BREEDING OF REGISTERED STOCK.
The breeding of registered stock, or stock of known ancestry, requires much care and quite different handling. Both the does and the bucks must be marked with an ear tag, brand, tattoo number, or some other permanent individual mark, and the kids should be marked at birth. Fifty known does may be put in a pasture or pen and a known buck put with them. He should be allowed to run with them at least forty days. After this the does may be collected into a flock and several bucks turned with them, but only the kids which are dropped from a known buck are fit for record.
A more accurate method, and one which can be used with a large flock, is to place the bucks in a corral adjoining the one used by the does at night. The does should be brought into their corral early in the evening, and all of those in heat will work along the fence next to the bucks. The doe in heat can be caught and the number taken and recorded in a book. She is then placed in a small pen with a buck and his number is recorded with hers, together with the date. If the doe does not conceive, she can be put with the same buck again at a later date, and one has approximate knowledge of when she should drop her kid. In this manner a buck will serve about two or three does in the evening, and one or two in the morning. The kid is marked at birth and the number recorded after that of the mother. The breeding of recorded stock is of value only for special reasons, and is not advisable with large flocks, as it is expensive.
ngora venison is the name which should be given to the flesh of the Angora goat. At the present time it is usually sold in the markets as mutton. The term goat meat should be applied to meat of the common goat, and the term mutton belongs to sheep. Because the Angora goat feeds largely upon that material which nourishes the deer, the meat of the Angora is flavored like venison. The fat is well distributed, and the healthfulness of the animal renders this an especially desirable meat. The Turk has long recognized Angora venison as an important element in his diet. Angora kid is above comparison, and it occupies the principle place on the menu at private as well as state affairs in the Orient. As one passes through the market places in Asia Minor he sees the carcasses of the Angora hanging in every shop. There is no mistaking the animal, as the skin still remains on the goat. One takes his choice, and as a rule more Angora venison than mutton is sold. Some of the Turks keep their wethers until they become coarse-haired and too old to pay to keep longer, eight or ten years old. This class of meat ranks with old mutton, and sells at a discount. Young wethers and does are in good demand. There has existed in America some prejudice against the flesh of the goat. To-day thousands of goats are being consumed annually, but most of them are sold as mutton. 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.
Some of the American breeders do not send their wethers to market until they get too old to produce valuable fleeces. The animals are then slaughtered when they have grown a half year's fleece, and the skins are reserved by the breeder. These skins are valuable, and help to bring up the average price of the goat.
At present some of the packers recognize no difference between shorn and unshorn goats. The price is the same, so it pays to shear the goats before bringing them to market. There is absolutely no strong flavor in prime Angora venison, and this is where the meat differs from that of the common goat.
The goat is a slow grower, and not until the second year do the bones ossify. Therefore, a two-year-old can be sold for lamb, as he has a "soft joint." Grown Angora wethers do not average much more than one hundred pounds as a rule, although there are occasional bands sold which average one hundred and fifteen pounds.
It is safe to say that Angora venison will never supplant mutton, but it will have its place among the edible meats.
ANGORA BUCK—Early Importation.
n Angora goat skin differs considerably from the skin of the common goat. In the first place the Angora skin is covered with more or less mohair; and in the second place, the texture of the skin itself is different. The skin of the common goat is firm, and the different layers are so closely united that they cannot be separated. The layers of the Angora skin are not so closely united, and the skin is slightly fluffy. The outer layer of this skin peels off when it is used. The Angora skin is valuable both with the fleece on and without it. Its principle value, however, is with the fleece on. After the skins have been properly tanned, they are used for rugs, robes, trimmings, and imitating various furs. When ladies' and children's Angora furs are in style, these skins become very valuable for this purpose. One skin has cut $17.00 worth of trimming at wholesale. Of course, the value of the skins depends upon the quality and character of the mohair with which the skins are covered, and their size. Large, well covered skins are always scarce and command good prices. They are worth from $1.00 to $2.00 each. Most of the Asia Minor skins are sent to Austria, and the prices paid for the raw skins are about the same as in America. The skins which have had the mohair removed are valuable for the manufacture of gloves and morocco leather. They do not make as fine leather as the common goat skins, but they are as extensively used. All skins should be carefully handled.
The skin should be carefully removed from the carcass. Goats do not skin as easily as sheep, and the careless operator is liable to cut the inner layers of the skin if he is not careful. These cuts are called "flesh-cuts," and skins badly "flesh-cut" are comparatively valueless, because "flesh-cuts" can not be removed by the tanner. A sharp knife should be used, and the operator should avoid cutting the skin.
The skin should be well salted, care being taken to see that the salt penetrates every portion of the raw surface. The skins can be cured in the shade without the use of salt, but sun-dried skins are worthless. If the edges of the skin are allowed to roll, so that raw surfaces come together, the part so affected will heat and the hair pull out. It is not necessary to stretch the skins while curing them.
Goats should be killed when their fleece is suitable for robe and rug purposes. Those carrying a six month's fleece, if it is six inches long, have about the right kind of skins. There are some Angora skins imported from Turkey and South Africa.
Prize winners at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893.
he Angora goat should not be classed with milch animals. As a rule the does give a sufficient amount of milk to nourish the kid or kids. The more common blood there is in the goat the better milch animal she is. However, some Angoras have been milked, and the milk is as rich as that of the common goat. A quart of milk a day may be considered a fair average for a fresh milch Angora doe. It has been suggested that because the milk of the goat contains a heavy percentage of fat, it is a proper substitute for mothers' milk for babies. This is probably a mistake, as that part of the milk which is the hardest for the baby to digest is the protein, and it will be observed that in the following table of analysis submitted, the percentage of protein in goat's milk and in cow's milk is about the same, and that it is considerably larger than in mother's milk. A very desirable feature in goat's milk is that the fat is distributed throughout the milk, and that it does not readily separate from the milk. This would assist in the assimilation of the fat by an infant. Some experiments made with coffee demonstrate that it requires half the quantity of goat's milk to produce the same effect upon this beverage which cow's milk produces. This may be partially explained by the quantity of fat in goat's milk, and partially by the fact that the fat does not readily separate from the milk. The bottom of the can is as good as the top.