September, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



353 



Plucking Young Rheas 



also made by sewing to- 

 gether the small feathers 

 of the abdomen. The long 

 black and white feathers are 

 tied in small bunches and 

 used as ornaments under 

 the name of ''Indian 

 sheaves'' (gerbes in- 

 diennes) . The small soft 

 and downy feathers, white 

 and russet in color, are used 

 in trimming cloaks and in 

 the manufacture of boas 

 and muffs which command 

 high prices. The price of 

 rhea feathers has risen very 

 greatly of late. A few years 

 ago they were worth only 

 from fifteen to twenty-two 

 francs a kilogramme ($1.32 

 to $1.93 per pound), but 

 they now sell as high as one 

 hundred and twenty francs 

 a kilogramme ($10.50 per 

 pound). These prices are 

 for mixed feathers of all 

 sorts, as plucked. 



Cassowary breeding is 

 still experimental at Melun. 



distracted by the female, 

 which robs the chicks of 

 their food and sometimes 

 even kills them. She should, 

 therefore, be removed when 

 she has finished laying. 



The flesh of the rhea 

 when one year old, though 

 certainly less delicate in 

 flavor than that of a Mans 

 pullet or a Rouen duck, is 

 yet worthy of admission to 

 the French larder, and it 

 can doubtless be greatly im- 

 proved by appropriate diet. 

 The eggs, on the other 

 hand, are excellent, and they 

 would prove a valuable ac- 

 quisition to the farmer's 

 table. A single egg weighs 

 from one and a half to two 

 pounds — as much as twelve 

 or fifteen hens' eggs. 



At the Melun farm, 

 however, the rheas ars 

 raised chiefly for their 

 feathers. The birds are 

 tame and easily plucked, al- 

 though they are not stripped 

 completely. From ten to 

 fourteen ounces of feathers 

 are obtained from each bird. 

 The plucking is done in Au- 

 gust. The feathers are 

 known by the trade name of 

 "vulture feathers," and are 

 employed chiefly in the man- 

 ufacture of feather dusters. 

 Beautiful soft fabrics are 



Taking Eggs from Under a Brooding Male Rhea 



