EXPERIMENTS WITH OSTRICHES.—VIII. 
By Prorsssor J. E. Durerpen, M.Sc., Ph.D., A.R.C.S., Rhodes University 
College. 
As the ostrich industry is comparatively new, and little scientific in- 
vestigation has hitherto been devoted to it, there are yet many problems 
in the management of the bird which call for solution; many questions 
which can only be satisfactorily settled by combining wide experience and 
intelligent observation. Moreover, the experiences of different farmers 
are often so diverse that on many points, apparently simple, no reliable 
conclusion can yet be reached. The questions presented below are brought 
forward more with the view of stimulating enquiry than as conclusions 
to be accepted implicitly, 
1. Toe Time REQUIRED FOR THE GROWTH OF SHORT AND LONG FEATHERS. 
It is usually held that from the time of quilling to the ripening of 
the next crop of feathers involves a period of six months, and that two 
more months are necessary before the quills are ripe and ready for draw- 
ing. Under these circumstances, the feather requires only eight months 
for its complete development, A closer investigation, however, reveals 
that in practice these periods are only approximate, and that much varia- 
tion, even to the extent of three or four weeks, may occur between the 
ripening of one crop and that of the next. As is shown below, the ques- 
tion is one of considerable importance to ostrich farmers, but can only be 
settled by the accumulation of the experience in different districts and 
under different conditions. 
The actual period required is evidently closely connected with the 
nutritive condition of the bird, and also with the particular strain. Now 
that so much more attenton is being given to the high feeding of ostriches, 
particularly by means of lucerne pasturage, birds as a rule are kept in a 
better condition than formerly. Growth is usually accelerated by high 
nutrition, and from one’s general experience of animals, it would naturally 
be expected that a bird in a high state of nutrition would grow and ripen 
its feathers earlier than a bird in a poor or ordinary condition of nutrition. 
But this would appear to be by no means the usual experience. When 
the birds are particularly well fed, many farmers are finding that the 
plumes and quills actually require a longer period than six and eight 
months respectively in which to ripen. 
If the latter be the case, a brief consideration will show that the 
longer period is by no means a disadvantage. For the longer growth 
period implies that the feather itself will probably be of greater length, 
and in these days a longer feather realises a more than proportionately 
higher price. No farmer would complain of two or three weeks delay 
in the ripening of the plumes, if thereby the latter were increased so 
many inches in length, granting, of course, that the tips were not worn 
nor the lustre diminished. 
