In Switzerland, how^ever, a process of careful selection and
breeding, carried on through many centuries, has produced Milch
goats that are probably the most efficient milk-producing crea-
tures, for their size, in existence. The best known of these
breeds in this country are the Saanen, a hornless, short-haired
white or cream-colored goat; and the Toggenburg, a hornless,
short-haired, fawn-colored goat, peculiarly marked with a white
line down each side of the face. The legs are also covered up
to the knees with white hair. Both of these breeds, which are
much larger than our common goats, have a deer-like shape and
carriage, and are like Jersey cattle, in that they are somewhat
lean and bony, and seem to throw all the strength of their con-
stitutions into the production of milk.
In England, also, under the fostering care of the British Goat
Society, Milch goat breeding has been entered upon as syste-
matically as any other branch of stock raising, the same strict-
ness in regard to registry being required.
At various periods in the past, specimens of foreign breeds
of Milch goats were brought to the United States, some of them
possibly even before the Davis importation of Angoras in 1849.
