The Feather's Praetical Pigeon Book 



proved his flock that he breeds more good specimens 

 than poor ones. Establish its quality and reputation, 

 and the profits are sure to follow. 



In mating for color properties, it has been found by 

 c^xperience, that the male generally exercises more in- 

 fluence in that line than the hen, while inbreeding for 

 form, size, and other characteristics, the hen exercises 

 the controlling influence. Bearing this in mind one 

 should be governed in his mating accordingly, and if 

 he is looking for improvement in color, be careful in the 

 selection of the cock. If for size, length of limb, de- 

 velopment of wattle, size of .beak, crest or frill, look to 

 the hen for these qualities chiefly. In other words, if 

 you are looking for improvement in these particulars 

 choose hens that are well developed in these respects in 

 preference to those deficient, and the chances are better 

 for satisfactory results. 



At the commencement of breeding experience, I 

 would advise the young breeder to keep a correct record 

 of the breeding of his yoiing stock in such a way that 

 he can tell at any subsequent moment how each bird 

 has been bred. This will aid him greatly in the future 

 when mating up his birds and does not oblige him to 

 trust to memory, which is a very unreliable manner of 

 keeping a pedigree. By knowing the breeding of each 

 specimen, he is enabled to tell whether descended from 

 a pair closely related to each other or not : whether the 

 pair had too much color, too great a deficiency in some 

 desirable property, or whether inclined to throw birds 

 of superior quality generally. Knowing the tendencies 

 of the parent birds on both sides, he can form a clearer 

 and more correct judgment as to what he may expect 

 from the two that he wants to put together, and so 

 guard against mating young birds that both come from 



