The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-02-26

Then the eautiful plumage Of the adult
begins TO develop, and, at the age of live
years, II reaches its fun growth. Being now
Of age, if it meets with no accident, a long
life IS before 1t, for an ostrich often lives
for seventy years.
The birds are, however. rather liable TO
accident, their legs being. like Achilles's
heel. their vulnerable part. On a large
farm, hey sometimes run into the wire
fence or become entangled in a thorny bush,
and, in their frantic struggles 10 escape,
break a leg; or this may occur in a fight
between two birds; and, once the leg is
broken, all the king horses and all the
kings men cannot put it together again,
for it is as brittle as Il piece of china, and
breaks into countless splinters. All that can
be done is to put the poor creature out OF
his misery, pluck his beautiful feathers, and
turn over the massive thighs to the cook,
who will make a most excellent soup out Of
them. AS steak, the flesh is not a complete
success, being somewhat stringy; yet, on a
remote farm in the Cape Colony, where
fresh meat is q luxury, ostrich steaks are
not disdained. The rest of the body is but
a bag Of bones, and so of no use for culin-
airy purposes.
traordinary. 1t consumes gravel, broken
glass and pottery, pieces of leather and
oranges, and it has been known to swallow
gimletS, lighted pipes and other lmposSlplil-
ties. 1t Is said that an ostrich once pIucked
a costly diamond stud out of the shirt front
of a spectator; and a lady's ears as well as
her earrings would be endangered by too
close proximity to the, vOracious birds. These
hard substances serve the purpose of grind
ing the 1000 IN the stomach. ana 50 take lIle
place of teeth in the birds anatomy. In
California ostriches are fed on the sugar
beet. The pieces are swallowed whole, and
1t is curious TO see them traVel splrally down
and around the long throat, the lump APP
pearing first in the front, then in the back
of the neck.
The birds are first plucked at the age of
nine months, but the feathers obtained are
stiff and narrow. Not until the third or
fourth 13,dtb ply pl9ck SnfgFos do they hey a niinF ,r their IF full full
birds is a great event on an ostrich farm,
and occurs about once in nine months. They
are driven one at a time into q small tri-
angular Enclosure, where two men take them
in charge. A bag is drawn over the ostrich'S
head, and one man holds him while the
other clips and pulls the feathers. The
operation finished, a gate at the small end
of the Enclosure is opened and the bird runs
away with wings extended, quite relieved to
find himself still alive. The short feathers
are pulled out without pain. it is said, but
the long wing feathers are clipped with short
scissors. the stumps being left in the skin.
In about three months these are ready to be
extracted. Great skill is required in the
operator to determine what feathers are
ripe, for II they are pulled too soon and the
socket is injured the feather will not grow
again.
Having been carefully assorted, the
feathers must undergo a number or opera
tons before they are ready for the market.
they are graded according to size and
weighed; then they are shipped to the
ostrich feather dressers in Los Angeles, San
Francisco and New York. Here they are,
washed, dyed, sewn together, curled and
uldu6 up lnUO the various SHAPES dlNu Styles
demanded by fashion.
The profits of ostrich farming. though they
seem to have fallen off considerably since
the early days of the industry, are still very
fair. The feathers of each bird are worth
about $50 per year; a pair of adult birds is
valued at $500, and a pair of chicks at $40.
An ostrich egg weighs about three pounds,
and is equivalent to tWenty-fOur fowls eggs.
They are quite edible, having a pleasant
flavor, and are said to make delicious cakes
and custards. 1t takes an hour to boil one
hard.
Much has been said, and apparently with
reason. of the stupidity of the ostrich. IN
like all other animals who have been do
mesticated, he shows no attachment to his
master, nor does he seem to acquire any
new ideas or habitudes from association
with him. Scarcely, indeed, does he learn in
years to recognize the person who brings
him his daily food. What scanty wits the
ostrich has seem to desert him on the slight
est provOcation. The least alarm will throw
a whole troop into q panic, and send them
racing across the field for dear life. If one
of them is taken sick or injured through an
accident no efforts to cure him will avail
against his stubborn determination to die.
He refuses food and drink, and shuf1es off
this mortal coil at his earliest opportunity.
The culture of the ostrich evidently re-
qu1res for its success, in addition to favora-
BILE climatic conditions, experience, skill and
care on the part Of the operators. 1t would
seem that, in the California experiment,
these elements had been most fortunately
combined, and we may look forward in the
not distant future to seeing the home market
supplied by American feathers, and a Lew
name added to the already varied list of
American industries.