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old birds, and they are aifected with diarrhoea of a severe form. 

 Good wheat, if well seasoned, contains all the properties neces- 

 sary for the health of the birds and is the main staff of life. 



Don't think of buying, cheap wheat. The best you can b«y 

 is by far the cheapest. The crop of a bird is a very delicate 

 organ, and it does not require much to start up an inflamma- 

 tion with serious results. Through neglect and ignorance hosts 

 of birds die off, especially in summer, where if more precaution 

 and better judgment had been used by the owner the rate of 

 mortality in his birds would have been greatly lessened. It 

 must not be understood that all fanciers do not lose birds by 

 death at times ; in factj^all do. People die and always will, even 

 with the best of care, but I have reference to unusual numbers 

 dying. 



The food given the parent birds invariably shows itself in 

 the size and health of the squabs. Can a squab, a very delicate 

 piece of organism all through, be raised in its full state of health 

 upon poor, innutritions or mouldy food? Certainly not. This 

 must be taken into consideration, and if any one has been feed- 

 ing his birds poor quality, change it at once to good food, and 

 notice how much difference there will be in the results. 



Scorched Wheat. 



Scorched wheat is largely used as a pigeon food by pigeon 

 raisers, for it is cheap and does just as well as good wheat in 

 their estimation ; after it is fed a while they notice their mistake. 

 This quality of wheat is too hard and indigestible for pigeons to 

 eat. Good wheat will soften in their crops in a few hours, but 

 scorched wheat will not soften for a day or so. I have seen 

 many bad cases of crop bound (indigestion) from the use of 

 this wheat. 



What is scorched "wheat? I will explain. I received this 

 advice from a friend, an experienced miller, and he should know. 

 Scorched wheat is supposed, and said, to come from elevator fires, 

 fires that occur in the large Western elevators. If this were 

 true all the elevators would have been .destroyed years ago, for 

 "there is an immense lot of this stuff on the markets at all times, 

 and at times when no fires occur. This wheat is that which has 

 become mouldy while at the elevators. It is damaged of course 

 and could not be used for making flour, so it is doctored up for 



