26 PIGEON RAISING 



and easily kept clean. If boards are used, It is 

 best to raise the floor at least half a foot from 

 the ground. I have heard pigeon raisers say- 

 that concrete floors are hard on the pigeon's 

 feet. 



THE FLY-PEN 



Make a strong frame of 2 x 4 uprights 8 

 feet high (if the house is set flat on the ground 

 without flooring) with 1x2 cross pieces and 

 foot-board of 1x12 for the fly-pens, and cover 

 the whole with one inch wire netting. I say 

 one inch because flocks of small birds enter 

 through two inch wire netting and, in a few 

 years, eat up enough feed to pay for the whole 

 plant. The partitions between the fly-pens, how- 

 ever, may be two-inch. Join the selvage of 

 the netting by weaving them together with 

 pliable wire. Fasten the netting to the south 

 slope of the roof of the house, half a foot from 

 the ridge-pole. This gives the pigeons a gently 

 sloping roof to parade up and down on in the 

 sun, which they dearly love to do. 



The government experimented for years to 

 get a preservative for rough lumber that would 

 withstand the hot suns and heavy storms of 

 Arizona and California, and yet be inexpens.^ 



