348 



APPENDIX G 



MY FEEDBOX IS SIMPLE BUT GOOD, 



This illustrates the idea. The board on the sides should be about 

 three inches wide and the opening ab^l^■c it two and ime-half inches 

 wide. The box may be any length to suit any size Hock. The top 

 board is removable. It prevents soiling. I feed p;rib and sheila also 

 from this type of box. The birds cannot squeeze into this box. — 

 Fred Ambrose, 



ONE WOMAN'S SUCCESS, by Mrs. Ida 

 Knosman, Indiana. My success is due to the 

 Extra Homers and service given by the Ply- 

 mouth Rock Squab Company. In July, 1910, 

 I bought twenty-four pairs of PliTnouth Rock 

 Extras. Now (October, 1911) I have sixty 

 mated pairs and 150 youngsters. I intend 

 to start buying adult birds January 1 and 

 increase my flock to six hundred. I will buy 

 of the Plymouth Rock Squab Company, so I'll 

 get Al birds. My experience has taught me 

 that it is cheaper to buy adult pigeons than 

 to wait and raise the young and feed six months. 



In June, 1910, I purchased thirteen pairs 

 of your Extra Pljnmouth Rock Homers, and 

 now (November 2, 1911) have about eighty 

 pairs of breeders and 140 youngsters. Have 

 just started to sell my squabs and find a ready 

 market. Can get S;-4.25 per dozen for eight 

 to nine-pound squabs. I am on a rented 

 place, but expect to move in the spring and 

 build more lofts and increase my breeders. 

 If you know of any one in this locality who 

 has Plymouth Rock breeders and cannot dis- 

 pose of their squabs at a fair price, would be 

 pleased to have their address, as at present 

 I can dispose of ten to fifteen dozen more 

 squabs a week than I can supply. There are 

 a great many breeders here who have what 

 are called American Homers which breed a 

 squab a little larger than the common pigeon. 

 Enclosed find ten cents to join the National 

 Squab Breeders Association, — H. W. Moore, 

 Ohio. 



I received some of your goods last spring 

 and I am very glad to say that they have 

 given me very much satisfaction, especially 

 the birds, which have raised squabs weighing 

 over a pound apiece. — J. W. Bolgiano, Mary- 

 land. 



I FEED ONLY ONCE DAILY 

 FROM THIS BOX, by Fred 



Ambrose. I consider the feed 



question of the most importance 

 in raising squabs. I lost more 

 birds my first summer through 

 canker by feeding too much 

 cracked corn than I would lose 

 in ten years from other ail- 

 ments. Last summer I used 

 Venetian red in the drinking 

 water as a preventive, and had 

 only two cases of it. I cured 

 both of these with two doses 

 each of Venetian red put in their 

 mouths dry. For going light I 

 use the red and pull out all the 

 tail feathers, and very seldom I 

 lose a bird. 



I find that the birds must 

 have grit before them all the 

 time. I once neglected this for 

 one week, and got a large num- 

 ber of undersized squabs. I 

 opened some of them andfound 

 that their gizzards were about 

 half of their normal size, consequently they 

 could not digest enough food to fatten up on. 



It costs me about ten cents a month per pair 

 to feed the birds, and I receive fifty cents for a 

 pair of squabs, twelve ounces or over, each. 

 They invariably weigh that at three weeks, 

 some of them weighing a pound at that age. 

 I have raised my stock from the Plymouth Rock 

 Homers that I got from Mr. Rice. AH my 

 squabs are sold alive to marketmen in this 

 vicinity. I haven't tried to work up a retail 

 trade, not having time to attend to it. 



I have read a great deal about mice scaring 

 pigeons so that they don't breed, but from my 

 experience I must say that I can't see it. I 

 had lots of them in my loft and got just as 

 many squabs as I ever got. I caught five in 

 one trap one night so you can see they were 

 pretty plentiful. One built a nest in a nest- 

 box, right alongside of a pigeon nest with eggs 

 in it, but the pigeons sat on their eggs just the 

 same. Of course rats are another thing. 



I send a sketch of the box I use for feeding 

 grain, grit and shells. It can be made any 

 length to suit the number of birds and will 

 keep the grain clean. It has an advantage over 

 some feeders because a larger number of pigeons 

 can get around it at once. This enables the 

 parents to feed their young at dayHght instead 

 of squealing for a couple of hours while the old 

 birds are scrapping around a self-feeder to get 

 a chance to fill up. 



I received the birds and Manual, and cer- 

 tainly cannot recommend either too highly. 

 I am an old breeder of pigeons and thought I 

 knew about all that was to be known, but 

 on perusing the Manual, I found out I could 

 still be taught. It is the best book of its 

 kind that I ever read, and would not part with 

 it at any price if I could not get another. — 

 Charles Jansen, Illinois. 



