Breeding. 69 



stud gasping for breath, and looking as though every 

 moment will be her last, it is not easy to be calm, 

 cool, and collected ; and yet one must be. I don't 

 know if it is animal magnetism or what it is, but I 

 do know that if you are treating sick animals, and 

 they find you steady and cool, they seem to be in- 

 spired with something of the same feeling, and it 

 greatly aids their recovery. 



A hen which has been egg-bound should not be 

 returned to the breeding loft for a week or ten days, 

 and in a severe case a fortnight or even three weeks 

 is not too long to give her to recuperate ; the more 

 valuable the hen, the longer she sihould have to re- 

 cover her strength. If ample time is not given for 

 recovery, then you may expect another attack, or 

 your hen may lay shell-less eggs, or worse still, ma>- 

 become ruptured, and thus useless for either the 

 breeding or show pen. 



DIFFICULTIES GREAT. 

 I am thinking that some of my readers will be 

 coming to the conclusion that the difficulties which 

 beset the path of the j'oung beginner are so numerous 

 that it is almost an impossibility for them to cope 

 with such, and are feeling somewhat dismayed. I 

 hope, however, their numbers are few, because, 

 although I have mentioned manj' of the difficulties 

 which bestrew the path of the j^oung aspirant for 

 fame, I have also endeavoured to point out in the 

 fullest manner possible how such difficulties may be 

 attacked and overcome ; and as knowledge is power, 

 the knowledge that such difficulties have to be met 

 and overcome is in itself a source of power; whilst 

 the further knowledge of how to effectively cope with 

 them, how and when thej- arise, enables the new 

 beginner to feel (that is, if he is possessed of an 

 ordinary amount of pluck) that come what may he 

 has the power to grapple successfully with the dis- 

 advantages associated with Pigeon culture ; and know- 

 ing he has thite power will press forward to dare and 

 conquer the adverse moods of j\Iother Nature. 



