Morning journal and courier., 1889-04-18
THE NEW CROP OF CALIFORNIA.


 A pluck at the Wentworth ostrich farm having been announced, party of visitors took the train from Los Angeles for the scene of this unfamiliar form of harvest ing. The ostrich farm, which is situated about seven miles northeast of Los Angeles, occupies very pretty valley at the foot of one of the coast ranges, not far from the Burbank station, on the Southern Pacific railroad.
 The ostriches are confined in 8 number Of large corrals, in which the birds have free room to run about. scoop out their primitive nests and make themselves generally quite at home Four of the corrals are occupied by pairs of full grown imported birds, at the present time occupied in laying eggs. In other corrals are young birds, natives of Cal iforuia, which appear to be quite as healthy and promise to be as fine as their African parents.
 Plucking the birds is by no means a light undertaking. The one thing which makes ostriches manageable ct all is that they can- not either fly or leap, or if they can they are not aware of their powers. Hence an ordi- nary post and rail fence five feet high Is suf- ficient to confne birds standing, perhaps seven feet high, even when they are making the most desperate efforts to escape from the hands of their spoilers. But if they cannot fly they can run and kick, and kick from one of their great strong legs is an experience which nobody cares to try. Thus in catching them it is always necessary carefully to avoid getting in front of them, for they can only kick straight forward.
 When plucking is to begin three men en- ter the corral and approach the birds. They try to get the one they wish to catch up into corner, but as the bird soon sees that his best chance lies in keeping in the open, he races down one side of the corral and then up the other, making it appear as though it were an almost hopeless task to catch him. His strides are enormous, but his great feet and the muscles of his thighs are so strong that he comes along with easy, springy gait, in which very little is seen of the fool ish awkwardness which is the first character istic to strike strangers when they see the bird at rest.
 After several quite vain attempts to reach the bird as he runs past, the quickest of the men throws himself upon one of the huge wings, and the first time perhaps finds him. self sprawling on the ground with @ handful of broken feathers to reward him for his pains. Soon, however, somebody is fortu- nate enough to get good hold, and by the time he has been dragged half way round the enclosure the other two men also are to be seen firmly attached to some part of the body or wings of the bird. Then sack Is rapidly produced from the belt of one of the men and slipped over the head and long neck at the lower end of which it is loosely tied. This greatly facilitates matters, and it
 is now no very difficult job to steer the strange looking creature into a corner of the corral which has been prepared for it's re- ception. Here the fence has been strength ened with strong deal boards, and another heavy board is all ready to be swung around ;y,o fn ba rd and captors in a small corner, in which no great amount of struggling is possible.
 The first bird plucked was an old male. The young birds for the first two years of their life are all the same gray color, which the females continue for their lives, but the males, after they are about two years old, become very handsome. They turn quite black, thus making very handsome setting for the great white plunes which adorn their wings and tail. Only the wing and tail feathers are pulled, the curly looking little tips on the breast which arouse the eupidity of some of the ladies being left untouched. The three men who have hold of the bird force him up tight against the corner of the enclosure, and the one of them who is doing the p1ucking stands on the side away from the wing on which he is going to commence operations. He raises the wing, and, draw ing it toward him over the body of the bird, he selects the feathers which he considers marketable, and, grasping them one by one firmly in his hand, gives them a good hard pull and out they come-frst the great white plumes, then the smaller whites, and then the larger blacks. It must be somewhat painful operation for the bird, as the feath- CTS have tight hold and the wing bleeds more or less at most points from which seve- ral feathers adjoining one another have been drawn. Every now and then 6 renewed struggle on the part of the ostrich, and an effort, not always unsuccessful, to shake off --I-s L s- L. ness to his net relishing the situation. As fast the feathers are pulled, and this is done very quickly, they are handed over the fence to man standing close by with box. Then the ladies have their chance. The amount of discussion which is required before the on-lookers can decide which of the feathers is most worthy to be chosen to remind them of the occasion is surprising. First nothing less than one of the great white plumes at the end of the wing is good enough, and as these are selling today at from one to two dollars, they are cheap enough. But when looked at in the hand it is found-surprising fact-that the feathers do not grow curled and washed, and ready to be worn on hats, and presently smaller feather of white and gray, prettily blended, is espied falling into the box. These vary in price from twenty-five to fifty cents, or, in the case of very fine ones, reach dollar; but just as the purchase is on point of com pletion and the fair buyers hand is search ! ing among the small coins in lengthy purse | for one of just the right dimensions she be- ! comes aware that her next neighbor has se-
 cured quite pretty little feather for ten | cents; ''really quite good enough to keep as l a memento." And so the struggle ends. | Meanwhile the two wings have been | plucked, and the tail, which produces feath- CTS shorter than the best wing piumes, but | much wider-such as are used for the best l tips. Then the sack is removed, and the hoard which eneloses the party having been | swung back, the bird IS set loose, queer, I curtafled- looking monster, shorn of his glo- l ", but probably in day or two much more confortable-in hot weather at any rate-for | being freed from the burden of his great,
 heavy plumes. Care has to be taken again, as the sack is removed, that he does not re- ward his tormentors with kick, which, if
 we'll delivered. would easily break bone,