The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-08-05
OSTRICH FARMING
 IS BIC INDUSTRY Rapid Strides Made in Recent
 Years BIRDS QUITE VALUABLE Eggs and Flesh Furnish Good Food, While Fumes Bring High Prices. Arizona Furnishes Suit
 able Climate.
BIRDS QUITE VALUABLE

Washington Cor of The New York Even
 ing Post.
 A new American infant industry, re- garding which there is little popular in formation, but which has been making great strides in development is that of ostrich farming. official reports coming to Washington show that the unfortunate experience of pioneer breeders who had to pay heavily for their lack of knowledge has been avoided by those who have taken up the breeding in more recent years. On the first American ostrich farm, started twenty-three years ago, re- suits were not encouraging and 1t has been found that more than half the num- Der of ostriches in this country at present are the progeny of a single pair obtained to start a farm in Arizona in 1891 That territory has ever since been considered the best section of America for ostrich farming, although some experiments have been made in California, Arkansas and Florida. In the Salt River Valley of Arl- zona climatic conditions are favorable to the health of the birds, and this in turn improves the quality and yield of feath- CTS, which Is the principal incentive Tor the development of the industry. Nature has looked out for the all-the-year-round production of alfalfa there, so that one of the prime requisites in breeding, that of affording green food continuously, IS thus readily met
 It is doubtful whether there Is any bird or animal that can be bred in the United States which will comand a more fancy price than the ostrich Heretofore 1t has been considered valuable only for the feathers it produces. As these are lux ury which can only be enjoyed by those with money to spare and who demand the finest quality obtainable, the imported specimens have commanded the highest price and have foresta1led the native grown pumes In the past few years, however with the steady increase in os- l trich farming in the far southwest, the quality of the plumes has become nner and other uses have appeared. One or these Is the use of ostrich eggs for mak- ing omelets and such other culinary pro auctions as usually require hens eggs. It has been found that two and one-half dozen of the latter are required to make as much omelet as a single ostrich egg.
 It is of interest to know that an ostrich
 has been known to produce more than three hundred pounds of egg food in T
 single year. Further than this the flesh of the domestic ostrich is relished by those who have eaten 1t, so that the bird has come Into the same general class of food as poultry, in addition to It's primary and more important value as producer or feathers.
 1 Profits of the Industry.
 Is the opinion of those engaged in the industry, these facts furnish all the an- swer needed to the invariable inquiry as to whether ostrich farming Is profitable. One acre of alfalfa produces sufficient forage to maintain four full-grown birds. and provide them with all the living space required. Each bird yields annually one and a half pounds of feathers which command an average price of $oJ, and ma ready sale among those who cannot grati- | fly their tastes with the more expensive 1 imported article. This means return of S12O for the flock. In addition each will lay from thirty-six to ninety eggs, avail | able either for incubation, If the owner wishes to increase the number of his birds, or else providing egg food at the rate of three and one-half pounds to the shell This egg product averaging prop- ably as high as 300 eggs year, or fully 1000 pounds of egg food, is quite an Item in the growers first calculations. It IS only preliminary source of profit, how ever, because there still remains the value of the ostrich itself, and this keeps on increasing with every year of growth. It may be surprising to poultry raisers to learn that while they are dealing in small figures with their broods of spring chick ems for a metropolitan market, the os- trich chick six months old commands price of $l00. Each year of age makes the ostrich worth probably S1OO more, on the average, until at the age of four years. the period at which they pair, they are worth over $500 a pair.
 Such a high valuation is the more inter- esting from the fact that the ostrich Is able to take care of itself, find it's own food if once liberated in an alfalfa pas ture, and cause its owner less trouble than almost any kind of animal in cap tivity in proportion to its value. Pigs are able to take care of themselves ana live on next to nothing, but they possess the single value of food when killed. The ostrich, on the other hand lives for one decade after another, all the while pro- duing annual crops of feathers, eggs, and progeny There is no authentic data as to the extreme longevity of the ostrich, but it has been claimed that 1t will live 100 years. It Is well authenticated that specimens have been kept in captivity for forty years, and are still breeding and
 
 the noteworthy consideration that 1t pos sesses exceptional hardness, and that few have been known to die, except through accident, in the quarter century they have been bred in this country.
 PIucking the PIumes and Feathers.
 It is a strange circumstance that with the powerful means of locomotion as well as ability to defend itself from attack, the ostrich is more easily scared than prob bably any other bird or animal possessing elementary powers of self-protection. A dog or other small animaf, insignificant in comparison to the great bulk of the os- trich may frighten it so as to cause 1t to rush headlong into fence or some other obstruction which will maim 1t so badly as to require It's destruction. This excessive timidity causes the breeders to adopt strategic measures when the time comes for plucking the valuable feathers for market. The birds are so tinid that they quail at being driven, even from one field to another unless some one goes ahead of them. The plan usually adopted, therefore, Is to have man go ahead on foot, calling them as farmers wife does her chickens, and tolng them on with little grain Another man follows on horse back. and between the confusion of being followed and led there is little trouble in ~f~Js In xxyhf0