76 National Standard Squab Book. 
Question. Should I cover the yard of the flying pen with grit? Answer, 
No. Provide a box and keep the grit in the box. When the pigeons want 
grit, they will go to the box and get it. 
Qvestion. Are the carrier (flying) pigeons the same breed as your 
Homers? Answer. Yes. A flying or carrier Homer is a Homer that has 
been trained to fly a long distance. 
Question. What is the difference between your Mated Birds and you 
Extra Mated birds? Answer. They are our same breed of Homer pigeon. 
The Extra Mated birds will breed squabs which are bigger and plumper 
and for which you can get more money. They are our choicest Stock, the 
best which we can deliver. i 
Question. What are artificially fattened squabs? Answer. An arti- 
ficialiy fatiened squab is a squab which has been stuffed by hand. Take 
a syringe and fill it with fattening mixture of gruel-like consistency, open 
the mouth of the squab and force the contents of the syringe into the crop 
of the squab. Very few breeders take this trouble to bring their squabs to 
au extraordinary size. 
Question. I wished you had shipped my breeders in one large erate, then 
the express charges would not have been so much as for the two crates 
which you used. Answer. You are mistaken. An express shipment goes 
by weight and not by number of packages. The express clerks put all the 
erates going to one customer on the scales together and weigh them all 
at once and on the total weight the charge is based. They prefer to 
handle a large shipment in small packages, rather than in one large pack- 
age. 
Question. I live in England; can you ship me twenty-four pairs of your 
breeders? Answer. Yes; the transportation charges will be $4. In 
addition you will have to pay the butcher or steward of the boat ten 
shillings for feeding and watering the birds. Send us $6.50 in addition to 
the regular price of the birds and we will ship to you all charges prepaid. 
In shipping to Cuba and remote points in the United States and Canada, we 
do not have to pay anything extra for the feeding and watering of the 
birds; the express charges include the feeding and watering. 
Question. What is a Runt pigeon? Please quote prices on a dozen 
pairs of Runts. Answer. A Runt pigeon is a special breed of pigeon, re- 
markable for its large size. They come all colors, as a Homer does. The 
white Runts are an exceptionally beautiful bird and command large prices, 
as high as $6 to $15 a pair. The squabs which Runts breed weigh from 18 
ounces to 1 1/2 pounds at four weeks. If Runts bred as fast as Homers, 
they would be jnst the bird for squab breeders, but they are fatally slow 
in breeding, as a rule. The Homers raise two pairs of squabs to the Runts’ 
one. Therefore it is of course more profitabie to raise Homers. We do 
not sell Runts and do not advocate their use either as a separate breed, or 
crossed up with Homers. The large, plump, thoroughbred Homer is the 
best. 
