38 National Standard Squab Book. 



;i> liiu' ur as miimII ax ymi t'lmosf ami in wiiirh ihr f^-raiu will ilmii duwii as 

 il is oaten. 



"W'e illiisiiaH' Mile form ol' sell'-feeiki- with Avhicli we have hail experi- 

 I'liee. ll is a kiml tliat rests on a i"ist in a tlyiiig pen. We ilo not I'eeom- 

 uieiiii lliis. honi'vei: for {.o'luTal use. We liavi' liail many enstomers who 

 built it auil tiieil it 011 our reeonuiieiiilatioii Avrite baek to us that the pig- 

 eons iliil not seem to lilie it. It depends on the floek a good deal. Some flocks 

 take tn it natiir.-illy on tlie prineiple of following the leader, but the aver- 

 age ilock of pigeons fight shy of it. Its construction is quite a trouble, oftea 

 ueo ssitating the calling in of a carpenter. And one cannot be built short 

 of an e.\:peiise of $3 to $,i. Altogether it is not one of the essentials, and ex- 

 perience has taught us that it is best to recommend only the fundamental 

 devices. If you wish to build one, however, go ahe.ad. We show the per- 

 spective view as "Well as the iilaii, elevation and cross sectioQ. If you 

 have a self feeder, cither in the S(iuab bouse or outside on a post, as pic- 

 tured, you may go aw.-iy for a few days and have a sure feeling that your 

 pigeons will imt starve while a'ou are a^A■ay. 



We will try to pri'sint the maltc^r of feed as clearly and fully as it seems 

 to lis to bi- possible. A woman in .Sant.a Ciaiz. California, said slie Avould 

 like t'l raise squabs, ami wouhl begin by ordering her feed of ns, exactly 

 as wo recommendi'd, to be seiil to her by freight from Boston via the 

 S'Hitliern Pacific. A in. ill in ('lc\-elan(l ordered a quantity of red wheat 

 and '-rai;-k-'d eru'n to be sent by freight from us, when there wx're thoii- 

 sanils of bushels of both staples in elevatiu's in his city, in fact most of 

 the Boston supply had passed through his city. We did not like to run 

 the chance of losing the order for breeding stock either of the woman in 

 Santa ('ruz or .if the gentleman in Cleveland, but we wrote to both that 

 thi'y ought not to go into the sipiab raising business if they were to be de- 

 penden'- on us for grain, that it was too far to send and that it they 

 woidd look airniml home they eoubl get what they wanted. 



Here in New Engl;inil we feed to pigeons red wheat, cracked corn, 

 nemp-seed, C:inada poas. katlir corn and buckwheat. Sometimes whole 

 corn is used, but this is a poor food for a flock of breeders, for if the big 

 keinels go' into tin- crops of the squabs it will choke and plug them up 

 with a ease of in.ligestirni. 



All the time poopb- "write to ns and say they never heard of red wheat. 

 More write and sa> tbey don't know what kalTir corn is. Others are puz- 

 zled by hempseed, they have never seen any. That is surprising to us 

 hci-e in Xcw England, but no doubt we would be just as surprised it we 

 were in our customers' places. 



I.ef u.~ see if we cannot level u[i the w-liok- country on this question of 

 feed fio- pigeons. As a rule. \\-e say, feed the grain which is nearest you. 

 This i-ountvy has its c(n-ii belt, its whe.-it belt, its section where millet is 

 raised. Buckwheat is ph-ntiful in another seetion. For your leadiug 

 grain, your staple, select th.at grain wdiich you ean get cheapest and 

 easie.st. The point to remember is to feed a variety of grains. Keep this 



