of the central plateau region
of the United States is very similar to the Angora region of Turkey. A
peculiar fact is that the mohair produced in the different sections of
Asia Minor varies a little, and the mohair merchants of Constantinople
readily recognize an appreciable difference in its market value. Even
the smaller merchants in the country recognize a difference in the
mohair grown within a few miles of their town. Some try to explain this
by a difference in food, others by slight climatic changes, and still
others by the soil formation. Some of the goats from the locality of
Geredeh, in the province of Kastamouni, have fleeces which are filled
with grease. They are as black and gummy as merino sheep. This mohair,
however, scours white. The most marketable mohair comes from Beibazar
and Eskischehr. That this difference in the quality of the mohair is not
entirely due to climate or food conditions is evidenced by the fact that
Angoras taken from Beibazar to California still retain the same
qualities in the mohair after four years in California. However, it has
been noticed that different parts of the United States produce different
qualities of mohair.

[Illustration: SCENE IN ASIA-MINOR.

Turkish owner, his herder, holding an Angora buck kid and the
grey-wolfish-looking dogs wearing collars of sharpened spikes. This
picture was taken on the range and one can see the fine fibered sage
brush on which the goats feed.

Photo taken by Dr. Bailey, 1901.]

ANGORA GOATS IN THE UNITED STATES.

The history of the Angora goat in the United States dates from 1849,
when Dr. James B. Davis, of Columbia, South Carolina, was presented with
nine choice animals by the Sultan. The Sultan had requested President
Polk to send a man to Turkey who understood the culture of cotton. Dr.
Davis was appointed, and upon his return to America the Sultan, as a
courtesy, presented him with the goats. For many years after their
arrival in the United States these goats were considered cashmeres.
Early reports about the fleeces and the goats were erroneous, and many
were led to believe that the fleeces from these goats were worth $8 per
pound, and that the goats would shear from six to eight pounds per year.

Dr. Davis did not do very well with the goats. He crossed his Angora
buck onto some of the native common goats, and sold some of the
cross-bloods and possibly some of the original importation to various
parties, but in 1854, Col. Ri