04 Pir.EONS AND x'Vll About THE^r. 



reaching his ideal. Further, did he set himself to study 

 those hidden workings of Nature, he would have no 

 time left in which to work and produce those marvenotis 

 specimens of the breeders' art with which he hopes to 

 capture first, special and cup at the great event of the 

 year. Thus it is that the man who produces year by 

 year the most wonderful and beautiful specimens of the 

 Columbophile race is absolutey in the dark as to the why 

 and the wherefore of the mysterious methods by which 

 his results are achieved. Were it possible for a fan- 

 cier to study, ill a careful and painstaking manner, the 

 science of embryology, side by side with the work of 

 ])roduciiig his cup winners, we should know far more 

 than we do now as to how Nature works from the time 

 of the e.gg being impregnated till the squat) leaves the 

 shell. 



HOW TO .WOID B,\D HATCHING. 



One way to avoid the bad hatching of which I spoke 

 is to breed only from birds which are thorou"-hly fit in 

 every particular. It is a very common practice with 

 fanciers to pair up an old cock with a j'oung hen, and 

 a young cock with an old hen. The idea itself is a good 

 one; the extra vigour of the youthful member of the 

 jjair is intended to counteract and counterbalance the 

 impaired vitality of the older member. So far so good, 

 but it should be remembered that a j'oung cock is much 

 more forward than an old hen, and his very ardour and 

 vivacity may cause him to so stimulate and excite his 

 mate that she really comes into a breeding state earlier 

 than she would have done had she been left to follow 

 her own inclinations and the dictates of Nature. We 

 all know we cannot force Nature's hand without her 

 getting her own back with interest. She will be com- 

 ]>ensated for every outra.ge we perpetrate against her 

 laws, and compensated in a manner which ofttimes up- 

 sets and frustrates all the carefully laid plans of a 

 season's breeding. 



THE LESSON To BE LEARNED. 



What is the great lesson for us here? A^'hy, that 

 ill all our breeding arrangements we should seek to 

 study Nature's methods as closely as possible, and not 



