CHAPTEE IX 



FEATHER INDUSTRIES 



1. Ostrich Farming. 2. Manufacture of Ostrich Plumes. 3. Non- 

 existence of Egret Farms. 4. Commercial Downs and Their 

 Uses. 5. Minor Feather Industries. 



Ostrich Farming 

 1 



No attempt was made to domesticate the Afri- 

 can ostrich before the middle of the last century. 

 The birds had been hunted for their plumes from 

 immemorial time, captured and killed by every 

 conceivable means, but no man dreamed that they 

 could be reduced to a domestic state. 



Although the ostrich had once been a native of 

 western Asia as well as Africa, it had been ex- 

 terminated in the former region before the be- 

 ginning of the Christian era. The early Egyp- 

 tians utilized its plumes in much the same way 

 in which we use them to-day. Ostrich eggs have 

 supplied food for countless thousands of African 

 natives. These natives made head-dresses from 

 the feathers of the bird. The markets of Europe 

 demanded thousands of plumes. Dressed in os- 



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