Dec. I, 1894.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
387 
A TRIP IN THE GOLD ION STATE, AND 
CEYLON TEA IN CALIFORNIA, 
San Francisco, California, U.S.A., Sept. 19. 
My Dear " Observer," — Once more I take up my 
pen to send you 
AN ACCOUNT OF MY DOINGS 
and any news of information that may be of interest to 
Ceylon and her planters. We have a spell of very 
HOT WEATHER 
and while I was south (I remained away for over 
three weeks) I felt the heat much more so than I 
used to in Ceylon's Isle. 
THE JOURNEY SOUTH 
was uneventful, with the exception of the oppressive 
heat in one long tunnel. We reached Los Angeles 
in good time, where I met my sister, whom I hadn't 
seen for about four years. 
The heat was so very great that we went down to 
Santa Monica, 
THE FASHIONABLE SEA-SIDE RESORT, 
where there is a good hotel, and surf-bathing. The 
tennis tournament was going on, also polo, and 
pony races, which were all fairly good. Here I again 
met Mr. C. E. Orr, the redoubtable Scotch Footballer. 
There was not much doing in 
CEYLON TEA 
here, but I determined to return when the gaieties 
were over and things quieter, which I did a week 
later. I drove down one evening with Mr. Cawston, 
the Charterhouse cricketer, and genial proprietor of 
the Ostrich Farm at Norwalk, 18 miles from Los 
Angeles, in another direction. The drive was beauti- 
ful (I ought to say " elegant " now ! ! !) and the roads 
fairly good, though they cannot be compared to our 
Ceylon roads. Tea men were interested greatly, but 
it was unfortunate I had no samples with me. 
THE DRIVE BACK TO LOS ANGELES 
one Saturday afternoon, neither of us will soon for- 
get, nor the horse either ! We had the sun on our 
backs, and not a breath of air stirring, at Los Angeles 
it was 110 dug. in the shade that day and must have 
bean, more I think, where we were. The dust was 
from 3 to u inches deep, and several times we had 
to pull up under the shade of a tree and rest a little. 
After going round Los Angeles for two or three days, 
we decided to visit the famous 
OSTRICH FARM OF NORWALK, 
where over 100 birds are to be seen roaming abouts 
of all ages from 3 days old chicks, to 9 or 10 yearr 
old birds, full grown, immense, in all the spleiidoue 
and glory of their fine plumage. This is one of the 
most interesting sights I have seen it this, or any other 
country. The farm is nicely situated one mile from 
Norwalk, a thriving little town which is 18§ miles from 
Los Angeles. The bungalow nestles cosily amongst 
all kinds of beautiful trees, amongst which I found 
many old favourites, grevillea robusta, several kinds of 
eucalyptus, juniper, oak, cedar, and palms of various 
kinds. Rose and honey suckle creepers on the verandah 
reminded me of many a pretty bungalow in Ceylon. 
We first visited the Orchard, five acres of prunes 
and almonds, and had some nice ripe prunes. We 
then visited the older breeding birds, all penned 
off in their separate corrals, a pair in each, with a 
passage of five or six feet in width between each 
corral to prevent the birds fighting with each other 
The largest pairs are magnificent birds, and one 
male bird was very fierce, and no one could safely 
go near him, his mate was " sitting " on her nest 
of eggs, the fourth nest they have had within twelve 
months! The best female laid 85 eggs one season, 
but this large number was obtained by removing 
eggs daily from the next. The little chicks, a few 
days old, are what is called here very " cute " and 
very " cunning " and are marvellously tame. 
Lhe non-breeding birds roam in flocks together, in 
large corrals or paddocks fenced in securely, and 
look beautiful when something excites them, or when 
tin y come running swiftly, with thair plumes all 
ruffled and outspread, to be fed. They are verj tame, 
and large buds standing six and seven feet high 
will pick at anything bright, such as one's ring, 
watch, chain, buttons, etc, 
49 
About forty of the birds were ready for " pluck " 
ing ", and Mr. Cawston and his man performed 
this task, which requires great care and skill, as 
mistakes or careless plucking, interfere with the 
future growth of feathers, and can never be 
righted, however long the birds may live. If 
a " socket " is pulled out, a feather can never 
grow there again. All feathers are pulled out, in- 
cluding the tails, only the large wing feathers are 
cut off by a heavy short scissors or sort of nippers, 
sharp. Stumps are left in the sockets of these large 
feathers, about 3 inches in length, and are pulled 
out about 3 months after the plucking has taken 
place, by which time the new feathers have begun 
to grow in the sockets. 
Plucking takes place once in eight months, so that 
there are three crops in two years. The birds are 
driven into a smaller corral, at the end of which 
is a small "V "-shaped boarded place, into which 
single ostriches are driven, a long hag, narrow, with 
a hole in the end, is thrown over the head of the 
bird, and his beak protrudes through the hole, allow- 
ing him to breathe, being blind — folded as it were, 
they remain comparatively quiet, during the pluck- 
ing process, but care has alway T s to be taken to 
keep towards the back of the bird, to prevent any 
risk of being lacked, as one kick is sufficient to do 
for anyone, the narrowest part of the small pluck- 
ing pen, consists of a door leading into a large 
corral, and as soon as a bird is plucked, the door 
is opened, the bag whipped off his head, and off 
he goes quite delighted with himself. The breeding 
birds are somewhat excited for a week after being 
plucked. The different kinds of feathers are put into 
different bags when plucked, as in "grading" them, 
it is easier : male and female have to be kept separate, 
also tail feathers, plumes, from the wings, white, 
black, browns, etc., and these different colours and 
kinds have to be " graded " to different sizes. This is 
somewhat monotonous work, but I was initiated into its 
mysteries, and while the plucking was going on, I did 
the "grading" inside. 
We drove over to Santa Fe Springs, some three 
miles off to sleep and dine, as most of the household 
furniture was stored up in one room. We had our 
own Ceylon tea there you may be sure. At Norwalk 
I found some fairly good Ceylon, but not so good as it 
should have been. The " hatching " process is long, 
six weeks I think, the female bird sits all day, with 
the exception of an hour at mid-day, when the male 
bird relieves her. The male bird also turns the eggs 
in the nest, and "sits" all.nigkt, so that "Woman's 
Rights "are not quite understood yet amongst these 
wonderful birds ! We packed and despatched the 
feathers, and t iey realized some $600 I believe. Mr. 
Cawston is going to enlarge his farm, and purchase 
some 200 more birds, when his will be 
THE FINEST AND MOST SUCCESSFUL OSTRICH RANCH 
IN THE UNITED STATES. 
After a stiy of five days at Norwalk, we re- 
turned to Lis Angeles. I forgot to mention that 
the birds fe?d on Alfalfa hay, cut up : beets, Indian 
corn, &c, and of course the better they are 
fed and taken care of, the more valuable is the 
crop of feathers, as they are of better quality. 
There is th 5 machine for cutting the hay, driven by 
horse powe ; but an engine, is to be got soon for 
this purpose also Artesian well with windmill to pttmp 
the w r ater into the large tank, water is laid on to 
the different corrals, and is somewhat scarce this 
summer, as the rainfall was very light last year, — 5 
inches only, instead of 12 inches. 
Mr. Cawston returned to San Francisco a week 
sooner than I did, as I wished to look up the tea 
men thoroughly. I gave the address of the Chicago 
store, to some people who inquired as to where 
GOOD TEAS 
could be obtained ; one good house (Jevnes), the head 
of which house is a brother of the famous Chicago 
Firm of that name, seemed, to be quite anxious to 
have some good Ceylons in stock. One store into 
which I went and bad a long chat with the manager, 
did a large business in commoner teas, and cheaper 
than Jevnes,' the latter house doing a fine high-class 
£1 usiness. 
