The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-11-29
Frederic Haskin's Letter
Ostrich C. haracter.

they are dry. Their they are Ma,
in the brood pens until thew s,s
or s weeks old. 1t is at this =.
that the ostrich performs hi, -.
GUS silly trick OF burying his ~
In the sand; which is NOT ,,,,.'
after all, because in such a nos,,;..,
he looks like a large bunch Of Srs
grass.
When eight weeks old the h,h;..
are transferred to runs, enclossS -
wire fence. They grow at ths ~.
Of a foot month untu they ara n
months old, when the, are supnos..
to have reached their full hel,hs
According to the keeper, the maj.
and females look alike until thss
reach this age. when the feaths..
Of the male begin to turn black sss
those Of the female remain ,r,s
This change Of color seems n !.
a clever scheme Of natures ~.
protecting the young; for N.
feathers Of the female, who sit, ~
the nest during the day. match ths
color Of the sand and those az n.
male. who guards the nest at nisht
cannot be seen in the dark
Grown in Six Months
At the age Of six months, also n.
birds receive their first clipnin.
and thereafter are clipped It intar.
walls OF nine months. The feather,
are never plucked, but are cliposd
within two inches Of the body Ths
short end of quill lef, heals over
falls out, and a new one starts n
grow in its place. From 20 IN "a
plumes are obtained from each VIM
of the ostrich, in addition to a Nun.
Der of small feathers, every one o,
which can be used commercially
Often $3.50 worth of feathers ars
taken off one bird at a clipping
The ostrich adults cannot \.
trusted in the same pen with their
own offspring, for whom they cher.
ish no affection whatsoever. "a.
ually, in fact, their impulse Il "a
kill the young ones on sight In
the wild state they are tender par.
ents, but the keeper explained thit
here at the farm under the incuba.
tor system, they never hatch or
raise their young, who appear far
more strange and Irritating 10 them
than the chickens and sparrows that
roam about the ostrich enclosure
The breeding OF ostrivhes for
their feathers has been a remen.
dOus success in California. it orig
mated in the town of Norwalk about
twenty years ago, and eight years
later was transplanted to southern
California. There are now two
large ostrich farms in the state, and
the business has been extended to
other parts of the south, with Z
large ostrich feed station at Jack.
/ sOnville.
The Ancestor Ostriches.
| All of the ostriches scattered
about these various ostrich co..
onies, are, 0s far as is known, The
descendants OF a few birds brought
to this country by an enterprising
young business man by the name Of
Gawston, who has a large ostrich
farm near Pasadena. When Mr.
Gawston sailed several years age
for Cape Town to buy a supply o.
ostriches, 1t seemed a very simple
matter. 1t was, until he had pur.
chased 80 of them. Then the cit,
authorities passed law placing 1
$500 export duty on the birds, which
left the owner of the newly acquired
80 a trif1e breathless. There wal
only one thing for him to do, ant
he did it. He packed every ostrici
and put it on board his vessel ant
got the vessel under way Just {
few minutes before the bill wa
signed. All but six or eight OF tn
ostriches died enroute to this coun
try, but these six Or eight wer
sufficient to form the nucleus OF
thriving new industry.
Nevertheless, the South Africa
ostrich colony. which contain
about 100000 birds, still holds 81
irritating monopoly on the ostriel
feather business. 1t is estimate
by the owner of the Los Angelo
fam that only a tiny percentage o
1.-THE feathers used in the Units
States are produced here. The gres
majority still come through Cap
Town, where there is a great feathe
exchange like our corn and vhea
exchanges.
During the war, however, q
South African business suffered
setback. The cost of feed BEGAN
| so high that the birds were neg
lected and some are reported I
have died of starvation. This mis-
fortune has reacted very pleasant
in favor Of the California trade, be
cause now that the demand for os
trich plumes and trimmings is aesil
on the rise, the South African sup
ply is small and the clothing an
millinery houses are turning TO u
California farms to fill their ORDER