Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1883-07-26
THE AMERICAN OSTRICH FARM
How the Birds Fight with Their Feet
The Cost OF II eepsng Them.
Anaheim ltaLl Letter % The Washington kepuh-
lican

Scarcely a Sabbath passes without
finding a large gathering of visitors
at the only ostrich farm il is possible
for North American 10 visit without
leaving home Those of your readers
who go abroad. and those who do not,
may find it economy of time and
money to place their imaginative
magazines in my keeping for few
minutes OF course. there is risk in
all things human, except taxes: but
then. think of some things YOU are in
sured against in this trip. No broken
trunks, nor broken meals, nor broken.
sleep, nor broken purse nor broken
rails, nor broken necks Possibly.
some of your earliest and most posi-
tive ideas of the bird may be smashed
. 30 pieces, and SUiiey of natural his
tory will be flung at my Uranium, but
they will have lost their force here in
the presence of the biggest biped that
ueads our footstooi at the present
time \ few months since ten couples
of the aforesaid two-legged and two
toed birds landed ON our hospitablo
shores at New York. Keeping in view
the idea of tariff for revenue only.
as ltN lNNl w Alit iuli " tN >. AlltNt iliieilil
industries were allowed to travel in
public cattle car across our domain
for high tariff of S1700, and being
obliged to change cars at Chicago,
Omaha and Ogden Six hundred and
forty acres have been leased by the
company for the experiment, six
miles from this Teutonic colony, and
two miles from Costa Station, ON
the Santa Anna Railway. DIR.
Sketchly. an EngliShman, who
brought the birds over from
Southern Africa, has been with them
constantly as uperintendent, and has
large interest in them. The cost of
each is scheduled in the company's
books at 81, 600, but it is known to have
been a few hundred above that sum
when landed here. All are kept now
i'm pens at little expense, a male and
female in each pen for breeding pur-
poses. The Winters here are a little
warmer and the Summer little cool
er than in their native land. They are
+ about six miles from the Pacific, where
there is good grazing land, worth about
$50 AN acre. They are doing as we'll
e as at home. except, like other bridal
parties, they have lost the docility for
which they We're noted at home.
The keeper charges ii to the electric
+ air of the Pacific coast One of the
birds (the cock of the walk has be
: come so acclimated that he has given
! his beloved "A rest. the first Of hei
i tribe Ia enrich American soil. They
, do not fight with their wings, beak OF
! spurs, as do some of the feathereC
kind. but, like that wonderful song
ster the mule. with their feet 1t i
I well known in science thanks 10 ;
few book agents. what the sensation
! is to be kicked by a mule, but no ON,
= who has been fairly impressed by TIN
, softness of an ostrich foot has lived Z,
!, tell the tale AS in human nature S,
: in ostrich nature. the female rarel \
> gets angry When she can not ruI
away, ans has none of the stermer Sc,
f to defend her. she will strike for liber
, ty or die The likeness TO human
nature does not follow so closely il
the male bird He is the ornamental
i branch of the family, and when it is
desired to start new branch he make,
the nest, asks his companion TO come
and examine q it; if, after putting
4 their heads together, the mistress OF
\ the house is satisfied (she usually isl
/ she furnishes it with a dozen or so OF
{ four-pomd eggs, five to six inches IN
diameter, each equivalent TO two dozen
J of hens eggs, and then allows hen
T. male helpmate to do the principal part
e of the setting. Think of that, O. man,
\ and then say which ought to hide then
: heads in the dust. He sits all night
q willingly, but woe to that hen that
q does not come on time to relieve him
: for breakfast He must, of course,
strut a little during the day, and is al
WAYS 'at the lodge" at night Forty
: DAYS and forty nights. with three days
2 of grace he maintains 'squatter SOY
4 ereignty, until his posterity begins
! to make a stir in their environments,
( and then he helps them pick their
J way out into this beautiful world of
{ evolution This is the way they do it
. i'm their wild state; but here, as in all
well-regulated farms in Africa, Aus
tralia. South America and elsewhere,
the incubator prevents this exemplary
= display of manhood. When Matched,
the young ostriches are about the size
/ of a common hen, and about the color
e of young goose. At maturity the
s male is black. with white tips on the
e wing and tail, which alone constitute
his stock in trade amounting IN At
RIGA to several millions Of dollars
The female is gray, with the usual
white tips, but not so profuse as the
p male. The birds are from to 10years
of age, and are larger and more life
: like than the ostriches hauled about
with shows and in geological gardens
The brood just out will be pastured in
!. an alfalfa patch. with herder
Counting the chickens before they
! were Matched. a few were sold some
: weeks ago for $500 each. Other com
panies ere soon to embark in this new
enterprise. and there Is room for q
hundred thousand more. All the veg
etables and lime and gravel they
can be had in abundance in South
ern California They drink very lit