mon hair variety. Many of the characteristics of the fleece of the
common goat still persist in the mohair.

From the foregoing estimate the world's supply of mohair may be stated
as twenty million pounds annually. Australia is as yet producing only a
very small amount.

Practically eighty-five to ninety per cent. of the world's supply of
mohair is handled in Bradford, England. Nearly all of the South African
and Turkish stuff is shipped directly to Bradford, a small amount of the
Constantinople export coming to America, but a large part of the
American import comes from Liverpool, England. At Bradford the raw
material is manufactured, some of the manufactured stuff being exported
as yarn, but the larger part is used to produce the finished article.
The remaining ten or fifteen per cent. is manufactured in the United
States. At times the demand for mohair goods stimulates the demand for
raw material, and the United States has been known to use from twenty to
twenty-five per cent. of the world's supply. To recapitulate, the United
States produces five per cent. of the world's annual supply of raw
mohair, and manufactures from ten to twenty-five per cent. of the
world's annual production.

MOHAIR PRICES.

The price of mohair has fluctuated with the caprice of fashion. Supply
and demand are the essential factors in its valuation, but demand has
been so influenced by the requirements of fashion in the past that one
finds a wide range in price for the raw material. In a report issued by
the Bradford _Observer_ we find the price ranging from fifty cents a
pound in 1856, to eighty cents in 1866, ninety cents in 1876, and then
down to thirty cents in 1886 and 1896. In 1903 the average price in the
United States was about thirty-five cents a pound, and for 1904 about
thirty cents a pound.

[Illustration: READY FOR THE SHEARERS.]

To-day there is a demand for mohair, regardless of fashion. During the
past two years the price of raw material has been low, but there has
been a margin of profit in the industry, and considering the fact that
fashion's decree has eliminated the manufacture of luster fabrics for
the present, the mohair producer can feel assured that there will be a
steady market for his material. With the occasional good times when
luster goods are in demand, the mohair grower should do well.

SHEARING AND PACKING MOHAIR.

The goat should be shorn before he commences to shed, as the mohair
loses its weigh