asked sometimes for a flock of breeders "all white." Our 

 experience with all white Homers is that they have less 

 stamina than the colored ones. (This is also the experience 

 of poultrymen with all white fowls; they are not hardy.) 

 The marketmen will take two or three pairs of dark-skinned 

 squabs in a bunch without comment, but an excess of dark 

 ones will provoke a cut in price. Breeders who are shipping 

 only the undressed squabs should pluck feathers now and 

 then to see just what color of squabs they are getting. The 

 dark-colored squabs are just as good eating as the light- 

 colored ones, but buyers for the hotels and clubs, and those 

 who visit the stalls generally, pick out the plump white- 

 skinned squabs in preference to the plump dark-skinned 

 ones. As a rule, squabs from Homer pigeons are white- 

 skinned — the dark-colored squab is an exception. 



FEW AILMENTS. 



Pigeons Ijave few diseases. If housed properly, ailments 

 are seldom encountered. Prevention is much easier and far 

 more satisfactory than cure. When we discover an ailing 

 pigeon, we at once isolate it and if it does not improve, kill 

 it. According to Nature's plans for. the survival of the fit- 

 test, it is best to get weak and sick pigeons out of the way, 

 then you are sure that your flock is growing hardier and 

 stronger all the time. If there is a diseased pigeon, this is a 

 sign of constitutional weakness, and you do not wish such 

 qualities perpetuated. It does not pay to cure the pigeon. 

 You ought to kill it. 



49 



