Arizona republican., 1908-04-01
Pierson took the California interes of the firm. THE PAN-AMERIcAN OSTRICH
 FARM.

FARM.
 The largest ostrich ranch in Ameri- ca at the present time Is the one own ed by the Pan-American ostrich Com pany located ten miles to the west Of the city of Phoenix. In November. 1899. Mir. Pearson purchased a large tract of land over twelve hundred acres. and moved his California stock of ostriches onto this land. Soon after he bought 200 birds from the Arizona Ostrich company. and in the course 7Df eight years that number has increased to considerably over 1900 full grown birds. The feathers of these birds yield annually an income of over s40,- 900. Each bird is plucked every eight months. and averages s20 in plumes at each plucking.
 + The Pan-American ostrich ranch presents one of the most novel sights to be found in many days journey. : The great tract of land. green with : alfalfa, is dotted here and there with great drOves of these strange looking foreign birds, that pluck the green growth and thrive upon it. The whole ranch is enclosed with miles and miles of Page fence. which proves a safe guard for the birds. A part of the ranch is divided into smaller pens. en- closing about an acre of ground each. in which are kept single pairs of os- triches for breeding purposes. The ma jority of the birds. however. run in droves of several hundred.
 Alfalfa seems in every way to meet the requirements for a healthful food for the birds. The average bird eats four pounds of the green hay per day, while a western steer will consume about sixty pounds of alfalfa per day The common herd of Ostriches is fed nothing except this green pasturage. and to aid in digestion. quartz is broken up into sizes about as large as hickory nuts and scattered about the fields where the birds feed. and they eat these stones with their food in the same manner that the chicken swallows smaller gravel In some cases the birds kept in the smaller pens for breeding purposes are fed small amounts of grain daily. It Is a peculiar fact that the climate of the Salt River Valley seems to agree with the native requirements of an ostrich. Rarely. if ever, is an ostrich sick. The average life )f one of these huge birds is seven Cy-five years. but the average time Of usefulness is about forty to fifty years. After that the bird begins to deteriorate. Its plum age loses its brilliancy and the zenith of the birds career is passed.
 From the present outlook it appears that within the next five years the Pan-American ostrich farm will have pasturing in it's alfalfa fields more than five thousand of these birds. During the plucking season the farm Is thronged with tourists who came to witness the novel sight, which results in leaving sad looking ostriches. and in the decoration of thousands of hats for the fair sex all over the world.
 It is claimed that the plumage of the birds raised in Arizona is more beautiful than the plumage of the birds from South Africa, and London critics claim that the difference is so marked as to make the plumage from Arizona birds worth more than those shipped from Africa
 THE ARIZONA OSTRICH COMPANY
 The Arizona Ostrich Company Oper- ates an ostrich ranch of 4S0 acres about three miles south of the city of Phoenix. The company was the first ostrich firm to begin operations in the Salt River Valley. incorporating here in 1897. on a forty acre ranch and last fall they moved Op their present farm. In 1898 however, the company sold it's entire flock of birds. 200 in number. to Mir. Pearson of the Pan American Ostrich Co. In October, 1903, the Arizona Ostrich Company
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