WATER AND FEED 59 



cover the whole space of the ground of the flying pen. For 

 fuller discussion of shells and grit, see supplement. 



It is poor policy to mix anything but wheat and 

 corn together. If you make a mixture of peas and hemp- 

 seed with cracked corn and wheat, you will find that the 

 pigeons will dig down after the peas and hemp-seed and toss 

 the other grain around and waste it. The only mixture, 

 therefore, which we feed is a mixture of wheat and corn. 

 Fill the self-feeder with whole corn and wheat, in the propor- 

 tion of three parts of the corn to one of wheat. 



We call the wheat and corn staples, because with 

 us in New England they form the major part of the diet, and 

 are the cheapest. The hemp-seed, buckwheat, Canada peas, 

 kaffir corn, millet and barley we call dainties. We do not 

 feed much millet, because we have the other grains, which 

 are cheapest, but some of our customers in the millet sections 

 of the country feed a good deal of millet. In such cases they 

 look on millet as one of their staples, and the hard-to-get 

 grains are classed by them as dainties. The staple grains of 

 which you will feed the most to your pigeons are the ones 

 which are the cheapest for you. The more expensive grains 

 will be classed by you as dainties. 



A good way to feed the dainties is to throw them out on 

 the floor of the squab house by hand. You will see the 

 pigeons make a rush for them and eat them with as much 

 relish as a child eats candy. You should feed the dainties 

 about three times a week, throwing handfuls on the floor 

 until you see that the pigeons are satisfied and do not care for 

 any more. 



Do not throw any feed on the ground of the flying pen, for 

 the earth is liable to be damp, and this dampness will sour 

 the grain, especially cracked corn, and if the pigeons eat it, 

 they will get sour crops, and the fluids from the sour crops of 

 the parent pigeons will make the squabs sick and perhaps kill 

 them. Do all your feeding in the squab house and your 

 pigeons will not have sour crops. 



Do not lay in a big stock of cracked corn at a time, for 

 cracked corn exposed to sudden changes of the weather is 

 liable to take up dampness, and sour. Smell and taste it once 

 a week or so and determine to your own satisfaction that it 

 is not sour. 



