Page:The Golden Hamster Manual.djvu/74

 large group of mall-order buyers is to contribute a brief article now and then to pet or small stock magazines. They like new writers, new names, different angles of the industry presented in each issue of their publications. Publishers know that a department becomes stale and unread after a few months of the same writer's opinions and experiences. Be careful not to copy any part of the work of others, as mentioned in Chap. 56, since such copying is dishonest and may be subject to severe penalty for infringement of copyright. Frequently some hobbyist or pet raiser discovers something really new that the publisher is glad to print in his magazine. Local and county papers are glad to print brief news articles, especially if with an interesting picture. All such publicity interests pet raisers and prospective hamster producers and tells them where to see and buy the animals.

In several cities and towns, hamster raisers keep a cage or pen of hamsters in the front yard all summer long. Such pens vary in construction from the most simple living quarters to elaborate simulations of native life surroundings as in Chap. 38.



Hamsters are among the easiest of all animals to ship, especially since they require no watering en route to points anywhere in the United States. One simply encloses in each compartment of the crate a supply of excelsior or grass for bedding, then moisture content food such as carrot, potato, turnip, etc., and grain, with pellets sufficient in amount for a longer time than trip may be expected to require.

Crates vary in construction. For shipment of newly weaned young, crates should be 3$1/2$ to 4$1/2$ inches high, and constructed of light-weight wood, with fly-screen or hdw. cl. tops. Fly-creen is easiest to handle; hdw. cl. lasts longer.