204 AMERICAN SQUAB CULTURE 



the rear, would not tend to keep birds from building on the floor. 

 These were the three things that he was doubtful about. 



After going through the entire plant, nest room after nest 

 room, and not finding a case where birds had laid back with 

 their young, and only one case where two pairs had occupied 

 the same double nest, and but a very few birds nesting on the 

 floor, he remarked that he had learned more about construction 

 of squab houses and nest boxes in an hour's time in examining 

 this plant than he had during all the rest of his experience in 

 the business, which covered several years' time. 



Mr. Frank Lee Miles, president of the International Carneau 

 Club, recently went through this same plant and volunteered 

 to write me a letter expressing his approval of same. 



Pigeons are not chickens. They require a different kind of 

 a building and different arrangements, and if a person is not 

 familiar with pigeons and squab raising, he should not conclude 

 that a house constructed along the lines of a chicken house is 

 what he wants, but should read up on the subject and familiar- 

 ize himself before going to the trouble and expense of construct- 

 ing a house that is not going to be practical. The average car- 

 penter has no idea as to what is needed in the way of the 

 construction of a squab house and even if you tell him what is 

 wanted, he cannot build it economically for the reason that he 

 is accustomed to constructing buildings along entirely different 

 lines. He will use more material and lumber than is needed, 

 take up more time, and the construction will be heavy, cumber- 

 some and very impractical. As an example: If you show the 

 average carpenter a picture of the nest boxes and tell him to 

 construct same along that line, he will put up a row of shelves, 

 running his boards horizontally, and then divide them oft by 

 short boards nailed in for partitions. He will then saw up- his 

 removable nest bottoms and slide them in on top of these 

 shelves, making a double nest bottom, consuming unnecessary 

 lumber and making almost an impossible place to clean; where, 

 as a matter of fact, the long boards should be run up and down 

 with cleats every 11 inches on each to slide in the removable 

 nest bottoms, which plan is much easier to construct and re- 

 quires less himber and is what you want after you get it fliiished. 



