squab. It is the large, fat, white-fleshed 

 squab which you are after. Disregard the 

 color of the leathers when mating. If when 

 plucking your squabs you come across a 

 "nigger," that is, a squab with a dark skin, 

 find out what pair of breeders it came from, 

 and whether the cock or the hen is at fault, 

 and get rid of the faulty one. 



It is important to start with adult birds 

 that are not related, then you will not begin 

 inbreeding. That is why we make a special 

 eftort with our adult birds to have them un- 

 related, and with our system of Identifica- 

 tion and record keeping we can do it with 

 precision. 



A breeder in Moorestown, N. J., writes us: 

 "I have, read your circular ('How to Make 

 Money with Squabs') and find according to 

 my experience (of seven years) that you do 

 not make as many departures from the truth 

 as most books I have received on the sub- 

 ject, and as I don't claim to 'know it all' (E 

 have a desire to read your Manual. I am 

 now getting rid of a lot of my stock in order 

 to make some alterations to my buildings and 

 will need some new blood in my lofts." 



There is always something to learn in 

 pigeon breeding and like our correspondent, 

 we do not claim to "know it all," either. 

 It Is an open field, and the best thought and 

 Industry take the lead. We do not intend to 

 make any departures from the truth and most 

 certainly have not, in the light of our own 

 experience. We take our correspondent to 

 mean that he has not discovered any inaccu- 

 racies worth speaking about. Everything is 

 as plain and precise as we can mike it, and 

 carefully stated. 



CLEANING TROWEL. 



The nappies are cleansed in hot water. To 

 clean the nest-boxes, the very best imple- 



ment- is a square -pointed trowel, as shown In 

 the illustration. These trowels are seldom 

 found in the country and not in every city 

 hardware store, but one is worth having, even 

 if you have to send away for It. The kind 

 we use is of thick steel, bevelled front and 

 sides, which cannot be bent, and strong han- 

 dle.- The edges may be ground sharp. The 

 caked droppings can be dug oft from the nest 

 boxes with this hahdy tool quickly and easily. 

 With one sweep of the side edge you can 

 rough out a nappy and put off washing time 



a fortnight. 



HOW TO CATCH THE BIRDS. 



If for mating purposes, , or for any other 

 reason, you wish to catch a pigeon, walk Into 

 the squab house or flying pen at any time of 

 the day with a net on the end of a six-foot 

 pole — like a butterfly catcher. You can catch 

 the bird you want in half a minute, A Homer 

 dees not struggle fiercely to elude capture. 

 It acts with some intelligence as if realizing 

 that it may injure Its wings. 



When dusk comes you can handle pigeons 

 as easily and almost as fast as you can apples. 

 You need not wait unt(l it is pitch dark. At 

 5.30 P. M. in the short winter days, and 7.30 

 P. M. in summer, we can go Into the squab 

 houses and crowd the birds into one end, 

 then reach fast for the ones we want, their 

 identity being clearly distinguished. They 

 are as quiet as kittens in the semi-darkness, 

 making little or no fluttering, and can be 

 transferred to a basket or crate as fast as 

 you can pick them up with the right hand, 

 holding the basket with the left. 

 INBREEDING. 



Some letters from customers make plain to 

 us that a clear knowledge of what inbreeding 

 means is not possessed by everybody. Sev- 

 eral have written to this effect: "If I buy two 

 or three dozen pairs from you to start, how 

 can I increase the size of my flock without 

 inbreeding." . Now, Inbreeding, or breeding 

 in, is the opposite of breeding out (or line 

 breeding) . When (3) a brother is mated to 

 Bister, or (21 a father to a daughter, or (3) 

 a mother to a son, or (4) a. grandson to his 

 grandmother, etc, , that la inbreeding. We 

 know it is forbidden by law for human beings 

 to mate in that manner, because (a) God in 

 the Scrlntures has forbidden it, and (b) be- 

 cause the State does not wish to have to care 

 for the puny, weak-minded offspring that 

 would result from such unions. We all know 

 that the marriages of cousins often result in 

 demented, diseased children. Now suppose 

 you buy two dozen pairs of pigeons of us, 

 and number them Pairs 1 to 24. If you 

 mate the offspring of Pair 2 (or any other 

 pair) to the offspring of Pair 1 (or any other 

 pair) that is outbreeding. What you do not 

 do, and what you try to prevent, is the mat- 

 ing of the offspring of Pair No. 1 (or any 

 other pair) to each other. So, you see, if 

 you have a dozen or two pairs, you need 

 never inbreed, for there is an infinite variety 

 of matings possible. Breeders of animals 

 sometimes inbreed purposely in order to get 

 better color of fur or plumage, or finer 

 bones, etc., but what is gained in these re- 

 soects Is lost in size and stamina. Fowls 



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