OSTRICHES: A PROFITABLE INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 144086, 3 May 1913, Page 3

OSTRICHES: A PROFITABLE INDUSTRY.

SYDNEY, April 25. Ostriches are being talked of a great deal at present as a very desirable addition, and possibly a very profitable one, to our rural industries. The Dominions Royal Commission has heard ovideuce by several witnesses, who expressed the positive belief that large tracts of country which are at present idle could, with prospects of big e3wnings, bo used for ostrich farms. One of the reports prepared by Mr. N. Neilson, ex-Minister for Lands for this State, as a result of investigations made by him in America as a Special Commissioner for the Government, tolls us the same thing. Tho report is thorough in character, and it gives interesting details about tho habits of ostriches, ansi ■how they are successfully farmed for commercial purposes. Mr. Nielsen confesses that ..he learned with some pain that ostriches are inconstant, and that the idea that they mate for Rfi> is exploded. “If kept ho says, “they form a sort of attachment, but> lot cither one out amongst'tho flock on the ranch and they at onco take a' freer view of their duties in this regard.” So well isthe ostrich'being advertised as a potential money-maker that in Sydney and Melbourne enterprising poisons aro organising syndicates for tho purpose of embarking upon ostrich fanning in earnest. Those who are working up the syndicates state that they have been surprised at the eagerness of ladies to become partners or shareholders in the feather-produc-ing venture, evidently with the desire to become owners of choice feathers at specially low prices.