CHAPTER XII. 



TAKING THE FEATHERS. 



In the first days of Ostrich-farming the feathers were 

 plucked every six months, the feathers in that length 

 of time, almost to a day, having apparently attained 

 their full growth, but varying a little according to the 

 condition the bird was in. I say apparently, because, 

 although the fluffy part of the feather is at its longest, 

 and the blood-vein in the feather will have dried as far 

 down as the junction of the feather with the wing, yet 

 the stalk below the skin is still alive and growing. It 

 was soon found that this constant pulling before the 

 feather was ripe caused it in each successive growth to 

 become shorter, and the quill stiffer, till by the time the 

 bird was five or six years old the feathers were of little 

 value. But the feathers cannot be left after the blood- 

 vessel has dried up as far down as the junction of the 

 wing, as the vitality of the upper part of the feather has 

 then gone ; and even if left for a few days after this has 

 happened, the point will be found much injured, and the 

 value considerably reduced. 



It is to enable us to take the feather at its prime, 



