The Angora Goat ; with a Paper on the Ostrich.
By S. C. Cron- wright Schreiner. Illustrated. (Longmans and Co. 10s. 6d.)— The Angora goat is the creature whose fleece produces " mohair." It is a pure breed anciently developed in one of the Turkish provinces of Asia Minor two hundred and twenty-five miles E.S.E. of Constantinople ; and the recognition of its merits, largely by Sir Titus Salt, in this country has created in part the wealth of Bradford, and pari passu a magnificent industry in the Cape Colony, where the goats are now acclimatised. Mr. Cronwright Schreiner's book is published under the auspices of the South African Angora Goat Breeders' Association, and is one of the most interesting monographs on the history and develop- ment of a domesticated animal we have read. The race between the non-progressive inhabitants of a distant Turkish province, and the capitalist farmers in a go-ahead British Colony, to pro- vide the world with Angora wool, is excellently told. To this day the Turkish mohair is the better in quality, though the Cape farmer has beaten the Osmanli in quantity. The Turks take the greatest care of their goats, keeping them clean and dry in winter, and even allowing the best rams to live in their houses as pets, with bells on and charms to keep off the evil eye. The hair of the Angora falls to its feet in beautiful white locks. Something in the climate or soil of the Angora highlands tends to produce long hair in domesticated animals, for the cats, greyhounds, and rabbits have unusually long silky fur, and, like the goats, are liable to lose this when removed elsewhere. The climate of the South African veldt seems nearly, though not quite, as well adapted for the goats. The importation of the Angoras into Cape Colony began in 1838, when one perfect male, born on board ship, was introduced with its mother. These were crossed with the Boer goats, hardy and interesting animals, which, among other duties, are trained to lead the flocks of sheep. After the Crimean War, the work of importing pure-bred Angoras was begun in earnest. In 1880, seventeen imported Angora rams sold for £3,260 at Graaf Reinet, and in 1891 the total number of Angora goats in the Colony was 3,184,018, and the " clip " of mohair 9,953,548 lb. These goats have not the same immunity from constitutional disease as most other capridu. Pleuro-pneumonia, or contagious lung-sickness, was introduced in 1881 from Turkey to the Cape, and only stamped out by the absolute destruction of all infected flocks. This was done after 34,000 had died, and only cost the slaughter of an additional 4,000. In the United States California is the centre of the mohair-producing districts, but the annual " clip " is only 600,000 lb. In Australia the necessary climate has not yet been found to produce Angora goats in perfection. Ostrich-farming, a not less interesting industry of the Cape, is dealt with in a well-illustrated chapter which closes this book.
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