Polk County itemizer., June 25, 1914, Page 13, Image 21

HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
Angora Goat Raising in America
not, o i course, tn e product o i UIU1I
com m ercial conditions. I t im plies a con­
siderable am ount of care an d perso n al
a tte n tio n .
H igh B irth R ate.
The b irtu r a te is approxim ately 65 per
cent, b u t in well m anaged flo ck s th is
has risen on occasions as high aa 120 per
cent. Since th e k id s are not h a rd y , it
is obvious th a t th is m eans skill an d in ­
d u stry during the breeding season. The
b est m ethods o f carin g fo r th e flock a t
th is tim e aro discussed in some d e ta il in
th e new bulletin. O therw ise th e m an ­
agem ent of A ngoras does n o t d iffe r
g re a tly from th a t of sheep.
W hile the A ngora g o at needs a tte n ­
tion, i t is a d a p ta b le and as f a r as te m ­
p era tu re is concerned should flo u rish in
an y p a rt of th e U n ited S tates. In M on­
ta n a th e flocks face th e heavy snow
falls w ith equanim ity as long as a dry
place is provided fo r tnem a t n ig h t, and
though the h e a t in the S ou th w est f r e ­
qu en tly m akes i t necessary to shear
them tw ice a y ear in order to p rev en t
shedding, i t does n ot otherw ise a ffe c t
the health of th e flocks. D am pness,
however, is more injurious th a n e ith e r
cold or heat. H igh lands is th e n ativ e
home of all goats, and th ey in v a ria b ly
seek it when le ft to them selves. P a re
w a te r is also an essential.
O therw ise th e A ngora is not p articu
lar. I t will feed w ith c a ttle also. As
a m a tte r of fa c t, how ever, th e g o a t pro
fors d certain am ount of rough p astu re
and is p articu larly happy when cleaning
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np brush land. T here is one in stan c e
o f a flo ck o f 600 b ein g allow ed freo
g razin g in a C alifo rn ia fo re s t reserve in
order to k eep th e strip s o f cleared land,
know n a s fire-b reak s, fre e from weeds
and v eg etatio n . S e ttle rs in th e N o rth ­
w est fin d th e A ngora m ost serviceable
in bro w sin g o ff th e b rush on th eir ne.w
lands, an d one railw ay com pany pur- !
chased a flock to k eep its rig h t-o f-w ay !
clear an d a ttra c tiv e . On v ery rough
land th e d an g er of in ju ry to th e ileece
m ust, how ever, be k e p t in m ind.
Im p o rta tio n s N o t Needed.
As has alread y been said, th e A ngora
can be b red su ffic ie n tly p u re fo r p ra c ­
tical purposes from th e stock alread y in
th is co u n try , and th ere is no need of
fu rth e r im p o rtatio n s fo r breed in g pur
poses. Some y ears ago, how ever, th is
w as not believed to b e th e case, and in
1881 th e S u ltan of T u rk ey endeavored
to preserv e fo r his dom inion th e m onop­
oly o f th e m ohair trad e by p ro h ib itin g
th e ex p o rtatio n of th e live anim al. H is
exam ple w as follow ed b y S outh A frica,
b u t i t w as too late. Some of th e b est
blood w as alread y in A m erica and to d ay
o th er co u n tries are bu y in g of us, flocks
h av in g been shipped recen tly to B razil
and tho A rgen tin e.
V arious associations h av e alread y
been form ed fo r th e developm ent of the
in d u stry in th is co untry, and th e q u a n ­
tity of th e an n u al p roduct is increasin g
rap id ly .
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N e v e r w o rk a tea m o f e o lts t o g e th e r u n t il
th e y a r e th o ro u g h ly b ro k e n , a s th e y w ill
w o rry e a c h o th e r .
________________
j
T
H E raisin g of A ngora goats in th e
U n ited S ta te s is now a d e m o n stra t­
ed success, according to a report
ju s t published by th e U n ited S ta te s D e­
p a rtm e n t of A gricu ltu re, under th e title ,
“ The A ngora G o a t,’ * F a r m e rs ’ B ulletin
573. T he in d u stry , says th e bulletin, is
in deed so w ell established here th a t
g row ers need n ot be inconvenienced by
th e actio n of S outh A m erica in p ro h ib ­
itin g th e ex p o rtatio n o f A ngoras, for
th e q u a n tity of 'good blood in th is coun­
t r y is alread y su ffic ie n t to m eet all re ­
qu irem ents. In the opinion of ex p erts
th e b e st A m erican fleeces now equal
a n y grow n in S outh A fric a or A sia M i­
n o r, the original hom e of th e Angora.
A lthough n early every sta te in th e
U nion now possesses its flocks, th e
S o u th w est and th e N o rth w est are espe­
c ia lly w ell a d a p te d to th e in d u stry , in
p a rtic u la r th e larg e areas recen tly log­
g ed o ff in th e N o rth w est. T here the
A n g o ra not only th riv e s him self, b u t
h elps to clear aw ay th e brush w hich, if
allow ed to grow unchecked, m ight easily
becom e a dangerous f ire trap . T hus it
is o ften seid th a t th e A ngora w orks and
p a y s fo r its board a t th e sam e tim e.
V alue o f Fleece Increasing.
I t is p ay in g m ore and more, fo r th e
v a lu e of th e fleece or m ohair is in creas­
in g ste ad ily . F o rm e rly the use of mo­
h a ir depended so larg ely upon th e p re ­
v a il iag fashion th a t its p rice varied
w id ely from y e a r to y ear. T his eondi
tio n , how ever, is rap -d ly changing as
n ew uses for m ohair are continually
fo und, from autom obile tops and ta b le
covers, to dress goods and curled false
h a ir, an d to d ay th e grow er is assured
o f a reasonably ste ad y m ark et. The
p rice, o f course, v aries w ith the q u ality ,
th e v ery beet fleeces b rin g in g on an a v ­
era g e from 42 to 55 een ts a pound. The
w eig h t of a fleece has a very wide
ran g e, in 1909 th e av erag e for Oregon
w as found to be 3.7 pounds and fo r Tex
as 1.85. On account of th e g re a te r heat,
how ever, and th e dam age of sbeddiag,
A n goras in th e S o a t h w ^ t are freq u en tly
shorn tw ice a y e a r— a f a c t which m ust
be ta k e n in to con sid eratio n in all eal
culatioms.
Thia p ractice o f clipping tw ice a y ear
Is in m any w ays a d raw b ack to the in ­
d u stry , aiaee it te n d s to lower the av er
age grade o f A m erican m ohair. M ohair
a s good as any can be and is grow n in
th is country, b u t th e av erag e q u a lity is
n o t to d a y considered to be as good aa th e
fo reign. A bout 2,000,000 pounds are an
n u a lly im ported.
O rd in arily th is is
b lended an d spun w ith t i e dom estic
p ro d u ct. Sin inches is th e shortest
len g th o f fleece usually desired, and
because of sh e arin g tw iee a year, much
T exas and New M exico m ohair fa lls be
low th is «tandard. W here th e fleece is
allow ed to grow for tw elve m onths, the
av erag e len g th is 10 inches, and in th e I
b e st floeks it is n ot unusual to get 15
to 20 inches. Romeo, th e sw eepstakes
b u ck a t th e El Paao show in 1 9 ^ , is an |
exam ple of w hat is possible. H is fleece I
w eighed eighteen pound«, m easured |
tw e n ty and th re e -fo u rth s inches in
le n g th and sold fo r #115. ? u th fleece is
Malt Rainier is the Pure Malt Tonic
For Mothers W ho Require Additional
Nourishment and Strength.
A 8K TO U R P H Y S IC IA N
F o r te lo by A ll D ruggist«