1883 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
123 
The Carrier Pigeon. 
The Carrier Dove is the bird of romance 
and poetry. The Carrier Pigeon, which is 
but another name for the same bright crea¬ 
ture, is the bird of business and war. Both 
names, in the vocabulary of to-day, are giv¬ 
ing way to the new term, “ Homing Pigeon,” 
by which this bird is now usually designat¬ 
ed. This Homing Pigeon is the perfected 
result of breeding together selections of 
the most successful and accomplished 
performers. The pigeon, as a carrier of 
letters, has a place in the pages of Pliny 
and Tasso. He figures largely in romance, 
especially of the earlier days. Steam and 
the telegraph promised to destroy his use¬ 
fulness altogether, but the bird has sur¬ 
vived these dangers, and is of as prac¬ 
tical use to-day as in the remote past. 
The Carrier Pigeon was employed in the 
wars of ancient Rome and Greece. He 
was much used by tho Asiatics, and in 
Turkey the intelligence of this bird has 
been put to many uses. He fits in ad¬ 
mirably in the letter service of a land 
of seraglios and sultanas. The Carrier 
Pigeon was employed during the siege of 
Jerusalem, in the twelfth century, and 
the Saracens had hawks trained to pursue 
and destroy these messengers. Curiously 
enough, the Carrier Pigeons sent from our 
army frontier posts “ are troubled by a small 
hawk, which greatly disturbs the birds in 
their flight,” says General Miles. During 
the siege of Paris, in the inclement winter 
of 1870-71, these pigeons were found most 
useful. They were sent from the city with 
messages, and the balloons that were des¬ 
patched from the beleagured capital car¬ 
ried birds that came back from great dis¬ 
tances — one hun¬ 
dred miles or more. 
The messages were 
set up in columns 
like a newspaper, 
and micro - photo¬ 
graphed. They 
were read under a 
microscope, or en¬ 
larged. These mes¬ 
sages were of very 
light weight, a few 
grains only. They 
were attached to 
the legs of the 
birds, or securely 
fastened among the 
tail feathers. An¬ 
ciently, messages 
were often attach¬ 
ed to the wings of 
the birds. This is 
not done now. In 
Greece, the results 
of the Olympic 
games were dis¬ 
patched by Carrier 
Pigeons. In England, these birds have 
carried the news of a prize fight, of a Derby 
race, of the rise and fall of stocks. In 
the United States they have done similar 
service. Shipping news has been brought in 
by them from coast stations to the cities. Mr. 
Beach, of the New York “Sun,” many years 
ago employed them as news carriers. On 
one occasion he brought from Boston an ab¬ 
stract of one of Mr. Webster’s speeches in 
that city, distancing the other newspapers 
by several days. Pigeon races have been an 
amusement in many countries in Europe, 
notably in Belgium, where the bird has been 
most carefully cultivated. In recent years 
there have been many such races, or “ hom¬ 
ing competitions,” in this country. Tho 
birds fly from 30 to 40 miles per hour. The 
“homing” of these birds is regarded as an 
instinct, a special faculty, and is often no¬ 
ticed in other animals, as the bee, the dog, 
Fig. 1. —HOMEWARD BOUND. 
etc. Some writers allege that the bird is 
governed by vision. The fact that these 
birds, let loose long distances out at sea, have 
returned home, safely and ‘expeditiously, 
would seem to favor the instinct theory. 
The “homing” instinct is strong and lasting. 
The carrier, recognized as the best, is tho 
“Antwerp.” This bird will return home 
after months of confinement. The Carrier 
Pigeon has been found of great service in 
our army in the remote and sequestered re¬ 
gions of the West, where there is no tele¬ 
Fig. 2. —A BRACE OP ANTWERP CARRIER PIGEONS. 
graphic communication, or where hostile 
Indians have destroyed the lines, and the 
Government is strongly urged to extend the 
service. The employment of this bird by 
scouting parties, by expeditions hemmed in 
by savages, and in many of the emergencies 
of frontier warfare, would be of untold val¬ 
ue. Pigeon culture is a most fascinating 
occupation, as is shown by the recent or¬ 
ganization in New York of a new club of 
Pigeon Fanciers, with the object of ele¬ 
vating the homing sport. The beauty of 
the birds, their grace and stateliness, their 
gallantry, their tender and loving natures, 
appeal deeply to human feelings, and endear 
them very strongly to those who exercise an 
intelligent “fancy” in this pursuit. 
Experiments in Keeping Poultry. 
The “soiling system” of feeding at the 
barn, saving of pasture, cooking and cut¬ 
ting of food, and using ensilage, is as ap¬ 
plicable to poultry as to cattle. Small 
farms can be renovated by confining 
poultry, and disease and loss are less lia¬ 
ble. An acre can produce $600 in poul¬ 
try, and the capital required returned by 
the poultry in a short time, with a profit. 
With a systematic method of cleaning 
and feeding, more profit, with less labor, 
can be derived from poultry on one acre 
of land than from the best regulated 
dairy under the soiling method. An 
acre devoted exclusively to poultry, will 
return a greater profit, with less cost in 
labor, than ten acres in wheat or any 
cereal crop. The poorest and lightest 
of sandy soils are more suitable for poul¬ 
try than the best pastures, as they are 
freer from disease. That yards free from 
grass, and clean to every corner, are better 
than grass runs, has been demonstrated ; but 
shade of some kind should be supplied. No 
poultry-house can be kept absolutely clean 
without a board floor. In setting hens, tho 
nests should be in warm, dry locations in 
cold weather, and in cool, moist places in 
summer. In selecting for breeding purposes, 
plumage and points of markings should give 
way to robust constitution, vigor, and ac¬ 
tivity. Feeding steeped clover-hay and lin- 
seed-meal assist in 
the formation of 
the white of eggs, 
by supplying ni¬ 
trogenous matter. 
The houses should 
be freely ventilated 
in summer, and 
warm in winter. 
All soft food should 
be freshly mixed. 
Yellow - legged 
fowls sell better 
than those with 
dark legs. All non¬ 
sitters lay purely 
white eggs. No 
male should run 
with over twelve 
hens—a less num¬ 
ber is better. Eggs 
from two-year-old 
hens are preferable 
for sitting. pur¬ 
poses. Exercise 
should be furnish¬ 
ed by throwing a 
small quantity of corn into a bundle of 
loose straw or hay, for fowls to scratch. 
Keep a good dust-bath always. Spade 
up the ground as often as possible. When 
a rain is threatened, see to the young 
chicks. Early-hatched pullets are the win¬ 
ter layers. Keep no fowl for beauty, if 
profit is the object. Use pure-bred males 
always. Large males bred on small hens, 
produce legginess in chicks, but small males 
on large hens, produce closer bodies and 
