WATER AND FEED 59 
cover the whole space of the ground of the flying pen. For 
fuller discussion of shells and grit, see supplement. 
It is poor policy to mix anything but wheat and 
corn together. If you make a mixture of peas and hemp- 
seed with cracked corn and wheat, you will find that the 
pigeons will dig down after the peas and hemp-seed and toss 
the other grain around and waste it. The only mixture, 
therefore, which we feed is a mixture of wheat and corn. 
Fill the self-feeder with whole corn and wheat, in the propor- 
tion of three parts of the corn to one of wheat. 
We call the wheat and corn staples, because with 
us in New England they form the major part of the diet, and 
are the cheapest. The hemp-seed, buckwheat, Canada peas, 
kaffir corn, millet and barley we call dainties. We do not 
feed much millet, because we have the other grains, which 
are cheapest, but some of our customers in the millet sections 
of the country feed a good deal of millet. In such cases they 
look on millet as one of’ their staples, and the hard-to-get 
grains are classed by them as dainties. The staple grains of 
which you will feed the most to youre pigeons are the ones 
which are the cheapest for you. The more expensive grains 
will be classed by you as dainties. 
A good way to feed the dainties is to throw them out on 
the floor of the squab house by hand. You will see the 
pigeons make a rush for them and eat them with as much 
relish as a child eats candy. You should feed the dainties 
about three times a week, throwing handfuls on the floor 
until you see that the pigeons are satisfied and do not care for 
any more. 
Do not throw any feed on the ground of the flying pen, for 
the earth is liable to be damp, and this dampness will sour 
the grain, especially cracked corn, and if the pigeons eat it, 
they will get sour crops, and the fluids from the sour crops of 
the parent pigeons will make the squabs sick and perhaps kill 
them. Do all your feeding in the squab house and your 
pigeons will not have sour crops. 
Do not lay in a big stock of cracked corn at a time, for 
cracked corn exposed to sudden changes of the weather is 
’ liable to take up dampness, and sour. Smell and taste it once 
a week or so and determine to your own satisfaction that it 
is not sour. 
