Raw Cashgora Locks
A third goat fibre has only recently made its appearance.
It is now termed cashgora, being derived from the cross-bred progeny of an Angora-cashmere goat mating.
These animals, like their cashmere parent, produce a fleece containing long guard hairs and fine down.
This down, or secondary fibre, is too coarse and lustrous to be accepted as cashmere, and in fact one it has been stated that, being longer and with a distinctive sheen and lustre, in a cashmere garment or fabric the latter fibre glistens and almost shouts its identity.
It is not cashmere and will never, command cashmere prices.
The product is being test marketed and the Italian trade expert G P Nesti has stated that there is good justification for using the Angora breed over ferals to produce quantity of down, perhaps 1 kg per year, he suggests, with a yield of 50-60 percent down.
Even if it is 20-21 microns like some cashgora animals that have seen, provided the fibre structure enables it to be labelled cashmere, and provided it can be dehaired successfully, it could prove a very good seller.
The separation, or dehairing, has in fact been achieved by Animal Fibres (Bradford) Ltd. Who state that the processed fibre possesses some of the characteristics of cashmere and some of superfine kid’ mohair.
At present production in Australia and New Zealand is not sufficient to warrant full commercial exploitation, but a contract was made with one processor for the supply of Cashgora B (20-22 micron MFD).
Cashgora Kid
If the cashgora market firms up, many goat farmers may consider it beneficial to upgrade ferals to G3 status, but to then use a G4 buck selected for fineness of fleece to achieve good quality cashgora and high yield.
Such goats would be better suited to rough conditions, such as gorse country, than Angoras, but suffer less from shearing than cashmere goats.
They are quite distinct in terms of the label placed on the end products, and it should not be thought that the only difference between cashmere, cashgora and mohair is the measure of its thinckness.
They have different characteristics which are important to processors and which can only be produced by cashmere, crossbred or angora goats.
An angora can produce mohair characteristics but cannot produce cahmere characterisitcs. But there is overlap at either end of the cross-bred scale.
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