Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1883-08-31
.GLAIFORNlAs OSTRICH FARM,
What Ex-ComnlissionersL Lie DUO Saw
y. q. There. So lsl .

What Ext Lie DUO Saw
Is s.4 sz There. !.
From latter te the New = ork Tribune.
] have thought that an account of q
visit to the ostrich farm near Anaheim,
CAL, might interest your readers and
give some Information that would be
useful. My attention was called to the
profit aa we'll. rs the practicability Of os~
trich breeding in this country some
years ago by q young gentleman fresh
from college, who has since taken or
ders in the Episoopalian church, and
who prepared for me statement Of the
case as it then stood, showing conclu-
sively enough to warranI the experiment
that an industry of importance might
easily be built up in various parts Of the
United Estates. Having therefore rec
commended the business and tried
without avail to have the general gov
eminent do something to promote o.
trichlraising, it:may be understood that I
felt interest enough in the ostrich to 60
out of my way to visit him in his new
home near Anaheim, Cal.
Leaving Los Angeles on the 10 q. m.
train, arrived at Anaheim at 1l:30,
having passed through fat, well-c cult
waited country, largely planted to citrus
fruits and>vines.
AS I drive toward the new implanted
building in view half-mile away I see
signboards with notice that all dogs
found on these premises will be shot.
And this emphatic notice is strictly en-
forged, much to the surprise o. confd-
ing sightseeing people who have not
yet learned that the notice means death
to any and all dogs which may come
within range OF the shotgun or pistol of
the guardians of the urecious feathered
bipeds. Only short time before dog
was shot at the side .ofhis bucoic mas
ter, who could not comprehend the
necessity of guarding the breeding birds
from the sight of any animal Of the dog
kind. AS l approach the house see
that it is one of the San Francisco
''ready-mades." builtof redwood. Or
dered by telegraph from San Francisco,
it was shipped by rail and set up ready
for occupancy within four days from the
giving of the order. It is "a unique and
tasteful rectangular structure one story
high; shingle roof with gables; porch
along the entire front; ornamental brac-
kets and cornice; passage way six feet
wi !e through the centre; two rooms on
each side, each twelve feet square; and
the whole building set up On the ground
cost $500! One room is used for
for kitchen, and one for the incubator
and egg room. On the work done in this
room depends the success of the ostrich
farm.
A broad shelf on. one side contains
about fifty ostrich eggs of the brow II
Leghorn chicken. The incubator has
been used for Matching these eggs prior
to trusting the more valuable ostrich eggs
t it's maternal love- These ostrich eggs
are wonler to all who see them
for the first time. They are regularly
'elliptical in form, weighing about three
and one half pounds, measuring in cir
,cumference lSxl6 inches, and with
holding a capacity equal to full quart
measure, The color is creamy white
and the shell is equally pitted all over
and porous In appearance. Sixteen eggs
have been put in the incubator up to
the time of this visit, June Goth, and the
remaining eggs, and what more may
come, will wait for the Halstead ostrich
incubator, which has made favorable
reputation in Cape Colony in the speci-
atty of Matching ostrich eggs, and which
is daily expected.
These sixteen eggs were placed in the
incubator on May "A, IS and Is, and
their period of incubation has nearly
passed, for the chickens are moving in
their shells ready for advent into Cali
fornia life. One came as avant courier
yesterday, and to-day is beauty of It's
kind. He is covered with speckled brown
downy feathers except on the head and
neck and legs; he is as wild. shy and &C.
tive as the young antelope fawn, and,
only day old, is as large as q full grown
Leghorn hen. Uneasy and restless, in
constant motion, and with inquiring
ayes, he no doubt waits impatiently the
companions who are to join him in his
feather-produclng career.
Preparatory to any nourishing food,
he had placed before him when about
twenty-fours old tray of small gravel
ones and crushed sea she'll 9, subse-
luent to this tonic he had a handful of
chopped alfalfa. This lays the founda-
ion for meal of cracked corn and wa
ter, and when this has been eaten the
bird is considered on the straight road
TO distinction as the first ostrich Matched
IN America. The bird will no doubt
conduct himself or herself as the case
may be Qor the sex is not distinguished
Die for some mouths) in accord ance
with the rules and regulations prescribed
and enforced here for the successful
promotion of the honor and profit prop.
erly due the enterprising gentlemen
who have initiated this new industry.
Leaving the front door looking east
turned to the south, and before me is an
Enclosure of four acres in L form, made
by post and board fence only four and
q no fno II irn I,,tt 10 do
of three good sound inch thick, twelve
inches wide redwood boards, we'll
nailed on. A kick from an. irritated
ostrich would break al ordinary fence
board in splinters. These parallelograms
making the L are divided iuto twelve
paddocks in which the stock Of twenty
one cstriches, eleven hens and ten cocks
are placed. Each paddock contains a
pair of birds, one having two hens and
one cock. The paddocks are bare and
sandy, but surrounding the breeding
grounds is an excellent growth of al:ai-
ia, turnips, cabbages, onions, maize and
beets, all of which have been planted
and grown since March Is, and are On
time for voracious chickens which are
expected to rally round their exemplary
parents in an all-summer campaign
against the ffty-fc ur acres Of green food
provided for them.
In close proximity to the paddocks is
an artesian well 300 feet deep, which
discharges four feet above surface 49,
600 gallons Of water each hoHr-suf-
fcient to irrtgate in this locality from
two to three hundred acres Of land
planted to ordinary crops and with aver
age rainfall. The entire farm is mile
square, or $40 acres. and is level plain.
1t may. be as we'll to remind you tina.
these are the ostr iches, the arrival of
which In New York last November at
tracted 80 much attention, and which
DR.. Protheroe of Buenos Ayres, and DR..
c. J. Sketchley, both formerly of the
E~so 1>wr,>c1& 10 4hic