78 AMERICAN SQUAB CULTURE 



to eating; that is, they think a pigeon will eat and thrive on 

 anything, including scraps and slop. About the only scraps 

 from the table that a pigeon will eat is crumbs of bread, and 

 bread is all right for them because it is a grain product, but 

 too much bread is physicing. 



The average ])eryon who knows a little about pigeons is gen- 

 erally of the opinion that most any kind of grain will do, and 

 that an assortment of grain is not necessary. Then we have 

 the other extremists w^ho believe tliat pigeons should have a 

 larger assortment of grain than is necessary. The latter class 

 is generally confined to a person who has a few high grade 

 fancy pigeons, and through his desire to obtain the best possible 

 results, regardless of expense, he feeds his birds an assortment 

 of expensive graiji and seeds, but I have not noticed that their 

 pigeons thrive any better than those which receive a small 

 assortment of cheaper grain. 



There are several ways to err in feeding pigeons, namely: To 

 overfeed, to underfeed, to feed too expensive, and too great a 

 variety of grains; to feed an assortment of grains that are too 

 light in food values, and to feed too small a variety of grains, 

 or grains that are not sufficiently strong in food values. 



Then one can make a mistake by feeding too great a portion 

 of certain grains, wheat for instance, which will, if fed in too 

 great a quantity, cause bowel trouble. A well balanced feed 

 scientifically proportioned is without question the best for not 

 only pigeons, but animals of all kinds, including people. But 

 such a thing is not always practical, and as several combina- 

 tions of three or four different grains can be selected that will 

 be almost a balanced feed, you will not go far wrong by the 

 latter method, which is not hard to follow^ 



Three or four kinds of grain is all that is really necessary to 

 feed pigeons, but care should be taken to see that the grain is 

 of a good quality, and that the assortment contains about the 

 right percentage of the different food values. 



For the benefit of those who do not care to make a study of 

 this question, I will give below^ a few simple formulas or combi- 

 nations of three or four different grain assortments that contain 

 about the right proportions in food values, also specifying grains 

 that can be substituted for the different kinds mentioned. 



Here are some of the combinations of cheap grains that can 



