That part of the fleece of the Angora goat, which at a year's growth is
composed of long, lustrous, elastic fibers, is called Mohair. It may be
more or less curled, but it is readily distinguishable from that part of
the fleece of the Angora which is composed of short, stiff fibers, known
as kemp.
The word mohair probably has its origin in modern times, as the Turkish
word for mohair is tiftick. A theory which is advanced by Mr. George
Gatheral of Constantinople, and which is tenable, is that the early
Dutch traders who visited Angora, found the native clergy wearing a gown
made of mohair. The Turks called the cloth "mahr," and it is possible
that the traders applied this word to the raw material. If this be so,
the English have corrupted the word into the present term mohair.
The color of mohair varies in different localities and on different
individuals. In the vilayet of Koniah, in Asia Minor, is a breed of
goats producing a brownish colored mohair. This material is sold upon
the market as Koniah mohair. The Koniah goat, however, has been rapidly
disappearing, as the herdsmen found that the foreign demand was for
white mohair, and they have been crossing the white Angora bucks on the
brown Koniah does. There are still over one hundred thousand pounds of
Koniah mohair produced each year. In the Angora flocks of Asia Minor one
always finds some colored goats. Black, blue, brown or red, usually with
an admixture of white, are the common colors. The same thing may be said
of the American flocks of Angoras. One may have been breeding white
Angoras for years when, without apparent cause, a colored kid is
dropped. Then color of the soil may give the mohair a peculiar tinge,
but this usually scours out. The kemp in Asia Minor is sometimes a
different color from the mohair. The kemp may be red or black and the
mohair white. White mohair is what the manufacturer wants. If he wishes
to make colored goods, he can dye white whatever color he wishes, but a
colored mohair can only be used for certain colored goods.