76 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK 
we talked how many pairs a year he was getting from his 
birds, and about all of them said seven to nine. This expe- 
rience corresponds with ours. We remember particularly 
an old gentleman, Preacher Hubbell, in Vineland, who had 
been in the squab business for years but was just going out 
of it, having sold his place, pigeons and all, to a Swede farmer. 
He told us he had always made squabs pay him and that his 
birds, of which he kept a careful record, raised him nine 
pairs to the year right along. 
It is a well-known fact that the common pigeon will breed 
only four or five pairs of squabs a year, and if handlers of big 
flocks of common pigeons, like Johnson of California, can make 
a net profit of one dollar per pair a year from such low breeders, 
we think anybody of no experience is justified in believing 
our statement that our Homers are capable of earning a net 
profit of from two to three dollars per pair a year, taking into 
account not only their fast breeding qualities, but the superior 
size of the squabs. Here in New England we consider the 
common pigeons inconstant and lappy-go-lucky breeders. 
They are not in the same class at all with the Homer pigeon. 
The common pigeon, the pigeon which flies the streets of 
our cities and towns, is a mixture of all kinds of pigeons, and 
it partakes of the faults of each, and not of the virtues. Its 
outward appearance is large, but it is an effect of feathers and 
not of flesh. Its feathers are loose and fluffy an? its muscles 
soft and flabby. Its head is smaller than that of a Homer, 
the deficiency being marked in the curve of the skull which 
covers the brain. The Homer has a white flesh ring around 
the eye, but the common pigeon has none. The Homer has 
the largest brain of any variety of pigeon, and discloses this 
fact by its behavior. It has more sense and behaves with 
more intelligence. Its wonderful homing instinct marks 
it above and beyond all classes of pigeons and it is this quality 
which gives it a commercial value all over the world. The 
feathers of the Homer are laid close like a woman’s glove and 
the muscles under it feel as hard and firm as a piece of wood. 
Its breast is firm and well protected, with just the right amount 
of fullness. Its chest is large, indicating good lung power and 
staying qualities. Its wings are trim and shapely, in flight 
the poetry of motion. The poise of its body and head reminds 
one of a race-horse listening for the signal to speed over the 
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