SUPPLEMENT 
not be sharp so as to cut the flesh, but should 
be rounding, and slightly flat at the points 
of contact. 
The base-board is made of three-quarters 
or one-inch lumber, twenty inches jong and 
seven inches wide. The upper arm (or lever) 
is of half-inch stock, one and three-quarters 
inches wide and fifteen inches long. The 
lower arm is of half-inch stock one and three- 
quarters inches wide and eight and one-half 
inches long. The two upright pieces in 
front, nearest the hand of the operator, are 
each- of seven-eighths or inch stock, one and 
three-quarters :inches wide and three and 
three-quarters inches high. The two upright 
pieces in back, furthest from the hand of 
_the operator, are each of seven-eighths or 
inch stock, two and one-half inches wide 
and three and three-quarters inches. high. 
The pin at the back of the machine on 
which the lever turns is of one-quarter inch 
brass or iron rod two and one-quarter inches 
iong. 
The upper arm (or lever) is bevelled or 
cut off at an angle on lower corner (behind 
the uprights, and consequently invisible 
In the picture) so that the lever can be raised 
to an angle of forty-five degrees, thus per- 
mitting the neck of the squab to be inserted 
between the arms at a point just back of 
the farther uprights. When the upper lever 
is at rest upon the lower arm, there should 
be-no space between the two; they should 
batt flush together. a 
The whole machine is built of wood with 
the exception of the metal pivot and the 
screws which hold the parts together. It 
ig not necessary to mortise the uprights 
into the base-board. The screws which 
fasten the uprights are started underneath 
from the back side of the base-board and 
go through: the base-board. Nails may be 
used instead of screws to hold the parts 
together, but the job will not be so strong. 
The base-board should be nailed or screwed 
to a bench or table so as to give firmness 
and solidity in operation. Carry the squabs 
jn a basket to the machine and kill them 
there; do not take the machine into the pens 
and kill the squabs in sight of the other 
birds. 
We do not sell this squab killer. It should 
be built by you or your carpenter. 
Customers with large plants have told us 
that this tool is a handy article, and we 
115 
have found it indispensable. The squabs 
can be killed as fast as you can work the 
lever. The pressure is considerable and 
the cords are crushed at once. The squab 
is not strangled but is paralyzed, and made 
lifeless at once. a 
For those who do not care to build a wood 
squab-killing machine as described above, 
we sell pincers, to accomplish the same 
urpose in the same way; see our catalogue. 
hese pincers should be oiled at the joint, 
and the joint worked so that they will open 
and_ close freely. When first purchased 
the joint is tight, and works hard. 
For dealers who wish squabs bled, use the 
knife which we describe in our catalogue. 
WEANING THE YOUNG BIRDS. If you 
are starting with a small flock with the 
expectation of raising your own breeders, 
do not take the young birds away from 
their parents out of the breeding pen until 
they are weaned. They are not thoroughly 
weaned until they are six or seven weeks old. 
It is true that many of them hop or fly or 
are pushed out of the nests when they are 
from four to five weeks old, but they con- 
tinue to cry for food when ihey are 
hungry, and. the old cock bird of the pair 
which hatched them will be seen feeding 
them on the floor. The youngsters at this 
time are feeding themselves, but to keep 
them strong and rugged they need the crumbs 
of parental food which they get as described, 
and for which they cry, or squeak. These 
‘crumbs have been moistened by the parent 
‘bird and consequently digest quicker and 
better. : a2 : 
When the youngsters are weaned, take 
them out of the breeding pen and put them 
in the rearing pen. (The rearing pen is 
fitted with nest-boxes,etc., exactly the same 
as a breeding pen.) You can tell by their 
looks when they are old enough to. remove, 
even if you have not kept track: of their age. 
The substance (called the cere), at the base 
of the bill of an old pigeon:which is white 
will be a dark brown on a squab or young 
bird. A squab in the nest.is so fat as often 
to be bigger than ‘either of his parents, but 
after he has got out of the nest and hustled 
around on the floor he: trains off that fat and 
becomes thin and rangy and can: generally 
be told from an old bird, if in no. other way, 
because he is smaller. aoe 28.8 
:A poor beginner will sometimes be heard - 
to say: ‘‘Many. of my young birds are 
dying.””. When he. says that, you may be 
sure that the trouble, every time, is with 
him, and not with his birds,, provided, of 
course, his parent stock is rugged and hand- 
some. It may be deduced, without asking any 
further questions, that he is taking his young 
birds away from the breeding. pen before 
they have the strength to support themselves. 
The precarious period of all animal life-is 
the weaning age. Some beginners who have 
had no difficulty in raising squabs tc market 
