[CIRCULAR.]

Downing Street,
December 5, 1853.

SIR,—I transmit herewith a copy of a
letter from the Secretary to the Society of
Arts enclosing copies of a Report which had
been sent to His Royal Highness Prince
Albert on the subject of the improvement of
Colonial Wools by means of the Long
Haired Angora Goat; and I have to request
that you will take such measures as may be
most effectual for giving publicity to that
Report in the Colony under your Govern-
ment.

I have, &c.,
(Signed) NEWCASTLE.
Governor Sir George Grey,
&c., &c., &c.

[COPY.]
Society of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce,

Adelphi, London,
25th November, 1853.

MY LORD DUKE,—The attention of the
Society of Arts having been called by His
Royal Highness Prince Albert to the im-
provement of Colonial Wools by the intro-
duction of the Long Haired Angora Goat, I
have been desired by the Council
of that Society to transmit to Your
Grace forty copies of the Report sent
to His Royal Highness on that important
subject, and to request that Your Grace will
be pleased to cause the same to be distributed
in the various Colonies interested in the im-
provement of Colonial Wools.

The Council of the Society of Arts also
respectfully request that Your Grace will not
only invite the special attention of the several
Governors and Officers Administering the
Governments of the various Colonies in
South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, to
this important subject, but also to request
their active co-operation in the increase of so
valuable an article of commerce by giving
every publicity which these respective Colo-
nies afford to the Report which I have now
the honour to send.

I have, &c.,
(Signed) P. L. NEVE FOSTER,
Secretary.

His Grace
the Duke of Newcastle.
&c., &c., &c.

LONG-HAIRED ANGORA GOAT.

The following Report has been forwarded to
His Royal Highness Prince Albert, in reply to
the inquiry received, through the Board of
Trade, from the Swellendam Agricultural Society
at the Cape of Good Hope. This communication
was published in No. 49 of the Journal, page
593. It will be remembered that the object of the
inquiry was to ascertain how far the statements
which had been brought forward by Captain
Conolly, in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society, and by Mr. Thomas Southey in his work
on Colonial Sheep and Wools, might be relied on;
and that in the event of satisfactory replies being
received, efforts would be made with a view to
the importation of a flock of Angora goats into
that colony, and the export of their wool to the
mother country:

REPORT.

The Council of the Society of Arts have much
pleasure in reporting, for the information of His
Royal Highness the President, that on the receipt
of the documents from the Swellendam Agricul-
tural Society, they immediately entered into cor-
respondence with the leading brokers and manu-
facturers importing, or using Angora goats' wool
(called "tiftik" or "filik" in that country, and
"mohair" in Great Britain), and that the follow-
ing is the substance of the communications with
which they have been favoured. It is proposed
to deal with the questions seriatim, and then to
make such general remarks as have been elicited
in the course of this inquiry.

"In reply to the first question,—Whether a
breed of goats exists in Angora bearing only one
description of hairy covering of a silken fineness,
which can be annually clipped? the answers have
variably been in the affirmative. It would
appear that this wool or hair has a peculiar glossy,
soft, slippery feel, is white in colour, and grows
in staples or locks, so that it is somewhat curled
and wiry. The shearing takes place annually,
and the process is perfectly simple, the fleece
being of pretty uniform length and quality from
the root to the point or apex. The average
length of the staple is from five to six inches. It
is said that it has sometimes been clipped twice
in the year, when the market value has been
high, but it is thus rendered much less valuable,
and a greater length of staple being required.

"As to the second question, Whether such
fleece is purchased in Europe as it comes from the
goat's back, and without requiring the expensive
picking process which Cashmere or Thibet, or
other shawl-wools containing an underdown must
undergo? it is said that Angora goats' wool is
perfectly free from 'underdown'—unlike the
Thibet or Cashmere, which has a downy covering
on the pelt, with long coarse hairs or kemps at
the top, the separation of which is both tedious
and expensive. It is packed in bags and shipped
as it comes from the animal's back; occasionally
(but which is in all cases recommended) a few
of the coarse locks at the skirting are taken off at
the time of shearing and packed separately.
Locks, or pieces of grey, which are trifling in
amount, and are easily separated, should be taken
out where they occur. On the other hand it is
asserted that washing is necessary, as there is a
prevalence of "burrs" or seeds in the wool,
which "burrs" are a disparagement, but not very
serious, unless they are excessive in quantity. It
is also imported in the whole fleece. On its
reaching this country, and before putting it to the
combing machinery, it has to be assorted and
classed by our manufacturers, according as their
purposes may require. This has to be done with
all our home-grown wool, and the process costs
but little more in the one case than in the other.
In sorting mohair about one-sixth part is taken
out which is too short in the staple and not appli-
cable for combing purposes; and in the process
of combing about one-fifth part is made into
what is technically termed 'noils,' these together
are bought by woollen manufacturers, from which
they make cloth of different kinds and other ma-
terials.

"With respect to the third question, What
the value of such fleeces would be per pound? it
would seem that the present value is about 2s. 3d.