OSTRICH-FARMING. Attempts are being made to increase the supply of ostrich feathers, or to facilitate the procuring of them by establishing farms—inclosures where the birds can grow and breed in tameness. In 1859 the bulletin of the society d'acclima tation contained a note from Dr. Vavasseur discussing the question whether the ostrich of South America, the uandu (q.v.) or rhea, can be acclimatized in France. When caught they are easily tamed ; and this is the circumstance which has suggested the idea of nat uralization. They must not be placed in cages, but must have free range to walk about, secured simply by a leg-guarCl. Dr. Vavasseur expressed an opinion that the South American ostrich could live without difficulty in the u. of France; that there is no diffi culty in domesticating it; and that it will feed on almost anything that is given to it, however coarse."' At a meeting of the cape agricultural society of Cape Town, in 1864, Mr. L. von Maltitz gave an account of his experience in ostrich-farming at Colesberg. Towards the end of 1863 he purchased 17 young ostriches of three or four months old, and placed them in an inclosure of 300 acres, over which they had free run. They subsisted wholly on the herbage of the inclosure, save a little grain given to them now and then. The opinion lie formed from many months' observation was that 35 ostriches might find sufficient sustenance upon 300 acres of good grazing-ground. In April, 1864, he had the wings of the birds cut at the point where the well-known ostrich feathers grow; and they were fit again to cut six mouths later. The birds were so tame that they allowed
themselves to be handled, and their plumage minutely examined. Having caused the birds and the feathers to be examined by. experienced dealers, he found that the largest feathers, of which there are 24 on the wing of each male bird, were worth £25 per lb.; and that one plucking of his 17 birds would yield £10 each on an average. The birds cost him about each. Since this experiment of Mr. von Maltitz, ostrich-farming has become a recognized form of industry at the cape. The price of a healthy bird a week old is £10; at six months, .630. The feathers may be plucked when the bird is a year old, and each crop is worth about £7 a bird. The price of the feathers ranges, accord ing to quality, from a few shillings per lb. to £40 or £50. In 1875 there were 32,247 domesticated ostriches in Cape Cdlony. It is found that 600 acres of grass are required to feed 80 birds; and when the grass is poor the ostriches are fed on supplies of shrubs and occasionally on Indian corn. The adult birds require to be kept in separate pad docks; which are generally surrounded by wire-fencing. The egg of the ostrich, though coarse, is reasonably good food; but the naturalization of the bird derives most of its prospective importance from the feathers, for which there is at all times a large demand in the chief European countries.