Goats as Road Makers.

Progress, Volume XV, Issue 1, 1 September 1919, Page 603

Goats as Road Makers.

An. American Scheme.

In the forests of California the United States Government are employing many thousands of goats on road-making. For miles into the forests the animals are slowly marching in regular order, and leaving behind them enchanting , avenuesbroad, smooth, and' perfectly straight. The idea of thus employ-

ing goats is not a new one. As a matter of fact, it is a revival of a custom dated from long centuries ago. ■■ .i " ,' :. * ■

The plan is adopted by the United States’, Government is simple. The herdsman cuts a pathway just wide enough to admit himself, with a .goat following at his heels. The pathway is cut for a distance of 12 yards, and ffhe iron peg at the end of the chain is driven into the ground, and it is the duty of the goat to make a clean sweep of all undergrowth as far as its tether will permit, by the practical method of eating it. The goat is not moved unil it has done its job well and thoroughly. When one goat is tethered the pathway is extended a further 12 yards and another goat is "stumped,” and so it goes on, until there is a line, miles in length, of busy, nibbling, happy goats—or rather several lines, for the avenues-are'from a. hundred to four hundred yards wide. Herdsmen are continually passing along the lines, untangling chains and in other respects looking to the comfort of their charges, and night and morning the goats are milked. Bonnie milkmaids, with buckets and stools, pour out of log cabins, and presently they are scrambling back to their romantic habitations with big churns of rich milk, which in due course they will convert into delicious little Cheeses, for which there is an insatiable demand. The breed of goat employed is the extravagant-ly-coated Angora, and the venture is -returning a very handsome profit. There is the yield of wool, which is considerable and of great value, then the yield of milk, and finally the progeny. When the undergrowth has all been cleared away the big timber is felled and taken off through the splendid avenues. In this way immense tracts of forest are being isolated and burnt, and thousands of acres made ready for the plough or for a crop of young timber. Without the help of the sharp teeth and the healthy appetites of the goats, preparations for burning, it is said, would be so costly that the job would hardly be worth while. The animals enjoy the varied fare; it is their natural food. [The above appears to follow up Mr Hutchins’the forestry expert ideas.-Ed.]