ANGORA GOAT BREEDING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13369, 26 December 1906, Page 5

ANGORA GOAT BREEDING.

INSPECTORS' REPORTS.

VALUABLE WEED ERADTCATORS,

MOHAIR AND MEAT.

>Ojik lime ago our Special Commissioner drew attention to the value of Angora goats as a means of eradicating various noxious weeds, such as blackberries, briars, gorse, and other like plants. His remarks on the subject were quoted in the House of Representatives, and Mr. W.

1. Jennings. M.H.R. for Egmont, took the

matter up in an active manner, and requested that the Government officers should

supply full information on this subject. his has been done, the Minister for Agriculture forwarding to Mr. .Jennings a num-

ber of reports from stock inspectors in various parts of New Zealand. Mr. Jennings has forwarded these reports to us, and we publish extracts. Mr. Jennings' letter on the subject. is as follows: — "As there is a good deal of interest now being evinced in the Waikatc and King Country as to the value of Angoras in clearing noxious weeds the following reports of stock inspectors may be worth publishing in your widely-circulated paper. I can only say, from personal observation, that I was astounded at, what I have seen done by these useful animals. Down in Taranaki they have cleared acres of brambles and briars. There is 110 doubt at all about the matter. They do not go for the grass they are, in fact, browsers, not graziers. The flesh is good for eating, and the milk is nourishing and free from tuberculosis." It will be seen by perusal of the stock inspectors' reports that Angoras wherever tried have proved themselves excellently adapted for dealing with a numbr of exceedingly* troublesome noxious plants. The main drawback to thorough success in certain cases was an inadequate number of goats on too large an area of ground. Undoubtedly there is a considerable area of country in various parts of New Zealand rapidly becoming absolutely useless, and worse than useless, owing to the spread of blackberries, briars, and gorse. On level ground which can be ploughed obviously the best method of exterminating these pests is by mechanical means. Clearing, burning, ploughing, and cropping is not only the quickest but absolutely the surest method, and there are few parts of New Zealand where this work can be done that will not yield enough to repay the owner for his trouble. We believe in cultivation, as the best means not only of clearing ground of noxious weeds but for keeping it clean and making the ground give its most profitable returns, and wo have absolutely no sympathy with those farmers who allow their best landtheir river flats and low-lying country —to be locked up by any kind of weed. We are not going to advocate Angora goats or poisonous weed exterminators for this class of land, for it simply needs the- slasher and the plough, and any other way is almost certain to be a lazy man's way of dealing inadequately with a very important evil. There are, however, large tracts of hill country and broken country now covered with blackberry and gorse on, which the Angora might be tried, for there is sufficient evidence forthcoming to show that Angoras can thrive on such country, help to bring the pests under subjection, and at the same time yield some return to the landowner. The inspector of stock for Blenheim says in his report that pure Angoras owned by the New Zealand Agricultural Department would average about six pounds weight of mohair, valued at from Is 6d to 4s per pound. Nine shillings to twenty-four shillings per head per season for the clip alone sounds good, and the statement that in the United States of America Angoras cut up , to 15 pounds of wool, worth from 2s to 2s 6d per pound, is almost enough to make some of our sanguine fanners who believe in the royal road to success allow their land to be overrun with noxious weeds just for tho purpose of running Angoras. We can safely recommend Angoras to those farmers who have rough, unplougliable land infested with blackberries, gorse, or briars; but to make these animals a success careful attention must be given to their breeding, and some provision must be made to provide them with dry camps for the night. The points to be observed in breeding are mohair and constitution, and the farmer will have to be guided in this direction by his own intelligence and experience, just as ho is guided in breeding for wool or butter-fat. As to camps the to arc easily enough provided. Low sheds, thickly roofed with grass, fern, or other material, and situated in a dry and sheltered spot-, can be made at very little expense.

One of ' the setbacks in Angora goatbreeding is the difficulty of disposing of their flesh. But with the high price of meat this difficulty should not long exist. Put goat flesh 011 the market at a lower price than beef or mutton and a demand will soon set in. Pure Angora flesh is said to be quite as palatable as mutton and more easily digestible. In America Angora joints are quite popular, and some people prefer them to most other kinds of meat. Whether Angoras would help to swell our frozen meat export trade is of course yet to be proved, but it is quite probable, and as it is a question not. likely to crop up until Angoras have increased beyond the range of local consumption, and as weed-infested land after all is not so extensive in New Zealand there is little fear that Angoras or Angora flesh will become a drug in the market.

It is practically certain, in spite of the fact that- it has not been mentioned, that Angoras if required for scrub eradication would need a system of subdivision of special fences; but as will be seen in the reports quoted some farmers actually run Angoras or crossbreeds on their sheep country, just for the purpose of keeping down noxious weeds.

Whether some of our poor hill country could be profitably stocked with Angoras is a problem well worth testing. We have large areas of scrub and fern land which at present is doing nothing. Much of it of course could be cheaply cleared and surface sown with hardy grasses, and in this way would make sheep pasture, but it is probable that the more- precipitous country, which usually carries a variety of edible shrubi, could not be more easily broken in with goats. The following report has been sent to W. T. Jennings, Ksq., M.H.R., by the Minister for Agriculture, the Hon. R. McXab, and has been forwarded to us for publication: — With reference to the question asked by you in the House 011 September 5 in regard to the adaptability of Angora goats as eradicators of noxious weeds, and the commercial value of their hair, in reply to which 1 stated that reports on the matter would be obtained from the various inspectors 01 stock, I have the honour to inform you that reports have been obtained as promised, and I have now pleasure in forwarding you the desired information : —

The inspector-in-charge at Auckland .states that the Angora goat, as the property of the late Mr. F. L. Wright, proved themselves useful eradicators of blackberry, this weed and the. sweet-briar being undoubtedly reduced by thf'm. The commercial value of the hair is not yet known, as Mr. Wright's flock was small. The goats on the Department's experimental farm at Biekerstaft'e are thriving, but it is too early yet to report on their utility there. The Angora suffers very seriously from foot rot 011 low, damp country, and requires great attention at kidding time.

The inspector-in-charge at Wanganui states that Mr. H. W. Saxton, of Carrington Road, New (Plymouth, purchased 10 purebred nannies and two billies about four years ago; also a few halfbreds about the same time. lie has now 18 of the purebred and 22 halfbred ; those ho shears during October, and gets from 31b to 41b of hair from the former, and about 31b from the latter, the average price for the hair in the Home market being Is 2£d per lb. The goats have the run of about 200 aerec of land, and any patches of blackberry are kept in check entirojy t thcui ; they also attask fc£ic< gojse

and young fern. These weeds are their chief .food. .Mr. Saxton find* that ow ing to the wet climate and soft nature of the ground it is necessary to pare th» goats' feet periodically, and apply baie stone. Mr. H. B. Lepper, of Lepperton, pit-chas-ed seven nannies and one billy about two years ago, but. unfortunately there has been no increase; in fact, he is now one short of the original number. lie has never trouble! to shear them. They have undoubtedly done good work in attacking the blackberry, but a- here, is so much of it the few goats can make but little impression. Mr. F. Oldham, of Mangorei Road, purchased nino common goats and four Angoraabout two years ago. These were turned into five acres of fenced bush land, practically all overrun with blackberry, much of it being quite Bft high. These goats have certainly done good work, but there were not sufficient to cope with the task set them. Unfortunately the Angora* have all died,, which Mr. Oldham attributes to the wet winter.

Mr. R. A. Wood, of Oniata. owns 250 acres of land, which is badly infested with blackberry. In December last he purchased in the Auckland district 63 crossbred nannies and one Angora billy. Since then about 20 kids have been dropped, and more are- to come. The herd is in the very best of condition, and from the present appearance of the property they have undoubtedly done excellent work in attacking both the blackberry and gor.se, and where they have these to feed upon they eat very little grass indeed. Mr. Wood intends to increase the herd to 100 at least. lie is most sanguine that they will keep the weed* in check during the summer months, and that he will have no further trouble with noxious weeds. Mr. Wood states further that the quantity of grass eaten by the goats will be infinitesimal so long as they have blackberry and gorse to feed upon. This is a point, however, which has not yet been practically tested. It may be found that the Angora is too delicate for so wet ami changeable a I climate as the West Coast of the North IsI land to make it profitable to keep them for the commercial value, of their hair, and for a destroyer of noxious weeds one could not do better than keep the common goat, or a cross with the Angora. The inspector-in-charge, Nelson, states that, the Angoraspure and crossbred —are splendid noxious weed browsers. The only noxious weed that they possibly will not eat is "tawhina," but this does not. grow inland! from the coast. All other noxious weeds and plants and edible scrub they eat eagerly in preference to grass. They seem well adapted to travel over rough scrub country, whether hilly or undulating. Mr. Salisbury, of the Nelson district, states that his flock (about 50 or 60) of crossed Angoras do not interfere with the sheep-carrying capacity of his country. The only drawback to Angoras is that it takes good fences to keep them in. The young kid during the first two weeks of its existence is very delicate, and often dies if exposed to bad weather. At kidding time the flock should be brought into a moderate-sized paddock, with a small shed or two thereon in which the young kids will shelter in bad weather. A great many settlers in tho Nelson districtare anxious to breed Angoras with the common goat, but find a great difficulty in obtaining Angora bucks. The settlers' object is not so much to substitute mohair for wool as to have a small flock to keep down noxious weeds. A cross between the pure Angora buck and the common goat seems to be just as good for keeping clown noxious weeds as a purebred, but a three-quarter or four-fifth bred, should shear mohair of marketable value in addition to its value as a weed eradicator.

The inspector of stock at Blenheim states that in their choice of food Angoras x are like the common goat and will only take to grass pasture when scrub and such like food cannot bo obtained. There are many thousands of the common goat wild all over Marlborough and they have proved themselves well adapted to copo with noxious weeds, especially blackberry and sweotbriar. On Motuara Island, where the Department is experimenting in breeding goats, using the pure Angora buck, the second cross, or kief, from the half bred nanny by the pure buck. has "been reached. So far no half-bred mohair has been taken, and it is doubtful whether its quantity or quality would pay for shearing. It is, however, to be tested this coming season. The halfbred throws very much to the Angora, but the third cross should prove of higher marketable value, and each succeeding. cross should improve in quality and quantity. The few pure Angoras which the Department lias would average about 61b of mohair, for which quotations are from Is 6d to 4-s per lb, according to quality. This clip can be considerably increased by judicious breeding and careful selection of bucks. In this way quite half the Angora goats in South Africa have been bred up, and a prohibitive duty has been placed on the oxport of the. pure Angora. In many of the American States the goat is used for clearing rubbish and scrub, which sometimes include many of our worst weeds, notably blackberry. In the United States some of the goats obtained by careful breeding cut up to 15! of mohair of high grade, and worth from 2s ..to Zs 6d per lb. The Angora will live and thrive on land that will not support sheep. The flesh from the half bred is of excellent quality, in the pure Angora being as palatable as mutton, and, like venison, far more digestible. Mohair is likely to be largely in demand for some years at remunerative prices; at present the supply is much below demand. On rough scrub or weed-in land they will c'.e-ar the country, and increase in number and value.