Farm and Garden

King Country Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 233, 12 February 1910, Page 3

Farm and Garden

THE ANGORA GOAT. The Angora goat is supposed by naturalists to have originated in Persia. Apparently, however, it was first domesticated in the district of Angora, in the Taurus Mountains, where it was certainly known as far back as the time of Moses.

It is a veritable golden fleece that is produced by this goat—the most valuable, indeed, of all fleeces, and fetches now an average of Is 6d a pound in the market. The animal is so extremely clean that it does not have to be washed before being clipped, and its hair—snowy white, and of a beautiful silken lustre, grows in ringlets, from five to twenty inches in length, curled as daintily as if twisted about a stick. This fleece is the mohsir of commerce—a kind of fibre so highly valued that the demand at all times far exceeds the supply, and might be indefinitely increased. Indeed, the Angora has already proved its usefulness in America, nearly 2,000,000 pounds of mohair having been produced in that country during the last year, and it is capable of yielding a vastly greater output, all of which would find ready sale. Goats of thirf kind are quite as hardy as the everyday variety; they readily adapt themselves to any sort of climate; they cost very little to keep, and the labour required in caring for them is trifling. There are in Australia and New Zealan I va.st areas of mountainous and other waste land, unavilable for any other purpose, which could easily be made to yield a valuable clip of mohair annually, for Angora goats appear to enjoy no sort of provender so much as brush and weeds of all sorts, and one way in which they make themselves useful is by clearing brush, and especially blackberry.

CLOVER SICKNESS

In a recent report of the result of investigations connected with the treatment of this plant malady, it is said that up to the present time in spite of numerous experiments and much research, no real remedy has yet been discovered. Heavy dressings of quicklime are much recommended, and they have proved to be temporarily useful; but the effect soon wears off, and the disease starts again with the same destructive vigour as before. It is suggested that the best thing to do, when clover fields suffer from the disease, is to plough the clover under after th'« first cutting, and to plough it so that the spores of the disease cannot reach the surface. Even then there is the danger as the spores retain the power of development for such a long period, that they may be brought to the surface and renewed actively by the next ploughing. Where there is any danger of the disease, a mixture of clover and grass should be sown together, so as to ensure at anyrate, .some crop, even should the clover be attacked.

Success upon the farm depends quite as much upon good judgment in selecting good stock, and upon judicious management, as it does upon the hard work done in the various departments of the farm. It is not the amount that is raised upon the farm, but the amount saved, that counts. lam inclined to think that there are not TBany business men who could stand the losses farmers do, and still make a success. There is no one who would ke.'jp a workman who did only enough to pay his" board, and yet there are animals on many of our farms which are not even paying their board. Still they are kept from year to year, destroying the profits from better animals, simply because the owner does not use that careful judgment which is necess'ary to success in all kinds of business.