THE ASIA MINOR GOATS.
In 1901, Dr. W. C. Bailey, armed with an honorary commission from the United States Department of Agriculture, personally visited every goat-raising section of Asia Minor, and after seeing hundreds of thousands, and examining minutely hundreds, secured and succeeded in exporting two bucks and two does. The Sultan had passed an edict in 1881, prohibiting the export of these animals, as he hoped to keep the industry for Asia Minor. The undertaking was a hazardous one, and the expedition was fought with many and almost insurmountable difficulties. Asia Minor is alive with bandits, and to hold a foreigner for ransom is a favorite pastime. Then, too, a Christian's life is not considered of much value by a Mohamedan. The goats were transported for miles on mule and camel back, carried across the Bosphorus under a boat load of hay, disfigured by shearing and powdered with coal dust, transported through the streets of Constantinople in closed carriages protected from police molestation by the "golden wand," and finally condemned by the Italian Government because no health certificate accompanied them from point of shipment, but eventually landed in California in 1901. The bucks Beibazar and Kjutiah, and the does Moholitch and Eskischehr find the climate of California suited to their wants. These four goats cost over $5,000 landed in California.
BUCK BEIBAZAR AND DOE MOHOLITCH.
Bailey Asia Minor Importation 1901. Photo taken by Dr. Bailey on the plains of Asia Minor, March 7, 1901, while the goats were held by a Turkish guide.
Beibazar impresses his qualities markedly on his offspring. His get won the Sweepstake prizes at the California and Oregon State Fairs in 1904, and the championship for two-year-old buck at the World's Fair at St. Louis, U. S. A., in 1904.