26 OSTIUCH-FARMING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



thorough training in farming, mercantile pursuits, or 

 whatever course he has determined to adopt, he will 

 then find himself in a colony offering him a better 

 chance in the world, at the present time, than any other. 



Nothing in Australia, New Zealand or Canada can 

 offer anything like the opening the Cape does to a young 

 man, with only a few hundreds of capital, to set up for 

 himself, if he has only had a thorough training in his 

 business. 



All sorts of people in the towns, wdth a little spare 

 capital over and above what they require in their 

 business, have been investing in birds, and putting 

 them out on the " halves,' ■* and any young man who has 

 made a name for himself during his novitiate, if he can 

 only get helped with a few hundreds to enable him to 

 hire a farm and furnish himself with the necessary 

 plant, can get birds on the '' halves.^'' Or should the 

 mania for Ostrich-Farming Companies last, there will 

 be a brisk demand for managers and assistants. 



It w^ill be noticed that I lay far more stress on 

 colonial experience than on actual technical knowledge 

 of Ostricli-farming. It is so. The colonist born has 

 heard Ostriches discussed of late 3-ears both in town 

 and country, by man and w^oman, rich and poor, till 

 he must be dull indeed if he has not picked up a good 

 deal of the required knowledge — enough, at any rate, 



