Goat, a hardy, horned animal, closely related to the sheep. The various domestic goats are thought to be descended from the wild goat of Persia. Goats are favorites with the inhabitants of rocky, precipitous countries. The agile, sprightly, playful goat can make a living on scanty shrubs and coarse grasses where a sheep would not fare well. Goat's milk is considered healthful and nutritious. In many oriental cities the milkman drives his herd along the street and milks his goats at the customer's door. The flesh is valuable for food. The hair is spun and woven into clothing, and the hide makes famous leather. The male or he-goat is known colloquially as a "billy goat." His horns and beard give him quite a reverend appearance. The female is known as a "nanny goat," and the young, usually two in number, are called kids. The Cashmere goat of northern India and the Angora goat are famous for their long, silky hair. Mohair is an Arabic term applied to the hair of the Angora goat as well as to a kind of fine cloth made of goat's hair. Wool and cotton dress goods made in imitation of the genuine article are often called mohair. The term is closely akin to moire, a French name of watered silk. On account of their brush-eating propensities, goats are especially valuable in clearing up wild land, but, generally speaking, they are less profitable than sheep and are not raised extensively in America. The goat is an animal of endurance. A four-goat team was driven from Hastings, Nebraska, to Portland, Oregon, and thence to San Diego, California,--a distance of 4,000 miles--traveling an average of fifteen miles a day. Seventy-seven thousand five hundred thirty-four American farms and ranches report 1,948,952 goats, worth on an average $1.75 apiece. In 1900, 454,932 goat and mohair fleeces were shorn, with a total weight of 961,328 pounds. The American fleece averages less than three pounds in weight. Kansas City is the leading American goat market; 60,000 head were sold there in 1907. There is an extensive trade in the skins of Angora goats. Thousands of them are brought to this country yearly from Turkey and the Cape of Good Hope. Domestic skins are also on the market. Angora skins are worth from 35 cents to $3.50. They are easily dyed and make handsome rugs and robes. In America the goat is not considered seriously. The country would get on quite as well, perhaps, without goats; but in a large part of the world, particularly in the countries surrounding the Mediterranean, the goat takes the place of sheep, hog, and cow. The inhabitants are dependent on the goat for wool, meat, milk, and leather. From the Year Book of the United States Department of Agriculture for 1908, we learn that the number of goats in the world is approximately as follows: Europe. . . . . . . .21,197,000 Asia. . . . . . . .40,000,000 Australia. . . . . . . .124,000 Africa. . . . . . . .20,296,000 South America. . . . . . . .5,800,000 North America. . . . . . . .6,296,000 Total. . . . . . . .93,713,000