106 



THE LANCASTER FARMER 



[July 



be asked for the chickens, and the owners of 

 breeding birds will reap a golden harvest. 



The industry, indeed, will pay as well in 

 tlie United States, or even better than it ever 

 did at the Cape in the days of fabulous profits, 

 when the demand for chickens was far greater 

 than the supply, and when birds, three months 

 old, readily brought .£20 each; and this in a 

 country which suffers from periodical drought 

 and has many other draw-backs, all tending 

 to make ostrich farming less valuable, because 

 less productive than it will be in the United 

 States. 



That the business will assume larger propor- 

 tions in your own cotmtry we are quite con- 

 vinced; and, as is usual in such cases, the first 

 in the field will be the first to take advantage 

 of the demand for young ostriches, which is 

 sure to spring up. 



AVe are, yours very truly, 



HILL, PKOTHERO & CO. 



E. S. Baker, Esq., United States Consul. 



3. In regard to the yield of feathers, I am 

 advised that the product from one bird an- 

 nually is worth about $60, wholesale, in Lon- 

 don. If however, the pasturage is good, 

 which it seldom is at the Cape of Good Hope, 

 the yield is worth much more. Mr. Hill in- 

 forms me that he has known one plucking sell 

 SI 50, and two pluckings can be taken in a 

 year, but that is an exceptional case. A re- 

 turn of .§50 per year is the very lowest that 

 will be obtained under any circumstances. 

 He has every reason, however, to believe that 

 S120 worth of feathers from each bird will be 

 given annually in the United States. An os- 

 trich of two years of age which costs, say 

 S37.5, will therefore give about 26 per cent, 

 gross profit. From this a small percentage 

 must be deducted for accidents, and, say, S60 

 per bird for expenses, annually. Still this 

 leaves about 15 per cent, clear; and when it 

 is considered that any farmer of stock can 

 generally place fifty birds and upwards upon 

 his land, without making much difference to 

 the pasturage, and that no herding is required 

 where the fencing is good, and that but little 

 trouble is involved, even at the prices quoted 

 it is more than fair remuneration. 



4. As to prices of birds delivered in the 

 United States, Messrs. Hill, Protheroe & Co., 

 inform me that they will probably be able to 

 furnish breeders at SI, 750 per pair ; for four- 

 year old birds, which may sliortly be expect- 

 ed to breed, the price will be $1,200 per pair ; 

 and for two-year-old Ijirds, $750 per pair. 



5. In the ease of four-year-old birds ard 

 breeders, it will be born in mind that the re- 

 turn of profit is twofold ; fir.st, the feathers, 

 which perhaps may not do more than pay the 

 working expenses, as the birds when breeding 

 require separate inclosures and to be fed on 

 grain ; .second, the profit derived from the sale 

 of the young chicks. 



By the process of incubation, it may cer- 

 tainly be expected that sixty chicks will be 

 annually reared from a pair of breeders. The 

 value is, of course, influenced to some extent 

 by the activity of the demand ; but intrinsic- 

 ally it depends upon two things, viz ; the re- 

 turn of fcatliers they give and the risk of 

 death before they become productive. As 

 regards the former point, a chicken gives 

 its first plucking (always London wholesale 

 prices), worth $5 to $6 per bird, at the end of 

 nine months ; and every six to seven months 



*Tlie Uiity in the United States on ostrich featlicrs is 

 as follows ; When crude, or not dressed, colored or 

 manufactured, 25 per cent, ad valorem, colored or nniri- 

 ufactTired, .50 per cent, ad valorem. 



thereafter the really good feathers are pro- 

 duced, worth from !ff28 to $120 per plucking, 

 according to the age of the bird. Every man 

 can therefore judge for himself what a clutch 

 would be worth to him, were risks and mor- 

 tality out of the question. 



6. In regard to mortality, almost every- 

 thing depends upon the state of the pasturage 

 and the rainfall. Generally, if a constant 

 supply of lucerne (alfalfa) or clover or other 

 green grass can be obtained, then ostrich 

 farmers calculate on 10 per cent, as the rate of 

 mortality, but should green stuff not be at- 

 tainable when the chicks are from a few days 

 up to three months old, the number of deaths 

 may be excessive. I am told that at the 

 Cape of Good Hope the chicks are sometimes 

 almost worthless from the absence of herbage. 

 In the Argentine republic, and I presume in 

 the United States, this great drawback will 

 not be felt. After three months the special 

 danger is passed, and at the Cape chickens of 

 this age for years have been worth from $50 

 to $00 each. After tliis time tlie mortality 

 will probably not exceed 10 per cent. 



Mr. Hill is of the opinion that for a long 

 time to come birds three months old would be 

 worth in the United States $120 each ; for the 

 expenses alone of importing ostriches will 

 probably be almost this sum, to say nothing 

 of the first cost and the risk of the voyage. 

 Even at the price named the return would be 

 satisfactorj', and to the owners of breeding 

 birds quite fabulous. 



7. Regarding the management of the birds, 

 as I have said before, all that is needed is an 

 inclosed paddock, or grass fields, with suffi- 

 cient pasturage to sustain them. They should 

 be collected and counted about cnce a week. 

 Every month they should be brought into a 

 small inclosure, when each bird should be ex- 

 amined, and the ripe feathers plucked. The 

 process of displuming them is simple enough. 

 They are put in a " corral" or small pen, so 

 confined that they cannot exercise their pro- 

 pensity for kicking, and while two men hold 

 the bird, a third proceeds to pluck the feath- 

 ers. A still safer and more satisfactory way 

 is to put the bird in a box or stall made for 

 the purpose. When the birds are breeding, 

 each pair should have a small inclosure to 

 themselves — say twenty yards square — and a 

 little grain daily. They procure an egg every 

 two davs. In violent storms shelter is always 

 better for the flock, but this is not really 

 necessary. 



There will be needed a small room for the 

 incubating machine, and oil enough for the 

 lamp which heats the water ; also shelter for 

 the chicks up to tlie age of two or three 

 months. This is about all ; and, as in other 

 employments, success will be attained by care 

 and attention. 



8. The best book upon ostrich farming is 

 that of Mr. Douglass, of Cape Town. It is 

 published by Cassell, Peter Sulpin & Co., 

 London, New York. It will be observed in 

 this book that the author advises two or three 

 years' experience on an ostrich farm before 

 starting the business. In regard to this, Mr. 

 Hill tays that Mr. Douglass addressed himself 

 to young Englishmen, who have been brought 

 up to notliing, and know nothing, or very 

 little of farming pursuits. He insists that 

 any intelligent man, in the least accustomed 



to take care of stock, can learn the habits of 

 these birds in a month, as also how to treat 

 the few diseases to which they are subject ; 

 and if he buys healthy birds he will be .suc- 

 cessful from the first, provided the farm is a 

 suitable one. 



I have obtained the above points either 

 directly from those who are practically ac- 

 quainted with the business of ostrich farming 

 or from observations of my own while visit- 

 ing a farm in this vicinity, and I think they 

 will be found reliable. 



In regard to the special advantages which 

 the United States offer for the prosecution of 

 the industry I do not think there can be any 

 doubt. 



Ostrichs are doubtless capable of standing 

 the climate of almost any of the States, but 

 productive ostrich farming, whether for the 

 feathers or for raising the chicks for sale, 

 ought not to be attempted except in the milder 

 portions of the country, as the Southern, 

 Southwestern and Pacific States. 



The birds are naturally timid, but are read- 

 ily domesticated, especially when they are 

 produced by incubation ; and they become on 

 the farm as tame as chickens, ducks or geese. 



The males, however, are not quite so tract- 

 able, and during the breeding season they 

 sometimes become aggressive ; and then they 

 have to be watched or they may do mischief. 

 Their kick is severe and sometimes fatal, 

 though by facing them with no manifestation 

 of fear, and using a stick three or four feet 

 long with a fork at the end into which the 

 neck of the bird is inserted, their attacks can 

 generally be avoided. 



Messrs. Hill, Protheroe & Co., informed me 

 that immediately upon the shipment of a 

 cargo of birds to the States the fact will be 

 publicly announced, as also their port of em- 

 barkation. 



SMALL FRUITS ON THE FARM. 



The first tiling is the .selection of the 

 ground. If possible, a plat that slopes in the 

 East or South is preferable, and if it is pro- 

 tected on the North and West so much the' 

 better. We do not like a steep hillside, es- 

 pecially for small fruits, but, if possible, 

 want it sloping sufficiently to drain well. If 

 this cannot be secured to obtain the best re- 

 sults, artificial drainage will have to be re- 

 sorted to. 



While a poor soil will raise some fruit — and 

 by using manure around the plants much 

 economy in fertilizers can be used — still, if 

 po.ssible, it will always pay to select a natur- 

 ally rich soil, Or if this can not be done, an 

 application of well-rotted manure should be 

 given. It is better of course that much of the 

 prep;iratioii should be done in the fall, but at 

 this time we can only do the best we can at 

 the time. The ground should be well plowed 

 and harrowed thoroughly, to get it in as good 

 condition as i)ossible. As in all other farm 

 operations it pays to make the work of pre- 

 pamtion as thorough as possible. 



We believe that in small fruit culture it is 

 far better to have the manure thoroughly in- 

 corporated with the soil. The roots of all 

 plants (where they are to remain any length 

 of time in the same place) are certain to pene- 

 trate through the soil in every direction, and 

 when (as if often done) the manure is applied 



