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Our  Canaries 
"  Inga  or  niger  seed,  which  is  the  long  black  seed,  I  don't  favour  greatly, 
although  I  use  a  little  just  previous  to  pairing  up  time. 
"  Linseed  I  provide  my  birds  with  during  the  colour-feeding  period,  as  it 
assists  in  getting  sheen  on  the  plumage.  I  generally  use  linseed  meal  and  mix 
it  amongst  the  colour  food.  By  this  method  you  can  get  it  into  your  birds 
better.    Whole  seed  they  often  fight  shy  of,  so  my  experience  teaches  me. 
"This  exhausts  the  list  of  seeds  I  utilise,  and  no  other  seeds  need  be 
stocked  to  keep  your  birds  in  the  most  robust  condition. 
"  Fresh  water  every  day,  clean  gritty  sand  to  be  always  kept  in  the  cage, 
cages  and  perches  to  be  scrupulously  clean,  and  fine  sawdust  on  the  cage 
bottom.    If  this  is  carried  out  very  little  disaster  will  be  in  evidence." 
CLEAN  FOOD  ESSENTIAL. 
Too  much  importance  cannot  be  attached  to  absolute  purity  and  clean- 
liness of  all  food  supplied.  This  has  already  been  made  clear  as  regards  all 
soft  and  putrescible  foods,  which  are  subject  to  rapid  changes  and  decay. 
But  the  principle  must  be  rigidly  applied  throughout  and  have  no  limit.  All 
seeds  should  be  fully  protected  from  all  external  contamination.  Mice  in 
particular  must  never  be  allowed  access  to  stored  seeds.  The  seeds  they  foul 
and  leave  behind  are  far  more  dangerous  to  the  stock  than  is  the  loss  to  the 
owners  of  the  amount  of  seed  stolen. 
Beetles  and  weevils  are  also  addicted  to  infest  stored  seeds,  and  render  it 
dangerous  to  the  health  of  the  birds,  and  rape  and  linseed  when  not  well  and 
properly  stored  are  peculiarly  apt  to  become  infested  with  an  almost  micros- 
copically minute  mite,  which  soon  renders  the  seed  as  fatal  as  poison  to  the 
birds.  Dusty  seed  is  also  most  injurious  in  a  variety  of  ways.  In  many  cases  it  is 
probably  the  cause  of  a  condition  of  wheeziness  which  is  often  mistaken  for 
Asthma,  and  it  is  always  extremely  detrimental  to  the  vocal  organs  of  Rollers 
and  all  singing  birds. 
Seeds  stored  in  close  tins  or  jars  in  a  variable  temperature,  are  almost  certain 
to  become  musty  through  "sweating"  and  prejudicial  to  health.  The  ideal 
way  of  storage  in  quantity  is  in  sacks  or  coarse  canvas  bags,  providing 
the  place  is  dry  and  vermin  proof.  In  all  other  cases  tins  ventilated  with 
small  perforations,  more  or  less  according  to  the  size,  will  form  the  best  storage 
receptacles,  but  care  must  be  taken  to  see  they  are  kept  in  a  cool  and  perfectly 
dry  situation,  and  not  exposed  to  extreme  fluctuations  of  temperature. 
SUITABLE  GRIT  NECESSARY. 
Grit  in  the  gizzard  has  been  not  inaptly  called  a  bird's  teeth,  from  its 
supposed  action  in  grinding  or  macerating  the  food.  As  the  grains  get  worn 
and  smooth  they  lose  much  of  their  grinding  power,  and  are  replaced  by  a 
