The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-02-21

in well-covered boxes. Raising two
patches of chicks in this manner by the
natural method has proven more salts
FACTORY at Norwalk than by artificial in
cupatof, though the incubator is some
times used. Whenever the chicks are
raised by their parents the latter are
very proud of them, letting them run
only at night.
II was stated a few years ago that a
pair of birds in their prime would raise
from forty to seventy chicks a year for
nVe successive years, but in point of fact
an average of ten chicks a year for that
length OF time is all that can be expected,
although as many as thirty-two chicks
nave Deen taken away from one pair of
birds in single year. If the eggs are
taken away from the nest a good many
more will be laid but much smaller
incubator is used
"Al the ostriches over four or five
months old, except the breeding birds.
run run IN troops in large pastures during
the day; at night they are placed in
plcKet-tence enclosure to protect them
from the dogs and coyotes Although an
ostrich will charge a man on horseback,
IL is AFRAID OF dog or any other small
animal The reason for this is that an
ostrich cannot strike a heavy blow with
It's foot at less than three feet above the
ground. When a man is attacked by an
OSTRICH he can gain some safety by lying
down, otherwise he is apt to be killed
unless he has a rake or long, forked stick
" pace against the DlrdS neck and so
keep it out of kicking distance, the big
full.
"The ostrich measures over seven feet
IN night, weighs go to 800 pounds, and
lives on an average about 20 years. 1t
eats two and one-half or three pounds of
alfalta hay and seven pounds of sugar
beets per day-nOt forty pounds of alfalfa
besides its other food, as has been stated.
The feed for one COW will support ten
ostriches, The ostrich also eats some
corn, and picks up pebbles ground bones.
etc, these hard substances being used to
grind the food in the stomach The little
chlckS, when a few days old, will eat
the fresh alfalfa and pick up little pieces
or gravel. But, according to an encyclo-
pedia, they can not digest the hard food
their parents eat, so thirty eggs are left
lying about the nest before the sitting be-
gins for the newborn chicks to feed up
on. Imagine their poor little stomach
struggling with those thirty great. six
weeks old, baked-in-the-sun eggs, when
one fresh egg alone has provided an ONE
let for twenty-eight human beings!
The forty acres at Norwalk not only
furnish running room and pasture for the
birds, but all their food is raised on the
farm, except the bulk of the hay, which
has to be bought. However not less than
twenty acres of land should be provided
for every hundred birds.
AN ostrich will swallow almost any,
thing It can get such as oranges, nails,
nuts, leather. beets and pieces of wood
and iron. Among other things, they have
hIIn seen " HNdllOW d BlIlltI, a WdtGn,
a lighted pipe, sock, and a rolled-up
newspaper.
''The eggs weigh three to three and
half pounds each, and are equal to more
than two dozen hens eggs. The shells,
which are very hard and strong, are fire.
quently used for souvenirs, after being
fancifully decorated.
THE feathers of the ostrich are of
course, what Il is raised for. There are
about 1000 on each bird. All OF them are
put to some use, including those picked
up on the ground. which the birds shed.
Only about 800 of the largest and best
feathers are plucked. from the wings and
tail. The most valuable of these are the
twenty-five long white plumes that grow
on each wing of the male. The rest of
the feathers are black on the male, and
drab or grayish on the female.
"Plucking takes place every eight or
nine months from the time the birds are
eight months old, and is quite an inter-
esting sight. The birds are driven into
a small corral, and from there, one az
place with a door at the end, which is
opened to let the ostrich out after Il is
plucked. During the operation a long,
narrow bag. shaped like a stocking. Is
placed over the head of the bird to blind
fold him, so he will remain quiet; there
Is hole left in the end of the bag
through which he sticks his beak 10
breathe. But still care must be taken TO
keep back Of the bird to avoid being
kicked.
terfere with the future growth of the
feathers, and the harm done can never
London is the mart OF the world for
ostrich feathers, twenty TO thirty tons
Of them being sold there at auction every
two months. over 100000 worth OF raw
feathers are shipped from South Africa
annually, while less than $4,000 worth
are raised in this country.
There are thousands OF acres OF land
In California fitted for ostrich-raising
and there Is no reason why Il should not
become an important industry there be-
fore many years. the experiment having
already become an assured success.
The feathers from each bird are worth
$50 year to tho producer, and the cost OF
keeping the birds, including labor, Is not
much In proportion. There was a time
when birds sold IN Africa as high as 5000
pair, but now any one wishing TO start
farm In California can buy three
months-od chicks for $50 a pair or less
and raise them himself"
------e--o-e---
Paul Lawrence Dunbar. the young
negro writer OF verse, who lives in Day
ton, O.. y to give parlor readings in Eng