22 OSTRICH-FAPvMING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



able result followed. The limit which Nature appears 

 to put to the amount of any one kind of stock on a given 

 area was passed, and she sent diseases and swept them 

 off. That this law is inevitable has been proved over 

 and over again in England, where game has been 

 attempted to be increased to an inordinate extent ; but, 

 in spite of all care and artificial feeding, after a certain 

 point is reached diseases come on and sweep them off. 

 And so with poultry ; as long as a farmer keeps a few, 

 what can be healthier ? But let him get an excessive 

 number, and how quickly diseases break out and reduce 

 them down ! 



We have written thus much about the sheep, because 

 unless Ostrich-farmers are careful not to crowd the birds 

 on the land, the same results will inevitably follow with 

 them. The land should not be stocked to the extent 

 that it is at first capable of carrying. If it is, the best 

 herbs will be destroyed ; whilst if it is only partially 

 stocked, in good seasons these get a chance to seed and 

 reproduce themselves. Even greater care is required 

 with the Ostrich than with the sheep, from the habit 

 the birds have of selecting one particular plant to feed 

 on, and, as long as they can get that, neglecting' all 

 others. The only thoroughly effective way to prevent 

 this is to let half the farm lie idle six months, and 

 then the other half the next six months. The man of 



