Practical Angora Goat Raising Part 2

MIXING.

After the mohair is thoroughly cleaned it is ready for spinning or carding. In order to spin the fibers most economically, evenly and to the best advantage, some of the mills mix different qualities of mohair of about the same fineness. For instance, Turkish mohair is mixed with Texas and California stuff, or Oregon is mixed with Iowa material. The spinning qualities of mohair from different sections varies, and this mixing tends to give uniformity. After the fibers have been mixed to suit, the mohair is run through straightening machines in preparation for the combing process.

FIRST OR n.o.bLE COMB.

This comb is so arranged that about two and a half inches of the base of all of the mohair fibers, and any other fibers which may be mixed with them, are held, the ends of the fibers which are longer than two and a half inches, hang freely and are caught in a revolving machine and dragged loose from the combs which hold the base of the fiber. Thus only those fibers two and a half inches long, or less, are left in the first comb. The longer fibers, or tops as they are now called, to distinguish them from the noil, or short fibers, are collected and are again pa.s.sed through a second comb.

SECOND OR LISTER COMB.

Much the same process as was gone through with in the n.o.ble comb, is repeated, except that now only the n.o.ble top is combed, and as all of the fibers, less than two and a half inches, have been removed from this mohair, the comb is set so that any fibers shorter than four or five inches, shall be held as noil, and only those fibers which are longer than four or five inches shall be included in the top. This combing completed, we have a collection of mohair fibers none of them less than about five inches in length. This top is now ready to spin. This combing is rendered necessary by the fact that all of the mohair contains an admixture of kemp, and kemp cannot be spun with the finer grades of mohair. In getting this kemp out of the mohair many of the short mohair fibers are lost, so that combing is an expensive process. It costs in time, labor and mohair.

SPINNING.

Many strands of this Lister top are now drawn down into a single thread.

This thread, if the fibers comprising it are coa.r.s.e, may have some projecting ends, which give it a rough, uneven appearance, and if so, these ends are burned off. The thread is pa.s.sed through a gas flame at a given rate of speed by machinery, and the projecting ends are singed.

This is called genapping. The yarn is now ready for manufacturing. In Bradford, England, there are mills which only spin the yarn. Their trade is with the manufacturers, both at home and abroad, and it is a known fact that, while France and Germany manufacture much plush and braid, they buy all of their yarn from Bradford.

CARDING.

Short mohair, that is, mohair less than six inches long, is not run through combs, as above described. It is run over a carding wheel, or a large metal cylinder covered with small brads, which mix all the mohair and kemp. After pa.s.sing over a number of these wheels, which revolve in different directions, the material thus carded is ready to spin.

NOIL.

Some of the noil collected by the combing process is composed of a large percentage of short mohair. This noil has a considerable value and is sometimes carded. The lower grade noil is sold to carpet manufacturers and various users of low grade stuff. Noil usually brings from twelve to twenty cents a pound.

USES OF MOHAIR.

As yet mohair has been used for only a limited number of things. Its possibilities have not been developed. New uses for the fiber are being discovered, and it seems probable that there will be many things made of mohair in the future. The yarn has a beautiful l.u.s.ter and is very durable. When ladies' l.u.s.tre goods are in fashion a large amount of mohair goes into these fabrics. Much mohair is used in dress goods and men's goods. There is a steady demand for mohair plushes and braids.

There is no plush made which will give the service, present the l.u.s.ter and retain a standing pile as long as mohair. One may crush the nap of a mohair plush as often or as long as he pleases, but the pile immediately resumes its upright position upon being released. Then, too, the dust shakes out of a mohair plush very easily. One rarely sees a dusty railroad car seat, although the country through which the car is pa.s.sing may be very dusty. The rich effect produced by a heavily upholstered palace car is due to the mohair plush. Nothing has been found which will take its place. For furniture upholstering there is nothing more elegant and durable than mohair plush. The amount of plush thus used is governed by fashion. In countries where large military forces are retained there is always a heavy demand for mohair braids.

There is no braid made which has the l.u.s.ter, combined with the durability, which mohair braid possesses. Here it may be stated that a coa.r.s.e yarn can be used in making braids, so that when there is a heavy demand for braids there should be a proportionately high price paid for coa.r.s.e long mohair. Mohair braids are always in demand, and will continue to be used upon ladies' clothing, as well as for military ornamental purposes.

The variety of uses to which mohair is adapted is almost innumerable. In the manufacture of hats it plays an important part, and recently the demand for long fiber for the manufacture of wigs, ladies' hair nets and other toilet articles has been created.

WORLD'S SUPPLY AND CONSUMPTION.

At present Asia Minor and South Africa can be regarded as the two leading producers of mohair. The Asia Minor exports vary considerably, according to the price allowed, and as no manufactured stuff is exported, one gets a fair idea of the amount produced. It may be broadly stated that the Asia Minor clip amounts to about nine million pounds annually. That of South Africa amounts to about ten million pounds, and the United States now produces about one million pounds annually. Of this production a very large percentage of that coming from all these countries may be regarded as inferior stuff. We mean by this, that the Angora goat raising industry is yet in its infancy, and that much of the mohair produced is sheared from goats which have been bred from the common hair variety. Many of the characteristics of the fleece of the common goat still persist in the mohair.

From the foregoing estimate the world's supply of mohair may be stated as twenty million pounds annually. Australia is as yet producing only a very small amount.

Practically eighty-five to ninety per cent. of the world's supply of mohair is handled in Bradford, England. Nearly all of the South African and Turkish stuff is shipped directly to Bradford, a small amount of the Constantinople export coming to America, but a large part of the American import comes from Liverpool, England. At Bradford the raw material is manufactured, some of the manufactured stuff being exported as yarn, but the larger part is used to produce the finished article.

The remaining ten or fifteen per cent. is manufactured in the United States. At times the demand for mohair goods stimulates the demand for raw material, and the United States has been known to use from twenty to twenty-five per cent. of the world's supply. To recapitulate, the United States produces five per cent. of the world's annual supply of raw mohair, and manufactures from ten to twenty-five per cent. of the world's annual production.

MOHAIR PRICES.

The price of mohair has fluctuated with the caprice of fashion. Supply and demand are the essential factors in its valuation, but demand has been so influenced by the requirements of fashion in the past that one finds a wide range in price for the raw material. In a report issued by the Bradford _Observer_ we find the price ranging from fifty cents a pound in 1856, to eighty cents in 1866, ninety cents in 1876, and then down to thirty cents in 1886 and 1896. In 1903 the average price in the United States was about thirty-five cents a pound, and for 1904 about thirty cents a pound.

[Ill.u.s.tration: READY FOR THE SHEARERS.]

To-day there is a demand for mohair, regardless of fashion. During the past two years the price of raw material has been low, but there has been a margin of profit in the industry, and considering the fact that fashion's decree has eliminated the manufacture of l.u.s.ter fabrics for the present, the mohair producer can feel a.s.sured that there will be a steady market for his material. With the occasional good times when l.u.s.ter goods are in demand, the mohair grower should do well.

SHEARING AND PACKING MOHAIR.

The goat should be shorn before he commences to shed, as the mohair loses its weight and l.u.s.ter after the shedding process begins. There are a few goats, which, under certain kinds of food and climatic conditions, will not shed their fleeces, but most goats will shed, and even goats which have carried their fleeces over a year in one section, may shed if they are moved a few miles and the food is changed. A cla.s.s of non-shedders would be very valuable, but so far a distinctive cla.s.s of non-shedders, under any and all conditions, and which transmit this peculiarity, has not been identified. The Angora goat will usually commence to shed early in the spring, or as soon as a few warm bright days come.

In some sections of the country it is thought advisable to shear twice a year. Many points in favor of this method are advocated. It is claimed that the price realized for the two medium length, or short stapled fleeces, together with the increased number of pounds shorn in the two clippings a year, pays much better than the one long staple fleece which can be shorn from the same animal for a year's growth. There are many reasons both for and against shearing twice a year. The mills prefer long mohair, or at least fiber more than six inches in length (combing length). They pay the best price for this cla.s.s of mohair, and it must be left to the individual to decide whether it pays him best to shear once or twice a year. At present possibly one-third of the Angoras in the United States are shorn twice a year, and the remaining two-thirds only once. In Asia Minor one finds the goat shearer using a pair of long bladed scissors to cut the mohair. The goats are shorn in the spring, and only once during the year. The animal's feet are tied, and then by using both hands, one at either end of the scissors, the goat is shorn.

Recently some Englishman has introduced an ordinary spring sheep shear, but most of the natives prefer the scissors.

To-day one finds the hand shearer and the machine shearer at work in America. The hand shearer should use a pair of short bladed (about five inch blade) sheep shears. This is to prevent the point of the shear from cutting mohair, which is not intended to be clipped with that particular stroke of the shear. If, for instance, the shearer is clipping the mohair along the sides of the animal, and the point of the shear cuts some of the mohair at least three inches out from the body, this stubble is shorn again (double cut) when the shearer gets to this place, and this three-inch mohair is too short to be of much value. It will be combed out at the mill as noil. An expert shearer can clip about the same number of range goats that he can range sheep--from ninety to one hundred and twenty a day.

The machine shear is rapidly taking the place of the hand shear. It clips the mohair close to the skin and almost does away with double cutting. It requires less skill to shear with a machine shear, and it does the work more uniformly. There is also less danger of cutting the animal. The machines do the work very rapidly.

After the goat is shorn the fleece should be collected and rolled into a bundle, "b.u.mp," and placed in a sack or bale. It should not be tied, as the mill men object to the particles of string which remain in the mohair and disfigure the manufactured product. Any colored fleeces, discolored mohair, or mohair containing objectionable features, such as burrs, straw, etc., can be placed in separate parcels. The kid mohair can be kept by itself, and the wether and doe mohair can be separately packed. The long mohair should be kept separate from short stuff. Thus one grades the mohair to some extent on the farm, and he has a better idea of what the clip should bring.

If the mohair is to be shipped a long distance, it will pay to bale the fleeces, as compact bales occupy much less s.p.a.ce than sacks. The freight rates are usually less upon baled mohair than they are upon the sacked material. The cost of baling the mohair is a little less than the cost of sacking.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

BREEDING OF THE ANGORA GOAT.

One can learn very little about breeding the Angora goat from the Turk.

As we know from Tchikacheff's work, which was published over fifty years ago, cold winters often killed many of the Angoras in Asia Minor, and the Turk then imported from more favored districts common bucks or does to breed to the Angora. This was before the great demand for mohair, occasioned by the increase in manufacturing plants at Bradford, England, caused the Turkish mohair raisers to resort to all manner of means to increase the supply of raw material.

To-day the Turk is treading in the paths of his forefathers. What was good enough for them, certainly ought to be good enough for him, so he reasons. He eats with his fingers, cooks on a brazier, sits on the floor, eats, drinks, sleeps and works all in the same room, and keeps his wives in seclusion.

When he comes to breeding the Angora he leaves that to his servants, if he be wealthy enough to have any. Most of the breeders cannot read or write. They have never traveled. They have no ambition, and they know nothing of the principles of selective breeding. As a natural consequence the Angora goat of to-day has not improved, nor is he likely to improve under Turkish management. One large breeder who supplied bucks to some tributary country, said that he thought that it was a shame to castrate a buck, no matter how bad he might be. The Turk separates the bucks from the does at breeding season, as Asia Minor has cold weather late in the spring, and the danger of losing kids, if they come too early, is great. When the bucks are turned with the flock they are allowed to run until the next breeding season, and all of the bucks, regardless of quality or quant.i.ty, are allowed to run with the does.

When the first few Angoras arrived in America the natural procedure was to cross them upon the common short-haired goat of this country. It was a new industry, and many wanted to try the Angora. Very slowly the Angora, or the cross-bred animals were scattered over the United States.

Stories were told of the wonderful things for which the mohair was used, and some supposedly reliable authorities quoted mohair at $8.00 a pound, as has been stated. Companies were started, and of course the supply of good Angoras, that is, goats which would shear about four pounds of mohair (worth at that time about seventy-five cents or a dollar a pound), was limited. Men bought any goat which had a trace of Angora blood in him as a thoroughbred Angora. A few years, however, demonstrated the fact that a common goat, with a little admixture of Angora blood, did not produce either the quality or the quant.i.ty of fleece wanted. Only a few of the more persistent breeders continued the experiment and their investigations. They sent and went to the home of the Angora, and brought more of the original animals to America. It took the American breeders about thirty years to find out just what the Angora goat was and how he should be handled. During that thirty years large flocks of common goats, which had been crossed with the Angora, and which might be properly termed "grade flocks," had been formed. Only a few thoroughbred flocks, that is, flocks of the original Angora, as he came from Turkey, were in existence.

CROSSING WITH THE COMMON SHORT HAIRED GOAT.

By experience we have learned that the common short coa.r.s.e haired goat can be crossed with the Angora goat, and that after sufficient crosses have been made, the cross-bred Angora so nearly resembles the thoroughbred that for all practical purposes he is an Angora. We have also learned that certain kinds of common goats respond rapidly to the infusion of Angora blood, and that others retain certain peculiarities of the common goat for generations. The Angora will not cross with sheep. For instance, a common goat with a long mane on the back, or tuft of long hair behind the foreleg, or on the flank or the hip, will continue to perpetuate this long coa.r.s.e hair on the offspring for generations, even though the best of Angora blood be infused. The color of the common goat is of some importance. A brown or reddish brown goat retains the reddish cast at the base of the mohair much longer than one of a bluish or bluish black color. It is equally true that a pure white mother may drop a colored kid occasionally. In Constantinople the mohair is graded into parcels containing red kemp, black kemp, etc. There it is the kemp which retains the color. As has been stated, there is also a breed of brown Angora goats, or at least mohair-producing goats, in Koniah in Asia Minor. Presuming, then, that one has a suitable common doe and a good Angora buck as a basis, the following may be deduced as relative changes in the different crosses:

[Ill.u.s.tration: PASHA V--A True Breeder.]