The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-08-06

ty; the consequence is, that instead of
II eggs annually from ONE pair of birds,
the "ostriculturist if we may term him
often produces eighty many of which
are fertile and hatch. The scripture al
leges that the ostrich knoweth not her
young; this may happen in a wild state,
but tame ostrich has proper respect
for and pride in her offspring, if left
with her. They brood them only at
night time, keeping them running about
adj day with them an ceaseless motion
from dayl ght to dark. When the chicks
are taken away they are kept warm at
night in well covered boxes; ON the third
day after their appearance they will be
gin devouring small stones and broken
bone; ON the fourth or fifth they begin to
eat iran, cabbage grass, etc, which is
the ideal food for the bird in its younger
state. With this its mortality is small
and growth remarkably fast; UP to the
age of six months it grows at the rate of
one foot a month An ostrich egg weighs
about three and one-half pounds, and is
equal to thirty hen eggs; an omelette of
ostrich eggs is nearly the same flavor
and appearance as an omlette OF ordinary
eggs The unfertile eggs are blown and
find a ready sale, decorated and plain, as
souvenirs o. the Florida Ostrich Farm
They are sold at the farm for S1.00 each.
The feather of the ostrich are of va
rious shades and several colors, accord
ing to the age and sex of the bird; those
of the young are mixture of white
and yellow; at eighteen months of age
they turn to dark drab ON the female,
and black and white on the male. The
most valuable feathers are those of the
male adults; those of the female and of
the young are of inferior quality. The
winged feathers are the largest and most
flexible, and many are more or less
white those of the tail are inferior botn
in quality and color. The white feathers,
so called, being in most cases the color
of ivory are the most valuable and beau
tiful.
Every nine months the birds are ex>
anined and the ripe feathers plucked.
This requires a certain amount OF eX-
perence and skill; careless plucking viii
injure the growth of future feathers;
feather root injured, injury Us done that
can never be remedied; for when q
socket is pulled out feather can never
grow again. The short feathers are
pulled ont without amy apparent pain to
the creature. as they are ripe and would
fall off in the course of nature, II not
extracted by the skilled operator; the
heavy wing feathers are cut off with
short scissors. the, stumpS being left in
the skin; these are ripe for extraction
about three months after a plucking
takes place The Society for the Sup
preston of Cruelty to birds, of which
the Princess of Wales is president, eX-
pressly excepted the ostrich from its list
of unfortunates. As has been said, the
extraction of feathers from the ostrich,
by skilled operators is without pain to
the bird. Three corps of feathers are
yielded at the ostrich farm in two years,
though of course, plucking takes place
more frequently. Each bird is worth
from $50 to $50 per annum in feathers,
and most of them live, in Africa, to the
good old age of seventy years. Their
value varies from 500 pair for chicks
to $500 Il pair for full-grown breeding
birds, three years old and upwards.
The plucking of the birds is one of the
occasional sights at the Florida Ostrich
Farm in Jacksonville A few of the
birds are driven into small corral when
one by one they are introduced to n
small angular Enclosure. long narrow
bag placed over the head, with hole IN
the end for it to breathe, one man hold
ing the Bird while the operator skillfully
clips and pulls all the feathers that are
ripe: being thus blinded he becomes very
tame but care is exercised by the men
in keeping behind the bird TO prevent the
kicks that necessarily are included by
the creature III this performance. The
| 1orsrouaSt mart of fha anOla-shaned i'm
closure contains small door, which. af-
ter the plucking has taken place, is open
ed the bag taken off and the bird runs
away with wings extended, quite reliey-
ed.