John Walker
General farming and stock-raising had for many years been Mr. Walker’s chief occupation, and it was from this that he finally developed the business which he is now so successfully engaged in, the raising of Angora goats. On his ranch near Healdsburg he has twenty-five head of these animals, the raising of which he has studied scientifically, and as a result he has at his command a business that has large and growing possibilities.
John Walker was born in Washington county, Iowa, in 1865. Born and reared in an agricultural community he grew up to a knowledge of farming, and though only fifteen years old when he left home and came to California, his knowledge of agriculture stood him in good stead, and from this has gradually developed the business which is his today. Not far from Healdsburg he owns eighty acres of land well located for the purpose to which he has devoted it, the raising of Angora goats, of which he has twenty-five head at this writing. While the size of his herd might seem small to the uninitiated, it will be a surprise to learn that the owner realizes $1,000 annually from the sale of wool, the shear from each animal amounting to four pounds, with an increase of twenty-five per cent each year. So great has been Mr. Walker’s success with this comparatively small undertaking, it is his intention to increase his herd as rapidly as he is able and carry on the business on a large scale. It is a well-known fact that there is no animal more valuable than the goat for clearing land of weeds and shrubs, and this has been no exception in Mr. Walker’s experience, the browsing of his herd keeping the land free from all objectionable growths. Every year adds to the value of his property, which he now estimates at $700 an acre.
In California Mr. Walker formed domestic ties by his marriage with Miss Elizabeth Griffin, who was born in Sonoma county, and has never known any other home. No children have been born of this marriage.
History
of Sonoma County, California
History by Tom Gregory : Historic Record Company, 1891
Los Angeles, Ca. 1911
Transcribed by Roberta Hester Leatherwood
July 21, 2011 Pages 1109-1110
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