242 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 1881. 
and poor. Prices fluctuate somewhat, and range from 
over £60 a lb. down to a merely nominal figure. In 
spite of enormously increased production, the demand 
seem3 to koep pace with the supply, though the price 
has fallen somewhat. Wild weathers always sell 
more readily than time ones, the reason being that 
the latter are much stiffer and less graceful, have 
"galleries" in the quill, and resume their stiffness 
even after dressing and curling. The principal applica- 
tion of the plumes is for the decoration of court 
and military dresses, ladies' bonnets, hearses, &c. 
Before use. the plumes are either bleached or dyed. 
They are first washed in soap lather, rubbed well 
with the hands, and passed through chan scalding 
■water. The bleaching of white feathers is performed 
in the following way : — The feathers are first exposed 
to the action of sun and dew for about a fortnight, 
are washed in a hot bath containing Spanish white — 
the softest and purest white chalk — and are then passed 
through three clean waters : next, they are blued by 
a rapid passage through a cold bath containing indigo ; 
after this, they are sulphured, by being suspended in 
a sulphuring stove ; and are finally hung upon cords 
to dry, being occasionally shaken to open the fibres. 
A more recent process, invented by Viol and Duplot, 
is to immerse the feathers in resinous essences, such 
as turpentine or in essential oils at about 30° (86° F.), 
and to subject them to the action of light for a longer 
or shorter period, according to the degree of decolora- 
tion desired. After this, they are finished in the 
usual way by scraping the barbs with a blunt edge, 
so as to produce the much-admired curl. Dark-hued 
feathers, after being bleached by the last-named pro- 
cess, may be dyed almost any shade. Another method 
of bleaching is by a bath containing 4 5 parts per- 
manganate of potash in 1,000 parts water ; a similar 
solution of sulphate of magne-da is added, and heated 
to 60° (140° F.) max. The previously washed feathers 
are put into the bath, taken out, rinsed, and passed 
through sulphuric acid at l|°-3° Tw. 
Artificial Ostrkh Feathers. — The Americans are said 
to be. manufacturing large quantities of ariificial 
ostrich plumes, the quill being composed of celluloid, 
or rattan cane, and the barbs of silk waste. 
Other Plumes. — Besides the ostrich there are many 
giant birds belonging to the families Struthionidae and 
Apterygidae, possessing plumes of more or less value. 
One of the most important of these is the Rhea or 
South American ostrich (Rhea amerkana), whose range 
extends from Bolivia, Paraguay, and S Brazil, as 
far as the Straits of Magellan; while two other spe- 
cies, Darwin's Rhea (R. Darwini), and the long-billed 
Rhea (R. macrorhynca) , share with it portions of the 
same territory. The birds are at present ruthlessly 
hunted, and, a few years since, were being killed at 
the rate of 300,000-500,000 per annum. Though, from 
their hardy nature and omnivorous habits, the birds 
are easily kept in confinement, little has yet been 
done in this direction The feathers are collected 
chiefly in the Banda Oriental, Bahia, Blanca, Entre 
Rios, as well as Patagonia, and are shipped from 
Monte Video and Buenos Ayres. The exports from 
Argentine Ports in 1874 were : — To the United States, 
19 tons ; France, 18 tons ; England, 2 tons ; other 
countries, 21 tons. Their value is put at about 4s a 
lb., the male feathers bringing the higher prices. 
They enter European commerce as " vulture feathers," 
and the majority of them, the dark-greys, are made 
into feather-brooms. 
Imports of Ornamental Feathers. — Our imports of 
ornamental feathers, including ostrich plumes, in 1878 
were as follows :— From France, 120,928 lb.; British 
Possessions in S. Africa, 78.947; British E. Indies, 
25,313; Egypt, 12,394; Aden, 4,946; Malta, 4,485; 
Holland, 4.346; Morocco, 3,083; Belgium, 1,551; 
other countries, 8,806; total, 264,799 lb.; value 
£1,002,902. 
ENEMIES OF OSTRICHES. 
A serious plague among young ostriches has been 
spreading over South Africa during recent year?. A 
post-mortem examination made by Mr. Arthur Douglass 
discovered the troub'e to arise from the presence of 
myriads of small thin worms adhering to the cats 
of the ostrich's stomach. Specimens were sent to Dr, 
Spencer Cobold, of London, who pronounced them 
unknown to science, and named them Strongylws 
duvglassii. The importance of the discovery may be 
estimated from the fact that ostriches are worth 
from 750 dol. to 900 dol. a pair, while the ostrich 
industry is a source of great revenue to South Africa. 
The cause of the plague being known, some means of 
destroying the parasite may be looked for. — A ustralasian. 
THE USE OF THE FEET IN SOWING AND 
PLANTING. 
(From the Fiji Times, 28th May 1881.) 
[Read before the American Association of Nursery- 
men at Cleveland, O., by Peter Henderson, of Jersey 
City, N. J.] 
It may seem useless to throw out suggestions relat- 
ive to horticultural operations to such a body of 
practical men as is now before me. Yet I candidly 
admit that although I have been extensively engaged 
in gardening operations for over a quarter of a cent- 
ury, I did not fully realize, until a few years ago, 
the full importance of how indispensable it was to 
use the feet in the operations of sowing and planting. 
Particularly in the sowing of seeds I consider the 
matter of su h vast importance, that it cannot be 
too often or too strongly told, for the loss to the 
agricultural and horticultural community by the neg- 
lect of the simple operations of forming the soil around 
seed must amount to many millions annually. From 
the middle of April to nearly the end of May of this 
year, in many sections of the country, there was 
little or no rain ; such was particularly the case in 
the viciuity of New York City ; where we have 
hundreds of market gardeners who cultivate thousands 
of acres of cabbage, cauliflower, and celery ; but the 
dry spring has played sad havoc with their seed 
beds. Celery is not one-fourth of a crop, and cab- 
bage and cauliflower hardly half ; and this failure is 
due to no other cause than that they persist in sow- 
ing their seeds without ever taking the precaution 
to firm the soil by rolling. 
We sow annually about four acres of celery, cab- 
bage, and cauliflower plants, which produce probably 
five millions in number, and which we never fail to 
sell, mostly in our immediate neighbourhood to the 
market gardeners, who have, many of them, even 
better facilities than we have for raising these plants 
if they would only do as we do — firm the seed after 
sowing, which is done thus : — After ploughing, har- 
rowing, and levelling the land smoothly, lines are 
drawn by the "marker," which makes a furrow 
about two inches deep and a foot apart. After the 
man who sows the seed follows another, who, with 
with the ball of the right foot presses down his full 
weight on every inch of soil in the drill where the 
seed has been sown ; the rows are then lightly levelled 
longitudinally with the rake, a light roller is then 
passed over it, and the operation is done. 
By this method our crop has never once failed, and 
what is true of cabbage and celery seed, is nearly 
true of all other seeds requiring to be sown during 
the late spring or summer months. 
On July 2nd, 1874, as an experiment I sowed twelve 
rows of sweet corn and twelve rows of beets, tread- 
ing in after sowing every alternate row of each. In 
both cases those trod in came up in four days, while 
those un firmed remained twtlve days before starting, 
and would not then have germinated had rain nofc 
