76 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK 



we talked how many pairs a year he was getting from his 

 birds, and about all of them said seven to nine. This expe- 

 rience corresponds with ours. We remember particularly 

 an old gentleman, Preacher Hubbell, in Vineland, who had 

 been in the squab business for years, but was just going out 

 of it, having sold his place, pigeons and all, to a Swede farmer. 

 He told us he had always made squabs pay him and that his 

 birds, of which he kept a careful record, raised him nine 

 pairs to the year right along. 



It is a well-known fact that the common pigeon will breed 

 only four or five pairs of squabs a year, and if handlers of big 

 flocks of common pigeons, like Johnson of California, can make 

 a net profit of one dollar per pair a year from such low breeders, 

 we think anybody of no experience is justified in believing 

 our statement that our Homers are capable of earning a net 

 profit of from two to three dollars per pair a year, taking into 

 account not only their fast breeding qualities, but the superior 

 size of the squabs. Here in New England we consider the 

 common pigeons inconstant and happy-go-lucky breeders. 

 They are not in the same class at all with the Homer pigeon. 



The common pigeon, the pigeon which flies the streets of 

 our cities and towns, is a mixture of all kinds of pigeons, and 

 it partakes of the faults of each, and not of the virtues. Its 

 outward appearance is large, but it is an effect of feathers and 

 not of flesh. Its feathers are loose and fluffy and its muscles 

 soft and flabby. Its head is smaller than that of a Homer, 

 the deficiency being marked in the curve of the skull which 

 covers the brain. The Homer has a white flesh ring around 

 the eye, but the common pigeon has none. The Homer has 

 the largest brain of any variety of pigeon, and discloses this 

 fact by its behavior. It has more sense and behaves with 

 more intelligence. Its wonderful homing instinct marks 

 it above and beyond all classes of pigeons and it is this quality 

 which gives it a commercial value all over the world. The 

 feathers of the Homer are laid close like a woman's glove and 

 the muscles under it feel as hard and firm as a piece of wood. 

 Its breast is firm and well protected, with just the right amount 

 of fullness. Its chest is large, indicating good lung power and 

 staying qualities. Its wings are trim and shapely, in flight 

 the poetry of motion. The poise of its body and head reminds 

 one of a race-horse listening for the signal to speed over the 



