The uses of mohair are many, and the de mand has stimulated the breeding of animals of better quality. The average weight of the fleece at this time is about three pounds, but there are many animals of exceptional merit that will yield 12 pounds and even more and occasionally a flock that will average five pounds per head. The goats yield heavier fleeces in the colder parts of the country than in the warmer sections; and those animals taken from the southwestern States to the northern part of the United States show an increase the first year.
The Angora is the only one of the numerous breeds of goats that yields a carcass that is edible at all ages. The Angora kids, like those of other breeds of goats, are considered a deli cacy, and the mature animal is free from the strong taste that is characteristic of other breeds. The size, shape and quality of the An gora carcass make it to resemble so much that of the sheep that the packers slaughter large numbers of the low grade Angoras and sell them as sheep mutton. A peculiarity of An gora mutton is that it requires a longer time for cooking than does sheep mutton. In the south western part of the country, especially on the large ranches, where it is difficult to keep meat fresh, many grade Angoras are slaughtered for food; but in other parts of the country, where the animals are usually of high grade, they are not generally slaughtered, being regarded as of more value for mohair production.
The predilection of goats for brushwood and weeds is characteristic of all breeds, but the Angoras are employed principally for this use because they are able to produce a market able fleece at the same time they are cleaning up the land. In many parts of the United States they are regarded as of more value for clearing brushland than as mohair producers. This is especially true where the land cleared is suitable for raising large crops or growing vigorous orchards. The total area of land so cleared of brushwood by these goats ,gregates many thousands of acres, and their work is done in a most satisfactory manner. The goats first eat every twig and leaf within their reach while standing on their hind legs, seldom mak ing any choice as to species of tree, and later, if not given new pasture, will peel the bark from the saplings. If they are again placed
upon land the second year, so that they may destroy the sprouts that put out from the stumps, their work will be completed, for the stump and roots then die. As the brushwood and weeds are destroyed and the sunlight thus permitted to reach the soil, the grass, if any variety is indigenous to the locality, will soon be observed to spring up and thereupon spread rapidly. Where a good variety is not indige nous, a common practice is to sow the geed. This me•hod insures a grass pasture sooner than depending upon the natural grasses and their natural distribution over the cleared area. The •goats prefer browsing upon the brush wood to feeding upon the most luscious grases and clovers and will give the latter very little attention if there is enough of the former to satisfy their hunger. Their presence upon the soil and their indirect assistance in producing the pasture do not make the grass objectionable in any way to horses, cattle or sheep. It should be stated, however, that goats will thrive upon grass and clover if it becomes necessary, and there is no better rough feed for them in win ter than clover hay.
The Cashmere Goat flourishes in Kashmir, in India, whence it receives its name, and in Tibet. Its color is usually white, and in many other ways it resembles the Angora; but its heavier and outer coat is coarse and not of economic value. Its under coat, called pashm, is very fine and light in weight, and brings very high prices. The amount of pashm produced by each goat annually is between two and three ounces. Most of this fibre is secured by comb ing the animals when it loosens from the skin, but a considerable amount is picked from the bushes where the animals have rubbed in an effort to remove the sloughing hair. The famous Cashmere shawls, which, a half cen tury and more ago sold at $100 to $2,000, were made of pashm. Dr. Davis brought one Cash mere doe to the. United States with his Angora flock in 1849; a buck of this breed died on the voyage. Nine others came in the Brewer im portation about 1858. The Cashmeres appeared not to be able to survive the climatic conditions to which they were subjected here, and at this time there is probably not a single specimen in this country.