76 PIGEON RAISING 



stead of two. The exertion is so great in feed- 

 ing their young that the parents should not be 

 obliged to go far for food and water, and I 

 have found that they do better with small fly- 

 pens. 



I placed six pairs in a roomy house with a 

 fly-pen six by ten for one year. In that year I 

 took out of that pen 120 healthy, strong squabs 

 and the parents were in prime condition. 



It is cruel and unprofitable to be rough and 

 unkind to breeding pigeons. I should just as 

 soon maltreat a nursing mother. If the par- 

 ents are frightened while they are with milk it 

 injures the baby squabs. At the time of the 

 great earthquake in 1906 I lost every baby 

 squab on my place. 



I always employed gentle, quiet men to work 

 on my place. Occasionally you can find a suit- 

 able boy, but I prefer a gentle, kindly old man, 

 a man, perhaps, that can be gotten at the poor- 

 house, who is glad to come for a comfortable 

 living and ten dollars a month, and enjoys pot- 

 tering about the pigeons and place. The work 

 is really not heavy enough for an able-bodied 

 man, and such a one is apt to be impatient and 

 too quick in moving among nesting pigeons. 



If for any reason the pigeons in milk lose 

 their squabs, the pigeon raiser must immedi- 



