54 



FANCIERS' JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 



OWLS. 

 Best Pair No. 124, E. A. Noble 



CARRIERS. 

 Best Pair, No. 118, E. A. Noble 

 Best Collection, Nos. 117, 118, 119, E. A. Noble 



POUTERS. 

 Best Pair, No. 120, E. A. Noble 

 Best Collection, Nos. 120, 122, 156, E. A. Noble 



FANTAILS. 

 Best Pair, No. 301, C. W. Boyce 



TUMBLERS. 

 Best Pair, No. 130, E. A. Noble 

 Best Collection of Pigeons, E. A. Noble 

 Best Collection of Tumblers, Nos. 130, 133, 134, E. 

 A. Noble 



SPECIALS. 

 7 Buhl, Ducharme & Co., best collection in Pigeon 



Class, E. A. Noble 

 87 E. A. Noble, best pair Blue Carriers, E. A. Noble 

 Best Show Dressed Poultry, Wm. Smith 



$3 00 



3 00 



5 00 



3 00 



5 00 



3 00 



3 00 



10 00 



5 00 



10 00 

 5 00 

 10 00 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



THE PIGEON FANCY. 



It is a very simple thing to enter the pigeon fancy; the 

 intricate problem is how to escape from it when once a fan- 

 cier. We have tried to solve it ourselves, but our weakness 

 is notorious, and to-day we stand where we did twenty years 

 ago, a slave to a fancy. "Well, it is better to acknowledge 

 shortcomings and confess to a human weakness, than to 

 surround ourselves with an atmosphere of selfishness and 

 vanity, under the impression that strength of character is 

 shown by sneering at the little enjoyments of life that tend 

 to dispel its gloom, and to nurture in the heart of man the 

 affections that bring their own reward, whether exhibited 

 towards birds, beasts, or humanity. The great trouble with 

 us Americans is time enough is not wasted. The engine is 

 kept under full press of steam all the while, until the parts 

 are worn out and the whole apparatus goes to pieces. 

 That is very well for anything composed of iron, but for a 

 machine such as the human frame, where the parts are being 

 continually renewed by their own efforts, time must be al- 

 lowed for the supply to be procured for the demand, and that 

 can only be done by change of occupation from the business 



requiring the exercise of the reason to the fancies which re- 

 lease the strain from the mind, and admit of an artistic period 

 of loafing. The pigeon fancy is peculiarly adapted to 

 give the rest so needed. It flows - in a quiet channel, and 

 soothes the unquiet mind by the gentleness with which alone 

 it can be successfully followed. 



After an hour in the pigeon-room the man of business 

 sees clearly, for the first time, the bearings of his ventures ; 

 what was dark to him amid the turmoils of his working 

 hours is elucidated by a few minutes' rest and quiet. The 

 literary person, arising from his books, bears with him to his 

 loft a dazed brain, and returns with a vivid conception of 

 the questions that have resolved themselves in that hour of 

 repose. It may be thought these pictures are overdrawn, 

 but it is not so ; some of the clearest headed men in our city 

 are inveterate fanciers. Indeed one of our most noted bank- 

 ers scarcely ever decides a knotty question until it passes the 

 ordeal of an hour's consultation with an old white rooster of 

 unknown pedigree, but which knows the moment of its mas- 

 ter's return from bank, and awaits his coming at the head of 

 the stairs to welcome him with a chuckle or two. 



A physician of our acquaintance has often successfully 

 practiced upon his human patients a plan of treatment sug- 

 gested by his success with it on his feathered pets. 



As the fancy is so useful, how shall it be entered. 



Have you an unused room at the top of the house, or, 

 better yet, a stable loft ? First of all tin over the rat holes, 

 and make the loft secure from cats, for these two are the 

 enemies of the pigeons. Then get a lot of boards one foot 

 wide, and long enough to make shelves on the sides of the 

 room ; have also a number of these boards sawed into pieces 

 sixteen inches long for partitions, which it is best to place 

 eighteen inches apart. Having put up your shelves with the 

 partitions against the wall, you must nail a strip, four inches 

 wide, and as long as the shelves, along the lower ends of the 

 partitions to keep the eggs and young from falling out of the 

 nests. The birds will build their own nests if short straws 

 or hay is kept in the room, or nest-pans may be placed in 

 the compartments. 



The floor should be sanded, and if running water cannot 

 be had, a fountain should be used. A very good kind is sold 

 by dealers, or a bottle can be turned into a deep saucer, and 

 held in its position by wires, the mouth of the bottle being 

 placed just below the edge of the saucer. The pigeons are 

 best fed twice a day, and no more given them than they will 

 eat at the time. Corn, wheat, and peas are the usual articles 

 of food. Gravel and broken mortar are necessary, and a 

 lump of rock or alum salt is very conducive to health. 



Having prepared a place for their reception, nothing more 

 is necessary than to buy a pair of pigeons. It makes little 

 difference what kind you purchase at first; your knowledge 

 will have to come by experience, and it will have to be paid 

 for. Some of these times we may give you "The Confes- 

 sions of a Fancier," and then you will see your experience 

 and ours will have been the same. 



Dr. W. P. Morgan. 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



CURE FOR CHOLERA. 



I have tried, in many aggravated cases of this disease, 

 castor oil, and have found it superior to all other remedies. 

 When an astringent is used to no effect, to check the diar- 

 rhoea (which is the forerunner of cholera), use the oil abun- 



