National Standard Squab Book. 79 



if so will the piyeous imerf,.,-. in th. H, !„« pen with the hens? Answer 

 \ou may use the upper part of your hen house and the pigeons will nui 

 be harmed by the hens, nor the hens by the pigeons. It is best to build 

 the flying pen ,u two stones so that the pigeons eannot hy into the hen 

 house to tiy to nest. 



Question. To save ro.un. I would like to build my pigeon house in two 

 stones. Answer. That is all right. Build the top flying pen out over 

 and exteadiug beyoud the bottom flying pen if you wish to separate the 

 fioclis on the ground floor frotn the floclis upstairs. 



Question. What are the bands for iiigeons' legs and how are they 

 applied? Ausiver. The seamless band is a ring of aluminum three- 

 eighths of an inch in diameter and from three-sixteenths to one-quarter 

 of an inch in width. You cannot apply it to an old pigeon. It is put on 

 either leg of a squab when the squab is four or five days old, by squeezing 

 the toes of the squab through the band. As the leg of the squab grows, 

 it becomes impossible to remove the band except by cutting it ofl:'. On 

 the band, before putting it on the leg of the squab, you may stamp year 

 of birth and your initials, or anything you choose. We do not sell' the 

 bands, which are quite expensive, costing from three to four cents apiece 

 as they are furnished by poultry and pigeon supply hou.ses, and this cost 

 maizes them impracticable for the average squab breeder. AVe sell an 

 outfit consisting of aluminum tubing, dies, etc., by which the squab 

 breeder may make his own bands at a cost of two or three for a cent. 



Question. Since I bought twelve pairs of you, I 'have kept a careful 

 account of tlie feed and fiad as you state that fivf cents a month for a 

 pair of breeders is right. Grain has been much higher than usual this 

 summer (1002) and it strikes me that vmder normal conditions of the grain 

 market the cost of a pair of squab breeders would be less than five cents 

 a month, or sixty cents a year. Answer. Our figures of cost were ascer- 

 tained not bj "skimping" the birds, hut feeding them liberall.v, and our 

 estimate of five cents a month for .1 pair is based on a lower cost of graii? 

 than prevailed in the spring and summer of 1902. It is possible by closs 

 purchase of gram and careful feeding to get the cost under sixty cents pei 

 year per pair. 



Question.' What pattern of trowel do you recommend for cleaning the 

 nappies aud nest boxes? Answer. The common trowel such as brick- 

 layers use is too pointed. The best pattern has a square point aud a stout 

 blade with strong handle. With such a trowel you can clean out the nap- 

 pies and nest boxes very efi'ectively. 



Question. Can pigeons be raised on the sea coast as well as inland? 

 Answer. Tes; the Homer pigeon is descended from a variety of pigeon 

 which first bred among the cliffs bordering the sea shore. 



Question. Do the squabs fly out of the nest before they are four weeks 

 old? Answer. Xo; they look old enough to fly at four weeks, and their 

 wings seem all ready for use, but tliey stay in the nest and are fed by 



