a) 
These odd feathers are very troublesome for they are rarely as perfect in 
their growth as the feathers growing simultancously, and their clipping 
and quilling demand attention at different times from the others. If in 
the endeavour to secure evenness they are drawn while still far from ripe- 
ness, say at the same time as those naturally ripe, the next feather from 
the same socket is almost invariably greatly inferior. Some farmers, how- 
ever, prefer to follow this course rather than admit irregularities in the 
crop. The feather following upon the inferior one is said to be the equal 
of the rest. 
B.—TuHE SEconD anp Later QUILLINGS. 
All the “ first-after-chick ”’ or juvenal feathers are usually ripe at four- 
teen months, that is, six months after the quills of the spadonas have been 
drawn, and the plumes are always clipped at this period. The quills of 
these are then ripe in two months, when the bird is about sixteen months 
old, and can be extracted from the follicles. Compared with the first or 
spadona quills, it is, however, not necessary for the second or juvenal quills 
to be drawn immediately on attaining ripeness. It is found that none of 
the germs for the third crop are as forward in starting their new growth 
as was the case with those of the second crop. Indeed the germs may all 
remain dormant for several months beyond sixteen so long as the quills 
are left in position, and the remark applies to all the subsequent crops of 
quills. 
The farmer has thus much more choice as to the time at which he can 
pull the second or juvenal quills than he had as regards the first: or spadona 
quills, and other considerations now begin to determine which course he 
will follow. 
The length of time during which all the germs for the third crop of 
feathers will remain dormant while the ripened quills are in position is 
found to vary with the nutritive condition of the bird and the climate. 
A bird in a high nutritive state will soon begin to push out some of the 
old quills and certain of the new feathers will appear, though they would 
remain quiescent in a bird in low condition. Along the coastal plain, with 
its mild winters and abundance of pasturage, it is found that the new 
growth cannot be kept back so readily as on the Karroo with its marked 
seasonal changes. Therefore the farmer, anxious to keep his feather 
growth even, has to take account of this and act: accordingly. As a matter 
of fact the times of clipping and quilling the feathers of ostriches follow 
altogether different systems in the two areas. The two systems of quilling 
may be known as the evght month system and the yearly system. 
1. The Hight Month System.—This system of quilling is largely fol- 
lowed on farms along the coast and for some distance inland, where the 
climatic changes between summer and winter are not great, and vegetation 
grows more or less freely throughout the year. Here at all stages of the. 
ostrich it is found practically impossible to keep back the new growth 
once the quills are ripened and, rather than introduce irregularities, the 
quills are all drawn on attaining ripeness at about two months after clip- 
ping. For the second quilling this, as already shown, occurs when the 
birds are about sixteen months old. After these quills are drawn and all 
the new germs commence activity, and a third crop of feathers is ready 
for clipping by the time the ostrich is a year and ten months old, the 
quills of these being ripe when the bird is two years old. In this way a 
clipping of feathers, followed by a quilling, is secured every eight months, 
or three in two years, and this can be continued year after year. 
The regularity of the eight month system can be maintained only 
under the most favourable conditions. The birds must be kept in a high 
state of nutrition practically all the time, such as is possible only with 
