CHAPTER XXXIX 



PIGEONS FOR PROFIT AND PLEASURE 



The man without a hobby is almost as miserable a being as a 

 woman without a fad. The fact is both of them lack the interest in 

 something outside themselves to keep the fires of youth burning. If 

 you want to live and enjoy the pleasure of living have a fad or a 

 hobby and ride them till you get tired, then change for another. My 

 fad has been chickens for a good many years, but now I am in that 

 stage where I am on the fence because I have taken up with pigeons, 

 too. And to the beginner in pigeons I would say that the very best 

 way to start is to go slow. Begin with a few pairs and learn their 

 ways and needs before venturing in too deep. The pigeon fancier 

 must have the same patience and perseverance that a good chicken 

 man or a gardener has when he plants seeds in the ground. He 

 knows he has planted the seed, but there are perhaps a dozen enemies 

 to attack his plants, so that he never knows what he will get until 

 it is safely harvested. The pigeon fancier must await the mating, 

 unless he buys mated pairs, the production of eggs, the incubation, 

 the growth of the squab in the nest and the feathering into full 

 beauty before he can reap any reward. But it all comes so natural 

 and each stage follows the other in such orderly growth that the 

 interest is carried along to the finish. For boys I cannot conceive a 

 more interesting, and if conducted on business principles, a more 

 profitable pastime. 



Years ago the pigeon fancier and dog racer of the old country 

 were considered the toughs of a community, but late years I have 

 many times wondered if the love of those birds and animals was not 

 the saving grace that made those men and boys human, and without 

 which they would have been toughs indeed. I don't believe it is 

 possible for a boy who really loves birds and animals to be evil; 

 his mind has not got the right turn. 



Breeds. — But to get back to pigeons: The fancier will ask what 

 breed is best to keep? And in that as in the keeping of most pets, 

 there must be the personal likes to be considered as well as profit. 

 I<"or a person to buy what they do not like is not the way to improve 

 it and get the best out of it. Then, again, we must know what we 

 want them for. Is it for squabs, racers, or just something to have 

 as a hobby? If squab raising is the object, there are several good 

 breeds to choose from. First in numbers on this Coast, I believe, 



