PIGEONS AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 55 



MATING. 



NATURALLY, under the above head, the first thing is, 

 the time to mate. This is goVerned, as are many 

 other things, by the latitude in which the breeder 

 lives. In the old days, the people all over the world, seemed 

 to mate up everything on the 14th. of February. 



In the latitude in which I live, I do not think that date is 

 too early, provided we have had a severe winter. But if the 

 winter has been mild, I- am always inclined to wait, for fear 

 a delayed cold snap will catch my young birds at the most 

 critical time. 



In the latitude in which Chicago lies, I think the 1st. of 

 March about right, but this also is governed by the weather 

 and also by the kind of loft a man has. 



1 like to get an early start, in order to judge as nearly as 

 possible by the first pair of young, as to whether or not I 

 have made mistakes in mating. 



If one mates late in the season, he has little chance to undo 

 any mistake that he has made. Again, if the birds have 

 been separated during the time intervening between Sept. 

 and the middle of February, they are vigorous and hearty 

 and in a condition to not only throw strong young, but to 

 feed and care for them well afterwards. Therefore I would 

 suggest that time spent on the theory that a certain date is 

 the time to mate, is time wasted. One should use his judg- 

 ment and when he believes that the worst of the weather is 

 over, he should mate. It is also well to remember that dur- 

 ing the eighteen days of hatching, it makes little difference 

 what the weather is. 



It will seem foolish to my readers, who are old fanciers, to 

 go into detail over mating, yet there are untold thousands of 

 men and boys in America, who cannot tell a cock from a hen 

 even when both are "playing," and would have no idea what 



