The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-07-26
WOMAN IS THE OSTRICH
QUEEN OF WHOLE WORLD

Mrs. Katherine Pearson OF PhoenlX, I
Ariz. and Havana. Cuba, is not only the
ostrich queen of the western hemisphere,
but the world at large. Her ostrich farm
near Phoenix is the largest breeding
ranch in America, and the farm near
Havana on which she has just settled
forty-tive birds is the first of its kind in
Cuba. She owns more birds than any
other woman ostrich farmer on the face
of the earth.
ITO begin at the beginning of my ex"
perience with ostriches l must tell you
that my husband first bought a farm and
a few birds near Jacksonville, Fla said
Mrs. Pearson when talking to a reporter.
Mr.. Pearson was the manager of the
theatre on Union Square now known as
Keith's.
Shortly after our marriage he develop
ed consumption and we had to go south
for his health. After a few years. the
climate not having proved beneficial, he
decided to go Go Phoenix, We sold out in
Florida ard started breeding ostriches on
the Phoenix farm with $50 birds.
My husband was becoming more feeble
every day. ! tried to do my duty and as a
result | learned all the ms and outs in
breeding birds and selling feathers.
Since my husbands death j have in
creased the Phoenix flock to $50 breeders
snd the acreage to 2.elo, making 1T the
largest breeding farm in America. On the
Havana farm there are at present only
twenty-seNen acres ana forty-five birds.
1t is only an experiment. and ! do not
think 1T wise to get more birds until after
these have proved the healthfulness of
the climate.
While in Arizona and Florida we never
lost a grown bird except through accident
Thu climate of Cuba may not prove good
for them. There are the long rainy sea
sons, and the ostriches are not fond of
too much rain. We never sheltered the
grown birds in Arizona or Florida, but
during the rainy season in Cuba it may
be necessary. The food is another prob
lem to be solved.
'Ostrichcs mate when they are about
312 years old and, like pigeons, remain to-
gether. entirely faithful. until they die. At
least | have been told that they mate for
life. and so far as l know 1t Is true.
though, as l said before, l never knew one
10 die a natural death. In case of an ac-
cidental death / have known the widowed
bird to accept a second nate, but not I'M
til after several years.
They usually lay two nests Of eggs OF
from twelve to fourteen each, and you can
count Oh getting an increase Of from ten
to twenty-five chicks. l have often known
a pair of good breeders in a good season
to hatch every egg and raise every chick.
Then again | have known less than a
quarter of the eggs to hatch and as few
Of the chicks to reach maturity.
i doSOCdlc Q6iIS lllCuOQLOTE tn a
certain extent l am convinced that It
would not prove beneficial to q flock 10
use them altogether. So far as nv ex-
perience has gone the birds do not lay any
more eggs, and when their nests are rob-
bed too often they seem to lose all desire
TO sit.
The proper use OF an incubator on ar
ostrich farm is an adjunct in case of
emergency. Where there is danger of the
eggs getting chilled 1t is better to take
them at once 10 the incubator.
Sometimes In spite of the care of the
best breeding BIRDS a heavy rain will soak
the ground in such a way that the nest
is filled with water. Then, again, the
male bird sometimes refuses to do his
share of the sitting, and as the female
never returns to the nest until her APP
pointed hour something has to be done.
or the whole sitting is lost.
"1f they behave as they should the fe-
male sits on the nest during the day and
the male takes his turn during the night.
sulky he goes off on strike, and the female
being equally Independent the nest is left
to take care OF itself.
Gut, as a rule, I think they try to do
their duty by the nest. When the chicks
come, however, 1t is quite a different mat
ter. The parents seem to be perfectly
Indifferent to their fate. Unless the young
BIRDS are taken from them as soon as
Matched there Is great danger Of their
being tramplsd to death. !
This lack OF parental feeling is not so
lnuch a failing of the heart as of the
head. ] am convinced. The ostrich is az !
senseless an animal as exists. So far as
1 ans able to judge they are absolutely
and entirely without brains.
you can teach them nothing, and it
makes no difference how long you feed :
them or how kind you are. they never
even get to recognize you. They know
their mata. and tina is, l believe, as far
as their power of recognition goes.
while I have heard the men on the
farm say hey didn't even nave sense
enough to follow p leader. have noticed