Useful Knowledge: Volume 3. Animals: Or, a familiar account of the various productions of natureBingley, William
History
Useful Knowledge: Volume 3. Animals: Or, a familiar account of the various productions of nature
Bingley, William
Commercial products; Natural history; Zoology -- Popular works
Although the _fleece_ of the goat is by no means so valuable as that of the
sheep, yet it has been found extremely useful. The long and shaggy coated
goat, which is bred in many parts of this country, has, at the roots of the
long hair, a fine and beautiful soft wool. The latter, though scarcely
known to our manufacturers, has long been used in Russia for gloves,
stockings, and other articles of dress, which are highly valuable. About a
pound of this wool, in an unsorted state, was, some years ago, sent from
Russia to be made into shawls. As the quantity was too small to admit of
being manufactured into a web by itself, the chain was formed of silk, and
the woof of yarn made from the goat's wool. The fabric, when completed, was
compared with the finest Indian shawls; and, notwithstanding the hardness
of the silken part, it was decidedly more soft and beautiful than any of
these. Of the above-mentioned small quantity of wool three full-sized
shawls and one waistcoat were made. Their colour was a dull white, with a
delicate and scarcely perceptible glance of red through it; and their
texture was so much admired, that Dr. Anderson, to whose care they were
consigned, states, that if a hundred of them had been offered for sale,
they would have produced at least twenty guineas each.
The _long hair_ of goats, particularly that of the males, is used by
peruke-makers, for lawyers and judges' wigs. Previously to its being used,
it goes through several processes of preparation. The fine hair of kids is
sometimes employed in the manufacture of hats. Goat's hair is occasionally
made into a strong and coarse kind of cloth.
Of the _horns_ of these animals the country people make handles for tucks,
and knives of different kinds. The _fat_ or suet, which, in general, is
very abundant, may be made into candles, which, in whiteness and quality,
are greatly superior to those of the best tallow of the sheep and ox.
Goats are active and mischievous animals, of hardy nature, which delight in
rocky and mountainous situations. They are sometimes very injurious to
young plantations, from their propensity to peel and destroy the trees. The
females usually have two, sometimes three, and rarely four young ones at a
birth; and, in our climates, the duration of their life is said not often
to exceed eleven or twelve years.
89. The hair of the ANGORA GOAT is long, soft, and silky, and is one of the
most beautiful substances with which we are acquainted, for the manufacture
of shawls, and other fine stuffs; and these, which in England have the name
of _camblets_, are sometimes sold at very high prices. It is supposed that,
with attention, Angora goats might be successfully and advantageously bred
in Great Britain; particularly in those parts where the country is
mountainous, and where the climate and food might not be far different from
those of their native country of Asia Minor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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