10 Presidential Address : 



Clipping and Quilling Feathers. 



The operation of taking the feathers from the Ostrich is 

 carried out at such a time as will ensure the plumes being at 

 their highest perfection, and in such a manner as to inflict 

 little or no injury on the bird. The process of clipping is 

 altogether harmless, and signifies no more than the cutting 

 of one's hair or the trimming of the nails. All these are 

 epidermal productions, and are devoid of nerves and blood- 

 vessels. It is these facts which completely justify the 

 removal of the Ostrich's feathers as a humane act, in marked 

 contrast to the reckless shooting of many other birds, the 

 feathers of which are used for decorative purposes. No 

 objections on humane grounds have ever been made to the 

 Ostrich industry, nor can reasonably be advanced by anyone 

 acquainted with the methods employed. In the " Importa- 

 tion of Plumage Prohibition Bill," recently introduced in 

 the British House of Lords by Lord Avebury, and " destined 

 to check the wanton and wholesale destruction of birds which 

 is being carried on everywhere throughout the British 

 Empire, and in all parts of the world, without regard to the 

 agricultural, educational, and aesthetic value of birds," 

 Ostriches rightly receive special exemption. 



A biological fact has been established which is of the 

 greatest value in Ostrich management, namely, that the 

 removal of a quill, whether ripe or unripe, at once stimulates 

 the germ below to activity, and the new feather begins to 

 appear, quite irrespective of any natural time of moulting. 

 The feather germ would not become active were the quill 

 left in position, but does so when the quill is drawn. Thus, 

 by artificially removing all the old quills, when ripe or nearly 

 ripe, a complete new crop of feathers is secured, all of which 

 come to ripeness at about the same time. It is this fact which 

 renders the farming of Ostriches much more satisfactory 

 than would be the case if the feather growth were dependent 

 upon the irregularities of natural moulting. 



Both an eight- and a twelve-month system of quilling are 

 followed, dependent largely upon climatic conditions and the 



