Mitch No one has attempted to state how many breeds of mulch goats there are in the world; one writer says that there are no less than 16 in Switzerland. They are found in all European and Asiatic countries and in northern Africa.
In May 1904 there was an importation of 26 Toggenburg and Saanen goats from Switzer land into the United States, and they are thriv ing well in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Maryland. So far as any records show, these are the only goats of pure blood that have been received, except four that came in 1893, which did not thrive well; but it is believed that a few kids of Italian goats have been brought here by immigrant families from Italy, and that these have matured and been crossed with the common goats that are usually found in the suburbs of the large cities, thus lending something of their milk characteristics to these latter goats. It is not difficult to find good milkers among these common goats.
A good mulch goat should have the same leading characteristics that are possessed by a mulch cow. The goat should be level on the back, with slightly dropping hips; the hair, whether long or short, should be kept trimmed close on the udder; the udder should have a shriveled appearance immediately after milk ing, and the teats should be long and slim.
Milch goats are prolific, seldom having fewer than two kids at a birth, and sometimes four of them. If not restrained they will breed three times in two years.
The quantity of milk that they give varies; a goat that will give two quarts of milk daily for six months is a good milker, but there are many of the best breeds that will yield four quarts a day with a lactation period of six to nine months. Thus it will be seen that, when body weight is considered, the goat is a larger producer of milk than the cow. The milk has a slightly different taste from that of the cow; the strong, acrid taste so often noted by those who have drunk it is due to unclean methods of milking. If the milk is drawn perfectly clean and kept clean, it does not have either taste or smell that is offensive. It is highly regarded in the Old World for its health-giving properties and as a food for children. It is used quite largely in the hospitals in the Swiss and French Alps for tuberculous patients and for those suffering from stomach troubles.
Kids that are not to be kept for breeding are disposed of for slaughter, and there is a good demand for them among certain classes in the large cities. The flesh is exceedingly delicate, and nothing but the prejudice of people against a matter which they have not tested prevents a larger production and consumption of kids. The kids should be from one to two
months old when slaughtered, as after two months the flesh begins to grow tougher and stronger.
Common Goats.—According to the census report of 1910 there are 2,915,000 goats and kids in the United States, a gain of over 60 per cent in a decade. Their breeding can hardly be referred to as an industry, for they have thrived and increased in numbers in spite of neglect. They have been useful in an inci dental manner only. A considerable number are used as pets for children, and occasionally a fair milker is found among them. Since the Angoras have demonstrated the ability of the goat to destroy brushwood, the common goats have been brought together in flocks in some localities and there employed also as brush de stroyers. Most of them are in the West South Central division of the United States.
normal seasons there is a considerable importation of goat-skins for glove making, coming chiefly from British India, Mexico, Germany, Russia and Brazil. As much as $30,000,000 worth have been imported in a single year, and many persons have thought that the goat-skin industry ought to be devel oped in the United States, since we have here all that is desirable in the way of climatic, soil and market conditions. This is doubtful, how ever, since in all of the countries where the skins are produced in large quantities the wages of goat-herds is a mere pittance, and the car cass is consumed for food. These two features seem to preclude a large goat-skin industry in this country. Goat-skins are used in the manu facture of shoes, gloves, music rolls, morocco for book bindings, etc. The skin of the Angora goat is used as rugs and robes with the hair intact, and also for children's muffs, capes and for boas.
a term applied to certain small mountain-climbing ruminants, which in structure and habits are intermediate between typical goats and antelopes. Such are the white goat of the Rocky Mountains; the chamois of Europe; and the gorals, serows, etc., of the Himalayan and other Oriental mountain regions. For description see their English names.
one of the gaudy and edi ble fishes, allied to the surmullets, of the genus U peneus, which abound in the West Indies and Gulf of Mexico, and take their popular name from a fancied likeness of their bearded profile to a goat's. There are several species. The English sometimes call their filefish (q.v.) by this name.