CHAPTER XII. 
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 
Women and Squab Breeding — Attentions of the Male to the 
Female Pigeon — Equal Number of Males and Females 
— Birds Flying Wild—Sale of Birds jor Flyers — 
Variation in Size of Nest Boxes — How Squabs are 
Artificially Fattened — Shipping to England — Training 
Flyers— A Remarkable Service for Messages between 
Islands. 
Question. I am a woman who knows absolutely nothing 
of squab raising. Do you think I can make a success of it? 
Answer. Our books are written and printed for the purpose 
of telling an absolutely ignorant person just how to proceed. 
If you will study this Manual, until you get the general plan 
and method of procedure in your mind, there is no reason 
why you cannot make a success of it. A woman is quick 
enough to puzzle out a new pattern of embroidery or a blind 
cooking recipe the terms of which are expressed in language 
utterly incomprehensible toa man. We find that our women 
customers are just as quick to comprehend pigeons as soon as 
they get started. It is necessary to have confidence, first, 
that the birds can make money, and second, that you are able 
to handle them right. Women succeed with hens quite as 
well as men. They ‘“ take’ to animals fully as well as men. 
The fact that you, our customer, are a woman, ought to 
encourage rather than depress you, in the squab business. 
Question. I have an old poultry house fifteen by twenty 
feet in size, ten feet high. How many pairs of pigeons can I 
accommodate? Answer. We have this question asked us 
many times, and our reply to all is the same. Sometimes the 
customer varies it by asking, How large a house do I need to 
accommodate one hundred pairs of breeders? Sometimes 
they say they propose remodeling a barn loft which is thirty 
by twenty feet in size. The dimensions of the building vary 
with the customer. You can always accommodate in theory 
as many pairs of breeders as you can make room for pairs of 
nest boxes. Fix up your building to suit yourself, and put in 
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