Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1888-12-14
ON AN OSTRICH FARM.

America 1t is the cultivation or rails
ing of ostriches, ostrich eggs and
ostrich feathers for the market. On
what is known as the old Temple
street road, some five or six miles from
the centre of the city, DR.. c. J.
Sketchley has established an ostrich
farm. The doctor was one Of the pi-
oneers in ostrich farming in Africa,
having been identified with that in
dustry there for many years past, and
is the author of a number of treatises
on the ostrich. \ visit TO Los Angeles
and careful study of its climatic in
fluences convinced the doctor that
ostrich farming could be successfully
carried on there. and he resolved To
try the experiment. The result was
the Sketchley ostrich farm, which for
more than year past has been an es
tablished success.
The farm is a large one, numbering
several hundred acres, of which about
sixty are devoted To the ostriches
There are thirty pairs of these beau
tiful birds, equally divided as regards
sex and all magnificent specimens OF
their kind, besides number of young
ones recently Matched at the farm.
Their food consists almost exclusively
of corn and alfalfa The latter is a
very beautiful perennial plant allied
to the clover family and much cult
waited for fodder throughout Califor-
MIA and Texas.
Each male is mated with female
and the two birds are assigned two
acres of ground. fenced off into lots of
one acre each. They are kept in one
Of these lots until they have eaten of
all the alfalfa ii contains. when they
are transferred to the other, being
thus alternated between the two.
From the observatory tower In the
centre Of the doctors handsome resi-
dence the ostrich grounds look like
an immense chess board and the gi-
gantic birds like kings, queens,
knights, bishops and rocks scattered
upon it. "All the full-grown ostriches
that YOU see" said the doctor, Il i'm
ported directly from Africa, landing
them in this country at Galveston'
Texas. and bringing with them four
Madrasese men and one woman, the
people of that race possessing more
than natural intelligence and being
more familiar with the ostrich than
any native Africans. | have found
that not only are the ostriches quite
a. healthy as in Africa. but they are
actually more prolific here than In
their native country, both in the
number of eggs they lay and OF the
young ones they hatch a. we'll as i'll
the quantity of feathers they produce;
results due. | believe TO the glorious
climate Of California, which seems 10
greatly increase the fertility of all ami
mails The feathers are fully equal in
all respects to any grown in Africa,
Our principal market for them is in
New York.
LAS you will observe, the height of
the birds is from eight to twelve feet.
Their weight varies from 300 to 400
pounds. The male is much the larger
of the two sexes and is black in color,
while the female is gray. Where,
then, you will ask, do white ostrich
feathers come from? They are found
i'm both the male and female bird
among the loose feathers of the wings
and tail, beneath the black and gray,
and it is the fact of their being so
much rarer and less numerous that
makes them so much desired and con
sequently so much higher In price
than ostrich feathers of either of
those two colors, for in some respects
| consider them inferior to the latter.
The ostrich is not regarded "a hav-
ING reached maturity until it begins
to lay eggs. which it usually does at
the age of four years, but it produces
its first crop of feathers at the com
pletion of its first year. Every seven
months thereafter itsplumageis ready
for market, yielding about twenty-five
of the finest feathers, besides large
number Of less valuable ones. The
feathers are not plucked out, but are
cut off quite close 10 the skin with
large shears made for the purpose.
There j. 40 cruelty whatever in the
operation. the bird experiencing not
the slightest pain or inconvenience.
Within "A few days after the feath-
ers have been cut. the stubs dry and
shrivel to such an extent that they
are easily removed without the slight
ANNOYANCE to the ostrich. You can
imagine how profitable the business
is when | tell you that the longest and
finest white feathers are worth at
wholesale "a apiece and good feathers
5000 per pound The first clipping Of
young birds will average $40 in value.
OF course it requires a good deal Of
capital 10 start large ostrich farm
as a full-grown pair OF birds is worth
from 800 to $500. and single young
bird six months old costs from $50 to
800, but after it i, once under way
the return from the investment Is a
large one.
The ostrich's manner Of making a
nest is exceedingly simple. As you
see. the soil on which We keep the
bird is a sandy one. and when they
have eaten all the alfalfa of snfii-
cientIy large space they make hol
low in the sand from three TO six feet
in diameter. with a shallow border.
T., rl;. thay- lav from twplye 40 thirty