58 AGRICULTURAL REPORT

into France, from whence aà few found their way into England, and we have now another variety in our oWn country derived from the same Eastern source. Hodgson describes four varieties of goats as existing in Nepal and Thibet. The“Shawl goat' he calls Changra, and the Cashmere of Cuvier is called by the natives Chappoo. The Shawl goats are characterized as being covered with long silky hair, with an under vest of delicate greyish wool.“ The quantity of this wool is very small, not exceeding two, or at furthest three ounces. The Angora goat derives its name from the country where this pecu- liar variety has originated. It is remarkable that nearly all the domesticated animals carried to Angora have, in the course of time, produced varieties, the whole pelage of which is formed of white hair of uncommon length and kineness. Not only the goat has thus been changed, but also the sheep, cats, rabbits,&c. Neither the latitude, tho altitude, nor calcareous soil of this country are in them- selves sufficient to account for these remarkable transformations, since there are more northern regions and far higher mountains in other countries, with chalky marl formations, where this peculiarity does not occur. The Angora goat, more especially the varieties it has produced, is described by Hassilquist, Buffon, Pennant, and others, as in general of a beautiful milk-white color, with short legs, and black, spreading, spirally-twisted horns. The hair on the whole body is disposed in long pendant spiral ringlets; its ears are pendulous, and the horns of the female, instead of divaricating, as in the male, turn backward, and are much shorter in proportion.

Professor Lowe, in speaking of the climate in which the wool- bearing goats are produced, characterizes it as“stretching from the mountains of Thibet into the elevated Steppes of the interior, north- ward to the arctic regions, eastward through Chinese Tartary, and westward through the vast dominions of Russia to the confines of Europe. In the northern provinces of China, there are goats of a small size, which yield wool as abundantly as the sheep of the same country. Extending over the varied surface of Hindustan, the goats assumé a prodigious diversity of color, aspect, and form. Sometimes they have horns, and sometimes they are destitute of them; some- times they have long pendulous ears; sometimes they have a short fur, like that of a fawn, and sometimes fine silky hair falling in glossy ringlets on each side of the dorsal line. The largest of the goats of Hindustan are brought from Cabul, Thibet, and the high- jands of Persia.“ The varieties in form, color, and qualities of pelage, under which these various breeds of goats are presented, will account for the great difference in the figures of what are called Cashmere goats. The same may be said of the Thibet shawl and the Angora goats. In a word, they are all of one species, but under many varieties; breeds have become permanent, and some are infinitely more valuable than others. Local names have been attached to these various breeds, many of which are still confined to the herds- men of the East. To the farmer the possession of the most, valuable breed of goats is of far more importance than the name by which it is designated. 4

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