The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-11-29

Port Elizabeth. T HIS is the chief ostrich feather port
 of the world. The finest blunes 1 which decorate the hats of our American beauties are raised in Cape Colony. and mora than Ss00'OO worth or them were sent from Port Elizabeth to the United States last year The most of the ostrich feathers used by man are now raised on the farms of Cape Colony. There is something like 49o,OOO birds en- gagged in the business, and they produced more than 1o00,000 pounds Of feathers last year. Those feathers sold for more thaa S7,OO0O00, bringing from $l0 to Sl5o per pound
 A Big Feather Market.
 The chief ostrich feather market is Port Elizabeth. The feathers are sent in by the farmers and country merchants ana are sold here at auctions which are held every two weeks They are carefully hacked in boxes and sealed before ship inent, and are consigned to licensed agents who sort them and sell on com mission of 21a per cent. The sorting Is done at so much per pound.
 The auction sales here are held In what fs known as the feather warehouse. This covers more than an acre, and it consists Of a great room filled with trestle-Work tables Upon these tables the feathers are laid out in lots and the feather buyers from all parts of the world look over them and bid on each lot 9s it is put mp for sale Sometimes S100,00J worth CT feathers are displayed at one time, and the yearly auctions bring in several mil- lions After buying the feathers are fe- sorted and then shipped to New York and to London and other cities of Europe. The greater part of the product goes To London where there are great feather
 fraaa r. Some of the very best plumes, however are exported direct to the United States, the re-sorting and finishing of them being done by our miliners and dealers at home The poorest feathers go to Ger many where they are made up into poas end plumes for dolls hats. The London feathers are re-sorted before they are sold. the auctions there handling 20 or 30 tons every two months. The average price brought by the Cape Colony feath- CTS last year was over SIP per pound.
 Scientific Ostrich Rearing.
 The business of ostrich raising is fast becoming. a science. The government here is interested in it. and 1t has all sorts of laws to protect the farmers. There Is government veterinary surgeon at Port Elizabeth who spends all his time study ing ostrich diseases. There is an ostrich breeding association, and this has stud K, noted birds are laid down. There are cer- tain farmers who have so improved their stock that their ostrich chicks will bring from $50e to S1000 apiece, and certain cock birds will sell for 5000 or more. There is a man named Evans whose ostriches stand very high. He imported Barbary cock some % years ago, and bred him to a fine native hen. Since then he has steadily improved his breed. The ostrich farmers pay great attention to the study of the feathers, watching tha birds which produce the best, and cross- ing them with others trying to bring about combination which will yield the finest and most valuable plumes. There are certain localities which produce better feathers than others The Oudtshoon feather for instance, reaches 291s inches in length the Graff-Reinet measures about 9 inches and the Middleburg is about 22 The latter feathers are a little bit better than the Oudtshoorn as to cer- tain points, but all are especially fine.
 Kept Like Fine Stock.
 Within the past few years there has been a great change in ostrich farming. A generation or so ago nearly all our feathers came from wild birds. They were hunted with dogs and guns, and were often captured in pitfalls. ihea along about 50 years ago some young ostrfches were tanned by a South African and ostriah breeding began. As far back as 1865 there were only So tame ostr1ehes in the world. A few years later the GUS tom of matching the eggs in incubators began, and in 1875 the number of tame birds here had increased to over 20,OO0 Still later came the great ostrich boom, and in 1882 the feathers were sold at $2O and upward d pound, and people came from everywhere to South Africa to en- gage in the business of producing them At that time the average price or a par of birds was $975, and some sold for S40oo and more Only about half as many os- trich feathers were then exported as now, and they sold for more than $5,OO0,OOO
 As the business increased the farmers learned how to raise ostriches on less and less land At the start the birds were allowed to run in camps of from 2,O00 to 3,0e9 acres. and 20 acres was al lowed for each. This is still the case in the great pateaus, known as the Karoo but there are now farms about Oudts- hoorn and elsewhere where two ostriehes are kept on one acre, and where they are fed like fine stock. so much grass and other food being allowed to each per day
 Fed on Alfalfa.
 It has been recently found that great deal of money can be made in raising ostriches on alfalfa or lucern, and espe- cially so where that crop can be raised on irrigated lands. l have estimates showing that five ostriches have been kept in this way on one acre, and that they have yielded feathers to the amount of s25 or $35 per ostrich per year. This means that one acre of land brings in something like $150 or more per annum, and that from 50 acres a man can make from S6, GOO to SS 600 per year
 On all such farms the ostriches are kept in small fields The usual paddock is an acre with wire fence about 1t, and the fields are separated by paths three feet