The times., 1899-07-16


Industry VIII Assume Vnet Propor-
tions in the United States within
the NcNt Few Icnrs-Lar-e Prof
its in Plume Culture in -yAfrica.
Ostrich breeding is new industry in
America. 1t is one of the newest There
are ostrich ranches near Los Angeles and
San Diego, Cal. and Jacksonville, Fla
These farms have a prosperous appearance,
and the proprietors declare that they are
with the investment 1t is prophe-
sled by experts that the industry will as
sumo vast proportions within the next few
years.
When the determination of the wild birds
was threatened by plume hunters. far-see-
ing men in South Africa set about domes-
ticating the ostrich. Ostrich farming is
now one OF the most profitable industries
OF that country.
DR.. I. C. Duncan, in report on ostrich
farming in Africa, presented to Norman ].
Colman, Commissioner of Agriculture. in
1858, writes:
Africa of feathers alone is annually millions OF
dollars, and that a single bird will produce each
year 10 per cent OF its value in ferthers TO say
nothing of the increase, IS il any wonder that
pair OF breeding birds command the fancy price
of $1,000. or even high as $1,000, and that
ostrich farming is most lucrative business?
The introduction o: ostriches into Ameri-
ca was slow. AS early as 1880 an attempt
was made to interest the government in
the establishment of experimental farms.
but without avail. In 1881 the American
consuls to Algiers, Cape Town, Buenos
Ayres and other points collected mass
of facts concerning ostrich farming for
presentation TO the Secretary Of State. AL
though these reports set forth the adyan-
tages of ostrich farming in strong light
they were not acted on.
DR.. Charles j. Sketchly was the pioneer
ostrich investor in the United States. He
was before the Boer wars one of the larg
est ostrich farmers in South Africa and as
America consumed one-half of the feathers
exported, il occurred to him that If the
birds could be exported and acclimatized
in America the duty on feathers would be
avoided and the profits increased by at
least % per cent In 1882 he started from
Cape Town with 200 picked birds. and af
ter long and tedious voyage via Buenos
Ayres arrived at New York in December.
the American continent in mid-winter and
only twenty reached California in
healthy condition. The California Ostrich
Company. with a capital of 100000. was
then formed with DR.. Sketchly as supcrin-
tendent The farm upon which the birds
were released was of 800 acres. Between
April and October, 1888. the twelve ostrich
hens in the troops of twenty-five birds
laid go eggs. The first American ostrich
was hatched July 28, 1883.
About the time of the formation of the
California Ostrich Company the American
Ostrich Company was set on foot in Maine.
with Mr.. Z. j. Johnson as manager. He
went to Africa and spent year IN study
ing the habits and needs of ostriches. He
started from Cape Town with twenty-three
birds. and after a voyage Of fifty-thre
days landed at New Orleans in December.
1854. He did not lose a singles bird In
transit. He established a farm in the val
ley of the San Luis Rey. about seven miles
from the town of Fall Brooke. Cal Here
the clear, dry air, the good watera'and the
shelter afforded by the Santa Rosa hills
furnished the proper conditions for the os-
tricb The breeding birds were kept paired
in corrals of an acre in extent. Those of
one and two years old were left a range OF
thirty acres on the mesa, while the young
chicks were kept where they might have
plenty of shelter. The long journey af-
fected the vitality and fertility of the birds
Mr.. johnson wrote in 1887 as follows:
The reproductive powers OF the birds were
greatly impaired by the arduous "trip. The increase
has been exceedingly slow. Our birds have been
paired off three years or more, and although /
have a few very fine two-year-olds, a large pro-
portion of the eggs have thus far been unfertile
or, when fertile, not strong. -Four OF the Afri-
can birds have died OF consumption OF the lungs
and stomach, contracted on the voyage am
just beginning TO see daylight in the venture.
The ostrich lays an egg every third day
They are large, being five to six inches
through the long diameter, and weigh from
three TO five pounds each The shell is
usually very thick, sometimes One-sixteentn
OF an inch. The period of incubation is
variously given at from thirty eight to
fortytwo days, and depends upon the vi
tality and development OF the chick. The
chick can be heard in its shell several days
before it appears.
They are from three to six days old be-
fore they eat anything and the first food
administered is sand and ground bone.
Later they are given beet and cabbage
leaves. Young ostriches are very liable to
cold and being natives OF warm and dry
climate cannot bear wind or rain. The
ostrich is kept housed at night until he is
six weeks old.
The Jacksonville farm has been estab-
lished about four years Already there are
about one hundred productive birds on the
place. They have some very curious hab-
its. Mutual selection is practiced by the
opposite sexes. When birds have chosen TO
mate they are penned off in lots of about
a half acre. Each hen is expected 10 lay
forty or fifty eggs year and the male bird
assists in the Matching, sitting on the eggs
one half the time. Many OF the male birds
are eight feet tall. They can kick man
TO death and outrun a feet horse. II is a
practice on the farm TO hitch one of the
birds to a buggy, and he draws two men
over the sandy roads of the farm with ease.
There are two African birds on this farm,
one Of them being forty and the other fifty
years old. The average lifetime of an os-
trich is seventy years. Tho American
birds at Jacksonville are as large and we'll
feathered as the imported one. The plumes
and other feathers are taken from them
every nine months and it is said that the
value Of each plucking per bird varies from
$50 to 500, according TO the condition of the
feather market.
The ostrich industry began in Cape Col
ony in 1865 with eighty-fve birds. In 1876
the number had increased to %, 2i7 birds,
and in 1885 there were about 100 600 do
mesticated ostriches in South africa.
1t is estimated that the South African
ostrich farmers have now about 500, 900 ,OO(
invested in the business. 4nl November,
1884, becoming alarmed at the shipment
of birds to America, an export duty OF 5000
was imposed on each ostrich This duty
with the original cost of the average bird
and transportation charges, makes the cost
of an imported bird in AS,ieriea about
81 600.
The finest feathers are the wing feathers
of the male bird, which are long and white
They command from $50 to)N0 pound
The wing feathers of the fesfales ostrich