70 PIGE0N8 AXD ALL ABOUT THEM. 



SELLING BIRDS. 



IT is uiiw time for the fancier wlio has had avera<;e success, 

 to Ijegiu thiuliiing of selliuf;- his suiplus birds, and he 

 will find that a modest card in a good pigeon paper will 

 be a good investment. 



If he is unknown, he will make no mistake if he states 

 frankly that his stock is from the lofts of the old breeder 

 from whom he bought it. There are many whose names are 

 household words in the fancy. Some of them have spent a 

 life time in breeding one jjarticular variety and have bred it 

 to a point about as near perfection as can well be attained. 



It is especially in the beginning of his career as a seller, 

 that the fancier must be particularly honest and square in 

 all his statements, regarding birds he is offering for sale. It 

 is far better to sell good birds at a low price than to sell ordi- 

 nary ones at a high price. A satisfied customer makes others, 

 but a dissatisired patron can cause a world of trouble. 



And the very fact that customers must be suited, again 

 shows how necessary it is for one to attend to his cjwn birds. 

 Servants and helpers are all right as far as they go. They 

 can feed, and clean the loft, but when it comes to banding, 

 or selecting for a customer, they don't know how to do it. 

 I have a colored man who for eight long years has helped 

 with my loft ; but if ho knows a single bird in it, or any cock 

 from any hen, I don't know it. 



Servants do their work in a perfunctory sort of way. They 

 are often willing and anxious and will do carefully anything 

 they are told to do ; bnt they simply follow directions with- 

 oitt taking any real interest in the work, and should not 

 therefore be trusted with anything important. 



