remain a doubt, however, that, with the recent renewed interest in the industry, and with the intelligence that the breeders will bring to bear, the Angora goat industry will soon be placed on the highest plane.

THEIR HISTORY IN THE UNITED STATES.

The history of the Angora goat in the United States has been marred by the carelessness or indifference of occasional writers for the press who have been often inaccurate as to dates or facts, and also by others whose interests have doubtless led them into exaggerations. The real facts of its history in the United States, however, are so few and so simple as to prompt that venerable breeder, William M. Landrum, to say that they would make but a very small book.

During the Administration of President Polk, the Sultan of Turkey requested of him that he recommend some one who would experiment in the culture of cotton in Turkey. Accordingly, Dr. James