CAGES AND GAGE-MAKING 



47 



trouble and not much expense. We must 

 assume that there is no paper on the wall ; 

 if there be, it ean readily be removed by 

 ■wetting it, and the plaster laid bare. No 

 better natural sides and back for a breeding- 

 cage can be devised than a dry wall. The 

 exact places to be occupied by the shelving 

 shovdd be set off with a square. The 

 shelves should be 18 inches apart and 

 made of half-inch ordinary yellow pine, 

 planed, and the freer from coarse knots 

 the better. If the recess be reasonably 

 square, the shelves ean be fitted in tightly 

 without injuring the wall in any way, 

 beyond the driving in of a few nails to sup- 

 port them or to fix small ledges on which 

 the ends may rest. Each shelf must, in 

 any case, be bevelled off to the exact angle 

 of the particular niche into which it is 

 intended to slide, and must be flush with 

 the wall all round, especially at the back. 

 Any spaces which oeeur between the shelf 

 and the wall, be they ever so small, must 

 be filled in with thin plaster of Paris, for 

 the same reason that cage-bottoms must 

 be made flush witli the back and sides of 

 the cage — viz., to prevent dry sand from 

 running through, and also to ]>revent 

 insects from harbouring in them. Tliis is, 

 perhaps, the most difficult part of the 

 business, but it is of the utmost imjDortance. 



It must, however, be noted in passing 

 that these contrivances do not allow of 

 the insect pest being dealt with as effec- 

 tually as it can be in cages which can be 

 lifted about and removed from the rack 

 on which they stand, or from the nails on 

 which they hang. 



However deep the recess may be, it is not 

 advisable that the shelving be more than 

 about 12 inches from back to front ; but 

 if it be not very deep, and it is wished to 

 bring the cage fronts out in the same line 

 as the jamb of the chimney which usually 

 forms the recess, an inch or two is not of 

 so much consequence as disturbing the 

 uniformity desired : but we do not advocate 

 deep cages. If there be width enough, the 

 space at command may be divided into 

 two or three compartments by permanent 

 partitions or by slides, and the whole will 



then represent a large cage ; and here we 

 will leave it, to enter on the subject of cage- 

 making proper. 



Different towns and different schools of 

 fanciers affect different breeding appliances. 

 Custom and long usage deter- 

 _ ""® mine many fashions, quite irre- 



spective of their suitability. The 

 ancient, heavy, cumbersome, two-wheeled, 

 four-horse plough ean doubtless be found 

 in use, even now, in some parts ; while in 

 most a light, effective machine, which a 

 man might almost swing over his shoulder, 

 is used. Each has its merits and demerits, 

 and nobody will dispute either. In Scot- 

 land — and thousands of Canaries are bred 

 beyond the Tweed — open-wire cages are 

 used to a very large extent, while a few 

 miles south of the old Roman wall such a 

 thing is unknown. The " London " breed- 

 ing cage, the ordinary sale article of wire- 

 workers and cage-makers, in its early days 

 was considered in the South to be the most 

 perfect breeding cage ever produced ; but 

 it has since proved to be one of the most 

 unsuitable it is possible to have. The 

 various compartments arranged at the 

 right-hand side of the cage for the hens to 

 nest in, with a compartment below in which 

 to place the yoimg birds when thej' are 

 first taken from the parents, become nothing 

 but harbours for filth and vermin, and are 

 quite unnecessary. Though they are still 

 made by the ordinary wire-workers and 

 cage-makers — who, as a rule, are not 

 fanciers — no practical breeder would think 

 of using such a breeding cage, or recommend 

 the amateur or novice to do so. Of course, 

 many beginners in London buy such cages, 

 until their disadvantages are pointed out 

 by some exi^erienced breeder, when they 

 are quickly replaced by the more common- 

 sense cage of to-day. 



The cage we recommend is one with the 

 top, back, and sides of wood, and with the 

 front only wired — a business- 

 like looking article not got 

 up for show, but for prac- 

 tical use. It can be made in one, two, 

 three, four, or any number of compart- 

 ments. A cage of one compartment. 



The Best 

 Cage. 



