48 Hon. A. Douglas — Ostrich-farming 



3. iC Tape-worms " : now nearly always found in large 

 numbers iu all Ostriches up to two years old. This disease 

 is easily kept under by regular fortnightly dosing with 

 turpentine, and is only fatal if neglected or when in 

 conjunction with Strongylus douglasi. 



4. a Ostrich -fly " : a disease that came from the north 

 about twenty years ago ; it is becoming worse, and may yet 

 be very serious. The fly is easily killed by spraying the 

 birds with water and five per cent, of paraffin mechanically 

 mixed, or by dipping the birds in a decoction of nicotine ; 

 but the life-history of the fly is not known, and it soon 

 reappears again. 



5. Lice, which are found in myriads on neglected birds ; 

 they injure the feathers and reduce the condition of the 

 hosts. They are easily destroyed by spraying or dipping. 



There are now two well-defined methods of Ostrich- 

 farming : the one by grazing the birds on fields of lucerne 

 under irrigation, when five of them can be kept to the acre ; 

 the other by letting them find their own food in large camps 

 of three thousand acres and upwards in size, allowing from 

 ten to twenty acres for each bird. 



In the former case the drawback is the great cost of laud 

 laid down with lucerne and under permanent irrigation ; it 

 varies from £50 to £100 per acre. In the latter plan 

 the objections are the greater loss of birds from accidents 

 and straying, and the cost of feeding them in very severe 

 droughts. 



Oudtshoorn is the principal seat of the Ostrich-industry on 

 irrigated land, one-quarter of all the tame birds being found 

 there. The second method is mainly adopted on the coast 

 we-t of East London, and up the large river-valleys to an 

 altitude not exceeding oOOO feet above sea-level. 



The feathers of the chicks are usually pulled when the 

 birds are eight months old ; then, six and a half mouths 

 afterwards, the primary feathers are cut, and the tails (blacks 

 and drabs) pulled; two months later the epulis of the cut 

 feathers are pulled. This gives nearly three pluckings in 



