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THE LIBRARY

OF
THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

The National
Standard Squab Book

pur

ELMER C. RICE.

The National
Standard Squab Book

By ELMER C. RICE

A PRACTICAL MANUAL GIVING
COMPLETE AND PRECISE DIREC-
TIONS FOR THE INSTALLATION
AND MANAGEMENT OF A SUC-
CESSFUL SQUAB PLANT. FACTS
FROM EXPERIENCES OF MANY

HOW TO MAKE A PIGEON AND SQUAB
BUSINESS PAY, DETAILS OF BUILDING,
BUYING, HABITS OF BIRDS, MATING,
WATERING, FEEDING, KILLING, COOL-
ING, MARKETING, SHIPPING, CURING
AILMENTS, AND OTHER INFORMATION

Illustrated with New Sketches and Half Tone Plates

from Photographs Specially Made

for this Work

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
1907

Copyright'
Copyright,
Copyright,
Copyright,
Copyright,
Copyright,
Copyright,

1901, by Elmer C.

1902, by Elmer C.

1903, by E.mer C.

1904, by Elmer C.

1905, by Elmer C.

1906, by Elmer C.

1907, by Elmer C.

Rice
Rice
Rice
Rice
Rice
Rice
Rice

All rights reserved.

A WELL-BUILT NEST.

Press of
Murray and Emery Company

CONTENTS.

Page

Preface . . . . .... .11

Chapter I. Squabs Pay . . . . . . ..15

Chapter II. An Easy Start . . . . . .21

Chapter III. The Unit House . . . . . .37

Chapter IV. Nest Bowls and Nests 45

Chapter V. Water and Feed . . . . . .51

Chapter VI. Laying and Hatching 63

Chapter VII. Increase of Flock . . . . . .75

Chapter VIII. Killing and Cooling 79

Chapter IX. The Markets . ... . . . .83

Chapter X. Pigeons' Ailments ...... 89

Chapter XI. Getting Ahead 93

Chapter XII. Questions and Answers ..... 101

Supplement . . . ... . . .113

Appendix A ......... 139

Appendix B • 153

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page
Portrait of the Author (Frontispiece) . . . .

A Well-Built Nest . . . . . . . 8

Thoroughbreds ^. . . .. . . '-. . . .14

How a Back Yard may be Fixed for Pigeons . < . .18

Cheap but Practical Nest Boxes . ... 22

How City Dwellers without Land may Breed Squabs . . 24

Unit Squab House (with Passageway) and Flying Pen . . 26

Nest Boxes Built of Lumber . . . . . . .28

Best Nest Box Construction . . . . . . .30

Interior of Squab House Showing Perches . . . . 32

A Pretty Squab House and Flying Pen ... .36

Multiple Unit House . . 38

Interior of Multiple Unit House ... .40

Multiple Unit House, Ten Units, Built according to Our Plans . 42
Nest Bowl, Bath Pan, Drinking Fountain, etc. . . 46

Berry Crate to Hold Nesting Material 50

Scenes on the $200,000 Farm of One of Our Customers . . 58

Eggs in the Nest, Squabs Just Hatched 64

Squabs One Week Old, Squabs Two Weeks Old . . .66

Squabs Three weeks Old, Squabs Four weeks Old . . .68
The Mating Coop . .70

Pigeons in St. Mark's Square, Venice . . . . .74

Killing Squabs with the Hands 80

Killed Squabs Hung to Cool . . . . . .82

Three Dressed Squabs 86

Squab House Built of Logs 88

Pair of Homers Billing . . . . . . . .90

How We Ship Pigeons 98

Self Feeder for Grain 108

Machine for Killing Squabs . . . . . . .114

Sprayer '. .116

Nest Boxes . .117

Mating Coops in Mating House . . . . . .134

Pigeons in Corner of Flying Pen ' . . . . . .138

Interior of Mating House ....... 142

Part of South Side of One of Our Houses . . . .146

Dowel System of Feeding and Watering . . . . .150

Pigeons Bathing . . . . . . . . .152

PREFACE.

This Manual or Handbook on Squabs is written to teach
people, beginners mostly, not merely how to raise squabs,
but how to conduct a squab and pigeon business successfully.
We have found breeders of squabs who knew how to raise them
fairly well and took pleasure in doing so, but were weak on
the business end of the industry. The fancier, who raises
animals because he likes their looks or their actions, or
because he hopes to beat some other fancier at an exhibition,
is not the man for whom we have written this book. We
have developed Homer pigeons and the Homer pigeon industry
solely because they are staples, and the squabs they produce
are staples, salable in any market at a remunerative price.
The success of squabs as we exploit them depends on their
earning capacity. They are a matter of business. Our
development of squabs is based on the fact that they are
good eating, that people now are in the habit of asking for
and eating them, that there is a large traffic in them which
may be pushed to an enormous extent without weakening
either the market or the price. If, as happens in this case,
pigeons are a beautiful pet stock as well as money makers,
so much the better, but we never would breed anything not
useful, salable merely as pets. It is just as easy to pet a
practical animal as an impractical animal, and much more
satisfying.

This Manual is the latest and most comprehensive work we
have done, giving the results of our experience as fully and
accurately as we can present the subject. It is intended as an
answer to the hundreds of letters we receive, and we have
tried to cover every point which a beginner or an expert needs
to know. It is a fault of writers of most guide books like
this to leave out points which they think are too trivial, or
" which everybody ought to know." It has been our experi-
ence in handling this subject and bringing it home to people
that the little points are the ones on which they most quickly
go astray, and on which they wish the fullest information.
After they have a fair start, they are able to think out their
operations for themselves. Accordingly we have covered

11

12 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

every point in this book in simple language and if the details
in some places appear too commonplace, remember that we
have erred on the side of plainness.

The customers to whom we have sold breeding stock have
been of great help to us in arranging and presenting these
facts. We asked them to tell us just the points they wished
covered, or covered more fully, or just where our writings
were weak. They replied in a most kindly way, nearly every
letter thanking us heartily, and brimming over with enthus-
iasm for the squab industry.

It has surprised a great many people to learn that Homer
pigeons are such a staple and workable article. They have
been handled by the old methods for years without their
great utility being made plain. When wre first learned about
squabs, we were struck by the impressive fact that here was
something which grew to market size in the incredible time
of four weeks and then was marketed readily at a good profit.
The spread of that knowledge will make money for you.
Show your neighbors the birds you buy of us, tell them the
facts, and perhaps give them a squab to eat, then you will
find a quick call for all the live breeders you can supply.

The procedure which we advise in this National Standard
Squab Book is safe and sound, demonstrated to be successful
by hundreds of our customers, many of whom started with no
knowledge except what we were able to give them by letter
or word of mouth. We have abandoned all instruction
which does not stand the test of time and locality, and give
only facts of proven value, of real, practical experience.

ELMER C. RICE.

Boston, August, 1902,

POSTSCRIPT.

This work has met with so much favor during the past year,
and has sold so largely in excess of expectations, that we
wish to thank our friends everywhere for their cordial support.
The Appendix A which appears at the back of this edition
was added last February, and it is our intention to keep the
work up to date by revisions and additions at least twice
yearly, The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and the

PREFACE 13

proof of these squab teachings is shown in the successes made
by our thousands of customers with no other knowledge of
squabs than this as a guide. Our correspondence, now
having extended over a long period, shows conclusively that
beginners find all questions answered in this book, and go
forward confidently and surely to success.

E. C. R.
Boston, August, 1903,

1907 EDITION.

The old plates of this book have been fairly worn out by
much printing, so great has been the demand for it, especially
during the past five years. The sales have been larger than
for any other work on birds or animals ever written. For this
1907 edition, the whole book has been reset in new type, and
new plates made.

The outlook for the squab industry during 1907 and the
years to come is of high promise. More people are eating
squabs than ever before and more people are raising them.
At no time within our memory has the market been over-
stocked with squabs, and prices have kept up all along the
line. Only yesterday we were visited by a gentleman and his
niece from New York City who stated that they had priced
squabs there December 31 and found them seven dollars and
fifty cents a dozen. The dealers who offered them at this
price had paid the breeders for them from four dollars to six
dollars a dozen, according to their postal card quotations sent
out in December.

We shall be pleased to hear from our friends after they have
read this book, and welcome any suggestions for its improve-
ment, or for the betterment of the squab industry. The
author will gladly answer all such letters and advise fully as to
location and construction of buildings, and management of
breeding stock.

E. C. R.

Boston, January, 1907,

THOROUGHBREDS.

14

CHAPTER I.

SQUABS PAY.

Experience of a Customer who Started in January, 1902,
Erected a Plant Worth Three Thousand Dollars and Made
Money A Imost from the Start — Settlements of Squab Breeders
in Iowa, California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania —
Large Incomes Made from Pigeons — Squab Plants Known
to be Making Money — The Hard-Working Farmer and the
Easy-Working Squab Raiser — No Occupation for a Drone —
No Exaggeration.

" Will it pay me to raise squabs?" is the first question
which the beginner asks. We take the case of a man who
bought a Manual in January, 1902. His boys had kept a few
pigeons but had never handled them in a commercial way,
nor tried to make any money with them. The reading of
the book gave him the first real light on the squab industry.
Possibly he was more ready to believe because he knew from
his own personal experience that a squab grows to market size
in four weeks and is then readily marketable. He started at
once to build a squab house according to the directions given.
The ground was too hard for him to get a pickaxe into, so
he laid the foundation timbers on bricks, rushed the work
ahead with the help of good carpenters and sent on his order
for breeding stock. In the course of a few weeks he ordered
a second lot of breeders, followed by a third and a fourth,
and he kept adding new buildings. When spring came and
the ground softened, he jacked up his first squab house, took
out the bricks at the four corners and put in cedar posts.
By the middle of July he had five handsome squab houses
and flying pens, all built by skilled labor in the best possible
style at a cost of at least three hundred dollars apiece. With
his buildings and their fittings and his birds, his plant repre-
sented an expenditure of between two thousand and three
thousand dollars.

This gentleman lives in a locality where he had to put up nice-
looking buildings, or the neighbors would have complained.
He spent probably three times more money on his buildings

15

16 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

than the average beginner would spend. He is a superin-
tendent of a large manufacturing plant, a man of push and
energy, and he has four young boys in his family who have
helped with the wife and grandfather to make the venture
successful. It was a paying venture almost from the very
start. Everything that we wrote about squabs as money
makers came true in his case. One of the sons, a lad of nine-
teen, came on to see us the first summer and told us the story
of their success. He was after more breeding stock. He
said he had many calls from people who wished to buy stock
of him, and he was unable to supply all of them, but he did
not intend to have money offered him very long without
being able to pass out the birds. In other words, they were
going into squabs for all they were worth. They had not done
any advertising, and had not sold live breeders to any extent,
but figured their profits solely on the sale of squabs to comr
mission houses, and they were getting for them just what
we said the commission men would pay.

We have a great many visitors, some coming from remote
points of the United States. One of our visitors in the
summer of 1902 was Mr. A. L. Furlong, from a little town in
Iowa. Mr. Furlong said to us: " Iowa is quite a squab
breeding State. There are plants in Ruthven, Osage, Wallake
and Estherville. The owner of a plant in Ruthven I know
very well. He showed me his account books; he was shipping
from seven hundred to eight hundred dollars worth of squabs
last month. He is making a profit of three thousand to five
thousand dollars a year. He ships to the Chicago market,
as do nearly all the Iowa breeders. He never gets less than
two dollars and fifty cents a dozen for his squabs. I am
going to start raising squabs myself."

Mr. Furlong left an order for one of our Manuals, having
given his first one to his friend. He said that his friend was
breeding common pigeons and would like to know our methods.
We discarded common pigeons some time ago. If our Iowa
friends will use Homer pigeons instead of common ones, they
will produce a much better squab and make more money.

We had a curious confirmation of the above in August, 1902,
when Mr. E. H. Grice, who lives in the northern part of
Vermont, visited us. Mr. Grice had just returned from a visit
to the West, and stopped for a while at Ruthven, Iowa, where

SQUABS PAY 17

he saw the plant above noted. The proprietor referred Mr.
Grice to us and advised him to start with Homer pigeons,
saying that, if he were to stock up again, it would be with
Homer instead of the common pigeons. Before leaving, Mr.
Grice gave us an order for one hundred pairs of 'our Homers.

The number of orders for breeding stock which we have
received from Iowa is out of proportion to any State near it,
showing that these squab plants are known throughout Iowa
to be making money. The same is true of California. We
visited many squab breeders in eastern States in June, 1902,
noting the buildings and methods and finding out from them
if they were satisfied with the financial returns. All were
enthusiastic and said it was easy work, that squabs beat
hens easily and were much less care. The methods of some
of these breeders were extremely crude, the birds nesting in
old boxes of all sizes nailed to the walls of the squab
houses, and apparently never being cleaned. The Homers
were small, not being able to raise squabs weighing over seven
pounds to the dozen.

Somebody has said that a squab plant of one thousand pairs
of birds will pay better than a farm. The contrast between
the hard, grinding toil of the man who works a large farm and
the " standing around " of the owner of a squab plant is indeed
a striking one. However, we do not speak of this to give you
the idea that money is going to flow into your lap just because
you buy some squab breeders of us. It is no work for a drone
or a " get-rich-quick " person whose enthusiasm runs riot for
two weeks and then cools off. Our class of trade is men and
women of experience and reliable common sense who have
a knowledge of the world and understand that things come
by work and not for the asking. The people who are able
and willing to pay us from fifty to five hundred dollars for a
breeding outfit, as hundreds do, are not caught by glittering
.promises, but have money laid by through exercise of. the
qualities of ability and shrewdness. The naturally careless,
improvident person, who is generally in debt, should not start
squab raising. It is a sensible industry for sensible people.

The profits to be made with squabs vary with the individual
and with the management of the birds, exactly as with poul-
try. It is important to have only mated or even pairs in the
pens and all birds not producing should be kept in a separate

18

SQUABS PAY 19

pen and removed to breeding quarters only after they have
gone to work. The chief difficulty with a beginner is the
matter of sex. The male and the female pigeon have no
marks to distinguish them, and the beginner must determine
their sex by observation. He must study his birds and come
to know them. Some beginners will not equip themselves by
study and observation to make a success and may breed in a
hap-hazard fashion for a year or more without knowing the
sex of the birds they raise. Birds which you raise will go to
work more quickly, look better and breed better than any birds
you can buy, because that is the temperament of the Homer,
to be attached to his home, to love it, and to try to reach it if
he can. Anybody who has doubts as to his ability to raise
squabs should start with a small flock and breed up until he
has acquired skill and experience.

As part of this Manual, in the supplement and appendices,
we print many letters from customers who started with small
flocks and won striking successes. It is not necessary to get
a fancy price for the squabs to make the business a success.
In confirmation of this we have in mind the work of two of
our customers, young men named Lunn, who have received
only two dollars to three dollars a dozen for their squabs,
selling to dealers who retail them for four dollars to six
dollars a dozen. These brothers have told their story in one
of the poultry papers as follows :

" In February, 1905, we got the idea of going into the squab
business. We spent some time looking around and in March,
1905, we bought what we thought was the best stock, namely,
the Extra Plymouth Rock Homers. We bought twelve
pairs. The birds arrived on March 22, 1905, and were as
fine a looking lot of birds as we had seen anywhere. We now
(December, 1906) have three hundred pairs. One hundred and
fifty pairs are well mated and working. The other one
hundred and fifty pairs are all young birds. We raised all
our young birds up until September, 1906, and since then have
been selling squabs weighing from nine and one-quarter to
ten and one-half pounds and receive twenty-three and
twenty -five cents each. We feed the best of grain, using
cracked corn, kaffir corn, red wheat, buckwheat and peas and
a little hemp. We also give a little rice once or twice a week.
During the moulting season we added barley to regular

20 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

rations, which was a great help to the birds all that time. We
use the self-feeder as described by Mr. Rice in his Manual and
we find with it the grain is always clean. We have made the
feeding question one of the most important of all and find
that the best results are obtained by keeping plenty of grain
and good clean drinking water before the birds at all times.
The drinking fountains used are automatic and are scalded
once each week. About once a week we give a teaspoonful
of gentian to a gallon of water. We keep fresh water in the
flying pens for bathing purpose at all times during the summer,
and in the winter we allow our birds to bathe twice a week at
noontime. One thing that is very essential with pigeons is
to be kept clean. Our houses and nests are cleaned every
week and we also spray the floors, nests and walk with a
liquid disinfectant. We have never been troubled with lice,
vermin or any disease of any kind. For nesting material we
use tobacco stems, cutting them into pieces of about six
inches, which we consider the best material for the purpose,
and also a safeguard against lice. We feel satisfied with
what our birds are doing and have done in the past, so well
satisfied, in fact, that we have now under construction build-
ings that will accommodate nearly one thousand pairs of birds.
And the cost of keeping or feeding will not exceed one dollar
a year per pair, so that squabs selling from two dollars to
three dollars per dozen are sure to leave a good profit."

Looking at the financial showing of the Lunn boys, made
in twenty-two months, we find that starting with twelve
pairs, for which they paid us thirty dollars, they raised three
hundred pairs, worth at the same rate seven hundred and
fifty dollars. From this must be deducted the grain which
they bought in that period. They start the new year with a
fine plant capable of earning a big percentage of profit on its
valuation.

CHAPTER II.

AN EASY START.

No Special Form of Building Necessary — Points to Remember
— Shelter Adapted to the Climate — How to Use a Building
which you Now Have — Squab House and Flying Pen —
Lining the Squab House with Nests — Use of Egg Crates — '•

How to Put up the Perches — Difference between the Nest
Box, Nest Pan and Nest — How to Tell How Many Pigeons
can Occupy a Certain Building — A Large Flock of Pigeons
is Easily Cared for when Split up into Small Flocks —

How to Use Your Time to Best Advantage.

Do not get the idea that any special form of building is
necessary to raise squabs. We will tell you how to put up a
structure that will make your work easier for you, and enable
you to handle a big flock fast and accurately, but pigeons
will work in almost any place, if it is free from rats, darkness
and the musty dampness which goes with darkness. Any
building, whether a woodshed, a corn crib, a barn, an outhouse
of any description, or even a hog pen, can be made a successful
home for pigeons with a little work.

The points to remember are these, first, that the building
be on fairly level, sunny ground; second, that it be raised
from the ground so that rats cannot breed under it out of sight
and reach; third, that it ought to be fairly tight, so as to keep
out rain and excessive cold. Pigeons ought to have sunlight
and fresh air, like any other animal, and need protection from
the elements.

In practice, therefore, most squab houses are found raised
on posts a foot or two feet off the ground; they face the
south (here in New England) because most of our bitter
weather comes from the north and east. If you live in a
State, territory or foreign country where conditions are
different, adapt your squab houses to those conditions. In
some localities, the fierce weather comes from the south and
west, in which case your stjuab house should face the north
or east.

Here in New England we build a tight house to withstand

21

CHEAP BUT PRACTICAL NEST BOXES.

These are empty egg crates piled one atop another from floor to roof of squab
house. Each egg crate is two feet long, one foot wide and one foot deep. The
partition in the middle makes two nest boxes, each one foot square. Into each of
these nest boxes a wood nest bowl is placed. The birds build their nests in these
wood nest bowls.

22

,47V EASY START 23

the cold winters, but in the South the buildings are more open.
Be guided by what you see around you in the place where you
live. If the houses used by your friends and neighbors for
hens and chickens are tight and warm, make your squab
house tight and warm. It would be foolish for you, for
example, if you live in Texas, to build a strong, tight, close
squab house, for in that latitude, in a henhouse built tight
and close, vermin would swarm and harass the chicks, and
they would harass the squabs just as fast.

Some of our customers write from places like Oregon and
Idaho, where there is a wet and a dry season, and are puzzled
to know what to do. In such cases we say, arrange your
buildings as you see poultry houses arranged. The pigeons
will do as well under the same conditions as hens and chickens.

Suppose you have a vacant building or shack of any kind
in which you wish to raise squabs. We will take for granted
that it has either a flat roof or a ridgepole with sloping roof,
and that it is built in rectangular form. Never mind what
the dimensions are; our advice will apply to either the large
or the small structure.

First raise it off the ground, or build a new floor off the
ground, so that rats cannot breed out of your sight in the
darkness and get up into the squab house. If there is an old
floor, patch up all the holes in it. Now you need one door,
to get yourself in and out of the squab house, and you need
at least one window through which the pigeons can fly from
the squab house into the flying pen and back from the flying
pen into the house. You will shut this window on cold nights,
or on cold winter days. You must cover the whole window
with wire netting so that the birds cannot break the panes
of glass by flying against them. If you have no wire netting
over the window, some of the birds, when it is closed, will
not figure out for themselves that the glass stops their progress,
but will bang against the panes at full speed, sometimes hurting
their heads and dazing them and at other times breaking the
glass.

The flying pen which you will build on the window side of
the squab house may be as small or as large as you have room.
The idea of it is not to give the birds an opportunity for long
flight, but simply to get them out into the open air and sun-
light. They enjoy the sun very much, it does them good

AN EASY START 25

and they court its direct rays all the time. Build the flying
pen, if you choose, up over the roof, so the birds may sun
themselves there. If that side of the roof which faces the
flying pen is too steep for the pigeons to get a foothold, nail
footholds along the roof, same as carpenters use. when they
are shingling a roof, and the pigeons will rest on these to sun
themselves. For the flying pen you want the ordinary
poultry netting, either of one-inch or two-inch mesh. The
two-inch mesh is almost invariably used by squab raisers,;
because it is very much cheaper than the one-inch mesh.
The one-inch mesh is used only by squab raisers who are afraid
that small birds (the English sparrows here in New England)
will steal through the large meshes of the two-inch netting
and eat the grain which you have bought for the pigeons. /
You can buy this wire netting in rolls of any width from one
foot up to six feet. If your flying pen is twelve feet high,
you should use rolls of the six-foot wire. If it is ten feet high,
rolls which are five feet wide are what you want. If your
flying pen is to be eight feet high, buy rolls which are four
feet wide. In joining one width of wire netting to its neighbor,
in constructing your flying pen, do not cut small pieces of tie
wire and tie them together, for that takes too much time and
is a bungling job, but buy a coil of No. 18 or 20 iron wire and
weave this from one selvage to another of your wire netting
in and out of the meshes, and you have the best joint.

You can line the three walls of the interior of your squab
house with nest boxes if you choose. The fourth wall is the
one in which the window or windows are. On this fourth
wall you should not have nest boxes, but perches. These <
perches, or roosts, should be tacked up about fifteen inches
apart, so as to give the birds room without interfering with
one another. The advantage of the V-shaped roost which we
advise is that a bird perched on it cannot soil the bird under-
neath. Do not buy the patent pigeon roosts which you see
advertised, for a pigeon roosting on one will soil the pigeon
roosting on the one immediately below.

Please note particularly at this point the following terms
which we use,, and do not become confused. The nest box
is something in which rests the nest bowl in which the nest
is built. Do not speak or think of nests when you mean nest
boxes.

AN EASY START 27

The nest boxes, when done, should look like the pigeon-holes
of a desk, and should be about one foot high, one foot wide
and one foot deep. A variation either way of an inch or
two will not matter.

One way to get these pigeon-holes is to build them of nice
pine lumber, in the form of boxing one-half or five-eighths
of an inch thick. Another way is to use hemlock or spruce
boards one inch thick. The third way (which we think is
the best for the beginner who wishes to start most cheaply and
quickly) is to use egg crates, or orange boxes. These egg
crates are two feet long, one foot wide and one foot deep,
but they are divided in the middle by a partition, giving two
spaces, each of a cubic foot, and this is just what the squab
raiser wants. They are procurable almost anywhere in the
United States and Canada new for ten or fifteen cents each,
and if you buy them after the egg shippers are through with
them, you can get them for three to five cents apiece. Some
grocers will be glad to have you carry them away and will
charge you nothing for them. The crates are built of thin,
tough wood and usually are neat and solid. Take off the
covers and throw the covers away, — you do not need them.
Then put one egg crate on its side, open top out, place
another egg crate on top of that, and so on until you have
covered the three walls of your squab house from the floor
to the roof. Do not use any nails, they are not necessary :
the crates will keep in position by their weight. It is an
advantage, also, to have them loose, for when you clean the
nests, you can step up on a chair or box, take down the crates,
commencing with the top, and clean each one with your feet
on the floor. If you build a substantial set of nest boxes of
boxing or hemlock lumber, you will have to stand on a chair
and strain your arms in order to clean the top nest boxes,
so you see there are points in the low-priced arrangement
not possessed by the fancy kind. It is on the same principle
by which a humble small boy with bent pin and worms and an
old pole catches more fish than the city angler with a twenty-
five dollar assortment of hooks, lines and artificial flies. It
is the pigeons and the intelligence behind them which do the
trick, every time. A fancy pigeon house with fancy trimmings
cannot produce any better squabs than the home-made affair,
provided the birds are the same in both cases,

NEST BOXES BUILT OF LUMBER.

This shows the front of the nest boxes as they face the interior of the squab
house. They are from ten to twelve inches square, and the same distance deep.
A slight variation does not matter. The fronts of the nest boxes are perfectly plain,
as shown. It is not necessary to nail up pieces of board to keep the squabs from
falling out. They will not fall out.

28

AN EASY START 29

You should have a pair of nest boxes for a pair of pigeons.
By a pair of pigeons we mean two pigeons, a male and a
female. By a pair of nest boxes we mean two nest boxes.
We find that the word pair has a different meaning to people
in different parts of the country, perhaps on the same principle
that a pair of scissors or a pair of suspenders is one object,
while a pair of something else, as in this case, means two
objects. A pair of pigeons attend to a pair of squabs in one
nest box, nevertheless for each pair of pigeons you need two
nest boxes, for when the squabs are about two weeks old in
one nest, the old birds will go to the adjoining nest box, or to
a nest box in a distant part of the squab house, and begin
housekeeping again, laying eggs and dividing their attention
between the two families.

Count your nest boxes and you will know how many
pigeons your house will accommodate. If your count shows
ninety-six nest boxes (in other words, forty-eight pairs of nest
boxes), you can accommodate (in theory) forty-eight pairs
of pigeons. It is important to remember this: Never fill
a house with pigeons to the uttermost limit of its capacity,
as shown by count of nest boxes. If you have, for example,
forty -eight pairs of nest boxes, do not put into that house !
more than thirty to forty pairs of pigeons. That will leave I
plenty of nest boxes for the birds to choose from. We have
found by experience that thirty or thirty-five pairs in a
ninety-six nest-box house will accomplish more than more
pairs in the same space.

Do not write us and tell us that you have a house of a
certain size and ask us to tell you how many pairs of pigeons
it will accommodate. Put in your nest boxes as we have
described and then count them, and you will know. Or you
may figure it out for yourself on paper, allowing two nest
boxes, each one cubic foot in size, for each pair of birds. To
put it in another way, you should allow one cubic foot of nest
box space for each breeding pigeon. Surely we have made
this so plain now that you cannot go astray.

Perhaps your start will be made with so small a number of
birds that you will not have to cover more than one wall of
your squab house with nest boxes. Cover one wall, or two
walls, or three walls, whichever the occasion demands. Have
a lot of spare boxes, and let the breeding pairs choose where

BEST NEST BOX CONSTRUCTION.

When the nest boxes are built of lumber (one-half an inch or five-eighths of an
inch thick) the above construction should be employed. The bottoms are not
nailed, but slide in on cleats, as shown. The result is a sliding shelf. This shelf
may be pulled out at cleaning time and a better and quicker job of cleaning done.

The nest bowls may be screwed directly to the bottoms of the above nest boxes.
If that is done, it will not be necessary to screw the nest bowls to blocks of wood,
to give them stability.

The nest boxes should be from ten inches to twelve inches square.

AN EASY START 31

they will. An extra number of nest boxes may be useful
to you to accommodate the young birds raised to breeding
age from the old birds which you buy of us, if you intend to
raise your squabs to breeding age.

An expenditure of not over five dollars, and a couple of
days' time, will transform the average old building into a
habitation for squabs. Put on the finishing touches and add
to the expense to suit your fancy. You may cover the out-
side of the building with building paper, and shingle or clap-
board it. You may put a skylight in the roof for ventilation,
Improve it all you wish. Use your own judgment.

To get at your pigeons in such a house, you walk in through
the door and find yourself directly among them, the nest
boxes all pointing at you. Go to the nest which you wish to
investigate or from which you wish to take out the squabs
and put your hand in the opening. The old birds will fly
by your head, perhaps, and may strike you with their wings,
but they will not fly into your face and eyes, — they are good
dodgers. Don't be afraid that if you enter the house when
the housekeeping is going on you will frighten the birds so
they never will come back to the eggs or the squabs. They
will seem timid at first, but they will get accustomed to you.

In the course of a few weeks, only a few will make a great
hustle to get away from you. Many of them will continue
to sit contentedly on the eggs and if you put up your hand
to them they will not fly off in fear but will slap you with
their wings, telling you in their language not to bother them.
Carry some hempseed in with you and you will teach the
birds to come and eat it out of your hand. You can tame
them and teach them to love you as any animal is taught.
The pigeon, particularly the Homer, the king of them all, is
a knowing bird.

Tadk up a few perches where you have room on that wall
or those walls of the squab house which have no nest boxes.
You do not need a perch for every pigeon, because while some
are on perches, others are in the nests, or out in the flying pen,
or on the roof, or on the floor of the squab house. If you
have forty-eight pigeons, twenty perches will be enough, and
you can get along with a dozen. Make each perch of two
pieces of board, one six inches square, the other six inches
by five, and toe-nail the perch to the wall of the squab house

82

AN EASY START 33

as shown in the illustration. You cannot have one long
pole inside the squab house for a pigeon perch. If you had
such a pole, and your pigeons were perched on it, or some
of them were, a bully cock would saunter down the line and
push off all the others.

In the centre of the squab house you place an empty crate
or overturned box. The object of this is to break the force
of the wind made by the pigeons' wings as they fly in and out
of the squab house. Otherwise the floor of the squab house
would be swept clean by the force of the wind. It also forms
a roosting-place for the birds, and, finally, it is a convenient
resting-place for the straw, hay, grass or pine needles out of
which the pigeons build their nests.

The floor of the squab house should be kept clean. We
formerly advised that a layer of sand or sawdust half an
inch thick be kept on the floor of the squab house, to absorb
the droppings, but we have found a steady and profitable
demand for pigeon manure, and this manure is worth scraping
up and carefully saving, for its sale will pay from one-quarter
to one-third of the grain bill. Use an ice chisel to scrape the
droppings from the floor, and pack the manure away in barrels
or bags. Clean the floor about once in three weeks, or oftener,
depending on the size of your flock. Pigeon manure is in
active demand all the time by tanneries. We send the
manure from our pigeons by freight to tanneries in Lowell,
Lynn, Peabody and Danvers, and are paid for it at the rate
of sixty cents a bushel.

We have a building eighty feet long built especially for the
drying and storing of the manure. During the years we have
been in the squab business, we have sold enough pigeon
manure to pay for nearly all the pigeon buildings on our farm.
Some pigeon raisers with crude methods know nothing of the
value of the manure and lose this by-product. They either
ruin it by putting sand or sawdust on the floor of the squab
house, or else waste it on their gardens. The pure manure
is too valuable for home use. To fertilize our flower and
vegetable gardens, and hay field, we scrape up from the
flying pens, outdoors, the gravel which has become saturated
with manure. It is surprising what an increase in vegetation
this manure-soaked gravel will cause. Fresh gravel is put
down in the flying pens.

34 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

A peculiarity about pigeon manure is that it is not foul-
smelling like hen manure, and when it is mixed with water
you get a kind of crude soap. In washing the old-style
earthenware nest bowls, no soap was necessary. We used
warm water in washing them and the manure caked to them
formed a cleansing soap in conjunction with the water. If
you have a basket in which you have transported pigeons,
and whose bottom is caked with the hard droppings, lay the
basket face down and sprinkle water liberally on the under-
side. The manure will drop off in large pieces from the
inside and the basket will become perfectly clean.

In raising live-stock of any kind, arrange matters so the
animals will look after themselves as much as possible. Aim
to cut down the factor of personal drudgery, so as to leave
your time clear to observe, plan, and execute intelligently.
Beginners who load themselves down with a daily round of
exacting duties soon lose heart, their patience gives out and
they become disgusted. We have known breeders of rabbits
to fail simply because they raised them in hutches. Each
hutch had a door and two dishes, one for feed, the other for
water. Every day, the door of the hutch had to be opened,
the hutch cleaned, the dishes refilled (and often cleaned), and
the door closed. It took fifteen or twenty motions to do this
for each hutch. Multiply this by twenty to thirty (the
number of the hutches), and the burden grew unbearable.
It was not surprising that in three or four months the breeder's
patience was worn out. The factor of personal drudgery had
become greater than the rabbits. The thoughtful breeder
would have turned his rabbits into two or three enclosures on
the ground and let them shift for themselves. Then one set
of motions in feeding would have answered for all, and there
would have been no dirt to clean up. Infinite patience as
,. well as skill is required to make a success of animals given
individual attention. The aim of every breeder should be to
make one minute of his time serve the greatest possible num-
ber of animals. When you think and reason for yourself,
you understand how much more practical it is to give sixty
animals one minute of your time than one animal one minute.
Time is money and if you are too particular, and too fussy,
and thoughtless about these details, it is a clear case of the
chances being sixty to one against you.

AN EASY START 35

At the start, the problem of breeding squabs for market
is in your favor, because one hundred pairs of breeding
pigeons may be handled as easily and as rapidly as one pair.
Try to keep this numerical advantage in your favor all the
time. Discard every plan that cuts down the efficiency of
your own labor, and adopt every device that will give you
control in the same time over a greater number of pigeons.

It takes brains and skilled labor to run a poultry plant
successfully. Every poultryman knows that he cannot
entrust the regulation of temperatures of incubators and
brooders to an ignorant hired man, but even a boy or girl, or
under-the-average farm hand, knows enough to fill up the
bath pans and feeding troughs for squab -breeders, leaving
the time of the owner free for correspondence and the more
skilful work.

The primary object is to breed squabs for market as cheaply,
as easily and as fast as possible, without the expenditure of a
dollar for fanciful or impractical appurtenances.

Do not think it is necessary to heat your squab house. A
squab house which has the chill of dampness taken off it by
hot water or steam pipes will raise more squabs than a house
not heated, but a flock of pigeons in a small house throw off
considerable heat from their bodies and will breed in cold
weather all right. After you have developed your plant and
have a large business which you wish to keep at the highest
state of efficiency, you may heat your squab house. The idea
of heat in winter time is to keep the birds more contented and
get more squabs out of them, and not at all to keep them
alive. Do not be afraid that your pigeons will freeze to
death. We have many customers in Canada. In coldest
weather, the old birds hover the squabs more carefully.

City people can keep pigeons in the garret of a house, or the
loft of a barn, without a foot of ground being needed. In
such a case the flying pen, or place to which the pigeons go
for sun and air, can be built out on a platform. The illus-
tration (page 24) shows how to utilize a window of a garret.
If you think that rats will trouble you in either a garret or
barn loft, cover the floor inside, especially the corners, with
fine wire netting through which it will be impossible for the
rats to gnaw from below.

One of our customers in Illinois, a rich horse breeder having

36 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

a barn some two hundred feet long, turned the whole
upper story into a loft for pigeons. The flying pen takes in
the whole back of the barn. There are windows and no doors
on this side of the barn, the horses using doors on the other
side, so this leaves the upper story of the barn, and its whole
back-yard, free for the pigeons.

A PRETTY SQUAB HOUSE AND FLYING PEN.

CHAPTER III.

THE UNIT HOUSE.

Best Possible Construction for a Squab Plant — The Wind-
Break Formation of Roof — Dimensions of the Unit —
Multiplying the Unit to Increase the Capacity of Your
Plant — A Passageway behind the Nest Boxes — Number-
ing the Nest Boxes, and the Management of a Card Index to
Correspond — Cost of the Unit Construction is from Three
Dollars to Five Dollars a Running Foot — Working Drawings
- The Nest Bowls.

If you have no building already standing which you can fix
over for pigeons, you may erect a simple rectangular structure
and line it with nest boxes as we have described in the last
chapter. We will tell you in this chapter how to put up the
finest kind of a pigeon structure. It is at the same time the
most expensive. It is the best, the most workmanlike. In
saying that it is expensive, we do not mean that money is
thrown away on its construction, for that is not so. It is a
fit habitation for a money-making investment.

This best method of construction results in what we call the
unit house. You can multiply this unit as many times as you
please and get as large a house as you wish, or you may add
a unit from time to time, just as you add unit bookcases to
accommodate the growth of the modern library shelves.
You can erect these units separately, or attach one unit to the
other so that you have one long building.

The nest boxes are built of boxing and set in a vertical row
at the back of the house, forming a wall between which and
the north side of the house is a three-foot passageway. You
can buy this boxing at a saw-mill all cut, ten by eleven inches,
the dimensions of the nest, and if you get it in this shape you
can put the boxes together with as much ease as a child builds
a doll's house. You will have no doubts as to the squareness
and plumbness of the structure when you have it up. Take
long lengths of boxing eleven inches wide for the shelving
which should form the top and bottom of the nest boxes, then
set the ten-inch by eleven-inch pieces the proper distance

37

si

o

2

to

THE a NIT HOUSE 39

apart. The finished nest will be eleven inches from front to
back, ten inches from top to bottom, and about ten inches
from one partition to the other (or whatever distance the
proper distribution of your nests in pairs permits).

We have found five-eighths-inch boxing to - be the best
suited. Build the nest boxes up from floor to roof perfectly
plain, just as the pigeon-holes of a desk run.

The nest boxes should be perfectly plain, made of simple
boxing in the manner described. Do not build up a piece of
boxing at the front part of the nest to prevent the nest bowl
from being pushed out. Early in our experience we built
nests in this way, but soon changed them over to the simpler
form, on account of the difficulty of keeping them clean. The
droppings bank up at the front of such a nest box.

Pigeons, especially a new flock in a new home, breed best
in a house which is somewhat dark, and not too glaring with
light. If your window is situated so as to let in a flood of
light, you will get better and quicker results by shading it so
that the interior will be dim. Some breeders advocate that
the nest boxes have fronts of wood (removable) so that the
nest box will be darkened. The same result will be accom-
plished if the window of the house is shaded so as to temper
the light and prevent it from streaming into the nest boxes.

The dimensions of this unit squab house are as follows:
Length, sixteen feet; width, twelve feet; length of flying pen
from end of house to end of yard, twenty feet; distance from
floor of squab house to ridgepole, twelve feet; two windows
in south wall of squab house, each two feet two inches wide
and three feet ten inches high. One window in north wall of
squab house, two feet two inches wide and three feet ten
inches high. There is a passageway on the north side of the
squab house three feet wide, separating the north wall from
the vertical row of nest boxes. The door of the squab house
opens into this passageway so that you can enter the house
without being seen by the birds, and without disturbing them.

If you wish, you can set up rows of nest boxes on the
east and west walls of the squab house and accommodate more
pairs. You cannot have a passageway behind these nest
boxes on the east and west walls, but will approach them
from the front by entering the interior of the squab house
through a wire door which leads from the passageway.

INTERIOR OF MULTIPLE UNIT HOUSE.

This is one of our houses. The drinking fountains stand in the passageway and
their fronts project through the wire netting under the first row of nest boxes. The
nest boxes are empty egg crates. The feed troughs are inside of each pen. In
other houses, we set the feed troughs alongside the drinkers in the alleyway and
cut away the netting so the birds can feed from them. We like the last arrange-
ment best because the troughs can be filled more quickly from the passageway, and
the time of opening and closing doors and going into pens is saved.

44)

THE UNIT HOUSE 41

Build the first unit so that you can extend it either to the
east or west (as your land lies) to increase your accommoda-
tions. Your squab house will always remain sixteen feet
from north to south, but it may be either twelve feet from
east to west, for one unit, or twenty -four feet for two units,
or thirty-six feet for three units, and so on. Of course you
can build one long house sixteen feet wide and in length any
multiple of twelve, and keep all the birds you wish in it, but
we do not advise such an arrangement. You can keep track
of your pairs better if you split a big flock up into unit flocks.

Fanciers breeding flying Homers from our birds, or squab-
raisers who wish to keep track of every pair of birds, can
provide a card index (the cards being perfectly blank and
three by five inches in size), number the cards to corre-
spond with the nest boxes, and on these cards keep a record
of what the birds in the nest boxes do. These cards, which
are blank except for the numbers they bear, can be kept in a
tray such as the manufacturers of card indexes advertise in the
back pages of the magazines and you can pick out any card
you wish, or turn to it, at once: " It is much better than
keeping a record in a book, for you cannot tear out the leaves
of a book, as you can throw away a card, nor can you shift one
page from one location to another, as you can a card in a tray.

The floor of the squab house rests on cedar posts and is
two feet from the ground. The floor is built of two thick-
nesses of board, with building paper between. The walls of
the squab house are built of boards which are covered with
building paper and shingled. The roof is shingled. You
can use clapboards on the sides, or common boards.

The cost of such a squab house, complete with flying pen
and all inside fittings, built in the best possible manner, will
be from three dollars to five dollars a running foot. That is
to say, a unit plant twelve feet long will cost from thirty-six
to sixty dollars. A plant consisting of three units, thirty-six
feet long, will cost from one hundred and eight to one hun-
dred and fifty dollars. We publish and sell for ten cents
working drawings showing just how to build a unit in
every detail. On the same sheet are working drawings
for building a simple squab house (without passageway) to
cost from fifteen to twenty-five dollars. Also on the same
sheet we give data showing how one of our friends built a

Q £

IJ

o g

THE UNIT HOUSE 43

squab house and pen capable of accommodating two hundred
and twenty pairs of breeders at a cost of one hundred and
thirty dollars. In ordering, simply say you wish plans and
specifications for squab houses.

Some beginners with plenty of means and anxious for the
best construction write us to ask if a cement • floor is not
better than a wood floor. A cement floor is positively
wrong, for this reason: when it is freshly laid, it is good,
but the first winter causes the dirt foundation to shrink and
swell, then come cracks in the cement. Rats and mice burrow
in the dirt up to the cement and find their way through the
cracks to the squabs. In a short time, they are a nuisance.
We have seen a squab house built with cement floor which
cracked as described and every time the owner and his dog
took a walk down the alleyway, they found rats to kill.
Finally the whole lot of cement had to be pounded to pieces,
shoveled up and carted off. The way to stop rats and mice
is to erect the building on posts as we have described. Rats
and mice live in the dirt and they cannot get up into the
squab house. Let your dog or cat every day under such a
house, between the flooring and the ground, and they will
keep down the vermin as fast as they show themselves, and
your squabs never will be troubled.

In our early plans for the unit squab house, we provided
for a building with a " jog " in the roof, making a long, low
slope for the south side of the roof, and on this slope the
birds would sun themselves and make love. This " jog "
construction is more expensive than is needed, and now we
have a better way. We have an ordinary pitch roof, sloping
equally from the ridgepole to both north and south. We run
the flying pen out on the south side, not from the ridgepole,
but from the eaves, and then out in the living pen we erect
perches as shown in the picture. The fact that the birds
rest easily on these perches (as the photograph in Appen-
dix A shows) is proof that they are contented and pleased
by such an arrangement. We have found, too, that they
can hear the squeaks of their young for food better than if
they are up on the roof, and better attention to the squabs
is the result. It was formerly thought unsafe to erect perch-
ing poles in the flying pen directly in front of the windows,
the fear being that birds darting suddenly out of the windows

44 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

would strike the perching poles and become injured. Such a
fear goes on the assumption that a pigeon cannot take care
of itself in flight. They are quick of eye and quick of wing,
and are intelligent to a high degree, and we never knew a
bird to be injured by flying against horizontal perches in the
flying pen. They never strike them but always fly between
them or alight on them.

Please note particularly that if you erect one ^ong building
which will be a multiple of units, you separate these units,
both inside and outside of the squab house, not by board
partitions, but by wire partitions. For instance, if you have
a building one hundred feet long, ten units, you will separate
the units by nine wire partitions, these partitions being erected
both inside and outside the house.

CHAPTER IV.

NEST BOWLS AND NESTS.

Do Not Use the Old- Fashioned Nest Pans — -Obvious Faults
of the . Earthenware Nappy — The Wood- Fibre Nest Bowl
— How the Pigeons Choose Nest Boxes — What to Use for
Nesting Material — How the Birds Manage their Nests.

For nest pans, do not use the heavy, deep, red clay, unglazed
dishes which you may see offered for sale as pigeon nests.
They are a relic of the past.

In our early experience we used for a pigeon nest bowl
che common kitchen yellow earthenware nappy. We em-
ployed two sizes, the six-inch and the seven-inch, changing
from the large one to the small one when the squabs were
two weeks old. These earthenware nappies filled the bill in
being cheap and shallow, and the pigeons deposited their
manure in a circle outside and not inside the nest, but they
have faults which are obvious. They are flat and not round-
ing on the bottom. When the female pigeon turns the eggs
(as she does daily, same as a hen, in order to give the heat of
her body to the whole shell and to give fresh albumen to the
germ) the eggs are liable to roll apart, making it necessary
for the bird to gather them together again, and after two or
three mishaps like this she is liable to desert them. The
earthenware is cold, breakable and can be kept clean only
with water. The washing of the nappies becomes a tedious
task and is often neglected. In winter weather, the earthen-
ware dishes become so cold that one's fingers are numbed
by handling them — and the squabs which sit in them are
numbed, even frozen.

Later we perfected "a nest bowl made of wood which met
every objection raised against earthenware. We sold thou-
sands of them during the two years we had them on the market
and they gave good satisfaction except when some were
made of improperly seasoned lumber, in which case they
would crack and split after a few months' use. After study
and experiment to remove this objection, we had expensive
patterns and moulds made and began the manufacture of

45

OLD-STYLE NEST PAN. WATER DISH. LARGE NAPPY. SMALL NAPPY.
Do not use either the old-style pigeon nest pan or open water dish.

THE WOOD-FIBRE NEST BOWL.

This is made in one size (nine inches diameter of bowl). To give stability, the
bowl may be fastened to a base by one screw. The first picture shows the perspective
view; the second picture shows one-half cut away. This is the most practical nest
pan for squab raising and is having an enormous sale. The bowl may be screwed
directly to the bottom of the nest box. (See page 48.)

BATH PAN AND DRINKER. HAND BASKET.

One bath pan to every twelve pairs of birds is necessary. The hand basket
(price $3.50) is used in large plants to carry the squabs from the nests to the killing
place. The squabs should not be killed in sight of the parent birds.

46

.NEST BOWLS AND NESTS 47

these bowls out of wood fibre. Their success was quickly
demonstrated and now we sell nothing else. These wood-
fibre nest bowls have all the advantages of the wood bowls
and at the same time are practically indestructible, cannot
warp or split. The wood fibre of which they are made is
thick and exceedingly tough, being solidified under many
tons' pressure. After making they are treated with an
odorless, anti-moisture compound and then baked to flint-
like hardness. We sell these wood fibre nest bowls in one
size only, nine inches in diameter. Price, eight cents each,
ninety-six cents per dozen, eleven dollars and fifty-two cents
per gross. We make prompt shipment from Boston same
day order is received, in any quantity. No order is filled for
less than one dozen. We have the exclusive manufacture and
sale of these goods and they cannot be obtained elsewhere.

The advantages of this nest pan are these: (1) The eggs roll
to the centre and are always close together under the birds.

(2) It is warmer than earthenware and eggs are not chilled.

(3) It is cleaned without water by means of a trowel, and
may then be whitewashed, if desired. (4) The claws of the
old birds and squabs do not sprawl, and no cases of deformed
legs in the squabs are found. (5) It is unbreakable. (6)
When shipped either short or long distances, no packing is
necessary, they are lighter and the freight bill is smaller.
(7) And finally the birds " take " to them more readily than
to earthenware, getting to work more quickly and producing
more squabs.

We make this wood fibre nest bowl in only one size as
specified and illustrated (two sizes are not necessary because
the feet of the squabs do not sprawl as in the case of the
earthenware nappies). You will need one pair of nest bowls
for every pair of pigeons (in other words, one nest bowl to
every pigeon). If you order twenty-four pairs of breeders
you will need forty-eight nest bowls. If you order ninety-six
pairs of breeders you will need one hundred and ninety-two
nest bowls.

We know our birds will breed more successfully in these
nest bowls than in earthenware, and to make it an object
for you to buy them, you may deduct the freight charges
on nest bowls from your order for birds. First order your
nest bowls sent by freight, then when you order your breeders,

48 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

send us your freight receipt and count the amount as cash.
Or you may order your birds at the same time you do the
nest bowls (and other supplies) and when you get .your freight
receipt send it to us. Orders for one dozen to four dozen
bowls should go by express with the birds (tied to the basket) ,
unless it is desired to have the bowls go with grain, grit, shells,
etc., by freight.

Place one nest bowl in each one of your nest boxes. Let
the pairs choose 'to suit themselves. At the end of the month,
when you take out the squabs, take out the nest bowl, clean
it and put it back.

Many customers who do not use egg crates or orange
boxes, but build their nest boxes of half-inch or five-eighths
lumber, have written us that they used the construction
which we illustrate on page 30, and which is good,' because
cleaning can be better done. The bottoms of the nest boxes
are removable and rest on cleats, as the picture shows. The
cleats are seven-eighths or one inch square and are nailed
to the uprights. When this construction is employed, it is
not necessary that you have a block or base screwed to our
wood-fibre nest bowl. The nest bowl may be screwed
directly onto this removable bottom. If you use egg crates
or solid-built nest boxes, you will have to give the wood-fibre
nest bowl stability by screwing it to a base of wood seven
inches square and about three-quarters of an inch thick.

When the squab house is ready for the birds, each of the
nest boxes has one of these nest bowls. The pigeons build
their own nests in them, taking the nesting material and flying
to the nest bowl with it. The average nest has from one to
two inches of straw compactly and prettily laid by the birds.
Some birds use more nesting material than others. After the
squabs are hatched, they quickly show that Nature never
intended them to have a dirty nest. When they wish to
make manure, they back up to the edge of the nest and "shoot"
outward and over the edge of the nest bowl into the nest box,
which is just where the breeder wants to find it. In a week
or two there will be a circle of solid manure in the nest box,
but it is out of the nest, and off and away from the feet of
the squabs. As the squabs grow older, their claws tread and
throw out the straw on which they were hatched, and the nest
bowl gets bare again as it was in the first place. The small

NEST BOWLS AND NESTS 49

amount of manure which then sticks to it is removed with a
trowel.

The use of this wood-fibre nest bowl has lightened the
work a great deal for they never have to be washed. They
should not be washed, for water weakens them, particularly
at the bottom, where the screw hole is. A washer should
be put under the screw head to hold the bowl tight and to
prevent its turning while being cleaned. We ship these
washers and screws with the bowls.

The pigeons will not take with mathematical regularity
pair by pair the nest boxes which you have provided. Some
of them will take them in pairs, one adjoining the other.
This makes it convenient for you in keeping track of them.
Others will take one nest box in one part of the squab house
but go to another part of the squab house for their second
nest. Some will not take a nest box at all, but will build a
rough nest on the floor of the squab house and rear their
family there. Let them choose for themselves.

The nests are built by the birds of straw, grass, hay or pine
needles. The birds fly to the pile, select what wisps they
want, then fly to the nest boxes and arrange the wisps in
a nest bowl to suit themselves. Tobacco stems are recom-
mended for nesting material, because the odor from them
will have a tendency to drive away lice, but they are not
necessary if the nest bowls are used and ordinary cleanliness
observed. The tanners do not want manure mixed with
tobacco stems which have dropped down from the nests.
The stems, when wet in the vat, stain the hides. When
tobacco stems are used for nesting material, it is impossible
to prevent many of them from dropping to the floor, where
they are tramped by the birds into the manure. The tanners
do not care if some straw and hay are in the manure. Before
cleaning out the squab house, the loose straw and feathers
should be swept out with a broom.

The best thing to keep the nesting material in is a berry
crate. Fill it with straw and hay (use the fine oat, not rye
straw, cut into six-inch lengths) and shut down the cover.
Then when the birds want nesting material they will fly to
the vertical openings in the sides of the berry crates, stick
their bills in and make their selection. The cover of the berry
crate prevents the birds from soiling the nesting material.

50 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

They will not build nests with dirty nesting material. It must
be first-class, clean, dry and sweet or they will not use it.

Some of our customers use pine needles successfully for
nesting material. We have never tried them because they
are not plentiful around our farm. Where they are in abun-
dance, we recommend that they be tried.

When a new lot of pigeons are placed in a squab house,
they will cause annoyance, while they are learning their new
home and getting ready to go to work, by making manure in
the nest bowls, where they roost. This cannot be prevented.
The remedy is, to clean once a week.

Fill this berry crate with nesting material (straw cut into six-inch lengths, and
hay, mixed about equally) and place it in centre of squab house. The cover prevents
the birds from fouling the nesting material. They stick their bills through the slats,
select the wisps they want, and fly to nests.

CHAPTER V.

WATER AND FEED.

Necessity of Pure Water and Plenty of it — The Kind of
Drinking Dish to Use and the Kind Not to Use — Manage-
ment of the Drinking Fountain and Bath Pan — The Feed
Trough and Self -Feeder — Feeding Habits — What Grains
to Use — How to Mix Red Wheat and Cracked Corn — Use
of Grit, Oyster Shell and Salt — How to Feed the Dainties
— Keep Feed before Your Flock All the Time.

Pure water and plenty of it is good for pigeons. When the
weather is not too cold, it is the custom of pigeons to get
into water, wherever it is. When they cannot bathe in it,
they will stick their dirty feet into it. When they cannot
get in their feet, they will douse their heads. They are after
water all the time. When feeding the squabs, the old bird will
fill up its crop with grain, then fly to the water and take a drink,
then return and dole out to the squabs the watery and milky
mixture on which they fatten.

The source of drinking water should be separate from the
bath pan. They will drink from the bath pan, to be sure,
while the water remains comparatively clean, but after a few
have bathed in it, it is unfit for any bird to drink, and inside
of twenty minutes the pan is not only covered with a whitish,
greasy scum, but is dyed greenish from the manure which
has washed off their feet.

There should be drinking water inside the squab house,
provided you have not a running stream or some such clean
water device in the flying pen.

The kind of water dish you do not want in the squab house
is the kind with the open top, into which the birds can wade,
and which they can foul with their droppings. The best device
we have found is the self -feeding fountain, such as we illus-
trate on page 46. This fountain is made either of crockery
or galvanized steel, or iron. Galvanized iion or steel is better
than crockery, because if water freezes in such a dish the
dish will not be cracked. It will be seen by examination
of the self-drinker that it is impossible for the pigeons to foul

51

52 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

the water. The reservoir holds quite a supply of water,
which feeds down as fast as it is drunk by the pigeons. We
have seen beginners puzzled by these self -drinking dishes;
they cannot imagine why the water does not all run out at
once by the bottom hole. It is a simple principle in hydraulics
which you may demonstrate to your own satisfaction by fill ng
an ordinary tumbler with water and then inverting it in a
saucer of water. There is no way for the air to get to the
inside of the tumbler except by passing under the rim at the
points where it touches the saucer, consequently it does not
flow down unless the water is removed from the saucer, and
then it ceases as soon as the water in the saucer rises over
the rim of the tumbler again. In fact, some self -drinkers
for poultry are made of two pieces of pottery exactly on the
principle of the tumbler and saucer. These fountains are not
so practical as the fountain which we illustrate, because a
pigeon can roost on the top of it and foul the saucer with its
droppings. In the fountain which we picture it is impossible
for droppings to reach the mouth containing the water, even
if the pigeon is perched directly on top of the fountain. The
barrel shape of the fountain makes it hard for more than one
pigeon to perch at the same time on its top, but one pigeon
usually is found there. He gets there, for the special purpose,
it seems, of fouling the water, but the fountain beats him
and he can't do it. Neither can he put his feet into the water
unless he is an extraordinary gymnast capable of holding his
body out at an angle to the perpendicular. The result is,
that in actual practice the water keeps clean, and there is a
supply of it ready about all the time. A fountain of a gallon
capacity will keep two or three dozen pairs of breeders supplied
all day. The fountain is filled by turning it on end and
pouring water down into the opening. If you fill the fountain
at the same time you fill the bath pan in the morning, you
will have done your duty by the pigeons for the day.

Cleanse these fountains at least once every two weeks
with sea1 ding hot water containing squab-fe-nol (pigeon
disinfectant; see our price-list for description).

The best place for the bath pan is out in the yard of the
flying pen. A pan fifteen inches in diameter is right for a
flock up to twelve pairs of birds. The pan should be from
four to six inches deep, not over six inches, for a pigeon will

WATER AND FEED 53

not bathe in water where it would be likely to drown if pushed
or sat on by its mates. Having the bath pan in position on
the ground of the flying pen, you take to it once each day,
in the morning, a bucket of water, and pour the water into the
pan Then you can go away to business, if you wish. The
pigeons will fly to the pan from the interior of the house, or
from the roof, wherever they happen to be. Some will
splash right in. Others will perch on the rim and drink
before they bathe. When the water gets dirty, they know
enough not to drink, unless they are very sorely pressed
indeed for water. The water gets quite dirty from the bath-
ing. A thick, greasy, white scum forms. The pigeons do
not rustle in the dirt, as a hen does, 'but rely on the water
to keep them clean and dainty. They flap their wings in the
water and enjoy it thoroughly. A pigeon will never run
away from water, as you will discover if when you are water-
ing your lawn you turn the hose on them.

Let the dirty water stand in the bath pan all day if you
choose, or you may go to it an hour or two after you have filled
the pan, and empty the water. One bath a day is enough.

If there is a stream of water running through your property
handy to your squab house, build your flying pen out over
it and you need never trouble with bath pans or drinking
water. If it is a deep stream, you will have to contrive a
shallow bath tub at the shore, or divert part of the stream
into a shallow run. The squab raiser with a stream of water
handy should by all means make use of it and save himself the
work of carrying water in pails.

The bath pan may rest in a basin, if you choose, and the
overflow caused by the splashing of the wings may be con-
ducted to a sewer and drained away. You may conduct
water in pipes and have a faucet opening out over the bath
pan, which faucet you may control either directly or from
a central station. An easy home-made arrangement to be
used in conjunction with the bath pan consists of a wet sink
in which the bath pan sits, and out of which the splashed
water runs. In the winter it may be advisable to give your
pigeons their bath in the squab house instead of in the yard
of the flying pen, in which case you should have some device
on the wet-sink principle to prevent the floor of the squab
house from getting damp.

54 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

In northern latitudes it is not necessary nor desirable for
the pigeons to bathe on cold winter days. Wait until a warm
and sunny day comes. It will do the birds no harm to go
for weeks in the winter without bathing. Many of our
customers write us that they allow their birds to bathe in the
winter seldom or not at all.

Feed may be given to pigeons in a less guarded way, for
they do not soil the feed dish so freely as they do the drinking
dishes. You may put the feed in open troughs (or on a flat
board with a rim around it) in the squab house. If you
observe them when eating, you will notice that they stand up
to the feed in a somewhat orderly manner and peck at its
contents. They do not sit in the dish and roll around in the
feed as they do in the water. But they have one fault when
eating and that is, to scatter the grains. They will push in
their bills and toss them around in a search after tidbits, and
scatter out on the floor kernel after kernel, and it will make
your bump of economy ache to see this grain scattered around.
There do not seem to be any neat, saving pigeons which go to
the floor in the wake of their prodigal brethren and eat the
crumbs. They all have a fancy for the first table and they
get right at it and scatter the grain like the rest of their fellows,
and apparently the pigeon who scatters the most grain is the
one which struts around with the biggest front. The way
to fool them is to provide in the squab house a covered trough,
that is, covered except at the slit or points where they stick
in their bills for food. With a little ingenuity you can cover
an ordinary v-shaped trough so that it will be hard for the
pigeons to waste the grain. You may have a self-feeder made
as big or as small as you choose and in which the grain will
drop down as it is eaten.

We will try to present the matter of feed as clearly and
fully as it seems to us to be possible. A woman in Santa
Cruz, California, said she would like to raise squabs, and
would begin by ordering her feed of us, exactly as we recom-
mended, to be sent to her by freight from Boston via the
Southern Pacific. A man in Cleveland ordered a quantity of
red wheat and cracked corn to be sent by freight from us,
when there were thousands of bushels of both staples in
elevators in his city, in fact most of the Boston supply had
passed through his city. We did not like to run the chance of

WATER AND FEED 55

losing the order for breeding stock either of the woman in
Santa Cruz or of the gentleman in Cleveland, but we wrote to
both that they ought not to go into the squab-raising business
if they were to be dependent on us for grain, that it was too
far to send and that if they would look around home they
could get what they wanted.

Here in New England we feed to pigeons cracked corn, red
wheat, hemp-seed, Canada peas, kaffir corn, — the foregoing
as a rule, and sometimes, when cheap, buckwheat, millet and
barley.

It was formerly thought that whole corn was not a good
food for pigeons, on the theory that the old pigeons would eat
the large kernels and then, perhaps, feed them to squabs,
choking them. In practice, not one case in one hundred like
that will be found. Whole corn is much relished by pigeons.
They will eat it before they will eat anything else, except
hempseed, and there is no danger in using it. In many
sections of the country, we find, good cracked corn is not so
easy to procure as good whole corn. The grain dealers take
their poor whole corn, sometimes, and work it over into
cracked corn. Good whole corn speaks for itself and when
you buy it there is no doubt about it.

All the time people write to us and say they never heard of
red wheat. More write and say they don't know what kaffir
corn is. Others are puzzled by hemp-seed, they have never
seen any. That is surprising to us here in New England, but
no doubt we would be just as surprised if we were in our
customers' places.

Let us see if we cannot level up the whole country on this
question of feed for pigeons. As a rule, we say, feed the
grains which are nearest you. This country has its corn belt,
its wheat belt, its section where millet is raised. Buckwheat
is plentiful in another section. For your leading grain,
your staple, feed corn. The point to remember is to feed a
variety of grains. Keep this word variety in your mind all
the time in dealing with your pigeons. Their appetites do-
not grow keen on a monotonous diet, they will not lay the
eggs they should, and their health will not be good on it.
Vary the diet.

In order to find out what grains are convenient to you, go to
your nearest grain dealer or country general store. The

56 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

dealer in nine cases out of ten knows nothing about pigeons
and their feed and if you give him the name of a strange grain,
he will be liable to shy and say he never heard of it. The
trouble with him is that he sells horse feed and is accustomed
to handling only the grains which horses need. He can get
the grains you wish by writing to his nearest port or 'railroad
junction. There is nothing odd or out of the way about the
grains. They are going from one point to another all the
time. Sometimes they are scarce at certain periods of the
year. For instance, nearly every fall there is no kamr corn
at a reasonable price obtainable in Boston, so we do not feed
it to our pigeons then, 'but cut it out altogether in favor of
the grains selling at a lower price. Most of the kamr corn
which we get in Boston comes from Kansas. It is a splendid
feed for pigeons. It is small and comparatively soft, and their
crops make easy work of it. It is nourishing and they like
it. Maybe your grain man sells a mixture for pigeons. If
you will look in this mixture you will find probably kaffir
corn, as well as buckwheat (in black kernels), also red wheat
and Canada peas.

A liberal supply of Canada peas and hemp-seed is necessary
for a good egg production.

Do not feed a great excess of corn, in the summer
time. (By corn, we mean common Indian corn, not kamr
corn. Kaffir corn is harmless, even when forced on the
birds.) The effect of corn is to heat the blood. This is what
you want in the winter time, but not in the summer.

Red wheat is better than white wheat to feed to pigeons
because it is not so likely to cause diarrhoea. (See supple-
ment of this book.)

Beware of feeding too much wheat. Pigeons fed on an
excess of wheat are constantly out of condition with continual
diarrhoea and will lay no eggs while in that state. We recall
vividly cases of pigeons doing poorly caused by the owner's
stupidity in feeding too much wheat. One customer in
Kansas fed nothing but wheat and got his birds so weak that
they could not fly off the ground. Another in California with
a flock of over one hundred pairs had not been able in six
months' time to get more than one quarter of his birds at work.
He complained bitterly that his birds were " not mated,"
were all cocks, and so on, but after further correspondence

WATER AND FEED 57

disclosed that he was feeding nothing but wheat, with the
exception of a handful of peas in the middle of the week and
a handful of hemp-seed on Sunday !

A properly balanced ration is necessary to egg production
in the case of pigeons, same as poultry.

Wheat is a good regulator for pigeons but corn is the great
fattener and the main staple.

When anybody fails with pigeons, if you pick up and handle
the birds you will find in nine cases out of ten that they have
sharp breastbones, which means that they are improperly
nourished, out of condition, and of course cannot produce
eggs because. they have not the blood and fat to do it.

All the grains which you feed should be old, hard, dry and
sweet. If they smell sour or taste bad to your own tongue,
don't feed them to your pigeons. Above all, keep your grain
dry. If you have the grain stored in bins which are damp
from ground water, or which catch the drippings from the
eaves, or through holes in the roof, first you will get sour grain
and then some of the grain will sprout, and this sprouted grain
will derange the bowels of your birds and bring on dysentery.
Do not let rank little growths spring up in a dirty squab house
or in the yard of your flying pen. Pigeons will peck at green
leaves and grass and will not be harmed, but do not give them
a chance to peck up sprouted grain and eat the sprout, grain
and all, for if they do they will have diarrhoea. A pigeon in
good condition and busy with a nest ordinarily will not touch
a nasty little green sprout, but in the moulting season, when
pigeons are in the dumps generally, and feeling like having a
stimulant, they will experiment with these sprouts. Keep
the floor of your squab house clean and the yard of the flying
pen raked up and you need not worry about this matter.

Ground oyster shell should be placed in a box handy for the
pigeons to get at. The purpose of this oyster shell is to
provide the constituents of the eggshell. The female pigeon
needs it in order to form the egg.

Grit is needed by the pigeons to enable them to reduce to
powder the feed which they take into their crops The
muscles of the crop work the grit on the grains and reduce
the grains so that they mix with the digestive fluids. Cart
two or three bushels of gravel or sharp sand into your flying
pen and cover the ground with it. It is not necessary to

WATER AND FEED 59

cover the whole space of the ground of the flying pen. For
fuller discussion of shells and grit, see supplement.

It is poor policy to mix anything but wheat and
corn together. If you make a mixture of peas and hemp-
seed with cracked corn and wheat, you will find that the
pigeons will dig down after the peas and hemp-seed and toss
the other grain around and waste it. The only mixture,
therefore, which we feed is a mixture of wheat and corn.
Fill the self-feeder with whole corn and wheat, in the propor-
tion of three parts of the corn to one of wheat.

We call the wheat and corn staples, because with
us in New England they form the major part of the diet, and
are the cheapest. The hemp-seed, buckwheat, Canada peas,
kaffir corn, millet and barley we call dainties. We do not
feed much millet, because we have the other grains, which
are cheapest, but some of our customers in the millet sections
of the country feed a good deal of millet. In such cases they
look on millet as one of their staples, and the hard-to-get
grains are classed by them as dainties. The staple grains of
which you will feed the most to your pigeons are the ones
which are the cheapest for you. The more expensive grains
will be classed by you as dainties.

A good way to feed the dainties is to throw them out on
the floor of the squab house by hand. You will see the
pigeons make a rush for them and eat them with as much
relish as a child eats candy. You should feed the dainties
about three times a week, throwing handfuls on the floor
until you see that the pigeons are satisfied and do not care for
any more.

Do not throw any feed on the ground of the flying pen, for
the earth is liable to be damp, and this dampness will sour
the grain, especially cracked corn, and if the pigeons eat it,
they will get sour crops, and the fluids from the sour crops of
the parent pigeons will make the squabs sick and perhaps kill
them. Do all your feeding in the squab house and your
pigeons will not have sour crops.

Do not lay in a big stock of cracked corn at a time, for
cracked corn exposed to sudden changes of the weather is
liable to take up dampness, and sour. Smell and taste it once
a week or so and determine to your own satisfaction that it
is not sour.

60 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

Some squab breeders feed twice a day, as much as the birds
will eat up clean, but we do not believe in that system of
feeding. Our own success, and the success of our customers
in squab raising, is based largely on the fact that we insist on
a continuous supply, of food for the pigeons, when they are
breeding. Use the self-feeder only with birds that are pro-
ducing squabs. A new flock should be fed by hand twice
daily what they will eat up clean in ten minutes. Keep them
eager, active and racy. Do not let them get too fat, for if
you do they will not start laying. Some beginners will use
up weeks trying to get their birds started, others get all their
pairs going in a few days. It is a matter of skillful feeding,
exactly as in the case of hens. The best of mated pairs will
not produce eggs unless nourished, because the act of copula-
tion, as in the case of hens and roosters, has nothing to do
with the volume of egg production, but only with the fertility
of eggs.

Food should be at hand in the self-feeder for birds which
are breeding. They do not. gorge, as a horse will if an un-
limited supply of food is set before him. They are not
gluttons, like pigs. They do not lose their racy shape. A
squab when hungry will squeak loudly to inform its parents
of that fact and if you observe a squab house where the two
meals a day are in vogue, you will note quite a chorus of
squeaks. In a house where there is feed always at hand,
you will not hear many hungry squeaks. It is greatly to
your interest that the crops of your young birds be filled with
food. The more their crops are stuffed with food, the quicker
they will fatten and the fatter they will get. The parent
birds should at all times be able to fill up their crops with feed
and water and then fly to the nest to disgorge for the benefit
of the squabs.

Squab breeders differ concerning self-feeders, same as
mothers differ about ways of bringing up babies. Each squab
breeder thinks his method of feeding is the best. We speak
not wholly from our own experience, but the experiences of
thousands of customers extending over many years. There
was formerly the same prejudice against self-feeders for
poultry, until a man in Ohio, raising poultry with striking
success by the aid of self-feeders, made his brethren sit up and
take notice. In our stories of success printed at the back of

WATER AND FEED 61

this book and elsewhere, are many cases of small flocks
increased enormously, and the writers take pains to state
that they are using the self-feeder. That is talk that means
something. The loudest advocate of no self-feeder is the
man who is trying hard to sell his Homers by some kind of a
story different from what we tell. It does not matter to him
what he says, so long as he combats us. It is the game of such
chaps to contradict all others and pose as the only real,
simon-pure know-it-alls on pigeons.

Some small parent Homers are such good feeders, such good
fathers and mothers, that they stuff their squabs with grain
and bring them up to a surprising fatness. We have had
pairs of squabs which actually at four weeks of age were
bigger than their parents. This is not surprising when you
think that the squabs sit in their nest hour after hour doing
nothing but accumulate fat, and taking no exercise to train
off this fat. The old birds are flying around and do not have
much fat on them; they are trim and muscular, and hard
fleshed. You can tell an old pigeon after it is cooked when
you put your teeth into it, just as you can tell an old fowl.

Provide salt for your pigeons to keep them strong and
healthy. The safest kind of salt for you to use is rock salt,
such as is sold for horses. Put a couple of big lumps of it in
the squab house and let the pigeons peck at it when they wish.
Put two more lumps out in the flying pen. When rain comes
the water will wash some salt off the lumps into the gravel.
(Empty the bath pans upon the lumps of salt.) The pigeons
will eat this salt-impregnated gravel all around the lumps for
an inch or so down into the ground.

Do not feed powdered salt, for if you do the birds may eat
too much of it and it will kill them. Coarse ground salt may
be used, but the rock salt is best.

Some green stuff is much relished by pigeons. It is good
for them and will increase the egg, and, consequently, squab
production. They are very fond of cabbage now and then,
which should be chopped fine before being fed. (We mean
raw, not cooked, cabbage.) When vines grow over the flying
pen, they will be seen pecking at the green leaves. Green
clover may be cut up and fed to them in conjunction with
grain. It should be remembered that green stuff, as enu-
merated in this paragraph, is fed only as a relish.

62 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

Table scraps, or what is commonly known as swill, should
not be fed to pigeons.

Rice may be fed, if plentiful and cheap. It has a tendency
to correct diarrhoea caused by too much wheat.

Some of our customers have been influenced by adverse
criticism of our self-feeder to abandon it and feed in open
troughs, but they have gone back to the self-feeder. One of
these customers was Mr. Tyson, who started with several
hundred pairs of our birds three years ago and now (1907) has
the largest and best plant in the State of New Hampshire.
His wife and son, with himself, have attained a high degree of
skill and proficiency in the handling of their pigeons. The
squabs they are breeding weigh at least nine pounds to the
dozen. They ship to New York City, where they get very
high prices. Mr. Tyson started by using the self-feeder for
grain, as we advise, but being influenced by something seen in
print, abandoned it and gave the open-trough method of feed-
ing, twice or three times a day, a thorough trial. Immediately
the birds began to fall off in production, and the squabs fell
off in weight, some lots getting so skinny as to lose nearly two
pounds to the dozen. That experience was enough. The
Tysons went back to the self-feeder and now their squabs are
plump, as they were in the first place, the old birds are in
better condition, and breeding better.

Do not put into the self-feeder a great lot of grain, but only
enough to last about two days. A great quantity is liable to
take up moisture in a spell of rainy weather and go stale, and
is not relished by the birds as if it were supplied fresh every
two or three days.

CHAPTER VI.

LAYING AND HATCHING. ,

Laying an Egg is under the Control of the Pigeon's Mind —
Fertile and Infertile Eggs — How the Cock Drives the Hen —
One Day between Eggs — Hatch after Seventeen Days
— How Squabs are Fed by the Par en1 Birds — Mating
Males and Females — Use of the Mating Coop — Determina-
tion of Sex — Color of Feathers Has No Effect on Color of
Flesh — Pigeons Left to Themselves Will Not Inbreed — No
Inbreeding Necessary even if you Start wi+h a Small Flock.

The hen pigeon builds the nest. When the nest is built,
the cock begins to " drive " the hen around the house and
pen. In a flock of breeding pigeons you always will see one
or two cocks " driving " their mates, pecking at them and
nagging them with the purpose of forcing them onto the nest
to lay the eggs. The cock seems to take more interest in the
coming family than the hen.

The hen lays one egg in the nest, then skips a day and lays
the second egg on the third day. Seventeen days after being
laid the eggs hatch. The egg first laid hatches a day before
the second, sometimes, but usually the parents do not sit
close on the first egg, but stand over it, and do not incubate
it. Sometimes one squab may get more than its share of
food, and the younger one will weaken and die. This seldom
happens but if you see one squab considerably larger than the
other, the thing to do is to exchange with a squab from
another nest that is nearer the size of the remaining squab.
The old birds will not notice the change but will continue
feeding the foster squab.

The process of laying an egg is a mental operation. We
mean by this that it is not a process which goes on regularly
in spite of all conditions. The hen forms the egg in her body
and lays it when she is in condition to, and when she wants
to, not when she is forced to. In other words, the hen lays
when conditions are satisfactory to her. That she forms the
egg at will is proven by many things, principally by the fact
that she allows one day to come in between the first and

63

THE QUICK GROWTH OF SQUABS FROM EGGS TO KILLING AGE
IN FOUR WEEKS IS ILLUSTRATED ON THIS PAGE,
PAGE 66 AND PAGE 68.

EGGS IN THE NEST,

SQUABS JUST HATCHED.

LAYING AND HATCHING 65

the second eggs. No doubt, after she has laid the first egg,
she hurries the other along and lays it as soon after the first
as she can, and it takes forty-eight hours for the egg, complete
in its wonderful construction, to form. Hen pigeons in a ship-
ping crate or close coop do not lay eggs, because they know
that there are no facilities there for raising young. Once in
a while you will find an egg in a shipping crate when the
birds are taken out, but it is a comparatively rare occurrence.

Of course, in order to lay a fertile egg, the hen pigeon
must have received the attention of the cock bird. It is
common for a hen pigeon at five months, and sometimes
four, to lay an egg, but as a rule those first eggs from a young
hen are not fertile because she has not yet mated with the
cock bird. After a hen pigeon has reached six months of age,
and is paired with a male, it is safe to assume as an almost
invariable rule that the eggs she lays will be fertile. When
the male bird gets to be six to ten years old, he may lose his
vitality, and the eggs laid by his mate will not be fertile.
Then it is necessary to provide the female with a new mate.
The breeders we sell are of prime breeding age, from eight
months to eighteen months old, and the eggs laid by hens
of that age will be fertile and of full size, and the squabs
bred from them will not be scrawny and lacking in vitality.

From the day of its hatching to market time the squab
is fed by its parents. The first food is a liquid secreted in
the crop of both cock and hen, and called pigeons' milk.
The parent pigeons open their bills and the squabs thrust
their bills within to get sustenance. This supply of pigeons'
milk lasts from five to six days. It gradually grows thicker
and in a week is found to be mixed with corn and wheat in small
particles. When about ten days old, the squabs are eating
hard grain from the crops of the mature cock and hen. They
fill up at the trough, then take a drink of water and fly to
the nest to minister to the little ones. You see how im-
portant it is to have food available at all times.

In fourteen, fifteen or sixteen days after the first pair of
squabs have been hatched, the cock begins " driving " the
hen again. This shows the necessity of a second nest for the
pair. In this second nest the hen lays two more eggs, and
the care of the first pair of squabs, now between two and three
weeks old, devolves upon the cock. When this pair is four

SQUABS ONE WEEK OLD.

SQUABS TWO WEEKS OLD.

LA YING AND HATCHING 67

weeks old, it is taken out of the nest and killed and both the
mature birds are concerned then only with the new hatch.
This sequence of eggs and hatches goes on all the time.

If there are not two nests, the two new eggs will be laid in
the nest where are the growing squabs. The parents in their
eagerness to sit on the new eggs will push the squabs out of
the nest and they will die for lack of sustenance.

The hen lays the eggs about four o'clock in the afternoon.
The cock and hen take turns at covering the eggs, the hen
sitting during the night until about ten o'clock in the morning,
when the cock relieves her, remaining on until the latter part
of the afternoon.

When the squabs are taken out for market at the end of four
weeks, the nest bowl and nest box should be cleaned. If
this cleaning is done once a week, no trouble from parasites
will result. In the summer it is well to add a little carbolic
acid to the whitewash as an extra precaution. Sprinkle
unslaked lime on the floor of the squab house and in the nest
boxes, and spray squab-fe-nol freely.

One way of mating or pairing pigeons is to turn males and
females in equal number into the same pen. They will seek .
their own mates and settle down to steady reproduction.
Another method is to place the male and female which you
wish to pair in a mating coop or hutch. In the course of a few
days they will mate or pair and then you may turn them loose
in the big pen with the others. The latter method is necessary
when improving your flock by the addition of new blood, or
when keeping a positive record of the ancestry of each pair.
By studying your matings, you may improve the efficiency
of your flock.

In the case of a new flock of pigeons shipped to a new
home, all do not go to work at the same time. Those pairs
which get to work first are bothered by the slower pairs. To
judge from the advertisements of some breeders, anxious to
claim everything for their birds and their wonderful matings,
the beginner would think that all the birds he buys from them
will go to work immediately when released in their new home.
This is far from the truth. The pairs will go to work to suit
themselves as to time. Some will be quick, others slow. As
fast as each pair goes to work, it should be caught and placed
in the breeding pen. The first pen, into which the birds

SQUABS THREE WEEKS OLD.

SQUABS FOUR WEEKS OLD.
Ready to be killed for Market.

68

.LAYING AND HATCHING 69

were put on arrival, then can be used for the rearing pen for
youngsters raised in the breeding pen.

In case a pigeon loses its mate by death or accident, the sex
of the dead one must be ascertained. The live one should be
removed from the pen and placed in the mating coop with a
pigeon of the opposite sex.

The mating coop should have a partition of lattice work or
wire. Place the cock in one side, the hen in the other, and
leave them thus for two or three days to flirt and tease, each
other, then remove the central lattice work or wire and they
usually will pair, or mate. If they show no disposition to
pair but on the contrary fight, replace the partition and try
them for two or three days longer. If they refuse to pair
after two or three thorough trials, do not experiment any
more with them, but select other mates.

The determination of the sex of pigeons is difficult. The
bones at the vent of a female are as a rule wider apart
than of a male. If you hold the beak of a pigeon in one
hand and the feet in the other, stretching them out, the
male bird usually will hug his tail close to its body — the
female will throw her tail. The best way to determine the sex
is to watch the birds. The male is more lively than the
female, and does more cooing, and in flirting with her usually
turns around several times, while the female seldom turns
more than half way around. The male may be seen pecking
at the female and driving her to nest. When one pigeon is
seen chasing another inside and outside the squab house,
the driven one is the female and the driver her mate.

Neither the squab breeder nor the flying-Homer breeder
is much concerned about the color of feathers. There are
blue checkers, red checkers, black checkers, silver, blue,
brown, red, in fact about all the colors of the rainbow. Color
has no relation to the ability of a pair to breed a large pair of
squabs. We wish specially to emphasize the fact that the
color of the feathers has no influence on the color of the skin
of the squab. A white feathered bird does not mean a white-
skinned squab. The feed affects the color of the meat a kittle.
A corn-fed pigeon will be yellower than one fed on a mixture.
Squabs with dark skins (almost black in some cases) are the
product of blood matings. The trouble with a dark-colored
squab is in the blood and the only remedy is to get rid of them

THE MATING COOP.

One way of mating squab breeders is to turn cocks and hens in equal numbers
into the same pen. The m iting coon is used when the breeder wishes to pair
certain male with a certain female. The above mating coop is divided by a partition.
The cock is placed on one side of the partition, the hen on the other, as pictured.
They are left thus for a day or two to tease each other. Then raise the partition,
or take it out, and allow them to approach each other when they usually will be
found to have formed an attachment. This being the case, they may be put into
the large pen with the other birds, where they will find a nest box and go to house-
keeping. If they fight when the partition is removed, try a^ain, or try other mates.
The coop pictured above is two feet long, one foot wide and one foot deep.

70

LA VI NG AND HATCHING 71

either by killing the parents or by remating. Usually the
trouble comes from one parent bird, which you find by turning
up the feathers and examining the skin. Having found the
bird which is at fault, kill it. This point has come up con-
tinually in our correspondence. The erroneous belief that
white-feathered birds produce the whitest-skinned squabs
seems to be widespread and we are asked sometimes for a
flock of breeders " all white." Our experience with all white
Homers is that they are smaller and have less stamina than
the colored ones. The marketmen will take two or three pairs
of dark-skinned squabs in a bunch without comment, but
an excess of dark ones will provoke a cut in price. Breeders
who are shipping only the undressed squabs should pluck
feathers now and then to see just what color of squabs they
are getting. The dark-colored squabs are just as good eating
as the light-colored ones, but buyers for the hotels and clubs,
and those who visit the stalls, generally pick out the plump
white-skinned squabs in preference to the plump dark-skinned
ones. As a rule, squabs from Homer pigeons are white-
skinned — the dark-colored squab is an exception.

Many beginners wish to know if it will be all right for them
to buy a flock and keep it in one house for six months or a
year, paying no attention to the mating or pairing of the
young birds, but leaving that to themselves, so as to get
without much trouble a large flock before the killing of the
squabs for market begins. Certainly, you may do this,
providing extra nest boxes from time to time until your
squab house has been filled with nests; then you will have
to provide overflow quarters. We are asked if the flock will
not become weakened by inbreeding, that is, a brother bird
mating up to a sister, by chance. According to the law of
chances, such matings would take place not very often.
Pigeons in a wild state, on the face of a cliff, or in an abandoned
building, would pair by natural selection. The stronger
bird gets the object of its affection, the weaker one is,-killed
off or gets a weaker mate, whose young are shorter-lived, so
the inevitable result is more strength and larger size. Nature
works slowly, if surely. A lot of pigeons in one pen mating or
pairing as they please when old enough is the natural way,
and if you follow this, you cannot go very far wrong. We
advocate matings by the breeder because it hurries Nature

72 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

along the path which makes most money for the breeder.
We all know how Darwin studied natural and forced selection
of pigeons. He took one pigeon with a certain peculiarity,
say a full breast, and mated it to another pigeon with a full
breast. The squabs from these birds, when grown, had
breasts fuller than their parents. Then these in turn were
mated to full-breasted pigeons from other parents, and the
grandchildren had even larger breasts. Darwin's experi-
ments covered a period of over twenty years and in this time he
developed little faults and peculiarities to an amazing degree.
Every intelligent, careful pigeon breeder is striving by his
forced matings to push along the path of progress the peculiar-
ity in pigeons which is his specialty. The breeder who selects
most carefully and keeps at it the longest wins over the
others. By selecting from your best and most prolific
breeders the biggest and fattest squabs, keeping them for
breeders and mating so as to get something larger and plumper,
you are all the time getting bigger squabs. Every breeder
of squabs has it in his power to increase the efficiency of his
flock by studying his matings. There is commerical satis-
faction in breeding for size and plumpness because it pays
at once, and at the same time the breeder has the satisfaction
of increasing the stamina and variety of pigeons.

To be master of the matings, the breeder should band his
squabs. As scon as they are weaned (that is, as soon as the
breeder sees them flying to the feed and eating it) they should
be taken and put into one of the rearing pens. When about
six months old, the breeder should begin mating them by
selection, using the mating coop, then when they are mated
turn the pair into a working pen with other adult birds. By
looking at the number on the band of each bird, then on your
record card, you know how to avoid mating up brother and
sister.

When the young birds are just over four weeks old, or
between four and six weeks, they are able to fly a little, and
if they do not hop out of the nest (or are not pushed out by
the parents) you may push them out yourself. They are
now able to feed themselves. If these young birds are left
in the squab house, they will bother the old birds by begging
for food, and this infantile nagging will hinder the regular
breeders in their next hatch, so the very best thing to do is

LA YING AND HATCHING 73

to put the young birds by themselves into a rearing pen,
where they cannot bother anybody.

Of course there is likely to be a little inbreeding when you
leave the birds to choose for themselves, but not much. If
the breeder has not the time to make forced matings, then
he may not care to make them. Remember in 'mating that
like begets like. The parent bird that feeds its young the
most, and most often, will raise the biggest squab. Some-
times a parent bird will have fine nursing abilities and will
stuff its offspring with food. These good-feeding qualities
are transmitted from one generation to another and are as
much under the control of the breeder as size and flesh-color.
Your biggest squabs will be found to have an extra-attentive
father or mother, or both. A pigeon with a dark skin, if
mated to a white-skinned bird will produce a mulatto-like
squab. It is the large, fat, white-fleshed squab which you are
after. Disregard the color of the feathers when mating.
If when plucking your squabs you come across a "nigger,"
that is, a squab with a dark skin, find out what pair of breeders
it came from and whether the cock or the hen is at fault,
and get rid of the faulty one. It is important to start with
adult birds that are not related, then you will not begin
inbreeding. That is why we make a special effort with our
adult birds to have them unrelated.

Some letters from customers make plain to us that a clear
knowledge of what inbreeding means is not possessed by
everybody. Several have written to this effect: " If I buy
two or three dozen pairs from you to start, how can I increase
the size of my flock without inbreeding?" When (1) a
brother is mated to sister or (2) a father to a daughter, or (3)
a mother to a son, or (4) a grandson to his grandmother, etc.
that is inbreeding. We know it is forbidden by law for
human beings to mate in that manner, because (a) God in the
Scriptures has forbidden it, and (6) because the State does
not wish to have to care for the puny, weak-minded offspring
that would result from such unions. We all know that the
marriages of cousins often result in demented, diseased chil-
dren. Now suppose you buy two dozen pairs of pigeons of
us, and number them pairs one to twenty -four. If you mate
the offspring of pair two (or any other pair)to the offspring of
pair one (or any other pair) that is outbreeding or cross-

74 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

breeding. What you do not do, and what you try to prevent,
is the mating of the offspring of pair number one (or any other
pair) to each other. So, you see, if you have a dozen or two
pairs, you need never inbreed, for there is an infinite variety
of matings possible. Breeders of animals sometimes inbreed
purposely in order to get better color of fur or plumage, or
finer bones, etc. There are no brothers and sisters in the
flocks we sell. If you buy one dozen or twenty dozen pairs
of breeders of us, the pairs will be unrelated, and you need
never inbreed. We never heard a real pigeon breeder worry
much about inbreeding, because the likelihood of it in a flock
of even a dozen pairs is extremely remote, as we have demon-
strated above.

PIGEONS IN ST. MARK'S SQUARE, VENICE.

Get acquainted with the pigeons which you buy of us, and let them get ac-
quainted with you. They will work all the better for being tame and docile. These
pigeons in Venice are fed by tourists on corn only. A peddler selling whole corn
for two cents a package sits all day long on the steps at the base of the monument.
Several photographers in the square make a specialty of taking pictures of tourists
feeding the pigeons; snap shots by amateurs are constantly being made. In this
city of canals, these pigeons get no grit, in fact nothing but the corn, and they would
die if obliged to pick up a living for themselves. They are healthy, proving the
incorrectness of the assertion that a feed of nothing but corn will cause canker.
They are small, however, of stunted growth. They are so tame that they will perch
on your hand and eat grains of corn held in your lips.

CHAPTER VII.

INCREASE OF FLOCK.

// is Possible to Breed One Pair of Squabs Each Month, but
in Actual Practice this is Seldom Attained — The Squab
Raiser with Pure Thoroughbred Homers should Count on
Six to Nine Pairs of Squabs a Year — The Common Pigeon
Breeds Only Four or Five Pairs of Squabs a Year, but
Eats as Much or More than the Homer— Differences
between the Homer and the Common Pigeon — Good Homers
Scarce and the Market for them Firm and Steady.

It is theoretically possible for a pair of pigeons to breed
twelve pairs of squabs a year, for it takes only seventeen
days for the eggs to hatch, and the hen goes to laying again
when the hatch is only two weeks old. So, if you start with
twelve pairs of ~Homer pigeons, and they should breed one
pair of squabs a month, at the end of the first month you
would have twenty-four squabs; at the end of the second
month, forty-eight squabs; at the end of the third month,
seventy-two squabs; at the end of the fourth month, ninety-
six squabs; at the end of the fifth month, one hundred and
twenty squabs. Now the first lot of squabs which your birds
hatched will be ready to mate and lay eggs, so at the end of
the sixth month you should have one hundred and sixty-
eight squabs; at the end of the seventh month, two hundred
and forty squabs; at the end of the eighth month, three
hundred and thirty-six squabs; at the end of the ninth
month, four hundred and fifty-six squabs; at the end of the
tenth month, six hundred squabs; at the end of the eleventh
month, seven hundred and sixty-eight squabs, and at the end
of the twelfth month, nine hundred and sixty squabs. Such
figures are purely theoretical and are seldom attained in actual
practice. You will have some pairs in your flock which
will raise ten and eleven pairs of squabs a year, but the
average will be seven to nine pairs of squabs a year. If you
get less, your flock is not^pure thoroughbred Homers, or your
feeding and nesting arrangements are wrong. In our visit
to squab breeders in 1902, we asked every one with whom

75

76 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

we talked how many pairs a year he was getting from his
birds, and about all of them said seven to nine. This expe-
rience corresponds with ours. We remember particularly
an old gentleman, Preacher Hubbell, in Vineland, who had
been in the squab business for years but was just going out
of it, having sold his place, pigeons and all, to a Swede farmer.
He told us he had always made squabs pay him and that his
birds, of which he kept a careful record, raised him nine
pairs to the year right along.

It is a well-known fact that the common pigeon will breed
only four or five pairs of squabs a year, and if handlers of big
flocks of common pigeons, like Johnson of California, can make
a net profit of one dollar per pair a year from such low breeders,
we think anybody of no experience is justified in believing
our statement that our Homers are capable of earning a net
profit of from two to three dollars per pair a year, taking into
account not only their fast breeding qualities, but the superior
size of the squabs. Here in New England we consider the
common pigeons inconstant and happy-go-lucky breeders.
They are not in the same class at all with the Homer pigeon.

The common pigeon, the pigeon which flies the streets of
our cities and towns, is a mixture of all kinds of pigeons, and
it partakes of the faults of each, and not of the virtues. Its
outward appearance is large, but it is an effect of feathers and
not of flesh. Its feathers are loose and fluffy and its muscles
soft and flabby. Its head is smaller than that of a Homer,
the deficiency being marked in the curve of the skull which
covers the brain. The Homer has a white flesh ring around
the eye, but the common pigeon has none. The Homer has
the largest brain of any variety of pigeon, and discloses this
fact by its behavior. It has more sense and behaves with
more intelligence. Its wonderful homing instinct marks
it above and beyond all classes of pigeons and it is this quality
which gives it a commercial value all over the world. The
feathers of the Homer are laid close like a woman's glove and
the muscles under it feel as hard and firm as a piece of wood.
Its breast is firm and well protected, with just the right amount
of fullness. Its chest is large, indicating good lung power and
staying qualities. Its wings are trim and shapely, in flight
the poetry of motion. The poise of ife body and head reminds
one of a race-horse listening for the signal to speed over the

INCREASE OF FLOCK 77

course. The lines from the neck to the body descend in a
long, graceful sweep. Put a thoroughbred Homer into a
flock of common pigeons and even a novice, if told to pick out
the bird which would fly the fastest and furthest, would pick
out the Homer. The Homer has a long bill (but not so long
as the Dragoon pigeon). The bill of the common pigeon is
short. Its bill is more hooked and is sharper pointed. Its
head is shorter and more rounding on top.

The common pigeon is seldom bred in captivity, because it
does not pay for the grain which it consumes. If bred in a
wild state, it picks up a living in the neighborhood, the owner
not keeping it wired in. It is the cheapest kind of a pigeon,
and thousands of pairs are used by trap shooters. Under-
takers sometimes buy the white common pigeons in order to
liberate them at graves, to signify the ascent of the soul to
heaven. Common pigeons will live anywhere, do not get
attached to any home, but a Homer never forgets the place
where it was bred and will search out its home in long flights.
Common pigeons will alight on any building and will drink
from different springs and wells, fouling them and making
themselves a nuisance in a neighborhood. The Homer will
alight only on its own squab house and drink only at its own
home. Common pigeons sell for fifty cents a pair and are
frequently offered as Homers. Do not start with common
pigeons and think to learn the habits of squab breeders with
them. If you cross a common with a Homer pigeon you will
take away the good qualities of the Homer and add nothing.
There is not one element in a common pigeon which if added
to a Homer would improve the offspring. It is hard to
convince some people that there is any difference in pigeons
whose feathers are the same color. The result is they buy
the cheapest they can get. After feeding them for a time and
getting no profitable results, they are compelled to sell them
to the first trap shooter who comes along, and they go among
their townspeople declaring that the pigeon business is no
good. Remember this point, that if you are going to buy
grain and feed it to anything so as to get a profit, it is the
best policy to feed it to that grade of animal which will show
the largest profit. Very few people are satisfied with shoddy
suits nowadays, even if they look almost as well as the all-
wool garments. It is the wear which the customer is after.

78 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

Beware of shoddy pigeons. Buy the best Homers you can
get, they will wear best and give you the most pride. Ex-
perienced poultrymen do not go here and there looking for
fowls at cut prices. They buy breeding stock of a reliable
breeder which is reliable and sold at a price which will enable
the seller to deliver a high quality article. We can tell when
an order for our breeding stock comes from an old poultry-
man, for they all write: " I want the best stock you can give
me."

Good Homers do not glut the markets. They are always
fairly scarce, and the price for them has always been well
kept up. Beware of cheap Homers for sale at cut prices.
There is always something the matter with such birds. They
have been worked too long and are played out, or if a flock
is offered " at a bargain," the birds do not produce the large,
plump, No. 1 squab, but only culls. If a squab breeder is
going to quit the business and offers you his flock of birds on
the bargain counter, make him give a good reason to you for
selling. If he has been unable to make the flock pay, you may
be sure that you will be unable to make them pay. If he
offers them to you without a good reason for selling, the
chances are that it is a poor flock and he has got tired of buying
grain for them, and wishes to saddle the burden upon you. We
are always selling breeders and it is very much to our interest
to protect our reputation by sending out only good Homers
that will make money for their owners. This is what we
do, and our large business has been built up by square dealing,
and knowing the business thoroughly.

A pair of Homers capable of earning a pair of squabs in one
month which will sell for at least fifty cents is worth more than
one dollar or one dollar and twenty-five cents a pair. A pair
of birds capable of earning only a ten-cent or twenty-cent
pair of squabs once in two or three months is worth only
fifty cents a pair. Jersey cows are worth more than common
cows because they earn more. Good Homer pigeons, bred
skilfully , are worth more than poor Homers ' because they
earn more.

CHAPTER VIII.

KILLING AND COOLING.

Kill the Squabs in the Morning when their Crops are Empty
- Not Necessary to Use a Knife, their Necks may be
Tweaked — Drive the Animal Heat out of their Bodies by
Hanging them from Nails — The Ideal Squab when
Shipped has an Empty Crop, its Feet have been Washed
Clean, and No Blood Shows — Sorting Squabs so as to Get
the Highest Price from the Dealer.

The time to kill the squabs is in the morning, when the
crops are empty. In killing them it is not necessary to use
a knife. Hold each squab in the manner shown in the
illustration and break the neck with a sudden pull and push.
Do not pull too hard or you will sever the neck from the body.
Some of our customers have hard work to get this knack of
tweaking the necks and prefer to wring the necks, or to use a
knife. To wring the neck, hold the squab by the head in
the right hand and throw the body around in a complete
circle, this act twisting and breaking the neck.

After the squabs are killed they must be cooled. In other
words the animal heat must be driven out of their bodies.
Provide a piece of board or studding eight or ten feet long and
every four inches along this studding drive a couple of nine
penny wire finish nails close together, but not so close that
you cannot squeeze in the legs of the squabs. A finish wire
nail has no large head like an ordinary wire nail. Suspend
the studding from the ceiling by means of wire adjusted at
both ends of the studding. This method of hanging it up is
to prevent rats and cats from climbing up onto the studding,
walking along it and eating the squabs. Place the feet
of the squabs between the wire nails and let them hang down-
wards over night. In the morning the heat will be all out of
their bodies and you can pack and ship them. If you are
delivering plucked squabs to market, you do not need such
an arrangement, but will throw the bodies into a tub of ice
water (or cold spring water) after you have plucked them.

When plucking the feathers from the killed squabs, the

79

INCORRECT POSITION OF HANDS.

CORRECT POSITION OF HANDS.

A squab is killed for market when it is plump and well feathered, usually when
four weeks old, although many are ready for market when a day or two over three
weeks old. Hold the hands close together on the neck, as shown in the bottom
picture and break the spine of the bird by pulling firmly and then pushing back.
Do not put so much strength into the operation that you pull the head from the body.
This method of killing is faster and neater than using a knife.

SO

KILLING AND COOLING 81

operator should moisten his thumb and forefinger in a basin
of water, to give him a grip on the feathers. They come off
easily and an experienced picker will work very rapidly. A
sharp pen-knife, or knife such as shoemakers use, is necessary
to remove some of the pin feathers. They should be shaved
off.

Ignorance of how to cool the killed squabs properly has
discouraged many a squab raiser. If you throw the squabs
in a pile on the floor after you have tweaked their necks, you
will have a fermenting mass and the following morning,
when you are ready to ship, many of the bodies will be dark-
colored at the place of contact with the floor, or with other
squabs, and decay will start from such discolored places.
Hang the bodies from the studding, as we have described, and
you wll cool them just right and you will be surprised that
this part of the business ever could have discouraged anybody.

If you number the nails which you have driven into the
studding you will know just how many squabs you hang up,
and you will not have to handle the squabs a second time to
count them.

The ideal squab which brings the highest price in the market
is not only large and plump, but has a clean crop, so that no
food will be left in it to sour. No blood shows anywhere on
the body and its feet are clean. Ship in small quantities,
especially in the summer. Do not pack in an enormous box,
or the bottom layers will suffer.

A squab should be killed, as we have stated, when from
three to four weeks old, most generally at four weeks. Do
not wait until it is five or six weeks old, when it may have left
the nest. As soon as a squab is old enough to get out of the
nest and walk around on the floor of the squab house, it
quickly trains off its fat and grows lean and slender. Its
flesh also loses its pure white co or and takes on a darker
shade. You do not want either of these two conditions.

If you tie up your killed squabs by the feet when shipping
to market, do not tie a lean with a fat squab, for if you do the
dealer probably will give you the price of the lean one. Put
the fat squabs in one bunch and the lean squabs in another
bunch. If you are shipping to two dealers, you can very
often get the top price from both by giving one your best
squabs and the other your second best.

KILLED SQUABS HUNG TO COOL.

After the squabs have been killed they should be hung as this picture shows to
cool. The wooden scantling or studding is several feet long and is suspended from
the ceiling at its ends by wire, so that cats and rats cannot climb to the squabs. A
pair of nails are driven in four inches apart and the squabs' legs set in between them

82

CHAPTER IX.

THE MARKETS.

Squabs with the Feathers on Taken by the Boston and Some
Other City Markets — The New York Market Wants Them
Plucked and Pays the Highest Price of Any Northern City
— Interpretation of Quotations of Squabs as Seen in the News-
papers— White- Fleshed Squabs are Wanted, Not Dark-
Fleshed.

The Boston market, and the markets in some other cities,
will take squabs with feathers on. It is only necessary for
you to tweak the necks of the squabs and send them to the
train, after they have cooled over night. Some shippers do
not take the trouble to box the killed squabs, but tie their
legs together with string and send them along to market.
In the baggage cars of the trains running into Boston you will
sometimes see strings of squabs going in to the dealers in this
way.

The New York market demands squabs plucked. The
squab breeders who have large plants and who ship to the1
New York market employ pluckers and pay them by the
piece. A skillful plucker will strip feathers from squabs at
the rate of ten to twenty squabs an hour. The proper time to
pluck the killed squab is immediately after killing. When
picked clean, throw the squab into cold water and leave it
there over night to plump out and harden the flesh. In the
summer use ice water.

The squab puts on more feathers than flesh during the
last few days of its growth and if you see squabs which are
only three weeks old, but which are of good size, you may save
a week on feed by killing the squab at that age and plucking
it. When the feathers are off of it, it looks like the four weeks
squabs which have not matured so rapidly.

If you are shipping to the New York market, you should
pack your squabs in a neat white wood box, printed if you
please. Do not use a pine box for if you do the odor of the
pine will penetrate the squabs.

The New York market for squabs is the best in the North.

83

84 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

Squabs delivered by our customers there invariably bring
from one to one dollar and fifty per dozen more than the
Boston market. This is because there are more rich people
in New York than there are in Boston, and they are more
free with their money in providing luxuries for their table
than Boston folks. We do not mean to disparage the Boston
market for squabs, which is always good, averaging three
dollars a dozen, but we wish to emphasize the fact that the
New York market is a phenomenal one. Anybody living
near New York can make a fortune raising squabs. Our
largest orders have come from customers who are shipping
to New York.

Not all the New York newspapers print market quotation
of squabs. The New York Evening Sun is an exception.
All through the winter squabs are quoted in the Evening Sun
at five dollars a dozen. This means that a squab breeder
shipping to New York should have got six dollars and seven
dollars for a choice product, from private customers.

A correspondent in New York State sends a clipping from
the New York Tribune's market columns and asks for an
interpretation. We quote from it as follows:

" Pigeons, 20c.; squabs, prime, large, white, per doz., $3.50
and $3.75; ditto, mixed, $2.75 and $3; ditto, dark, $1.75
and $2."

The quotation, " Pigeons, 20 cents," means twenty cents
a pair for common old killed pigeons. These tough old birds
are occasionally found in the markets and are worth only
ten or fifteen cents apiece. They are neither squabs nor the
old Homer pigeons, but are common pigeons such as fly in
the streets. A small boy might get a pair of these street
pigeons and kill them and give them to a butcher who would
pay him fifteen or twenty cents a pair. These cheap pigeons
come into the eastern markets largely from the West in barrels
and are sold to Boston commission men for five cents apiece,
or fifty cents a dozen. They are retailed at from one dollar
to one dollar and twenty cents a dozen. They are in the
Chicago market masquerading as squabs. They have been
killed with guns and have shot in their bodies. If you ask
for pigeon pie at one of the cheap Boston restaurants, you
will get a shot or two against your teeth with mouthfuls.
After every trap-shooting contest some skulker goes over the

THE MARKETS 85

field and gathers up all the killed and mained birds he can
find, and sells them for two and three cents apiece, or for
anything he can get, and these find their way into the markets.
The cruel practice of pigeon shooting by miscalled "sports-
men " on Long Island is quite common, and the presence of
these birds in the New York butcher shops accounts for the
above quotation in the Tribune. It is unnecessary to add
that such birds do not compete with squabs. They can be
made palatable only by stewing for hours in a pie, which takes
out a little of their toughness. There is now a law in New
York forbidding pigeon shooting.

As to squabs, the quotation, " Prime, large, white, per dozen
$3.50 and $3.75," is for the kind of squabs that are raised
from our Homers, namely, No. 1 grade.

By the quotation, " Mixed, $2.75 and $3.00," is meant that
these amounts are paid for lots of birds composed of No. 1
and No. 2 grades, mixed. If you sort up your birds care-
fully you will be able to get the No. 1 prices for all. Some
people do not know how to sort them, and they have to be
satisfied with the price of a mixed lot.

By the quotation, " Dark, $1.75 and $2.00," is meant the
dark-fleshed squabs, as you have learned by reading our
Manual. Squabs whose flesh is dark do not sell for as much
as the white-fleshed squabs.

Pigeons are of all colors, i. <?., as you see their feathers, and
the squabs likewise, but when you pluck the feathers off the
flesh is either a pure white with a tinge of yellow, or dark like
a negro's skin.

Quotations for squabs as found in the market reports in
the newspapers are always lower than they really are. The
writers of the market columns in the daily papers see only the
commission men and cater only to them; they smoke the
commission men's cigars and believe what the commission
men tell them. They do not see the producer at all. The
object of the commission men is to get the squabs as cheaply as
they can. When you are breeding squabs make up your mind
to get from twenty-five cents to one dollar or more per dozen
than you see quoted in the market reports. The only way to
find out the truth about the squab markets is to go into them
and offer to buy squabs, not to sell them. Then you will learn
the true prices.

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THE MARKETS 87

At the same time the report quoted above was printed in
the New York Tribune a breeder in Mauricetown, N. J., was
getting from four dollars and twenty -five cents to four dollars
and fifty cents a dozen for his squabs. (This was the last
week in January, 1902.) You see, it does not. pay to trust
wholly to the market reports in the newspapers. The motive
of the city men is to get their goods as cheaply as they can. It
is your motive to get as much as you can, and don't be fooled
by second-hand information. Go direct to headquarters
yourself in person and learn the truth. If the middleman
tries to hold down the price to you, go to a consumer and
make your bargain with him at top prices.

A breeder in New Jersey writes that there are several
squab breeders in his town, all of whom give their regular
time to other businesses. He continues: " I am now (Feb-
ruary, 1902), getting thirty-two cents each as they run, no
sorting, for what few squabs I am now raising, and they
are sold to a man who calls every Tuesday for them. When •
I have enough, I ship direct to New York by express. They /
sort them in New York."

This is doing extremely well for unsorted squabs. It is
only another bit of evidence which proves the money -making
condition of the New York market. (The above correspon-
dent's breeders are not first-class, he admits, saying he has
been breeding for seven years and his flock has run down.)

The Kansas City market does not yet know what a fat
squab is. The only things obtainable there are the squabs of
common pigeons, which are quoted low, as they are all over
the country. A correspondent in Atchison writes: " I wrote
to the Kansas City dealer again, telling him I thought his
prices were pretty low for Homer squabs. He replied that
they had so few Homers offered that they did not quote them,
and they would be worth from two dollars to two dollars and
fifty cents per dozen. He quoted common pigeon squabs at
one dollar and twenty -five cents to one dollar and seventy-five
per dozen, as I wrote you before. That is better, and I want
to try raising them as soon as I can get into a place where I
can handle them."

Fact is, the squabs that bring from three to five dollars a
dozen east of the Mississippi will bring that (and more) as soon
as the wealthy trade of Kansas City gets a taste of them.

88 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

Find out for yourself whether your market wants squabs
with the feathers on or off. We do not know such details
about the squab market in every city in the country and can-
not advise you accurately on this point if you write to us
from a distant town or city.

The best way to find out the facts concerning the squab
market is to go from place to place, or to write, offering not to
sell squabs but to buy them. The squab sellers are much
more interested in a possible buyer than a possible seller.
They receive letters from many inquirers about markets but
as a rule pay scant attention to them unless the writer is
really producing squabs and has them for sale.

SQUAB HOUSE BUILT OF LOGS

CHAPTER X.

PIGEONS' AILMENTS.

Canker a Filth Disease which Makes its Appearance in Nasty,
Cramped and Crowded Quarters — It is a Captivity Disease
and a Sure Cure for it is to Turn the Bird Loose to Get a
Change of Food and Plenty of Exercise — A Flock Supplied
with Pure Food and Clean Water Never will be Sick -
Canker is Not Epidemic — // does Not Pay to Dose a
Sick Pigeon, Better Turn it Out to Get Well.

The principal ailment met with by the squab breeder is
canker. This ailment is a puzzle to some breeders and they
are alarmed when it makes an appearance in their flock, as
it does if the feed is poor or sour, the water dirty, or the squab
house filthy. The advice which they give when they find a
cankered bird is, "Kill it." That is the advice we used to
give at first, but now we know better. First, what is canker?
It is a disease of which you know the cause (filth, poor feed or
dirty water) and whose symptoms you see in the form of a
cheesy -like deposit in the mouth of the pigeon, and breaking
out around the bill. Catch the pigeon, hold it in your lap
and force open its bill and you will see a yellowish patch or
patches in the mouth, and the mouth will usually be filled
with a yellowish deposit which smells bad. The disease is
not serious. The trouble lies with the feed and the filth and
that is what spreads the same symptoms from one pigeon to
another. A case of canker in your flock should be a warning
to you that the feed or water is wrong, or that you
have a filthy house. Do not get alarmed and kill the bird.
Catch the affected pigeon, carry it out of your flying pen
and squab house and throw it into the air. The bird may
fly away and lose itself, and if it does you are out one pigeon
just as if you had killed it. The chances are, however, as jp
the case of any sick animal, that it will linger around home.
Now you will be surprised to see how quickly that pigeon's
health will improve. Not having a steady supply of food
before it, it will have to hustle for a living, and this exercise
and the change of living, and the scanty living, will effect the

PAIR OF HOMERS BILLING.

This illustration is made from a photograph of a pair of our pigeons caught in
the act of billing, or kissing. The pigeon on the left is the male and on the right
the female. Billing is one of the acts of love making. Mounting and treading
generally follow immediately after billing.

90

PIGEONS' AILMENTS 91

cure. It will get more fresh air, and a great deal more exercise,
and more sun, than it would get if lett in company with the
other birds. In about a week you will notice that it will hold
its bill tighter, and if there is a sore on the outside of the bill
you will see this sore dry up. In two weeks the chances are
that the yellowish deposit on the interior of the mouth will
be entirely gone. The pigeon will hover around the other
pigeons. It will fly to the outside of the netting and look at
its fellows. Place a dish on the ground now and then with a
little feed and you will attract it. Catch it when you have a
favorable opportunity either with a net on the end of a pole,
or with a broom, pinning it into a corner. You may have to
try several times, but you will get it after a while. Its eye
will be brighter and signs of disease will be gone, and you can
put it back into the squab house with the others. The exer-
cise, sunlight, change of food, and scanty food, have made
the cure. There are few pigeons so bad with canker that they
cannot be cured in this way. For that reason we have not
much hesitation in saying that canker is a captivity disease,
caused by lack of exercise as well as unavoidable filth and too
much of the wrong kind of feed. We have observed wild
pigeons in the streets and we never saw a case of canker among
them. You may say to yourself that it is quite a risk to
throw out into the open air a pigeon which has cost you from
seventy -five cents to a dollar, but it is better to do this than
to take the advice of all other breeders and books and kill it.

If you do not wish to throw a sick pigeon out into the air
to get well, construct a box with wire netting over the front,
and put the pigeon in there for special feeding and watering
until it gets well.

Powdered alum sprinkled in the drinking water now and
then will tend to ward off canker from a flock.

It does not pay to dose sick pigeons, because a cure seldom
is obtained by dosing, and you are out your time.

The squab breeder who follows the advice as to feed and
water, and cleanliness of squab house, given in this Manual,
will not have any sick pigeons. It is so very easy to keep a
pigeon in perfect health that the fear of disease is a bugbear
not worth taking into account. The element of disease is a
constant source of worry to the chicken breeder, and a source
of heavy loss to the best of them. We wish to assure all who

92 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

contemplate starting in the squab breeding business that the
pigeon naturally is a healthier and more rugged bird than the
domestic hen and that positively you will not be fussing with
remedies and cure-alls, in handling them.

" Going light," or wasting away, is an ailment of pigeons
occasionally met with. The cause of it is an absence of grit
and salt. If your staples of feed are provided as we tell, and
you give a variety of feed, and you provide grit and oyster
shells, you will have no cases of " going light." The disease
is known by a steady wasting away of the pigeon. Catch
it and you feel a prominent breastbone, and scanty flesh,
showing that some element in the feed is lacking.

CHAPTER XL

GETTING AHEAD.

Make your Birds Pay for themselves as they Go Along,
unless you Wish to Wait Patiently until a Small Flock
Increases to a Large One — Better to Take the Money Made
from Sale of Squabs and Buy More Adult Birds than to
Raise the Squabs, Because it is a Long Jump from Four
Weeks (the Killing Age) to Six Months, at which Age the
Birds Begin Breeding — Shipping Points.

It is the birds and not the buildings which count in squab
raising and if you have fifty dollars to start, put thirty -five
dollars or forty dollars into your birds and the balance into
your building. We have had customers start with a hundred-
dollar building and put a ten-dollar lot of birds into it, con-
tinuing to buy ten-dollar lots of us about once a month until
they had their flock to a good size, but we believe it is best to
let the buildings follow the birds, and not the birds the
buildings. In other words, let your birds earn buildings as
they go along. It is quite a drag on a small flock to weigh it
down with an expensive building much too large for it.

Put this down in your mind solid, where you will not forget
it: Make your pigeons pay for themselves as they go.

We sell to a great many poultrymen, and we like to get their
orders, for they have been through the mill of raising feathered
animals and are practical, and they are quick to see the money
in squabs, and when their order for breeding stock comes
along, it is in nine cases out of ten a large order, even if they
have had no previous experience. They know that in order
to sell squabs they have got to have birds enough to breed
squabs and it is just as easy for them to spend fifty dollars or
one hundred dollars at the start as it is for them to spend ten
dollars or fifteen dollars and use up one hundred dollars' worth
of time while waiting a year to begin selling squabs.

Many beginners are so skeptical that they do not believe
squabs grow to market size in one month, or they have no
confidence in their ability to feed the mature birds so as to
keep them alive. They wish to make a start with a few pairs

93

94 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

and actually convince themselves. We do not believe in
untried hands plunging into something of which they know
nothing, and we commend the caution of the beginner with
squabs who wishes to feel his way and " make haste slowly "
as the saying is, nevertheless we know it to be a fact that our
customers who started with large flocks are making splendid
successes, and we are not so cautious as we were in former
books in advising a small purchase, at the start. The rules
for breeding we have given have stood the test of time; we
have not had it said to us that they are misleading or erroneous;
on the contrary, our customers write and tell us that their
experience corresponds with ours, that the books are all right,
and our business has increased right along. When a customer
orders two hundred dollars' worth of breeding stock of us and
two months later two hundred dollars' worth more (we sell to
some customers month after month steadily, as their means or
their inclination permit them to buy) we are given a large
measure of confidence, first, that people (many of whom we
never see and who are not experts) can start with our writings
and our breeding stock and make a success; second, that
all we have advised about the industry is of general and con-
vincing application; and third, that it does not take extraor-
dinary skill to make a success with squabs.

There are failures with squabs, even by college professors,
because some beginners are unsuited to the busines_s. Many
are lured into it by get-rich-quick stories. It would amaze
you to read the letters that some beginners write. You never
can tell a man's pigeon and poultry ability by his orthography
and grammar. Letters in crude spelling and crooked writing
frequently come from the most successful squab raisers. The
knack of caring for animals successfully cannot be acquired
by some. Given two women, with cooking materials and the
same cook books, one cooks splendidly, and the other mis-
erably. Why? Well, it is the same with pigeons. Some
can and some can't. However, the failures at squab or
poultry raising seldom blame themselves.

There are many of the naturally careless, improvident
persons who have turned to squabs to help them out of finan-
cial holes, and they have made a failure of squab raising.
Many of us remember the furore over raising chicken broilers
for market, which started a score of years ago. The fact that

GETTING AHEAD 95

some were making money at it started a burning hen fever in
hundreds of young and old people anxious to make a lot of
money quick. Clerks and society women from New York
moved into the suburbs on small farms and began to try to
make realities of their dreams. Not accustomed to manual
labor, they made a sorry mess of it. Writers of that period
tell of chicken gentlemen and ladies who wen't about their
daily round of duties with their delicate hands carefully pro-
tected by kid gloves. It did not take long for the end for such
experimenters to arrive. They returned to the great city
sadder, but wiser. The squab industry has suffered also the
past five years from such treatment. Many have played
with it as a child would with a new toy, giving up their
pigeons in a few months at the slightest discouragement.

The past six years are strewn with the wrecks of imitation
squab advertisers and their guarantees. Every spring, when
demand for breeders is greatest, some of these come to life
again, or new ones crop up, and they get what harvest they
can, many of them selling what they can pick up in the way
of culls, such as we ourselves sell to Faneuil Hall marketmen
to be killed. These advertisers start advertising in January
and by June they have quit.

The following, from the pen of an old poultry writer,
appeared in a farm periodical of large circulation in January,
1907: " So far, every attempt made in this country to estab-
lish a large poultry (chicken) farm has been met by failure.
The extensive and successful plants of today are the outcome
of a small beginning and a gradual growth. True, the main
cause for failure has been the lack of experience; men have
undertaken work for which they were not qualified."

So it is the rule with squab and poultry failures, especially
women, to blame everybody but themselves. Such persons
learn bitterly that experience is indeed a factor.

The place and flock of the one who fails with squabs tell
their own story. The drinking fountains are seldom washed,
the pen is seldom cleaned and the place has a run-down look
generally, sometimes being positively filthy. The grain is
bought and fed on the catch-as-catch-can principle with no
provision for variety. The cheapest grain is»bought, or it is
ignorantly bought, and may be full of weevils, or sour. The
owner of such a place generally matches the place.

96 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

Some advertisers selling breeding stock try to give the
impression in their advertising that they control the matings
and love affairs of the pigeons they sell, to the uttermost
degree. ' We are the ones who can start you right," they
say, "with our guaranteed mated pairs." Their pigeons, how-
ever, behave just the same as all pigeons. You have just as
much control over the minds of your pigeons as anybody.
We have the finest equipment for mating in America, as it is
the largest, a thousand mating coops being in constant use.
One of the buildings is heated by a hot-water plant so as to
get quick results in mating in the winter. It is natural for
pigeons to breed, same as all animals. Do not believe that
the man who offers to sell you pigeons has it in his power to
control them after they have left his hands. The control of
your pigeons is in your hands absolutely. If you raise an
excess of cocks, or if you have an excess of either sex, for any
reason, you should procure enough of the opposite sex to
match up evenly. You should have some mating coops
(ordinary boxes with wire fronts will do) and in them you
should pair up birds to suit yourself as to color of plumage, or
size, or special characteristics, as you raise them.

We fill all orders, large or small, with equal care and
thoroughness, for it is just as much to our interest to please
the customer and get more orders in the one case as in the
other.

There is not much choice as to what time of year a start
in squab breeding should be made. Our customers who
start in the winter have been exceptionally successful because
then prices for squabs are at the top notch, and it takes only
a few sales to make a new breeder thoroughly convinced to
go ahead to success. We ship breeders all the year round.
A pigeon will not break down under either stifling heat or
bitter cold, being different from other animals.

We fill orders in rotation and treat customers alike, and
ship promptly. Frequently we get orders to ship by first
returning express, and it is very difficult to do this. One
customer in Chicago planned to start for Alaska with twelve
pairs of our birds, but he held back his letter so that we got
it with only two*hours to fill crates and get birds to him before
his departure. We filled his order as a matter of accommoda-
tion.

GETTING AHEAD 97

In ordering supplies to be sent by freight, remember that
it takes a freight shipment some time to get to destination,
especially when traffic is congested in the spring or in the
harvest season. Give us your order for nest bowls and
supplies before your house is ready.

The live breeders are shipped by us either in specially made
pine crates or wicker coops. The wicker coops remain our
property and are returned to us at our expense by the express
companies after the customer has released the pigeons. These
baskets are expensive and are fitted with large tin feed and
water dishes. It is impossible to break them open with the
roughest handling. The birds have plenty of room in them
and arrive at their destination in fine condition.

The usual fault of inexperienced shippers is that the box
or crate is too high, and too large, giving an opportunity for
one bird to pass another by flying over its head. If there is
too much room between the top and bottom of the crate
feathers will be rumpled and pulled out, and the birds by
crowding will suffocate one or two. A large, heavy crate
also adds enormously to the express charges. It is not
pleasant to buy pigeons and receive them in a cumbrous
box weighing from twenty-five to seventy-five pounds, on
which the express charges are more than double what they
would be were the birds crated properly.

If the birds are going to a point only a day or a day and a
night distant, they need no feed nor water. For a long
journey, a bag of grain should be tied to the crate. It is the
duty of the express messengers to feed and water the birds en
route, and they are so instructed by their companies.

Do you know that pigeons are transported by the express
companies at the rate charged for ordinary merchandise under
the classification in force for 1907 on? The rate is found in
every express book (ask your agent to show it to you if there
is any dispute over charges) now as follows: " Pigeons,
homing, merchandise rate." Tell the agent to look in the P's
for Pigeons and he will find it there.

For carrying most live-stock short distances, the animal
rate (which is double the merchandise rate) is charged. This
is a peculiar rule when it was formerly applied to pigeons, and
it worked so that the buyer at a remote point got his ship-
ment cheaper than the buyer nearer us. For instance, we

HOW WE SHIP PIGEONS.

Care and skill exercised in shipping live pigeons are large factors in satisfying
customers. It is not a pleasant experience to send money away for pigeons and
have them reach you in a home-made box, generally of enormous weight, and bearing
enormous express charges.

We originated the above style of shipping and have two thousand shipping
baskets in use. They are expensive but by their use we are able to guarantee safe
arrival. The customer receives his shipment in faultless condition.

The small bag of grain on top of the basket, tied to it, is for the use of the express-
man in feeding the birds en route. The tin water dish is at the end of the basket,
outside, where it ought to be, not inside.

These shipping baskets remain our property and are returned to us empty at our
expense after the customer has released his birds.

98

GETTING AHEAD 99

could ship a crate of pigeons to Chicago from Boston cheaper
than we could to Buffalo. All the express companies doing
business in the United States and Canada have the same rule,
which is, that between poi»ts where the single or merchandise
rate is two dollars or more per hundred pounds, live animals,
boxed, crated or caged, are charged for transportation at the
single or merchandise rate. Between points where the single
or merchandise rate is less than two dollars per hundred
pounds, live animals are charged the animal rate (which is
double the merchandise rate). Poultry (not pigeons) are
charged the one and one-half rate when the rate per one hun-
dred pounds is less than two dollars.

In order to obtain the lowest rate of transportation, the
value of each pigeon must be stated by the shipper at five
dollars or less.

We have seen breeders who have been shipping live-stock
for years and they never heard of the above rule of the
express companies, and also we have seen scores of express
agents who did not know of their own rule, but always charged
the animal rate on animal shipments. But the rule is found
in every graduated charge book of every express company
and the experienced expressmen and experienced shippers
know all about it. If the agent in your town is ignorant of
the rule, ask him for his graduated charge book. Many
express agents at local points seldom handle a pigeon ship-
ment and do not know how to charge for it.

A live animal contract release, to be signed both by shipper
and express agent, is needed in all cases where the value of
each pigeon is more than five dollars. If pigeons which we
ship are killed in a smash-up, we can recover from the com-
pany. We have no hesitation, therefore, in guaranteeing the
safe delivery of our pigeons to customers. Our respon-
sibility does not end when we have given them to the express-
man. Our guarantee follows them as long as they are in the
hands of the express company. We will put them into your
hands safe and sound.

Once in a while you will read of live-stock and breeding
associations getting together and complaining about the
" exorbitant rates " charged by the express companies. The
trouble is not with the rates of the express companies, but lies
wholly in the ignorance of the breeders who meet to complain.

100 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

They simply do not know how to ship and how to talk to the
express agents.

We never read the above advice as to shipping live-stock in
any book or paper. It is -the product of our own experience
and the information cost us at least one hundred dollars in
excess charges before we learned how to get the low rate.
It is worth dollars to our customers, and that is why we have
given it here in detail.

Killed squabs go to market at the rate charged for ordinary
merchandise, no matter what the distance. Breeders having
special customers who wish the squabs plucked should pack
them in a clean white wood box (with ice in the summer) and
nail the box up tight. Such shipments go through in splendid
condition and if the breeder has a choice article, with his
trade mark stamped on the box, he gets the fancy price.
Squabs which reach the Boston market from jobbers in
Philadelphia and New York are plucked and packed with ice
in barrels. Breeders around Boston who reach the Boston
market with undressed squabs send them in wicker hampers
or baskets on the morning of the day after they are killed. .

No express agent anywhere has a right to make any extra
charges whatever on our pigeon shipments.

There is no duty on our pigeons to Canada, Cuba or Porto
Rico, when we send with the pigeons and also to the customer,
as we do, a certificate of purity of breed, declaring that the
pigeons are for breeding, and not to be killed for market.

CHAPTER XII.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

Women and Squab Breeding — Attentions of the Male to the
Female Pigeon — Equal Number of Males and Females
- Birds Flying Wild — Sale of Birds for Flyers -
Variation in Size of Nest Boxes — How Squabs are
Artificially Fattened — Shipping to England — Training
Flyers — A Remarkable Service for Messages between
Islands.

Question. I am a woman who knows absolutely nothing
of squab raising. Do you think I can make a success of it?
Answer. Our books are written and printed for the purpose
of telling an absolutely ignorant person just how to proceed.
If you will study this Manual, until you get the general plan
and method of procedure in your mind, there is no reason
why you cannot make a success of it. A woman is quick
enough to puzzle out a new pattern of embroidery or a blind
cooking recipe the terms of which are expressed in language
utterly incomprehensible to a man. We find that our women
customers are just as quick to comprehend pigeons as soon as
they get started. It is necessary to have confidence, first,
that the birds can make money, and second, that you are able
to handle them right. Women succeed with hens quite as
well as men. They " take " to animals fully as well as men.
The fact that you, our customer, are a woman, ought to
encourage rather than depress you, in the squab business.

Question. I have an old poultry house fifteen by twenty
feet in size, ten feet high. How many pairs of pigeons can I
accommodate? Answer. We have this question asked us
many times, and our reply to all is the same. Sometimes the
customer varies it by asking, How large a house do I need to
accommodate one hundred pairs of ' breeders ? Sometimes
they say they propose remodeling a barn loft which is thirty
by twenty feet in size. The dimensions of the building vary
with the customer. You can always accommodate in theory
as many pairs of breeders as you can make room for pairs of
nest boxes. Fix up your building to suit yourself, and put in

101

102 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

as many nest boxes as you wish, Then count your nest
boxes and you will know how many birds you can accommo-
date. You must have two nest boxes for every pair of birds.
Always allow more nest boxes than there are pigeons, and do
not crowd the birds, as we have explained on page 29.

Question. How does the male bird impregnate the female
bird? They do not seem to me to act as roosters and hens do.
Answer. The human eye is not sharp and quick enough to
follow the actions of the male bird. He mounts the female
in a manner which is called " treading." A female occasion-
ally will " tread " the male bird, exactly as a female animal
when in excessive heat sometimes will mount the male, or
another female. Customers who had what they thought was
a doubtful pair sometimes have written us saying that each
would tread the other, and that of course both were males.
After a while the same customer would write and say that the
pair fooled him and that he had two eggs from them. The
actions are in nine cases out of ten, of course, a positive guide,
but there are exceptions to every rule.

Question. (1) The legs of the pigeon you sent me are
red; are they inflamed? (2) The droppings are soft and
mushy; I am afraid they have diarrhoea. What shall I do?
(3) Most of my pigeons have a warty-like substance on their
bills, varying in size with the pigeon; how shall I get rid of it?
Answer. (1) The red color which you see is perfectly natural.
The legs of all Homer pigeons are red. (2) The natural
droppings of the pigeon are soft and somewhat loose. When
they have diarrhoea the droppings are extremely watery and
the tail feathers are soiled. Your pigeons are all right and
have no diarrhosa. (3) The growth of which you speak is
perfectly natural. It varies in size with the pigeon, sometimes
covering the base of the bill, in other cases clinging closely to it.

Question. Can I figure with certainty that of each pair
of squabs which my birds hatch, one is a male and the other
a female? Answer. Not with absolute certainty, but as a
rule. It is Nature's way to provide for an equal number of
males and females, for that is the way the species mates and
is reproduced.

Question. Enclosed find ten dollars, for which please send
me^settings of pigeon eggs to that value, and send me the
balance due, if any. Answer. We do not sell pigeon eggs.

. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 103

It is impossible to use an incubator and raise pigeons success-
fully, because there is no way of feeding the young squabs
when they are hatched. The life of squabs is nourished and
prolonged from day to day by the parent birds, which feed
them. To raise squabs, you must start by buying the adult
breeders. You cannot start with the eggs.

Question. It seems to me that if each pair of squabs
hatched consists of male and female, that this couple is likely
to pair when grown, being well acquainted with each other.
This would be inbreeding and would weaken my flock. What
shall I do? Answer. It is not the plan of the species to mate
and inbreed like this. If brother and sister mated as you
describe, the species would be extinct after a while. They
will look for new mates as soon as they get out of the nest and
are of breeding age.

Question. When are the young pigeons old enough to
mate? Answer. At from four to six months.

Question. My birds do not know enough to go in from the
roof of the squab house when it rains. How shall I get them
in? Answer. Let them stay on the roof in the rain if they
wish. The rain will do them no harm. »

Question. Must I heat the squab house in the winter time?
Answer. No. The heat from a flock of pigeons in a well-
built house is considerable. You will get more squabs from
your pigeons in the winter time if you do heat your house
slightly, not enough to cause much expense, but just enough
to take the chill off. Do not let your birds out of the squab
house on bitter cold days.

Question. I live in Texas and I think in this climate your
squab house would be too warm and stuffy. Answer. You
are right. Adapt the construction to your locality. The
poultry houses in Texas as compared to those in the North
are much less expensive and more open to the air, and your
squab house should be built on the same principle.

Question. Suppose I cool the squabs as you direct and
pack them into a box for shipment, shall I use ice? Is there
any danger that the meat will be discolored when they arrive
at market? Answer. Ice is not necessary in the fall, winter
and spring. In the summer time you should use ice, although
if the shipment is for a short distance, ice may not be necessary.
In hot weather the squabs should not be killed until the night

104 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

before shipping. In the cool months you may keep them
at home longer. If the squabs are cooled by hanging them
from studding as we describe, there is no danger that the
meat will be discolored. The object of hanging them from
studding is to cool the carcasses properly so that the meat
will not be discolored by contact.

Question. How shall I pack the killed squabs when I send
them to market? Answer. Lay them in the box layer on
layer, in an orderly fashion. Do. not throw them in helter
skelter.

Question. Can I hang the squabs to cool from studding
suspended in the barn, in the summer time? Answer. It is
better to use the cellar of the house, or the coolest room in the
house.

Question. I do not like your idea of keeping the birds
wired in. They are free by nature and it strikes me that they
should have a chance to get exercise by long flights. Answer.
You must keep them wired in, or they may leave you. Re-
member that the Homer is attached to the place where it is
bred, that is the Homer instinct. If you buy birds of us and
on opening the crate let them fly anywhere they choose,
trusting to luck to have them come back to you, you may be
disappointed and lose some of the birds. You must keep
them wired in all the time.

Question. You say your Homers are fine flyers. What is
the use of my buying them of you to fly in races or to sell
again as flyers, if they may desert me when I let them out
into the open air? Answer. The squabs which you breed
from our birds will know no home but yours, and they will
not fly away from you. You can send them away, when they
are old enough, and time their flight back to your house,
their home. When you sell these trained flyers to others,
you do not expect that they will try to fly them, but that they
will use them for breeders.

Question. How large are the mating coops? Answer.
A convenient size is two feet long, two feet wide and two feet
high.

Question. My birds seem timid and I am afraid to catch
them. How shall I go about it? Answer. Do not be afraid
of hurting them. Take a broom and drive one where you
will, finally pinning it against the side of the squab house, or

. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 105

in a corner. Grasp it and hold its wings firmly and it will not
struggle. Or you may make a net on the end of a pole, like
an ordinary fish landing net, and scoop the bird into it as it
flies through the air.

Question. Suppose I have several squab houses, as you
describe, but let all the birds together in one large flying
pen, where they can bathe from one large fountain. Answer.
This is all right if you do not wish to keep close track of your
birds. If the birds can roam from one house to another,
there is nothing to prevent a pair from building one nest on
one house and then going to another house to build the second
nest.

Question. I believe I will put a strip of wire or piece of
wood across the front of each nest box so as to keep each
pair more secluded, and to keep the nests from dropping out.
Answer. Don't do it. Don't worry about the nests falling
out. Build the pigeon-holes perfectly plain.

Question. How many squabs shall I pack in one box when
sending to market? Answer. Having picked out the size
of the box you wish, fill it up close with squabs, so they will
not " shuck." As to the size of the box, make it as big or
little as you please, but do not make it any bigger than one
expressman can handle easily. A good size is two feet square
and one foot deep.

Question. Send me two males and ten females. Answer.
You must buy your birds in pairs. They pair off in this way,
namely, one male to one female. One male does not have
two or three females. We have heard pigeon breeders talk
of having one cock which would attend two hens,. but never
had a case in our experience.

Question. After plucking the squab, and before sending
it to market, do you remove the entrails? Answer. No.

Question. In order to avoid the trouble of using the
mating coop, may I put an equal number of cocks and hens
in the same pen? Answer. Yes.

Question. Can I discover the male and female organs by
examination of the birds with a magnifying glass? Answer.
No. You can discover them by dissecting the dead bird.

Question. Suppose I build the nest boxes larger, so as to
give a shelf on which the birds can alight? Answer. Don't
do it. The bird will fly directly into the nest, or onto the nest

106 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

box in front of the nest. You do not need an alighting place.

Question. Seems to me that if I start with forty -eight
pairs of birds, I ought to have ninety-six perches. Answer.
The birds do not all perch at the same time. While some
are perching, others are on the nests, or walking on the floor,
or are outside in the flying pen, or on the roof. Put up a few
perches where you have room and let it go at that.

Question. I live in England; can you ship me twenty-four
pairs of your breeders? Answer. Yes; the transportation
charges will be four dollars. In addition you will have to pay
the butcher or steward of the boat ten shillings for feeding
and watering the birds. Send us six dollars and fifty cents
in addition to the regular price of the birds and we will ship
to you all charges prepaid. In shipping to Cuba and remote
points in the United States and Canada, we do not have to
pay anything extra for the feeding and watering of the birds;
the express charges include the feeding and watering.

Question. What is a Runt pigeon? Please quote prices
on a dozen pairs of Runts. Answer. A Runt pigeon is a
special breed of pigeon, remarkable for its large size. They
come all colors, as a Homer does. The white Runts are an
exceptionally beautiful bird and command large prices, as
high as six dollars to fifteen dollars a pair. The squabs which
Runts breed weigh from eighteen ounces to one and one-half
pounds at four weeks. If Runts bred as fast as Homers, they
would be just the bird for squab breeders, but they are
fatally slow in breeding, as a rule. The Homers raise two
pairs of squabs to the Runts' one. Therefore it^is of course
more profitable to raise Homers. We do not sell Runts and
do not advocate their use either as a separate breed, or
crossed up with Homers. The large, plump, thoroughbred
Homer is the best.

Question. What is the difference between the Homer and
Antwerp breeds of pigeons? Answer. No difference. The
name is used interchangeably to apply to the same breed of
pigeon. In New England we speak of them mostly as
Homers. In some places they are called more often Antwerps.

Question. Can I feed some of my squabs by hand if nec-
essary? Answer. Yes. Mix up a mushy, soft handful of
grain, hold the squab in the left hand, close to your body, and
with the thumb and first finger of your right hand force the

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 107

mixture into the bill. The squab will swallow and fill its
crop. A backward squab may be forced in this manner.

Question. Can you sell me twelve pairs of young Homers,
about eight weeks old? Answer. No. It is impossible to
tell the sex of pigeons of that age. Any breeder who under-
takes to furnish squabs several weeks old in equal males and
females cannot do so and is imposing on you.

Question. Please give recipes for cooking squabs. An-
swer. See the cook books. Squabs are generally served
broiled. They should be drawn, singed and washed. Cut
off the heads, split into two parts, season, put on a lump of
butter and broil over a hot fire. Place close to the fire at
first so as to brown the outside and retain the juices, then
hold further away from the fire to complete the cooking. Jf
roasted, leave them in a hot oven for thirty minutes. For
roasting, squabs may be stuffed with cranberries or currants.
Baste every ten minutes with spoonfuls of hot water and
butter.

Question. How shall I train the young birds raised from
your Homers to fly? Answer. There is a large business in
flying Homers and if you have a pen or two of trained birds
you can sell them at fancy prices. There are homing clubs
all over the country which have contests and it is worth while
for a breeder to work for a reputation of breeding and selling
fast flyers. The young Homers when five months old are
strong enough to be trained to fly. Take them in a basket
(having omitted to feed them) a mile or two away, and
liberate them one by one. They will circle in the air, then
choose the correct course. You should have left grain for
them as a reward for their safe arrival home, and an induce-
ment for their next experience in flying. Two or three days
later take or send them away five miles and repeat. Next
try ten miles, and so work on by easy stages up to seventy-
five or one hundred miles. If you have a friend in another
city, you may send your birds in a basket to him with instruc-
tions to liberate certain ones at certain hours, or you may
send the basket by train to any express agent, along with a
letter telling him to liberate the birds at a certain hour and
send the basket back to you. If you wish to have the birds
carry a message, write it on a piece of cigarette paper (or any
strong tissue), wrap the paper around the leg of the bird and

SELF-FEEDER FOR GRAIN.

This trough gives excellent satisfaction with us. We do not sell it, but will
tell you how to have it made. It is four feet long. At the bottom of this page
you will see a sectional view of it. The grain is put into the hopper, H. It drops
in the direction indicated by the arrows into the spaces, AA, where it is eaten by
the birds. As fast as they eat, more drops down. The strip through which they
stick their heads is three inches wide and the slots are cut one and one-half inches
wide. The V at the bottom of the trough is made from a solid piece of four by four.
It is solid so that rats cannot get inside of it and hide and pilfer the grain. The
inch-square pieces at the front of the bottom prevent the birds from pecking the
grain out upon the floor. One-inch lumber is used in the construction for every
part except the slot-boards, BB, which are three-eighths inch thick. The top and
bottom are of twelve-inch boards, the sides of ten-inch boards. The top is held in
place by a hook and eye at each end as pictured. The trough will hold from three
days' to two weeks' supply of grain, depending on the size of the flock. . Put the
trough not in the flying pen, but inside the squab house. Or, you may build a
half-trough (slot-board down one side only) and set it in the passageway, and it
will fill the space between the lower tier of nest boxes and the floor. Here it may
be filled from the passageway, and you will not have to enter the unit pen. We
have tried all kinds of self-feeders and recommend this pattern as the best of all.
If you adopt it in connection with the dowel system (illustrated on previous page)
your dowels will be used only behind the drinker, this trough taking up four feet of
the rest of the space. Make it either longer or shorter than four feet, to suit the size
of your flock, if you wish.

Q UESTIONS AND A NSWERS 109

tie with thread, or fasten with glue or a stamp; or, you may
tie the tissue around one of the tail feathers. A thin alu-
minum tube containing the message may be fastened to a
leg, or to a tail feather. A trap window should be constructed
to time the arrival home of birds. This is an aperture about
six inches square closed by wires hanging from a piece of wood
at the top of the aperture and swinging inward, but held close
to the aperture by its own weight. The pigeon cannot fly
out but on its return home (if you have sprinkled grain on the
inside of the house, next the wires) the bird will push the wire
door and go in. It takes only a day or two for the pigeon to
become accustomed to the trap. If you connect the trap
with a simple make-and-break electric circuit, the pigeon on
its arrival home from its flight will ring a bell in any part of
your house or barn. When you have a record of the flyers,
you will have a guide for mating. The majority of fanciers
recommend a medium-sized Homer. A large hen should be
mated to a small cock, or a large cock to a small hen. What
is perhaps the best pigeon service in the world has been in use
for several years between Newton Roads, Auckland, New
Zealand, and the Great Barrier and Maro Tiro Islands, some
seventy-five miles distant. A boy of sixteen years worked
up the service and makes a large income from it. About
twenty messages an hour are carried back and forth by the
Homers. A year ago the government declared its intention
of laying a cable from Auckland to Great Barrier. The
project was abandoned, however, as the residents of the little
island decided that they were well pleased with the pigeons,
and that a cable would not be patronized. The government
offered to buy the whole pigeon outfit from the boy owner,
but he refused. There are from four hundred to five hundred
pairs of pigeons in the service.

Question. In the case of young birds mated up for the
first time at five or six months of age, is it best to destroy the
first eggs, or let them go ahead and hatch in the regular way?
Answer. Let them go ahead and hatch and learn to feed their
young. It will improve them for the next hatch.

Question. Please describe the self-feeder more fully and
explain its operation. Answer. The hopper of the feeder
is V-shaped so that the grain will fall by its own weight to the
centre at the bottom, which is cut away as shown in the

110 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

illustration so that as the birds peck up the grain, more falls
from the hopper. The slit where the birds eat should be
about an inch and a half in width, just enough to prevent the
grain from running out faster than it is eaten. If the grain is
pulled out on the floor, tack a strip of wood, like a lath, so as
partly to block the holes.

Question. Should I cover the yard of the flying pen with
your grit? Answer. No. Provide a box and keep our grit in
the box. When the pigeons want grit, they will go to the
box and get it.

Question. Are the carrier (flying) pigeons the same breed
as your Homers? Answer. Yes. A flying or carrier Homer
is a Homer that has been trained to fly a long distance.

Question. What are artificially fattened squabs? An-
swer. An artificially fattened squab is a squab which has
been stuffed by hand. Take a syringe and fill it with fattening
mixture of gruel-like consistency, open the mouth of the squab
and force the contents of the syringe into the crop of the squab.
Very few breeders take this trouble to bring their squabs to an
extraordinary size.

Question. I wish you had shipped my breeders in one
large crate, then the express charges .would not have been so
much as for the two crates which you used. Answer. You
are mistaken. An express shipment goes by weight and not
by number of packages. The express clerks put all the crates
going to one customer on the scales together and weigh them
all at once and on the total weight the charge is based. They
prefer to handle a large shipment in small packages, rather
than in one large package.

Question. Can I use the upper part of my henhouse for
pigeons, and if so will the pigeons interfere in the flying pen
with the hens? Answer. You may use the upper part of
your henhouse and the pigeons will not be harmed by the
hens, nor the hens by the pigeons. It is best to build the
flying pen in two stories so that the pigeons cannot fly into
the henhouse to try to nest.

Question. To save room, I would like to build my pigeon
house in two stories. Answer. That is all right. Build the
top flying pen out over and extending beyond the bottom
flying pen if you wish to separate the flocks on the ground
floor from the flocks upstairs.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 111

Question. What are the bands for pigeons' legs and how
are they applied? Answer. The seamless band is a ring of
aluminum three-eighths of an inch in diameter and from
three-sixteenths to one-quarter of an inch in width. You
cannot apply it to an old pigeon. It is put on either leg of a
squab when the squab is four or five days old, by squeezing
the toes of the squab through the band. As the leg of the
squab grows, it becomes impossible to remove the band
except by cutting it off On the band, before putting it on
the leg of the squab, you may stamp year of birth and your
initials, or anything you choose. We sell an outfit consisting
of aluminum tubing, dies, etc., by which the squab breeder
may make his own bands at a cost of two or three for a cent.

Question. Since I bought twelve pairs of you, I have kept
a careful account of the feed, and find as you state that five
cents a month for a pair of breeders is right. Grain has been
much higher than usual this summer and it strikes me that
under normal conditions of the grain market the cost of a
pair of squab breeders would be less than five cents a month,
or sixty cents a year. Answer. Our figures of cost were
ascertained not by " skimping " the birds, but feeding them
liberally, and an estimate of five cents a month for a pair is
based on a low cost of grain, and on selling the manure.

Question. What pattern of trowel do you recommend for
cleaning the nest bowls and nest boxes? Answer. The
common trowel such as bricklayers use is too pointed. The
best pattern has a square point and a stout blade with strong
handle. With such a trowel you can clean out the nest
bowls and nest boxes very effectively.

Question. Can pigeons be raised on the sea-coast as well
as inland? Answer. Yes; the Homer pigeon is descended
from a variety of pigeon which first bred among the cliffs
bordering the sea-shore.

Question. Do the squabs fly out of the nest before they are
four weeks old? Answer. No; they look old enough to fly
at four weeks, and their wings seem all ready for use, but they
stay in the nest and are fed by the parent birds, and when you
wish to kill them you find both in the nest ready for you.

Question. Your book states that pigeons sometimes lay
their eggs on the floor. But it does not say anything about
taking the eggs and putting them in a nest bowl. Would the

112 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

birds follow their eggs and accept change of nest from floor to
nest bowl? Answer. No; you must leave the eggs where
they lay them. You can handle a nest and change eggs from
one nest bowl to another, if you wish, but you cannot move
eggs from one place in the squab house to another and expect
the birds to find them and go on with their laying.

Question. Do all squab breeders heat their houses in the
winter time; I mean those who do a large business like your-
self. Answer. No; some breeders of many years' experience
believe that a warm house is detrimental to the health of the
birds, on account of the sudden change of temperature from
a warm house to a cold flying pen. The object should be
merely to take the damp winter chill off the air. If you have
a warm, tight squab house which you will close when night
comes, you will need no heat.

Question. In the case of a long house, say four units long,
should there be wire netting partitions between the units, so
as to separate the birds into four flocks? Answer. Such an
arrangement is more practical than one long house. It is
better to keep track of four small flocks than one large flock.
You can keep account of the birds both on paper, and with
your eyes, with more precision.

Question. How would a cement floor for the squab house
do? Answer. Do not use cement. See page 43 again.

Question. How is salt cat made? Answer. Take sixteen
quarts of sand, eight quarts of slaked lime, four quarts of
ground oyster shells, one pint of salt, one pint of caraway
seeds and mix with water into a stiff mud. Form into bricks
and set away to dry. The water with which you mix should
have a tablespoonful of sulphate of iron and a tablespoonful
of sulphuric acid for tonic and disinfectant. The birds peck
at this mixture and it is believed to have a tonic and strength-
ening effect on them.

Question. Shall I crowd one of the units with nest boxes,
or would it be better to have a smaller number of nest boxes
and build another unit to accommodate the new birds which
I am going to buy? Answer. Better enlarge your squab
house. In case of doubt, you will be on the safer side if you
do not crowd the birds.

(See following pages for points which may occur to you and
which are not covered in these questions and answers.)

SUPPLEME NT.

NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK.
BY ELMER C. RICE.

Every year shows a healthy growth in
the squab industry and in our business,
which has become the largest in the
world in the pigeon or poultry line, and is
expanding steadily, requiring every little
while new buildings, larger business of-
fices, more help — and the growth is going
steadily on, with every prospect of a like
increase the coming year.

On, April 1, 1904, to get more room for
the Boston office, we were obliged to
move from No. 9 Friend street, and are
now located at 287 Atlantic avenue, Bos-
ton, where in a new modern building
and with our quarters fitted with every
modern convenience for the rapid and ac-
curate handling of business, we have the
largest space In New England devoted to
the pigeon or poultry, or kindred trade.

Our Manual, the National Standard
Squab Book, is the best-selling work on
breeding or farm-life ever published in
any country, and has been carried in the
mails to every part of the civilized world.

We do not speak of these matters in a
boastful spirit to magnify what we have
done, but because they are an assurance
to new customers that we are entitled to
their confidence and patronage.

We are most humbly grateful to the men
and women who have favored us so boun-
tifully with their trade and intend to
merit further confidence.

Our business is too much a matter of
pride with us, too large, and too success-
ful, to permit of a single patron being
dissatisfied. We have spent over $100,000
to put our trade on a firm and successful
footing and we cannot afford to run the
risk of displeasing a customer. If re-
sources, skill and experience count for
anything, and we think they do. we intend
to keep on furnishing- the best Homer
pigeons possible, and patrons can rest as-
sured that they are getting for their
money the greatest possible value. More-
over, we have one price to all; the cus-
tomer In California can buy of us as
cheaply as our next door neighbors. Our
farm is always open to inspection and
customers may make their own selection
of breeding stock, if they desire.

Our general advertising- in the high-
class magazines and other periodicals not
only Induces the breeding of squabs but
also leads people to eat squabs. For
everyone who sees our advertising and
writes for particulars and starts breed-
ing, there are a score of men and women

who enquire of their butchers or market-
men for squabs in order to eat them.
Squab dealers in evary section of the
United States and Canada are reporting
an increased demand with which the sup-
ply cannot begin to keep pace.

We take some pride in the squab indus-
try. We were the pioneers in it and we
put it on a commercial basis. We have
fostered it on correct lines and according
to sound business principles, and the
growth has not been a "boom," as some
other things in the past have been
boomed, but has been steady and sure
and successful. We paint no extravagant
picture as to the profits of squab raising,
and we show proofs every step of the way
— stories of success of our customers who
started green and are making money.

That there are occasional failures is to
be expected. We give no recipe and sell
no machinery for transforming an incom-
petent person who fails at many tasks
into a success. But the history of this in-
dustry and of our business demonstrates
with a power that cannot be denied that
squab raising is RIGHT.

No business climbs up the hill of profit
steadily for any length of time unless it Is
absolutely fair, advertised by true state-
ments, and giving a true money's worth.
When we began to tell the country about
squabs, peonle would come to our office
and say, "Well, it reads pretty good, but
is it true?" We did not have much evi-
dence ready then, but we have now. Our
answer is the present condition of the
squab industry, forging ahead with giant
strides to its place alongside of eggs and
poultry, millions of dollars in value, and
the unsolicited letters from our customers
which we print, showing the most remark-
able and convincing progres of this
breeding.

We have already printed a great many
of these letters in years past, and we
print more in this Supplement. We have
room here to show only a small part of
such testimony. For every letter printed
here we have scores just as convincing.
These communications have come to us
unsolicited, day by day, as the business
brought them, and more are coming
every day, and they are our answer to
doubters. They are the proof that what
we say about the business and what
we teach In the Manual, is true, and Is
being worked out successfully. We do not
print the names and addresses of th»

113

114 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

writers of these letters because many of
them are regular buyers of our birds, arid
moreover, we cannot advertise other
breeders free of charge. These letters and
the testimony they give are valueless if
they are not genuine. Each and everyone
is genuine, and moreover, we guarantee
their genuineness, and will produce the
originals at any time to satisfy anybody.
In these days when many "testimonials"
are unblushingly "worked up" without a
shadow of foundation, there are skeptics,
and to such who cannot come to Boston
and see us, we recommend that they send
one of the commercial agency men to
make the inquiry and handle the evidence.
We have never yet had the genuineness of
our letters from customers questioned, for
they "ring true" and are in the simple
language of facts which cannot be counter-
feited, but we are ready at any time for
any doubter.

What others have done and are doing
with our birds, you can do.

KILLING MACHINE.— To kill squabs
with extreme rapidity we have made a ma-
chine with which the operator can work
with much ease and satisfaction. The
method of tweaking the necks which we
describe and illustrate in the Manual is
slow when compared with the work of this
machine, and is repugnant to many, es-
pecially women.

The illustration shows the construction
clearly. The neck of the squab is placed
between the movable arm (or lever) ami
the lower arm, and the lever is brought
down upon the neck, breaking the bones,
crushing the spinal cord and killing th"e
squab instantly. The operation produces
no blood, nor does it break the flesh.
The two edges of the upper and lower
arms, where they come together against
the neck of the squab should not be sharp
so as to cut the flesh, but should be round-
ing, and slightly flat at the points of
contact.

The base-board is made of three-quar-
ters, or one-inch lumber, twenty inches
long and seven inches wide. The upper

arm (or lever) is of half-inch stock, one
and three-quarters inches wide and fif-
teen inches long. The lower arm is of
half-inch stock one and three-quarters
inches wide and eight and one-half inches
long. The two upright pieces in front,
nearest the hand of the operator, are each
of seven-eighths or inch stock, one and

three-quarters inches wide and three and
three-quarters inches high. The two up-
right pieces in back, furthest from the
hand of the operator, are each of seven-
eighths or inch stock, two and one-half
inches wide and three and three-quarters
inches high.

The pin at the back of the machine on
which the lever turns is of one-quarter
inch brass or iron rod two and one-quar-
ter inches long.

The upper arm (or lever) is beveled or
cut off at an angle on lower corner (be-
hind the uprights, and consequently in-
visible in the picture) so that the lever can
be raised to an angle of forty-five degrees,
thus permitting the neck of the squab to
be inserted between the arms at a point
just back of the farther uprights. When
the upper lever is at rest upon the lower
arm, there should be no space between the
two; they should butt flush together.

The whole machine is built of wood with
the exception of the metal pivot and the
screws which hold the parts together. It
is not necessary to mortise the uprights
into the base-board. The screws which
fasten the uprights are started underneath
from the back side of the base-board and
go through the base-board. Nails may be
used instead of screws to hold the parts
together, but the job will not be so
strong. The base-board should be nailed or
screwed to a bench or table so as to give
firmness and solidity in operation. Carry
the squabs in a basket to the machine and
kill them there; do not take the machine
into the pens and kill the squabs in sight
of the other birds.

We do not sell this squab killer. It
should be built by you or your carpenter.

Customers with large plants have told
us that this tool is a handy article, and we
have found it indispensable. The squabs
can be killed as fast as you can work the
lever. The pressure is considerable and
the cords are crushed at once. The squab
is not strangled but is paralyzed, and
made lifeless at once.

After killing in this manner, the squab
may be bled, if desired, by inserting a
long, sharp knife in throat and cutting it
inside, out of sight. It is easier to do
this after the squab is dead than when
it is alive.

WEANING THE YOUNG BIRDS.— If you
are starting with a small flock with the
expectation of raising your own breeders,
do not take the young birds away from
their parents out of the breeding pen until
they are weaned. They are not thoroughly
weaned until they are six to seven weeks
old. It is true that many of them hop or
fly or are pushed out of the nests when
they are from four to five weeks old, but
they continue to cry for food when they
are hungry, and the old cock bird of the
pair which hatched them will be seen
feeding them on the floor. The young-
sters at this time are feeding themselves,
but to keep them strong and rugged they

SUPPLEMENT

115

need the crumbs of parental food which
they get as described, and for which they
cry, or squeak. These crumbs have been
moistened by the parent bird and conse-
quently digest quicker and better.

When the youngsters are weaned, take
them out of the breeding pen and put
them in the rearing pen. You can tell
by their looks when they are old enough
to remove, even if you have not kept
track of their age. The substance at the
base of the bill of an old pigeon which
is white will be a dark brown on a squab
or young bird. A squab in the nest is
so fat as often to be bigger than either of
his parents, but after he has got out of
the nest and hustled around on the floor
he trains off that fat and becomes thin
and rangy and can generally be told from
an old bird, if in no other way, because he
is smaller.

A poor beginner will sometimes be heard
to say: "Many of my young birds are
dying." When he says that, you may be
sure that the trouble, every time, is with
him, and not with his birds, provided, of
course, his parent stock is rugged and
handsome. It may be deduced, without
askir\g any further questions, that he is
taking his young birds away from the
breeding pen before they have the strength
to support themselves. The precarious
period of all animal life is the weaning
age. Some beginners who have had no
difficulty in raising squabs to market age
have had losses because they supposed
that a full-fledged youngster was able to
take care of itself, but we never knew a
case of this which we could not straighten
out simply by recommending the breeder
to keep his young birds longer in the
breeding pen.

NEED OP HEALTH GRIT.— It lias
been our experience in dealing not only
with many thousands of beginners in the
squab business, but also with a great
many breeders of considerable experience,
that comparatively few have a proper ap-
preciation of the value of grit. Pigeons
have no teeth and must have grit to take
the place of teeth, otherwise they cannot
prepare their food for their stomachs prop-
erly, and will not do well. We have had
customers take the most extraordinary
care with regard to the grain, but supply
absolutely no grit, and then they com-
plained because their birds were not
breeding properly, and that the squabs
were not plump.

Grit is not oyster shell, nor is oyster
shell grit. You must have both. The grit
is needed, as stated, to grind the grain,
while the oyster shell is needed to supply
the constituents out of which the female
pip-eon forms the egg.

The yard of the flying pen must be
gravelled, not grassed, and out of this
gravel the birds g-et considerable grit. If
you watch them, you will see them peck-
ing at this gravel In the flying1 pen con-
stantly. Beach sand, or sand of any kind,

may be used in the flying pen instead of
gravel. The flying pen yard should be re-
newed with fresh sand or gravel every six
weeks, for although it may look the same
to you, you must remember that it does
not look the same to the birds, for they
have bean going over it constantly picking
out the particles which they liked. In the
winter time when the flying pen may be
covered with snow, it is well to keep a
protected box filled with gravel or sand in
the squab-house. By a protected box, we
mean a box which the birds cannot foul,
but which allows the- grit to fall down as
fast as eaten.

In a protected box in the squab-house
there should also be fed the Health Grit
A-hich we sell. We have used all kinds of
?rits, and the grit we are now using and
selling to the exclusion of everything else,
is the only grit which pigeons will eat
greedily (thus showing that it is good for
them). It contains salt, and no salt need
be provided in lump fc rm if this grit is
supplied. The grits commonly manufac-
tured and sold for poultry, made out of
granite, etc., are useless for pigeons, and
it is a waste of money to buy them, for
common gravel or sand would be fully as
good, and cost nothing.

A flock of pigeons under any conditions
and in any part of the country will do
better when our Health Grit is fed. The
squabs will be ready for market a few
days earlier, they will be plumper, and
both they and the old birds will be in
rugged health, and will keep so. We keep
this grit before our own pigeons con-
stantly, and consume and sell more tons
of it every year than of any grit in the
market. It is used by practically every
large squab breeder of our acquaintance.
We recommend it in the highest terms,
knowing in our own experience that it
pays for itself many times over.

We charge two dollars per 100 pounds
for this grit. We do not sell less than
fifty pounds. Price of fifty pounds, one
dollar. We ship it in bags and it goes at
a low freight rate. A 100-lb. bag will last
a small flock for months. It is as good
for hens as for pigeons. This grit should
be kept in and fed from a wood box. Do
not put it in a tin or galvanized iron box.

OYSTER SHELL.— A great deal of oyster
shell on the market is unfit for pigeons,
not being ground fine enough. It is qu'te
difficult in some sections of the west and
south to get oyster shell, which has to be
transported from the seaboard. The ovstor
shell which we supply our trade is put up
in one-hundred pound baers. Pn'ce 75
cents per 100 pounds. No ord»r filled for
less than fifty pounds; price of fifty pounds,
forty cents. It is ground fine and is just
right for pigeons. It should be fed to the
birds from a protected box in the squab-
house.

INSECT SPRAYER.— Pigeons have a
long- feather louse which is not harmful.

116 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

The mite which causes the only trouble is
small, about the size. of a pin-head, called
the red mite, because after it has sucked
the blood of the pigeon it is colored red.
We have gone a whole season without see-
ing any of these mites in our breeding
houses. If lice of this kind, or any kind,
are discovered, the insect sprayer which
we illustrate here will be found useful.
The barrel is filled with kerosene (or
water in which squab-fe-nol has been
poured) and a fine spray driven against the
nest-boxes and nest-bowls, or even against
the birds.

These insect sprayers are well made of
heavy tin. We sell them for fifty cents
each. They cannot be mailed, but should

be sent by express, or with other goods
by freight.

Birds which are lousy may be dusted
under the feathers, next the skin, with
any good lice powder. The best time for
such treatment is at night, when the
birds may ba readily caught and handled.
It is also a good idea to throw a pinch of
lice powder in the nest, on and around
the squabs, about once a month during
the summer.

Lice are the terror of chicken raisers,
but we never knew a squab raiser, if in-
telligent, to be troubled very much or
very long with lice. Once free of lice,
the birds almost invariably keep them-
selves clean. It is only the loft where
cleaning is badly neglected which is
troubled with lice.

There is a light-colored grub which
sometimes forms in the manure on the
bottom of the nest-box, but no trouble
comes from it and it does not get on the
bird.

RED AND WHITE WHEAT.— It is im-
possible for us to tell what is the differ-
ence between red and white wheat. We do
not know the chemical constituents which
color ons kernel red and another variety
white. This question is asked us by in-
quirers who have never heard of red
wheat, yet it is a common and staple
variety of wheat quoted daily in the
Chicago and other grain marksts. If you
cannot get red wheat where you live, feed
white wheat, which is fed regularly by
nine-tenths of our customers. As we say
in the Manual, we feed red wheat instead
of white wheat because it is not so much
of a laxative. When we cannot get red
wheat, which happens at some periods of
some years, we feed white wheat.

The effect of wheat is to keep the bow-
els of the birds open and regular. There
is not much fattening substance in wheat.

That function is performed by corn,

Birds fed on wheat and nothing else get
so weak that they do no breeding. We
have found this out by the experience of
customers. Now and then a customer buys
birds without thinking that they must eat
to live. After he has got them he sud-
denly recalls that they must be fed and
starts out to find something. We recall
vividly one Kansas customer of this kind
who was induced by some grain man to
buy a lot of wheat and nothing else. After
feeding his birds nothing but wheat for
two weeks, he wrote us that they were
dumpy and showing no inclination to
build nests. "They are all the time on
the floor," he wrote, "and cannot fly." He
had got them so weak by feeding the
wheat that they could not fly to their nesj.-
boxes, to say nothing of building nests.

USE OF LEG BAND OUTFIT.— The
aluminum which we sell with our leg
band outfit is seamless tubing and by the
use of the outfit you produce a band which
is seamless and which can be applied only
to a squab, because, of course, the feet
of an old pigeon are too large to be
squeezed through the band as a squab's
can be squeezed. To make an open band
(which can be applied to the leg of a full-
grown pigeon) out of the closed band, you
simply make a saw-cut lengthwise the
band, then open the band with your fingers,
put it around the leg of the pigeon, then
close the band again. If anyone has old
pigeons which he wishes to band, he will
find this band outfit quite as serviceable
as if used only for banding squabs. We
have sold thousands of these band out-
fits, and customers like them first rate.
We can furnish open bands (to be ap-
plied to the legs of full grown pigeons)
made of aluminum, V-shaped joint, each
band numbered, a first-class band in
every way, for two cents each, or two dol-
lars for one hundred, postage paid.

MANAGEMENT OF BATH PANS.—
The sixteen-inch bath pan which we rec-
ommend and sell is better than a larger
size, no matter what the capacity of your
plant. It is easier emptied of water,
there is less strain on the arms, and it is
kept clean easier.

There should be one bath pan for every
twelve pairs of birds. If you have about
48 pairs of birds in each unit, you should
have four bath pans in that unit, outside
in the flying pen. You can get along very
well with one drinking fountain to a unit
with that number of birds, or .a less num-
ber of birds, but if you do not have bath
pans enough the bathing water will get
dirtier than it should and the birds should
not be given an opportunity to drink this
dirty water.

In the winter, when the birds are shut
up in the squab-house frequently for days
at a time, it is not necessary to bathe
them every day. Bathe them say once a
week, taking the bath pans into the

SUPPLEMENT

117

squab-house and letting the pans stand be-
fore them for about an hour. If you let
the water stand in the bath pans in the
squab-house in the winter time all day,
they will splash too much out onto the
floor, and the house will get damp.

We fill and empty the bath pans three
times a day in the summer time. If your
plant is a small one, it is not necessary
to do that. The best way for you to man-
age is this: At evening (sunset, sometimes
before) your birds will all leave the flying
pen for their nests and perches inside.
Then fill the bath pans with water. When
the following day dawns, and before you
are up, the pigeons will fly out and take
a bath. When you get up, go to your
pigeons and empty the bath pans, turning
them bottomside up and leaving them that
way all day.

The price of these sixteen-inch bath
pans is forty cents, crated ready for ship-
ment.

KILLING WITH A KNIFE.— Some deal-
ers in squabs wish them to be killed with
a knife as this gets out the blood and
makes the flesh somewhat whiter. Find
out whether or not the man to whom you
are going to sell the squabs wants them
bled. The way to kill them with a knife
is to insert the knife inside the bill and
cut the jugular vein. Then hang up the
squab bill downward and let the blood
drain out. By using the knife on the in-
side of the throat you do not make a
wound which is visible to the eye of the
consumer. Use a knife with a long, nar-
row, sharp blade.

CONCERNING NEST-BOXES. — Many
customers who do not use egg-crates or
orange boxes, but build their nest-boxes of
half-inch or five-eighths lumber, have
written us that they have used the con-
struction which we illustrate herewith,
and which is good, because cleaning can
be better done.

The bottoms of the nest-boxes are re-
movable and rest on cleats, as the pic-
ture shows. The cleats are seven-eighths
or one inch square and are nailed to the
uprights.

When this construction is employed, it is
not necessary that you have a block or
basa screwed to our nappy or nest-bowl.
The nappy or nest-bowl may be screwed
directly onto this removable nest-box
bottom.

It is not necessary, and not advisable,
to nail a strip of wood across the fronts
of the nest-boxes, to prevent the squabs
from falling out. The plain nest-box con-
struction is better in every way. Begin-
ners who tack strips of wood across the
fronts or who make a closed, dark nest-
box, invariably abandon such construction
after a few months' use of it.

The squabs stay in the nest until they
are ready to leave it, and it is very rare
to find one on the floor. It will be noticed
that in the cities, the street pigeons' nests

in many cases will be found on the open
cornices of high buildings, and if squabs

stay in such nests until they are able to
fly, the beginner with squabs ought not to
be worried about his birds' nests which ara
only a few feet from the floor.

SQUABS IN CHICAGO.— The following
article is taken from the Chicago Ameri-
can:
SQUAB FARMING IS A NEW CHICAGO

INDUSTRY.
LITTLE CAPITAL IS REQUIRED AND

PERSONS OF GOOD JUDGMENT

AND CARE CAN REALIZE GOOD

PROFITS FROM PIGEON CULTURE.

If all the birds in all the pies were sud-
denly to lift their voices in song like
those in the nursery rhyme, the chorus
would be loud and long, for raising cf
squabs for food is a constantly growing
and lucrative industry, and withal very
fascinating.

A number of farms each sheltering sev-
eral hundred birds are* being conducted
within easy reach of the Chicago market.

Such clubs as the Union League and
Athletic are always ready buyers. Plump
birds are readily sold for a dollar apiece
for breeding purposes, and their squabs
at $4 a dozen for food. As in any field of
labor the best results come from studied
and carefully planned effort. Utmost
cleanliness in food and in the little com-
partments to which each bird comes with
unerring instinct to nest enters largely in
success.

Eggs of clear black or white birds are
difficult to hatch because the birds of
those colors ara very restless and nervous,
not caring for their eggs; sometimes only
one in a dozen being matured.

In four weeks the young bird is ready
for the market. Many of the squab farms
are side issues of those employed at other
vocations during the day, and bid fair to
attract the attention of those seeking
quick returns from a small outlay.

Attention to recognized habits of the
birds, sanitary conditions and good breeds

118 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

for parent birds are all that is necessary
to success.

ACTUAL, TESTS CONVINCED THEM.—
In Appendix A in our Manual, we tell of
a sale of our Homers which we made in
February, 1903, to a ship captain, who in-
tended to sail from Boston around Cape
Horn to the Pacific coast, with stops, the
whole voyage to be made in about a year,
the pigeons to furnish fresh squab meat
for the long journey. The ship went to
Florida, from Boston, thence to Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, safely, and sailed from
there October 1, 1903. Under date of June
22, 1904, the Captain wrote us as follows
from New York City: "The birds proved
all you claim for them, and even more.
I put them in a small house I built, four
by eight, and four by four flying pen on
March 7, 1903. (This was on the deck of
the ship.) They all hatched before April
6, and up to June 5, 1904, every bird had
hatched twelve times, and one pair thir-
teen times. I saved one pair of the first
hatches, that was born about April 6, and
in October they hatched their first pair,
and up to June 5 had six hatchings, which
I think was pretty good. I am satisfied
that if the birds are taken care of there is
big money in them, and just as soon as I
can get a location in New Jersey near New
York City, I will send to you for two or
three hundred pairs. I have an option on
a place now and will know tomorrow. I
am pretty sure I shall get it and by next
Monday I am in hopes to begin my houses.
As soon as I get them ready, I will send
you a draft for what birds I want. As my
houses are built I will order and fill them
and I hope you will try and give me a
good lot of birds. I shall build for one
thousand pairs this summer and increase
next year if the birds are as good as those
you gave me. In two .weeks you may ex-
pect to get an order for two hundred
pairs, so you can begin to get them paired
off. Any suggestion you can give me
about the houses will be very acceptable,
as I am going to begin to build at once."

Since the above was written, he has built
his first house and we have shipped him
the first large lot of birds. His experience
is certainly convincing. Anyone who has
doubts can start with a small purchase of
birds and find out the facts for himself,
just as this customer did.

We are continually filling large orders
for customers who started with a small
purchase and did well. Why don't you
start with two dozen or so pairs and have
the experience of this Michigan customer
whose order we received this summer:
"A short time ago I received twenty-five
pairs of your Homers. They are all doing
finely, every bird being lively and full of
vim. They are almost all at work now
nest-building, and I am more than satis-
fied with results thus far obtained. I
am about to build two houses, each house
to accommodate two hundred and fltfy
pairs, divided into five flocks of fifty pairs.

Enclosed find New York draft to pay for
four hundred and fifty pairs Extra
Homers."

Under date of July 1, 1904, a customer
writes us from an Ohio town: "The
Homers 1 purchased of you two years ago
this month have been doing very well, in
short, their increase has been marvelous,
averaging nine and one-half (9 1/2) pairs
per year for the two years I have had
them. I -now have quite a flock, bred ex-
clusively from the three pairs of mated
birds purchased from you, but think it is
about time to get some new blood in the
flock, therefore will you kindly quote me
your prices for birds from one to three or
four months old, equal parts cocks and
hens, so that I may turn them in with my
young birds to prevent as much inbreed-
ing as possible in that way. I want to say
that I at first had some doubts as to the
profits of the business, but must confess
that they are even more than you have
ever claimed."

Some of our most successful customers
are women. One writes us this summer
as follows: "Enclosed find post-office
money order for $7,08 payment for the fol-
lowing order: three dozen wood nappies,
three bath pans, four galvanized iron
drinkers. Ship by freight or express as is
cheaper. Something over a year ago I
bought twelve pairs of pigeons of you.
Imperative duties have prevented my giv-
ing them as much attention as I would
wish, but they have increased and pros-
pered with but trifling loss. There are
now more than forty pairs nesting, and
altogether a flock of something over one
hundred and fifty. I have sold none, not
having had time even to sort them out and
send them to market. I hope soon to get
into the lofts and put things in first-class
shape and weed out all the culls. I am
very well satisfied with my experiment."

A customer in New York writes: "There
have been two pigeon fanciers here this
week who say they have no such fine stock
as ours, nor have they seen anything like
them."

BOSTON PRICES.— The squab market is
improving every year, and breeders every-
where are getting better prices, even right
here in Boston, the centre of the section
where our business is done, and where the
interest in squabs is very great. The
following quotations from the Boston Daily
Globe cover a period of nearly four years,
and, as will be seen, prices are firmly
maintained. New York prices are better
than these:

Mar. 28, 1903 $4.00 and $5.00 a dozen

Apr. 25, 1903 3.50 and 4.00 a dozen

May 23, 1903 4.00 and 4.50 a dozen

June 27, 1903 3.50 and 4.00 a dozen

July 11, 1903 3.50 a dozen

Aug. 22, 1903 3.00 and 4.00 a dozen

Sept. 19, 1903 3.50 and 4.00 a dozen

Oct. 24, 1903 4.00 and 4.50 a dozen

Nov. 14, 1903 3.50 and 4.00 a dozen

Dec. 5, 1903 4.50 and 5.00 a dozen

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119

Jan. 30, 1904 5.00 and 6.00 a dozen

Feb. 20, 1904 4.50 a doze»

Mar. 12, 1904 5.00 and 5.50 a dozen

Apr. 30, 1904 4.00 and 4.50 a dozen

May 28, 1904 3.00 and 4.00 a dozan

June 11, 1904 3.00 and 4.00 a dozen

July 23, 1904 3.50 and 4.00 a dozen

Aug. 13, 1904 3.50 and 4.00 a dozen

Aug. 20, 1904 3.50 and 4.00 a dozen

Sept. 10, 1904 3.50 and 4.00 a dozen

Oct. 8, 1904 3.00 and 4.00 a dozen

Nov. 5, 1904 3.00, 3.50 and 4.00 a dozen

Dec. 31, 1904 4.50 and 5.00 a dozen

Jan. 7, 1905 4.50 and 5.00 a dozen

Mar. 25, 1905 4.50 and 5.00 a dozen

Apr. 1, 1905 4.00 and 4.50 a dozen

May 27, 1905 3.50 and 4.00 a dozen

June 3, 1905 3.50 and 4.00 a dozen

July 8, 1905 3.00 and 3.50 a dozen

Aug. 12, 1905 4.50 a dozen

Sept. 23, 1905 3.00 and 3.50 a dozen

Oct. 21, 1905 3.00 and 4.00 a dozen

Dec. 16, 1905 3.00 and 4.00 a dozen

Jan. 20, 1906 4.00 a dozen

Mar. 31, 1906 4.25 and 4.75 a dozen

Apr. 7, 1906 4.00 and 5.00 a dozen

May 26, 1906 3.50 a dozen

June 16, 1906 3.50 and 4.00 a dozen

July 28, 1906 3.50 a dozen

Aug. 22, 1906 3.50 a dozen

Oct. 20, 1906 3.50 a dozen

Jan. 5, 1907 5.00 a dozen

It will be noticed, in the above table of
prices, that although the supply of squabs
has greatly increased during the past five
years, the demand for squabs created by
our advertising has more than kept pace
with it. Prices at this writing (Jan. 15,
1907) are as high or higher than we have
ever known them.

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT.— Not a few
breeders raise squabs by the hundred and
are successful in every detail of the man-
agement of their plant except selling the .
product. Some beginners seem to think
they will be perfectly helpless without
the co-operation of some dealer.

It is a shame to raise fine squabs and
then sell them to some commission man
or other dealer who immediately resells
them, in most cases for double what he
pay you for them. It is the steady
practice of the dealers in Chicago, for in-
stance, to pay from $2 to $3 per dozen and
resell them for $3 to $6 per dozen. If you
don't believe this is true, drop your role
of a squab seller and go into these mar-
kets to buy and you will see how much
profit is being made off your goods.

The squab dealers and commission men
do not advertise for customers. The
squabs are just as salable in your hands
as in theirs. Many people would prefer
to buy of the producer, being surer of a
fresher and more satisfactory product.

If you are producing squabs, by all
means sell them to the consumer and get
the price which the middleman is getting.
It is essential, however, if you are going
to do this, that you make it known in

some way that you have got squabs to
sell. Think of the rich people, the well-
to-do people, the good diners around you
or nearest you, and figure out for yourself
a way of getting to them the information
that you are selling something which they
want and will buy steadily. Perhaps a
neatly printed circular sent by mail will
do it. Or an advertisement in the news-
paper in your territory which will pro-
duce results. Or you might pick out two
or three likely families and make them a
present of a squab or two to get them
started.

The products of the plants of hundreds
of our small customers are spoken for
ahead of capacity all the time by a
neighborhood trade, and this is what you
you should aim at. This is the way the
finest butter and eggs and poultry are
sold, and also squabs, and the plants
of our customers who are selling squabs
direct to the consumer are paying bet-
ter than the plants of other customers
whose product is marketed with poor
judgment.

Don't be too fast to sell to a hotel.
Some farmers and breeders get the idea
that if only they can find a hotel to take
all their goods, their fortune is made.
In every city there are one or more first-
class hotels which want the best of every-
thing and pay accordingly. On the other
hand, there are many hotels which do
not care for the best. For example, few
hotels care for the best ducks, because
a single dinner order is half a duck, and
half of the big first-class, expensive ducks
is more than a diner wants, so the hotel
keeper of course prevents waste by buying
a small duck. Same 'with squabs. The
hotel buyers are sharp bargainers, and if
they think that their trade will be satis-
fied with a seven or eight-pound squab,
they will take such a bird rather than pay
more for a ten or twelve-pound squab. The
average squab breeder, like the average
farmer and gardener, is content to sell
to the middleman, and if you make the
acquaintance of a good one, of course you
avoid some bother, yet it has been our
experience that it is just as easy to sell
squabs to the consumer as to anybody else,
in fact, after you have got started with
him he will come after you and pay you
a great deal more than anybody else, still
he is paying just what he always has
paid, and he is better satisfied. Squabs
are phenomenal sellers and it is well to
take advantage of this condition, which
is not always true of poultry.

MR. McGREW CALLS.— The following
is from the pen of Mr. T. F. McGrew,
associate editor of the Feather, poultry
editor of the Country Gentleman, also a
widely-quoted writer for the government's
bureau of animal industry, and a lecturer
for the New York State Board of Agri-
culture. He is one of the best known
judges of poultry and pigeons in the
United States. The visit to our our farm of

120 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

which he speaks was made in November,
1903; since then our stock of Homers has
been increased.

"It was our pleasure within the last
two weeks to visit the home plant of the
Plymouth Rock Squab Co., at Melrose
Mass. We were beautifully entertained
by Mr. Elmer C. Rice and his family.
The buildings at the home plant are by
far the best that we have ever seen for
squab growing. Each building is con-
structed for the best possible light, air,
and sanitary conditions. Those who may
be interested in squab growing will find
it to their profit to communicate with
Mr. Rice at Boston for the printed mat-
ter which gives a full description of his
plant and methods of doing business.

"We saw at this plant 12,000 full-grown,
well-matured Homing Pigeons ready for
distribution for growing squabs. In all
our experience we have never seen a bet-
ter lot than these. They are large, vig-
orous, full-breasted, broad-shouldered
specimens such as one would select for
producing squabs of the best character.
There are Blues, Blue Checks, Silvers,
Reds, and mixed colors such as would
naturally be produced through the cross
mating of any of these varieties. While
we were there Mr. Rice shipped from
the plant between five and six hundred
birds, all of which are sent out in large
roomy baskets, the baskets returnable at
the shipper's expense. So far as we can
calculate, we are under the impression
that Mr. Rice is doing a very large busi-
ness. In addition to this we carefully
perused a number of letters received by
Mr. Rice from localities as far West as
San Francisco, as far South as Florida,
all of these communications speaking in
the highest terms of the shipments made
to them by Mr. Rice."

RUNTS NOT DESIRABLE.— From the
Farm Journal. — "Our remarks in the Octo-
ber issue respecting the relative merits of
large and small birds were put in a way
to be easily misunderstood.

"By large birds we meant runts and
that class, usually found only in the
hands of fanciers and experts in pigeon
breeding. They are not at all desirable
for squab breeding.

"Common pigeons are not hardy and
prolific in proportion to their smallness.
The largest of these should be selected
for breeding always.

"There is a great difference in the size
and quality of what are called common
birds. Where they are chosen as the
basis of a squab breeder's business a
careful selection should be made.

"Of all the pure-bred types, we know
of nothing superior or equal to the Hom-
ers for breeding squabs. They are hardy
and prolific and rear large, meaty squabs.
There is also room for selection in Hom-
ers, some being much larger than others.

"When a breeder already has a flock of

common pigeons he can greatly improve
it by the infusion of Homer blood,"

USEFUL, MESSENGERS.— We have quite
a call for our birds from physicians hav-
ing a country practice. They leave two
or three birds at a patient's house to be
let loose when the doctor's services are
needed. In cases of expected confinement
at a distance of several miles from the
doctor's home, our birds are extremely
useful. We earnestly advise country phy-
sicians with a wide territory to cover to
look into this matter and communicate
with us. It will be money in their
pockets.

DEMAND IN COLORADO.— We have
had the same experience with the Western
trade as the following- writer in the
Western Poultry World, of course
excepting California, which is one of
the best squab markets in the coun-
try. What he says is conservative and
sensible and bears out what we have al-
ways maintained, that wherever there are
men and women who are good eaters,
there squabs will be eaten. If you live
in a town where a squab never was seen,
but where there are people who set a
good table, to them you certainly can sell
squabs:

"Having been asked by your editor to
write an article on pigeons or squab rais-
ing, and also having said I would, I
commence by stating a few facts which
I have gained from both practical experi-
ence and inquiries from Eastern breeders.
In the first place, I want to say that lit-
tle is known of this industry in the West,
and in fact it has not been known in the
East until about ten years ago, when
they began to take it up about the same
as the Western people are doing now.
Many got discouraged at finding it was
not a get-rich-quick scheme.

"I am constantly having letters from
different parts of the country asking me
if squab raising pays, and saying that
from inquiries they have made at meat
markets and commission merchants, they
are told that there is no demand lor
them. Of course there is not at the present
time, for if there was they could not
get them. No man can sell what he has
not got. I once went to a gentleman
and told him my plan of starting a squab
farm, and he in turn went to his meat
market and asked him what he thought
of it, and he said I was either lazy or
crazy. Now this man knew absolutely
nothing of squabs, and never had any
in his store, and, consequently, never
had any calls for them. I dare say that
if one were to go to every market in tfie
city they would tell you the same thing,
and nine out of every ten people would
tell you they had never eaten a squab in
their lives; still I have people — come
right to my door— who come a good dis-
tance out of their way and want to buy

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121

squabs of me, The reason hotels and
restaurants do not continually have them
on their bill of fare is because they cannot
be supplied at all times. Today they
can get perhaps a dozen, and tomorrow,
if they wish any, they cannot get them,
and even then they are obliged to take
common squabs and not Homers. As
to the demand, I want to say right
here, that I know one concern that will
contract to take 400 dozen a week at
good, fair prices. Two parties that I
know of right here in this city are con-
stantly in receipt of letters from hotels
and clubs in Denver wanting to buy
squabs. In the East, where there are
ten squab farms to one in the West, the
prices are higher than here. It is because
of the demand."

ELEGANT PROFIT.— The following is
from Vick's Magazine, an article on squab
raising by a practical breeder:

"Of recent years the demand for the
toothsome squab has been so great that
the supply does not come up to the de-
mand. Where years ago they were used
only for invalids, now they are on the
bill of fare in almost all restaurants and
hotels. They command good prices at
all seasons and an elegant profit is de-
rived from them by the raisers. It used
to be that pigeons could not thrive when
housed up, but now the former obstacles
have been overcome and better success is
made where they are confined than wnere
they have their freedom.

"The squab business if conducted prop-
erly will bring in a large percentage of
profit considering the first capital in-
vested. Only a few hundred dollars are
required to start where such a sum would
be nothing to commence in such a busi-
ness as stock keeping, etc., and yet with
a few hundred pairs of pigeons anyone
with a little judgment can make a living
for himself and family. Many farmers'
sons could make nice yearly incomes by
stocking a part of their barn (not used
for anything else) with pigeons. The
risks are not- so great as with chickens,
but the birds must be atended to and
not neglected.

"With chickens one must not only feed
the old, but must also give the little ones
their meals, but not so with pigeon breed-
ing. You feed the old birds, and they
feed their young. One person can feed
a thousand pairs of birds in about a
quarter hour, the rest is left for the old
ones to do. The little birds are fed from
pre-digested food from the crops of their
parents, who by a sort of pumping force
the food into the squabs' mouths. It
takes no longer time for a person to feed
a lot of birds with young than it does
without young.

"After the squabs are four to five
weeks old they are ready for market. It
costs but one and one-half cents per pair
for feeding birds a week and their young
also, so with the prices received for the

squabs, which is forty cents per pair in
summer to eighty cents per pair in the
winter, one can imagine the percentage
of profit.

"Squabs of the largest size demand the
highest market prices, so it pays to com-
mence right by buying only good large
stock. The amount of labor required is
almost nothing, in . fact unless very large
numbers are kept, one will have only a
few hours' work daily. The writer has
nearly 2,000, and it takes only fifteen min-
utes to feed and half an hour to give
fresh water. Of course it takes a day
or two a week for killing young ones,
and a day or two each month for clean-
ing buildings, then the work is about
done. One person can attend 1,000 pairs
nicely and have ample time to do other
work around a place. The writer finds
it a snap to other ocupations and one is
his own boss and can go or come when
he pleases. It is the business for a young
man; he can advance as he saves money.
There are some who commenced on a few
dollars and by careful saving now operate
plants of thousands of pairs of birds.

"The larger the pigeon, the larger the
squab, the higher the price. The breed-
ing houses need not be heated artificially
in winter as the birds can withstand any
temperature and in cold weather sit upon
their young until they are feathered suf-
ficiently to stand the cold."

ENLARGED HIS PLANT WITH
PROFITS.— Experience of a Breeder Who
Made it Pay From the Beginning.—
In Country Life, a monthly magazine,
one of the handsomest and highest-toned
publications, the experience of a gentle-
man in squab raising gives the following
facts: "Six years ago I did not have a
bird, but I invested fifty dollars in pur-
chasing twenty-five pairs of extra-choice
Homer pigeons, remodelling a poultry
house for their accommodation. I had
kept pigeons for pleasure for five years,
previously, and felt that I knew a little
about them. In these six years I have
not invested another dollar excepting the
dollars the birds have earned, and
my present establishment of five houses
and fifteen hundred pigeons, which has
cost me two thousand dollars, is all paid
for. In addition, for the last three years,
I have paid out from five to seven dol-
lars each week for the wages of a helper,
to dress the squabs and clean the houses,
for my regular business would not permit
me to attend to these duties myself.

"The concensus of opinion of all ex-
perienced squab breeders stamps the
Homer as the best pigeon for this pur-
pose. This variety is strong and vigor-
ous; a hearty feeder and good worker;
bright-eyed, alert and active; stocky, sym-
metrical and full-breasted, which counts
so much in squabs. They are also pro-
lific, and their squabs are full-feathered
and fit for market in four weeks.

"I was very fortunate in getting my

122 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

first twenty-five pairs of birds. These
were Homers, full-blooded, and had es-
tablished records for flying, having taken
first honors in several contests.

"They not only averaged me seven and
one-half pairs of squabs a year, but.
stamped their vitality on the birds I have
selected from their young.

"As my profits accrued I purchased
straight Homer stock, picking from the
best near-by breeders, as well as those
of established reputation at a distance.

"I always put a lot of new birds in a
clean coop by themselves, give generous
supply of feed and water, and have
plenty of nesting materials in the coop,
and if they have come from a distance
put a good poultry powder in their feed
for the first meal, and let them alone
for a few days. If they are strong,
healthy birds they ought soon to begin
to carry materials and build nests.
When nest building is fully under way
I transfer each mated pair to permanent
breeding quarters. When I find a pair
of birds mated, I call my assistant and
tell him which bird to keep his eyes on,
and not to lose sight of it a single in-
stant. At the same time I note the other
bird and catch it. I pass the caught bird
to the assistant. He points out the other
bird and it is soon caught. I band all
purchases as well as those I raise.

"My weekly expense for feeding my
flock of fifteen hundred pigeons during
the month of December, 1903, was eigh-
teen dollars and thirty cents for the fol-
lowing: Three hundred pounds of cracked
corn, three bushels each of wheat, peas
and kaffir corn, one and one-half bushels
of millet, one bushel of hemp and half a
bushel of cracked rice. The rice I do not
feed regularly, but give when the birds'
bowels are loose, for which condition it
is an excellent corrective. Feed is now
much higher than last year.

"Pigeon-keeping for squabs may fitly
be termed a twentieth-century industry,
for only during the last five years has it
by its rapid development attained to the
dignity of a special business. The busi-
ness will surely still more increase dur-
ing the firsi decade of this century. The
price of squabs has been strongly main-
tained during the five years just passed,
notwithstanding the marvelous increase in
the business. The business furnishes
a way by which either men or women
(for many of the latter have successfuliy
taken up squab raising) can embark in
an enterprise which does not call for se-
vere bodily exertion and which if intelli-
gently managed will yield good dividends."

SQUAB-RAISING ON THE FARM.—
Pigeons Kept in the Upper Part of Duck
and Poultry Houses. — The following is from
an article in the Country Gentleman, en-
titled "A Combination Plant, Fruit, Bees,
Fowls and Squabs":

"For growing squabs some have sepa-
rate houses, some use the lofts of old

barns, and many are so constructing
their poultry buildings as to have quar-
ters for growing squabs in the second
story of the poultry houses. This is
gained by laying a flat roof on top of
the poultry house, on top of this a double
thickness of tar paper well coated with
hot tar, with a board floor laid over it.
This provides the floor for the pigeon
house, the roof for the poultry house,
and makes it absolutely vermin proof
both ways. A large duck grower of our
acquaintance has squab houses of this
character built over his duck brooder
houses and his poultry houses. Several
thousand pairs of breeding pigeons are
kept in this way, with a hanging outdoor
flying aviary for the pigeons. When it
has been successful on so large a scale,
smaller growers need not hesitate in
adopting such a plan.

"Of course cleanliness, care and sani-
tary conditions about the plant are im-
perative. The most successful squab
growers do not scatter sand or dirt of
any kind on the floor or in nest boxes.
Neither do they use anything but straw
for the birds to build their nests. The
droppings are all thoroughly scraped up
from the board floor, from the nest boxes
and under the perches once or twice " a
week with a hoe, and stored away in
bags and sold at 50 to 60 cents per bushel.
They are used by tanners in making tne
very best grades of leather. These drop-
pings are of no value when mixed with
tobacco stems, shavings, sawdust or
sand. Grain or feed of any kind if mixed
in with them will not injure their value,
nor will some little straw or feathers
count much against their value. Buy a
good sharp hoe; floors constructed in this
way can be thoroughly cleaned by scrap-
ing up once or twice a week, and in this
way the sanitary conditions will be of the
very best.

"Those who do not care to dispose of
the droppings in this way in some in-
stances spread from six to eight inches
of soil from their land over the floor of
the squab house. This is allowed to re-
main from three to six months. Usually
at the end of the moulting season all the
nest boxes and the whole house is thor-
oughly cleaned out and the entire con-
tents of same dumped on the floor,
scraped and hauled away and scattered
over the land. This makes an excellent
fertilizer. We know of one instance
where a large number of squabs are kept
in this way, and the house is cleaned but
twice a year. In the spring all the clean-
ings from the house are hauled out and
spread over the land for the growing of
summer crops. After the fall moult, the
place is thoroughly cleaned up for win-
ter, the cleanings of the house are
stored away in a dry place and rp+ain^d
until spring. Many persons would call
this a filthy, unhealthful way to keep a
squab house, but some of the most suc-
cessful breeders follow this plan. The

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123

presence of the five or six inches of dry
soil on the floor keeps it in good condi-
tion throughout the season. The cloud
of dust that is raised at times by the
pigeons' flapping their wings and flying
about is almost a certain guarantee
against insect attack. However, we do
not advise this method. We simply give
the facts as we have seen them.

"The only limit to ths extent of such a
plant is the ability of those who possess
it properly to care for and manage all
its branches at a profit. Where there is
a family of boys and girls it might be
well to engage the attention of all in
growing these several kinds of products,
and to lend encouragement to each by
giving him a share of the profits. Scat-
tered all over the country are thousands
of families in country places continually
worrying and wondering why they cannot
keep their children at home. The
real reason so many of the young people
leave the farm is that they are compelled
to work continually and never receive
any portion of the income for their
labor. If the parents would allow their
growing families to make an equal sum
of money or in proportion to what they
can make by leaving home, there would
be far less complaint on this score. All
children wish to have the privilege of
earning a few dollars that they may call
their own."

The following paragraph is from the
same paper in its report of the New
York pigeon show, January, 1904:

"There seems to be a depression in the
sale of high-class pigeons. Well-favored
specimens of the highest character still
sell at top prices, but the absence of any
commercial value for a large number of
pigeons that are grown detracts from
the numerous sales that their producers
might have. If producers of the hun-
dreds of varieties of beautiful pigeons
would turn into the market as squabs the
greater part of all their product that was
not valuable for the exhibition room,
greater returns would come for ' those
which were saved for exhibition purposes.
There is a grand stride forward in grow-
ing squabs. The combination of poultry-
growing with squab-growing works well,
and is being adopted by so many small
farmers as to create an unusual demand
for all grades of pigeons that are good for
this purpose.

"It is well for those who go into the
squab business to remember that the
price is graded by size and quality. Dur-
ing winter squabs that would average 8
or 9 pounds to the dozen have sold at
retail in the New York market at from
35 to 40 cents each, while those which
averaged two or three pounds less to the
dozen sold at from 12 1-2 to 20 cents. It
takes quite as much time and as much
care and food to produce the small speci-
mens that bring the lower prices as it
does to produce the higher grades wh'ch
bring the better prices. People are be-

ginning to find this out, and taking ad-
vantage of the knowledge, are looking
about for the best quality of pigeons to
produce the best market squabs."

SQUAB PIN-MONEY.— The following
paragraph appeared in the January, 1901,
issue of the Designer, a monthly maga-
zine for women published by the But-
terick Publishing Company of New York
City :

"A young woman of my acquaintance
has kept herself supplied with hats, boots
and gloves during the past year by sell-
ing the squabs of six pairs of Homer
pigeons. They require very little care,
and the young are ready for market when
four weeks old. My friend is so well
pleased with her success that she has
added seven pairs to her stock, and confi-
dently expects to dress herself completely
on the sum derived from the sale of her
squabs. — M. P."

THEY FLEW HOME.— A dispatch from
Paris, printed by the Baltimore Sun, says:
"A man named Maraud complained to
M. Brunet, Police Commissary for one of
the districts on the south side of the
Seine, that he had been robbed of six
valuable carrier pigeons and said that one
of his friends had seen them at the house
of another man.

"The magistrate went to the place in-
dicated and there saw some birds. 'How
did you come by them?' he asked of the
man. 'Oh, I bought them months ago,'
was the reply.

" 'Well, bring them to my office,' said
M. Brunet. There he had a wax seal at-
tached to each bird's leg and the birds
liberated.

"They flew back to Meraud's house and
an hour later the thief was on his way to
the police depot in the black maria."

SQUAB INDUSTRY'S GREAT GROWTH.
— Address Delivered Before the New Jer
sey State Board of Agriculture. — Years
ago when poultry and egg pro-
duction was being first advocated exten-
sively, there were many fears expressed
that the business would be overdone, that
chickens and eggs would come -to be com-
mon and low priced, and the fear that
there would be no money in the business
no doubt kept many out of it. Neverthe-
less, more and more have gone into
poultry and eggs year after year, and
millions of dollars' worth of both are
marketed yearly. Whole communities,
like Petaluma, California, are given up to
poultry and eggs. Eggs got as high as
sixty cents a dozen in the large cities
the past winter (1904).

Some peop'e not Informed as to squabs
think that if many go into squab raising
the prices are groins: to drop until there
is no profit in the business. On the con-
trary, prices for sauabs have been in-
creasing every year here in the East, and
they are going to increase in the West in
the years to come. Consumers who have

124

NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

read our advertising all over the country
are eating squabs who never ate them
before, and the effect of our advertising
on the general squab market everywhere
has been to boost prices. Well-to-do
people who are led to get into the habit
of having squabs on their tables keep on
ordering them, and tell others, and thus
the market grows.

If all the Homer breeders we have sold
during the years we have been in busi-
ness were concentrated in one plant, we
could sell the entire squab output of
that one plant to any one of a hundred
commission men in one of the large
cities.

New Jersey is doing well with squabs.
Other states, notably California, Iowa,
Wisconsin, Michigan and Masachusetts
are producing a great many. Just what
is being accomplished in New Jersey comes
as a surprise to people who look upon this
business as something new and untried.
At the annual meeting of the New Jersey
State Board of Agriculture in January,
1904, an address was given by Mr. G. L.
Gillingham on squab raising, in the course
of which he said:

"The production of squabs for the mar-
kets of our large cities is an industry
that is reaching considerable proportions
in this state. And, although it is growing
yearly, yet the prices seem to be advanc-
ing; showing that there is an unlimited
demand.

"The great scarcity of game all over
our country compels the keepers of first-
class hotels and restaurants to look for
something to take its place, and at the
same time be sure of a supply at all sea-
sons of the year. Therefore they have
hit upon the squab to fill this void, and
now when one calls for quail on toast, or
order of a similar nature, it will very often
be found that the quail was raised in a
pigeon loft, and is much younger, more
tender and juicy than the quail would have
been, could, it have been secured.

"This is a business that can be carried
on in connection with poultry raising,
and is one that may be conducted upon
village lots by women and young per-
sons, if need be, and by those whose other
business takes their attention during the
middle portions of the day, as the labor
connected with it is not heavy. It is.
particularly adapted to women who wish
to add something to their income. In
fact, women are more apt to succeed in
it than most men, as it requires close
attention to the little things, as it is the
many little things that go to make up
the final profits at the end; as women
are generally more patient and thorough
with small details they will be more suc-
cessful.

"The extent to which this business is
conducted in some parts of our state may
be shown by stating that in one town
in Burlington County of about 3,000
inhabitants, the purchase of one dealer
the past year was 56,582 squabs, for which

he paid $16,400; while another dealer bought
perhaps a little over half as many more,
bringing the aggregate to 86,000 squabs,
for which the people of that town re-
ceived nearly $25,000; while another single
grower in the same country shipped from
his own lofts between 13,000 and 14,000
birds.

"The cost of feed and care for a work-
ing loft of pigeons is about $1 per pair
per year (manure not sold). Some put it
much lower, but at the present prices of
feed, if proper care is given, we should
not figure not much lower than $1. A good
pair of birds will produce from seven to
ten pair of squabs per year; generally an
average of not over eight pair. The
prices have ranged the past year from
25 cents for the poorest, to as high as 75,
80 and 90 cents for the best, putting the
number raised at the lowest (seven pairs)
and the average price at 40 cents, we
have $2.80 for the $1 invested yearly after
the first cost of investment for build-
ings, etc., which need not be expensive,
according to the taste and means of the
builders and the amount of capital he
wishes to put into it. The houses should
always be placed where the drainage is
good, preferably upon a dry knoll, facing
the south or southeast. Some paying lofts
have been made by fitting Up unused
wagon house or wood house lofts, or over
hen houses. Other houses have been con-
structed for poultry on the ground floor
and the story above for pigeons. In this
case great care must be exercised to have
the floor well laid with planed and grooved
flooring, to keep vermin from passing up
from the poultry.

"Very large flocks should not be kept
in one room. From 50 to 100 pair is
enough to keep together for the best re-
sults, preferably the former. A room
10x12 is ample for 50 pair of working
birds. A house may be built of any
desired length, 12 feet wide and divided
into apartments of the above size by wire
partitions with doors hung on spring
hinges, to facilitate passing through in
feeding.

"These houses should have windows on
the south, of sufficient size to afford
ample light in all parts of the house and
no more, as too much glass makes the
house too cold on the winter nights.

"As each pair require two nests, as they
. are generally sitting in one while raising
young in the other, there should be twice
as many nests as pair of birds, with eigh-
teen to twenty to spare, that they may
take their choice.

The period of incubation is eighteen
days, the hen bird sitting on the eggs,
excepting about four hours each day, when
the male takes her place, while she is
feeding and resting.

"During incubation a substance forms
in the crop of both birds, known as pigeon
milk or curd, on which the young are
fed for the first five or six days, until
they are old enough to digest the grain,

SUPPLEMENT

125

which is carried to them in the crop of
the old birds, and ejected from their
mouths to the mouth of the young bird
by the same process as the pigeon milk
is fed in the first place. Hence it is im-
portant that the proper feed be given,
which should consist of a variety of grain
and seeds, the larger the variety, the
better. These should consist of cracked
corn, rather coarse (preferably about three
or four pieces, from a single kernel),
with the tine sifted out. This should be
kept before them in troughs or hoppers,
so constructed that they cannot throw it
out and waste it, which they will fre-
quently do in search of other grains of
which they are more fond. The other
seeds should' consist of whole corn, Can-
ada peas, Kaffir corn, hulled oats, millet
and hempseed. These should be fed on the
floor twice daily, just what they will clean
up quickly, feeding the hempseed but
twice or three times per week, except
in the moulting season, when a small
quantity may be fed each day, as hemp-
seed is very fattening, and when
fed in excess bad results may fol-
low. Do not feed wheat too liberally,
and always mixed with other seeds, using
the hard, red wheat and never new wheat,
as it has a tendency to loosen the bowels
of the young birds with sometimes fatal
results. In connection with the feeds,
the birds should be furnished with ground
oyster shell for grit, also a liberal sup-
ply of salt and small bits of charcoal
and gravel. The salt is necessary to keep
them in good health. These substances
may be kept in small boxes around the
house where the birds can have free access
to them.

"A generous supply of pure water
should be kept before them at all times
near the feeding trough, and should be
supplied each morning before feeding,
that the old birds may have access to it
immediately after feeding, before taking
the feed to their young.

"In stocking the houses, always avoid
using common breeders, as the results
will be disappointing. They are not pro-
lific and are more liable to produce dark
squabs, which always bring the lowest
price in market, and do not feed the
young as well as the full bloods. The
best all-round bird for squab raising is
the straight Homer, as they are the most
active, good workers, quiet disposition,
and the best of feeders.

"The Runt is the largest of pigeons,
but a very slow worker, seldom producing
more than four pairs of squabs per year.
They make a good cross with Homer and
Dragoon, but even then will not produce
as many birds as either of the others
alone.

"The squabs are dressed for market
once a week, on regular shipping days.
They are dressed just before they are
large enough to leave the nests, and when
they are full-feathered, and should weigh
at this time eight pounds per dozen, this

size commanding the highest price, the
prices falling off very fast, as the size
drops from this weight. The squabs
should be dressed with empty crops. They
may be caught in the early morning be-
fore feeding, and dressed, or caught the
evening betore, after the old biras have
fed them for the night, and kept in ham-
pers until morning, when their crops will
be just in the right condition.

"After the young birds are two or three
weeks old, the old birds build another
nest and begin to sit again, the male bird
taking most of the care of the young un-
til they are ready to dress; hence the im-
portance of supplying two nesls for each
pair. Thus a good pair of working birds
have a pair of young and a pair of eggs
a large portion of the time.

"During the summer months the birds
should be furnished with a shallow tub of
water in which to take a bath, two or
three times par week, which will help
them to keep free of vermin. These tubs
should be emptied after they have bathed,
as they should not be allowed to drink
the water in which they have bathed.

"With good care, properly constructed
houses, wholesome food, never sour or
tainted, very little disease should be en-
countered. Prevention is better and more
easily administered than cure. Some of
these are dry houses, pure water, regu-
larity in feeding and cleanliness. The
water buckets should ba washed out fre-
quently with creoline water, mada by
adding a teaspoonful of creoline to one
quart of water. This will kill any dis-
ease germs that may be present, and is
a good disinfectant.

"Give good care, not neglecting the
small things, as it is the multitude of
these wherein the profit lies.

"The demand for squabs is constantly
increasing and any one entering into this
business and willing to give it the atten-
tion it requires will always find a profit
on the right side of the ledger. But re-
membar this profit will be according to
the care and intelligence put into the
business."

NEW YORK MARKET.— The following
is taken from the New York World, an
article on squabs, published in August,
1904:

Squab-Raising as a Fine Art.— Game
Laws Make Propagation of this Small Bird
a Remunerative Business, — Palates Demand
Substitute for Quail and Other Morsels
that Statutes Forbid.— Few persons, even
among the devotees of late suppers in New
York's hie-h-priced restaurants, In look-
ing over their elaborate menus and select-
ing, say, a squab on toast, realize what a
tremendous industry the Broadway taste
for a large cold bottle and a small hot
bird has developed in the United States in
recent years.

The industry may, indeed, be considered
in itself in a squab state, but such has be-
come the after-theatre demand for the

126

NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

tasty little birds that many business men
have turned from less lucrative pursuits
to devete their energies to their raising.

It would be impossible to state pre-
cisely how many squabs are. annually-
bred in the United States, but it is esti-
mated that hundreds of thousands reach
the tables and tickle the palates of lux-
ury-loving and extravagant people.

The best of judgment in regard to qual-
ity and quantity of feed is essential,
cracked corn and red wheat being the
staple food. Kaffir corn, Canada peas,
buckwheat and millet comprises about 20
per cent, of the food in winter, and in the
summer less corn but more wheat. Grit
and salt are before the birds always.

At the age of four weeks the squabs are
ready for market and are deliciously ten-
der, as they have never learned to fly,
and their muscles have not had the hard-
ening influence of exercise. The killers
now get busy. With a slip noose around
the feet, and wings locked on the back,
the squabs are suspended from a rack.
A killing knife is inserted well into the
mouth and a quick, deep slash made at
the back of the throat, allowing the bird
to bleed freely.

An expert can kill and rough pick, about
four birds before they get cold. The
squabs are next dropped into a galvan-
ized iron tub, through which a constant
stream of water flows, which cools the
birds. Then a small hose nozzle" is in-
serted in the mouth and water allowed to
fill the crop, after which it is withdrawn
and a quick pressure forces everything
out. A second use of the hose thoroughly
cleanses the crop. Two more immersions
in iced water make the birds ready for
local shipment.

In the Lenten season commission houses
buy and ice thousands of dozens of squabs
for winter trade. That is also the time
squab raisers select and save the best
stock for breeders.

Many of the live birds, especially the
Homers and red Carneaux, cost from $2.50
to $6 per pair.

Prices for squab in New York City run
from $4 per dozen in the early season to
$5.50 and $6 in the winter.

TWO YEARS' EXPERIENCE WITH
OUR BIRDS.— "Will you kindly send us
price-list and such other printed matter
as you have issued within the past year?
You will remember we bought six pairs of
you one year ago last July. We have
about 124 now and are disposing of all the
squabs we can raise at three dollars per
dozen. All of our birds are not laying yet
but will soon mature. We have lost sev-
eral when they were young birds, then we
had some stolen (one of which came back).
One bird had a peculiar substance form
around the outside under the bill. Will
you tell us If this was canker? We dis-
posed of the bird at once. We did not try
to treat it at all. The people here know

very little about fine squab, but I believe
me market is growing better right along.
Feed is much higher here than in the
East. We have to pay $1.75 per 100 for
cracked corn, $2.15 for red wheat, $1.75 for
Kaffir corn and about $5 for hempseed, so
that $3 per dozen does not bring in a very
large profit. Would you advise our raising
the price? We hope to send you another
order shortly. We have not tried to use
the manure at all. We have had no
trouble with our birds as to vermin. They
seem to keep entirely free from it."— Mrs.
H. D., State of Washington.

TO MONTANA IN GOOD ORDER.— "I
received the crate of pigeons yesterday.
They were all alive and in good health." —
J. P., Montana.

FINDS OUR BIRDS FAST BREEDERS.
— "On Sept. 16, 1902, I ordered six pairs
Extra from you and now (Aug. 30, 1904)
have about two hundred old pigeons and
squabs together, and will want to begin
shipping a few before long. Wish you
would please give me the names of a lot
of desirable squab buyers in New York and
other nearby cities. Do you think prices
will be better later on in the fall, and
which is the best way to ship them, dead
or alive? Can I get shipping crates al-
ready made? If so, where, and at what
price? Thanking you in advance for this
information."— W. E. H., North Carolina.

HAD NO TROUBLE RAISING THEM.—
"Last spring, in April, I think, we bought
twelve pairs Extra for thirty dollars of
you. At present we have eight-five in all,
or about sixty young birds that we have
raised ourselves. We would not think of
selling them as we have had very good
success and are much interested in the
business, but through sickness I lost my
former position in this village and have
now secured a permanent one in Chicago,
and expect to move there in a few weeks.
Expect to locate right in the city and con-
sequently will have no facilities for keep-
ing the pigeons, and so are anxious to
sell. The birds are as healthy as when we
received them, as we have followed •very
carefully the rules laid down, in caring for
them, and have never seen any signs cf
disease among them. Have lost only com-
paratively few, and those were small ones
which were neglected by mother birds, or
by some accident. Quite a large number
of our young birds have mated and have
bred the latter part of the winter."— R. F.
G., Michigan.

GETTING SIX DOLLARS A DOZEN.-
"Two of the six pairs have now hatched
out three squabs, two on February 4th and
one on February 7th (the other egg evi-
dently was chilled by the extreme cold
weather). The market price in Newark is
six dollars a dozen, and we have con-
tracted to sell these three squabs at that

SUPPLEMENT

127

price. They are fat and very satisfactory.
We are very much encouraged and wish to
increase our flock."— F. C., New Jersey.

THE; TRUTH ABOUT THE MARKETS.

— "I received your Manual and have read
it through very carefully. I have found
that it tells the very truth. I was in
Washington Market and there they told me
just the same, they will take all the
squabs I can give them. I think I will
give you an order next month for 48 pairs
Homers and one gross nappies." — H. T.,
New York.

ATTRACT ADMIRATION IN CALIFOR-
NIA.—"Birds arrived on the llth safe an-1
in first class condition for the length of
their trip. I am well satisfied with the
birds and expect to give you an order for
more before long. Everyone that has seen
them thinks they are fine."— E. J., Cali-
fornia.

OUR METHODS IN SOUTH AFRICA.—
"Enclosed find fifty cents for which please
send me a copy of National Standard
Squab Book. Perhaps it may interest you
to know that this is to assist in the raising
of squabs in South Africa."— L. E. D.,
Pennsylvania.

YOUNGSTERS ARE BEAUTIES.— "I
have fifty or more pure Homers from the
original old birds purchased from your
concern. These youngsters are beauties
between the ages of six months and one
year."— B. R. D., Long Island.

IN PERFECT CONDITION.— "My
mother bought one dozen pairs of your
birds a year ago and now has about sixty
in flock. They have been well cared for
and are in perfect condition."— T. A. B.,
Kentucky.

A NEWS-AGENT'S SIDE LINE.— "I
have been doing a little business that I
did not have time to tell you about in my
last letter. I have boys in several of the
towns around here to get squabs for me
and I have made arrangements with the
above firm to deliver those that I don't"
sell myself, on commission. The hotel has
an order for 150 per week. Besides this
order I sell to several restaurants and let
the market deliver to the houses. I am the
only one here who buys squabs to any ex-
tent, and average 200 to 300 per week. I
make from $5 to $7.50 each week this way,
besides what I make on the train. How is
that for a news agent running a tram
every day from 11 P. M. to 1.15 A. M. ?"—
B. D., Texas.

HAS OVERSOLD HIS SQUAB CAPAC-
ITY.—"Could you supply me with two
dozen first-class squabs for shipment from
Wooster on or about December 22? I have
an order for that amount, and while the
birds I purchased from you are doing fine,

I will not have enough. Have orders for
breeders and squabs enough to keep the
flock working overtime until spring, at
which time I expect to enlarge my plant
to at least 500 pairs. I could of course fill
this small order from nearby markets, but
Homers are Homers, and I don't care to
depreciate the value of my flock by ship-
ping inferior squabs." — C. .L. Z., Ohio.

THE MAN HE WORKS FOR IS MAK-
ING MONEY WITH OUR BIRDS.— "I see
in the Poultry Keeper that you offer a
squab book free, so I would like to have
one, for I have squabs myself and I would
like to learn how to raise them. I am only
a boy and I am working for Mr. Fairbanks
on his farm. He told me that I could
write to you and ask you for a book. I
know the chicken business very well, but
not the squab business. Mr. Fairbanks
bought pigeons from you last year (eighty
pairs Extra shipped August 4, 1902), and he
is doing fine with them, so good-bye and
don't forget the address. That penny is
for a stamp, and the other stamp is for the
letter."— W. H., Missouri.

A LONG SHIPMENT IN GOOD ORDER.
— "Your two letters dated January 27th
were received yesterday, February 1st. I
went to the express office early this morn-
ing and found the pigeons had arrived in
the night. The birds are all alive and in
fine condition but two, one of which was
bruised and I fear its wing is broken. I
thank you for the extra two pairs and for
the crates. I have a fine new squab house
built according to your plans, only the fly-
ing pen runs up to the top of the roof,
which I think a better plan for this damp
climate. I may send for one or two dozen
pairs more by spring."— Mrs. E. N., State
of Washington.

A PERFECT SHIPMENT OF HOMERS
TO FRANCE.— "The pigeons arrived this
day in perfect condition, but I am sorry to
say I have neither the nappies nor the
bases. I duly received your letter of De-
cember 16th which I answered at once. I
have this day written to Puritan Line of
steamship asking for information concern-
ing the non-arrival of the nappies."— G.
D., France (Europe).

DOING WELL.— "The pigeons purchased
of you last fall are doing well. Am in im-
mediate need of more wooden nappies." —
F. C. J., Massachusetts.

GOT ONLY TEN CENTS EACH FOR
SQUABS BUT MADE MONEY.— "I built
two rustic seats for a neighbor for three
pairs of Homer pigeons, and put them in a
pen eight by eight feet. They increased
at about a pair of squabs a month. We
turned the young ones out as soon as they
were able to fly. We soon had a flock of
pigeons of about fifty or seventy-five. Sud-
denly we found that we could sell the

128 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

young ones for ten cents apiece and the
butcher took them off the nest for us. We
killed the three original pairs as we did
not want any in coops. I built a pigeon
house sixteen feet high and ten feet square
on the ground, two stories. The birds
come in at the top and nest where they
please. I took up a homestead seventy
miles north. On this my whole family
lived for most of the time. While we were
away from this place, the butcher came
regularly and took away the squabs and
left the money or his account with a
neighbor. We never kept any account of
the profit of these splendid birds except
last year, when the profit was $34.50, and
the feed would not amount to a dollar, as
they fly out and rustle their own feed.
My wife feeds them a little to make them
friendly. I have a large wagon shed and
they used to nest in this. I shot some of
them and they have never bothered me
there now for two years. They are wise
and I think thy can talk. As a compari-
son of profit between chickens and squabs,
we had a coop of chickens that required
constant care. After deducting $19 for
chicken feed, the profit on them was $33.
The chicken coop and corral is quite a
distance from the pigeon house and the
pigeons never feed with them." — W. S. M.,
California.

NEVER LOST A BIRD BY SICKNESS.
— "In June, 1902, I got twenty-four pairs of
you, paying sixty dollars for them. I have
never lost a bird by sickness. I killed one.
He was ailing and did not look well, so I
killed him. This was three or four months
after I got the birds. Right off after I
got them I raised twenty-five pairs, then I
began to kill squabs, as I had no room. I
sold the first lot of squabs in February,
1903, and got 25 cents apiece at first (this
was much too low), then I sold for 30
cents apiece until May, 1903. I should say
I sold in all 150 squabs up to May 1. From
that time on the marketman to whom I
was selling refused to give me more than
18 cents apiece, so I rigged up a new place
and put forty pairs in there, then I sold
a few more. Since then to now (November,
1903) have sold about 60 to -75 squabs. I
have sold only squabs, but the other day I
sold six pairs of breeders for two dollars
a pair. All the 24 original pairs I got of
you have keot working. I have three or
four pairs which have made a nest almost
every month since I have had them. They
had eleven nests, others four or five nests
a pair. I have eighty-eieht pairs of breed-
ers now. I have erot confluence now to go
ahead and am going to start a large plant
in the country and will buy some more
birds of you." — H. C., Massachusetts.

A YOUNG WOMAN'S SUCCESS. — "A
year ago last July I received from you
one-half dozen pairs and paid you $15. I
have tried to take good care of them and
they have increased till now I have some

one hundred young birds. I did not tiy to
sell any of them as I wanted to let the
flock grow. I took good care of the young
birds mating and so there are not any of
them that are related to each other now
that are breeding. I had built for them a
good warm house according to your direc-
tions and they have done very well. Some
few died during this winter, but I think
they were crowded and so the older one*
would push the little fellows out of the
nest and they froze during the night." —
Miss E. M. C., Kansas.

A GOOD HEALTHY FLOCK.-"! bought
24 pairs Extra of you a little over a year
ago. I now have besides the 24 pairs about
40 pairs of mated birds, all leg banded.
Also I have about one hundred young
birds and all but about thirty of these will
be old enough to mate by the first of April.
All of these are leg banded and are good
healthy birds in first-class condition."— E
A. H., Iowa.

GOING TO MAKE AN EXHIBIT.— "My
birds that I received of you in July and
August are doing fine, and as there is a
poultry show here in this city next month.
I thought perhaps I would show a few of
them. Could you give me any pointers on
putting them on exhibition?" — E. G.,
Michigan.

EXPERIENCE DEARLY BOUGHT.—
"You may possibly think I am doing con-
siderable correspondence without doing
much trading, but I wish to get your ad-
vice in regard to a little matter. Last
April I purchased seventeen pigeons of a
friend of mine for $5.95. I knew nothing
except what your Manual taught me about
the business. I purchased in the fall of a
westerner what were supposed to be twenty
pairs of Al Homers, but they proved to
be a poor mess. The westerner also proved
to be a dead beat. The next man I tackled
was in your state, who shipped me twenty-
four pairs Homers for $36. Well, at pres-
ent I have fifty-three to fifty-five pairs cf
birds and about thirty-five to forty head of
young stock. Now I see where I am lame,
and where I made a big mistake in not
buying your best breeders, if I had only
purchased one-half the number. I wish to
get rid of what I have. I have a large
house and wish to fill it with the best
stock obtainable."— M. D., New York.

NEW JERSEY SEES WHAT REALLY
PLUMP SQUABS ARE.— "The 400 pairs of
pigeons I got from you are hale and
hearty. By actual count I have ninety-
eight pairs of eggs and squabs, besides the
squabs ready to kill, which number is,
however, very small. Taking the lateness
of the season when I got the birds and the
extreme cold we have here, I think the
outlook all right. What do you say?
Everybody is stuck on the plumpness of
the squabs when dead and their bright and
fine appearance when alive."— J. B., New
Jersey.

SUPPLEMENT

129

OUR PROMISES MEAN SOMETHING.-
'Thank you for prompt, kind and sat-
isfactory way of settlement, in answer to
our letter to you. If all dealers would as
satisfactorily adjust claims similar to ours
as you have done, there would be a much
easier feeling among purchasers. This
action on your part shows that your guar-
antee is just what it says. Again thanking
you for your business-like settlement or
our claim."— R. B. M., Pennsylvania.

BOUGHT BIRDS THAT NO ONE
ELSE WANTED AND FOUND THEM
INDEED CHEAP.— "About four years ago,
my son, now 16 years old, got the pigeon
fever, and I must admit I caught it my-
self. He first put up a dry goods box and
bought a few birds. He showed so much
interest in them I thought it would be a
good pastime and bought him more birds,
and erected a house as per enclosed sketch.
Like most beginners, we wanted a vari-
ety and we were foolish enough to buy
them anywhere, and presume we got what
no one else wanted. We spent quite a few
dollars and our last purchase was from a
fellow in Pennsylvania, who had 'more
than he wanted,' and we bought them
because they were cheap, and they
were cheap, or I had better say
they were mighty dear. The pigeons
never had a nicer home or better
feed. I try to do right what I un-
dertake, everyone of our friends said we
would succeed, but we made a miserable
failure indeed. My wife saw your adver-
tisement, sent for some literature, we then
sent for your squab book, which we just
received, and read it with considerable in-
terest. The fever has slightly returned,
not as hard as at first, but I honestly be-
lieve that had I your stock in the first
place, we could now tell a different tale.
After my wife read your book, she said,
'I believe I can do all right with that
kind of stock myself,' so I have encour-
aged her, as she feels that it would be
pastime for our two boys, and I was cer-
tainly fond of the birds when we had
them. Send along the nappies and just as
soon as we can get rid of the truck we
have, and straighten house up, we will be
ready for the Extra Homers. I believe
there is a great opportunity offered in
squab raising, and we are going to try
it."— E. G., New Jersey.

READ OUR RULES TO THE EX-
PRESS AGENT AND GOT A REBATE
OF ONE-HALF.— "The pigeons came to
me Monday afternoon and seem to be none
the worse for the long journey. They are
beauties and I find it almost impossible
to keep away from their pen, but I sup-
pose the novelty will wear away. I
should have written yesterday, but the
express agent had overcharged me and I
wanted to settle the matter, if possible,
without bothering you. I am glad to say
I was able to persuade him he was in the

wrong, and after reading your card he
refunded half my money. Thank you for
the very prompt attention you gave my
order."— Mrs. R. B., Florida".

STRAIGHT BUSINESS METHODS.—
"Birds arrived (this order was the second
order from this customer, six months after
the first order) in good condition, and are
now housed. The birds look fine. I thank
you very much for the extra pair, some-
thing that I did not expect you to do un-
der the circumstances, as it was no fault
of yours of those birds going light. I
also thank you for the information and
will try and save the bird by your method.
To get even with you I shall show my
birds to all and mention E. C. Rice.
Thanking you again for prompt shipment
and straight business methods."— W. D.,
Ohio.

AN OLD CUSTOMER HEARD FROM.—
"I am still raising squabs and like my
pigeons better than ever (this customer
has been with us going on three years).
Am having good success raising them all
through this awful cold weather, and they
seem healthier than when it is warmer. I
enclose check for which please send me
wooden nappies. If you have anything
new in the way of literature kindly send
me some, as I want to keep in touch with
you. Have you supplied birds to anyone
around here lately? Our visit to your
squab plant last summer is pleasantly re-
membered by wife and I."— F. L. B., New
Jersey.

NICE BIRDS.— "The pigeons arrived in
fine condition and seem to like their new
home very much. Thank you for select-
ing me such nice birds. Hope the bas-
kets reached you safe."— Mrs. J P A
Virginia.

BEAUTIFUL BIRDS GOT TO HIM
QUICK.— "Birds received yesterday noon,
all in fine condition. Put them in their
house last night. All took a good bath
this morning. I thank you for your
promptness and for sending me such
beautiful birds. I had not expected birds
so soon, but was ready." — P. M. R., Kan-
sas.

SQUABS SUPERIOR TO POULTRY.—
"I am an old pigeon and squab and poul-
try man. I have made money with squabs,
and I think they are superior to poultry."
— H. S., Massachusetts.

FLORIDA PURCHASER DELIGHTED.
—"Pigeons arrived O. K. Saturday night.
I am delighted with them, and as I have
followed your instructions as to building
house, pen and other articles, the birds
seem to be at home." — M. F. B., Florida.

THEY ARE BEAUTIES.— "Received
pigeons all O. K. They are beauties and

130 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

have begun to nest,"— F. M., Ohio.

A TEXAS CUSTOMER'S APPRECIA-
TION.—"Your second shipmant of Homer
pigeons was received yesterday and like
the first, in excellent condition, and I am
more than pleased with them. Although
my dealings with you, when compared to
some, of your large customers, are rather
insignificant, I can't allow this oppor-
tunity to pass without expressing to you
my thanks and appreciation for your fill-
ing of my orders. For square dealings,
conducted solely along sound business
lines, you are without a peer in the
pigeon world today. I most heartily rec-
ommend you to all." — S. A. F., Texas.
(The writer of this letter is a well-known
Texas business man, connected with one
of the largest corporations in that state.)

WON SUCCESS ALSO BY DOING AS
WE DO; NEVER HAD A SICK BIRD.—
"Some time ago I bought a dozen pairs
of Homer pigeons from you and paid $20
for them, and I want to get about four
or five dozen more pair, and would like
to know the price you ask for them at
present, so I can send the money at once.
I find your book on the pigeon industry
covers the pigeon business in good shape.
I have always found when you start to
make a new pie or cake, follow the di-
rections of the people that have made a
success. Consequently, I have not had
a sick pigeon since I received them some
eight or nine months ago. The only dif-
ference I made was in the house, and in
that the only difference was not to make
it quite as tight as they are made in your
locality. Hoping to hear from you soon."
—James W. C., California.

ANOTHER WOMAN PLEASED.— "The
birds came on the afternoon of the 6th.
They are all very handsome. Some of
them are beautiful. You will be surprised
to learn that in less than 24 hours two
pairs were nesting. They have been very
busy all day."— Mrs. R. L. U., New York.

INCREASING FAST.— "Enclosed find
$1.70 for leg band outfit. I am receiving
excellent results from the birds and they
are increasing so fast that I find it neces-
sary to band them." — H. C. K., Mary-
land.

OUR HOMERS ADVERTISE THEM-
SELVES.—"For the enclosed $15 ship by
National Express six pairs Homers,
equally as fine birds as you sent on
August 3 last year, ten months ago, to
Ben Barber of this place,"— J. B. H., New
York.

MANUAL WORTH FIVE DOLLARS.—
"I am in receipt of your Standard
Squab Book and am very much inter-
ested in the work. I find that every time
I pick it up something new seems to ap-
pear. In fact, the whole subject is cov-
ered, so far as I am able to judge, and I

consider the work well worth five dollars
instead of your dinky price of only fifty
cents. There is a squab plant between
.here and San Francisco, four thousand
birds. Their output of squabs, twenty
dozen per week, all go to the Palace
Hotel, San Francisco. I think prices for
squabs are lower here than in the East,
still I believe there is money in it." — J.
L. S., California.

ONE YEAR'S SELECTION.— "The num-
ber of breeders have increased to about
fifty pairs from those I purchased from
you about n year ago (fifteen pairs), and
all are good breeders, as I have been par-
ticular to raise those from the best breed-
ers only."— H. W. C., Michigan.

BREEDING THROUGH THE WINTER.

—"Several months ago I purchased froYn
you a number of your best Homers. They
have bean doing fine, breeding right along
through this severe weather; in fact, my
flock has more than doubled."— L. Z.,
Ohio.

OUR MANUAL OF GREAT HELP TO
HIM. — "Some little time ago I sent for
your National Squah Book and afterwards
for six dozen of your wood nappies. Since
then I have been keeping my pigeons ac-
cording to your instructions and with
great success. I had some fine, pure-bred
Homers and have been getting squabs at
four weeks averaging twalve ounces. I
have had them up to 13 1/2 ounces. You
strongly urge the adoption of all methods
that will reduce the time necessary to
look after the birds, and I heartily agree
with you."— C. C. C., California.

FROM A NEW JERSEY CUSTOMER.—
"Anything new in the pigeon line? If
so, send it to me. I am raising lots of
squabs."— F. L. B., New Jersey.

SQUAB BUSINESS A SUCCESS.— "My
father is in the squab business in a town
in this state. His business is a success,
but I would like to have him give your
birds a trial and so have decided to make
him a present of a dozen." — H. L. T.,
Iowa.

GOOD WORDS FROM A COMPETI-
TOR.— "We have associated your splendid
achievements and capacity with our
dogged determination to remain in to the
death, and by elimination have differen-
tiated both of our establishments from
the pretentious and ephemeral plants that
come and go. We are a long way from
fealing otherwise than modest, and yet
we realize that in about eight months
we have got a good plant, a good stock,
a good name and a good trade, and do
not owe a dollar. All the same, this has
been regretfully on our sole, unaided in-
experience> and your skill has been a
loadstar of hope, suggesting that perhaps

SUPPLEMENT

131

same day we might hit upon the course
which you have taken and follow it. If
this business shall ever be trustified, we
shall wish to be near you, and in any
event we have nothing but desire for your
continued brilliant success, and that we
shall be worthy compeers."— C. F., Naw
York.

WONDERFUL, FECUNDITY.— "Here is
$3.84, for which please send me four
dozen wood nappies by Barstow's ex-
press. My pigeons bought of you a year '
ago are doing fine. I bought six pairs
of you a year ago and have now (July
5, 1904) 175 birds. I had 100 stolen. But
for this misfortune I would now have
275. I have 400 or 500 hens as wall as
the pigeons."— N. J. G., Massachusetts.

RAISED A HUNDRED.— "Will you send
me your prices on grain of all kinds?
My birds are doing fine now. I have about
one hundred birds raised from the ones
I bought of you (twelve pairs). As soon
as I get started in good shape I shall
buy more breeders from you. I have not
sold any yet as I have bean raising them."
— H. A. H., Massachusetts.

OTHER HOMERS NOT LIKE OURS.—
"I enclose my check for $1.50 to pay for
leg band outfit, and 20 cents additional
for postage. My birds are continuing to
do fine, and I am more pleasad than ever
with them. I was out last night calling
on a man who claimed to have Homers.
They looked more like common street
pigeons than my Homars. All these things
tend to encourage me, when people can
breed such birds profitably. I know mine
will show up much better. Please give me
a few names of New York dealers in
squabs."— W. M. G., New York.

PERFECTLY SATISFIED.— "Pardrn me
for not writing before, but I have bean
away from home since the birds came,
until within a few days. I am perfectly
well satisfied with the Homers you sent
me. They are as fine a lot of birds as
I could wish to see. Half of them are
nesting now and I think that they want
to work as quickly as could be expected.
We have taken great pains to make their
house warm, clean and convenient. I in-
tended to order more birds before this
time but have been unable owing to sick-
ness in my family. However, as soon as
I get straightened round again I intend
to order more breeding stock and work
my flock up to 150 pairs as soon as pos-
sible."—L. A. C., New Jersey.

ENCOURAGED TO GO ON AFTER
EIGHT MONTHS' TRIAL.— "Kjndly quote
me price on leg band outfit. I have lost
circular which you sent me. The birds
I got from you last fall (eight months
ago) are doing fine, one pair especially,
breeding regularly four weeks. I hope to
have larger quarters and will then place

order for more birds."— F. J. G., New
York.

A PLEASURE TO DO BUSINESS
WITH US.— "The two dozen pairs of Ex-
tra birds ordered Thursday night arrived
Saturday morning. It certainly is a pleas-
ure to do business with you. I am de-
lighted with the prompt service you have
rendered, for which -I beg to thank you.
The birds are a fine lot, and they arrived
all in the best condition. I am convinced
that you make a special thing of each
order sent you. Will return the baskets
tomorrow."— E. S. F., New York.

NEVER SEEN BETTER PIGEONS.—
"Several men who have seen my birds
have said that they have never seen a
healthier or finer lot of pigeons anywhere.
The reason they are in such healthy con-
dition is simply this, that I have followed
your method to the very letter, and henca
the. result."— E. W., New York.

SEVEN MONTHS OF STEADY IN-
CREASE.—"In May last I bought of you
a dozen pairs of Homer pigeons which
proved a great sucacss, as I now have
thirty or forty young birds flying at large.
What I want to know is, can I let out
my old ones? I have a fine large flying
pen for them, but if you think they will
stay with me if I give them their free-
dom, I would like to do so. They have
now been in their present quarters nearly
seven months."— W. L. J., Maine.

THANKS FOR EXTRA HEN.— "This is
to advise you that our second order of
breeders was received on the morning of
the 24th in prime condition. We wish to
thank you both for your promptness in
filling our order, and also for the extra
hen sent to replace the sick one of our
first lot."— W. E. M., Pensylvania.

NEVER SEEN LARGER, FINER OR
MORE VIGOROUS BIRDS. — "The Homer
pigeons ordered from you on Saturday
last arrived today, Tuesday, about noon,
'apparently in excellent condition, and I
believe I have never seen larger, finer or
more vigorous looking birds. Please accept
thanks for your careful consideration and
quick shipr \ For promptness you are
certainly a . jnder."— J. H. B., Delaware.

SHIPPED IN EXTRA FINE SHAPE.—
"I received from you last evening at 7
o'clock 208 birds, all alive and so far as
I can see in good condition. This morning
one is choked and stupid, but I think
will come out all right later. I am very
grateful for the extra fine shape in which
you crated, labelled and fitted them for
their journey. I will send back your
baskets this date all in fine shape. I
have received evedything else ordered, all
in fine condition."— J. C., Long Island,
New York.

132

NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

SENT HIS FRIEND TO US. — "Please
send me a pass to visit your plant at Mel-
rose February 27th, and one for Mr. Bur-
rows. Mr. B. intends buying birds soon.
Mine purchased last April are doing nice-
ly."— E. L. S., Boston.

HE IS RECOMMENDING OUR BIRDS.
— "Enclosed you will find a money order
for which please send me wooden nap-
pies. I would like to have them as soon
as possible for my bfrds are beginning to
lay. I was over to your pigeon plant in
Melrose and bought a few pairs and I
think that they are the real stuff. They
are doing fine. Please send me a pass
for two, as I would like to visit your
plant again, and I am recommending your
birds."— A. L. R., Massachusetts.

STARTED SMALL AND IS NOW CON-
VINCED.—"Please give ma your best
price on 100 pairs, giving an estimate of
the weight and express charges on same.
My birds are doing finely. All young
birds are larger than the parent birds and
workers."— G. C. D., Michigan.

THE CHILDREN ARE BETTER THAN
THEIR PARENTS.— "I have forty-eight
birds raised from three pairs I bought of
you, far ahead in looks and activity than
those you sent me." — Mrs. C. L. P., Con-
necticut.

HAS RAISED SQUABS TEN YEARS.—
"I have received your Manual and it is
beyond my expectations. I have raised
squabs for about ten years from common
pigeons."— J. H. M., Pennsylvania.

EXPERIMENT A SUCCESS.— "My hus-
band is going into the business. He
bought some Homers of you last summer
and intends buying more."— Mrs. G. W.
P., Massachusetts.

THEY GROW UP IN INDIANA ALL
RIGHT.— "I now (December 1, 1903) have
over eighty Homers from the eight pairs
I purchased from you last spring. They
are all in the very best of condition."—
R. T. M., Indiana.

IN FINE SHAPE ALL THE WAY TO
OREGON.— "I write you to acknowledge
the receipt of the birds. They arrived on
the morning of November 18 and were
turned into their new quarters on the 19 :h,
and I guess they were very glad to get
out of the baskets and stretch their wings
which they did in great .shape and a num-
ber of them took a bath as soon as it
was presented to them. They all seem
to be in fine condition after their long
journey."— H. J. T., Oregon.

GOOD RESULTS IN SIX WEEKS.—
"By actual count I find we have the
following results today, six weeks after
the arrival of the pigeons: Forty-two pairs
of squabs and sixty-seven pairs of eggs

in the process of being hatched."—!. B.»
New Jersey.

VERIFIED STATEMENTS AS TO COST
OF FEED.— "My little experiment justifies
the statement of your book as to cost of
feed. If you will answer my query as to
capacity of my house I shall greatly ap-
preciate the courtesy."— F. B. S., Ore-
gon.

COMMON PIGEONS DO NOT PAY FOR
KEEP.— "I have studied squabs for two
years and have had good luck with them.
I have read your book and think it is
good. If I had a price list I would get
some Homers. I have always had good
luck, but common pigeons do not pay for
the keeping." — H. K., Michigan.

AN ALABAMA BOY PLEASED. — "The

birds arrived safely on the 24th and in
good condition. We think they are a
very nice lot of birds. As I am a boy
of only fifteen years, I expect to follow
your advice given in your magazines, and
would appreciate any further advice you
could offer me. As I have a little more
money on hand, I may order some more
birds soon. Thank you for your prompt
delivery." — W. L., Alabama.

THREE HUNDRED BIRDS RAISED
IN LESS THAN ONE YEAR FROM
THIRTY-SIX PAIRS.— "Our birds shipped
by you Feb. 12, 1903 (thirty-six pairs),
have done very well. We have now (Jan-
uary 12, 1904), over three hundred and
they are laying and hatching all the time.
We are going to buy some more before
very long and move our plant out onto
our thirty-acre farm. I think we will
do some more business with you. Please
give us the name and address of the peo-
ple who buy pigeon manure. We have
some to sell."— S. M. M., Indiana.

FIVE DOLLARS A DOZEN FOR THE
SQUABS PROVE THE QUALITY OF
OUR HOMERS.— "I wrote you the first of
the week for price of fifty pairs of Hom-
ers ready for hatching. Not receiving any
answer, I think you did not get the lat-
ter. Please give me figures by return
mail, and if you can ship at once. The
Homers I bought from you two years ago
are doing finely, also those I hatched from
them. They are very large and hand-
some. Shipped some dressed squabs last
week to New York and they returned
five dollars per dozen, which proves the
quality of the goods. Hoping to hear from
you soon."— A. C., Connecticut.

OUR STOCK THE BEST TO BE HAD.
—"I find I will not be in the market for
more birds as expected, as my flock is in
good shape, but have recommended your
company to several prospective purchas-
ers. Do not know, however, what result
this will bring. I am glad to say that I

SUPPLEMENT

133

have every conlidence in your dealings,
as I am much pleased with every article
I have purchased from you from time to
time and will not hesitate a moment to
buy stock from you if in market for same,
as I believe your stock to be the best that
can be had."— O. C. S., Michigan.

IN FINE CONDITION, PERFECT
BEAUTIES.— "Please excuse delay in ac-
knowledging receipt of birds. They were
delivered to me in fine condition and cer-
tainly are perfect beauties. They seem
to enjoy their new quarters. I must con-
gratulate you on your promptness in ship-
ping orders. With me it was the quickest
move I have ever seen, considering the
distance. The same day I ordered poultry
from a breeder in Jamesbury, New Jersey.
Both letters were posted late Friday af-
ternoon. The pigeons arrived Monday
morning early, while the poultry did not
arrive until the following Thursday. I
was much surprised at the difference." —
J. H. B., New Jersey.

KINDNESS TO A BEGINNER. — "We
thank you for the kindness you have
shown us in our inexperience."— F. H. W.,
New Hampshire.

PLEASED WITH HER INVESTMENT.
— "Last April I purchased of you some
Homers. I have had good success with
them as far as the laying and hatching
are concerned, and am very much pleas?d
with my investment."— Mrs. L. G. S..
Ohio.

STOCK TO BE RELIED ON.— "In talk-
ing with my friend, Mr. C. F. Peters,
about going into the poultry business, he
advisad me to write you about the squab
business, saying he knew you would do
as well if not better by me than anybody,
and I could rely on your stock and what
you might wish to tell me about the busi-
ness. I have read your works and think
you have the right idea about the busi-
ness."—C. A. G., Illinois.

THREE WEEKS OLD AND WEIGHED
OVER A POUND.— "We weighed one of
the first pair of squabs from the birds
bought of you when it was just three
weeks old, and it held the scales at just
seventeen (17) ounces. Pretty good, was
it not?"— Mrs. E. K., State of Washing-
ton.

A FINE LOT OF BIRDS.— "The last lot
of pigeons which I ordered from you were
received Monday morning in splendid con-
dition after their long journey, and are
a fine lot of birds. I will send you in a
few days another remittance, in addition
to the one already sent." — J. L., Louis-
iana.

SEES THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWL-
EDGE AND GOOD STOCK.— "Just read
your book and saw how foolish we were.

We had seven dozen mixed birds, some
common and some Fantails, and some
Runts and Homers. We were ignorant
about the kind, and only had about eight
or ten squabs in six months, so we sold
them to the first person that came. Now
I would like to start fresh again and get
about a dozen pairs of your Homers.
What would tha express be to Alameda?
Kindly let 'me hear from you immediately,
as I would like to have some pigeons." —
Mrs. M., California.

DOING BETTER AS HE GETS EX-
PERIENCE.—"Enclosed find postoffice
money order for which plsase send me
leg band outfit and extra tubing. From
the twelve pairs of Homer pigeons I
bought from you about May 1, 1903, nine
months ago, I have seventy-two birds, all
told, old and young, and ten pairs set-
ting. According to this rate I ought to
have, I think, at least sixty pairs by
May 1. That will be an increase of five
to one. I have lost so far four young
birds and four settings of eggs, but I
hope to lessen this this year."— E. B.
G., North Carolina.

PREFERS OUR HOMERS. — "I am vary
proud of my birds, they are so .tame and
pretty. I can get Homers around here,
but I would rather have them all from
your place. Please send at your earliest
convenience." — Miss B. D., New Jersey.

NO MORE CHEAP BIRDS FOR HIM.—
"Herewith I enclose fifty cents worth of
stamps, being in payment for one of your
Manuals. In May last I started in the
squab raising business and never owned
a pigeon before. I naturally have made
some few mistakes, both in building a
house and selecting birds. I am going to
sell out if possible, if not incurring too
much loss, which, being a poor man, I
cannot afford to do, and if successful I
shall buy land and build, and also buy
the best birds I can find, even though it
be only a few pairs. I now have 150 pairs
all mated, working nicely, stove in house,
eight-pound squabs, seventy-five cents per
pair Philadelphia market. As I said be-
fore, I am poor, but not a cheap man. I
want the best, which of course after giv-
ing proper food and attention I should be
rewarded both in stock of squabs and
prices."— S. B., Pennsylvania.

A FRIEND'S FLOCK DOING WELL.—

"Enclosed find express money order. I

am sure you will send the best birds. I

find the Manual very instructive. Mr.
Connelley's flock which he obtained of

you is doing fine."— C. L., South Caro-
lina.

STOCK THE FINEST HE HAS SEEN.
— "My home is in Buffalo, N. Y. I am
stopping in this city (Atlanta, Ga.), tem-
porarily. It is my intention to establish

MATING COOPS IN MATING HOUSE.

We have a thousand mating coops in 9ur plant. This illustration shows how
they are arranged in a house, several tiers high.

134

SUPPLEMENT

135

a squab plant in the vicinity of Buffalo.

I have been to look over Mr. 's plant,

which is very fine, and the stock is the
finest I have seen. He informed me that
you furnished the stock (five hundred
pairs), an entire equipment. My present
intention is to start with not less than
300 pairs."— P. H., Georgia.

IN FIRST-CLASS CONDITION.— "The
birds arrived yesterday in first-class con-
dition, all alive. Thanks for the extras."
— R. W. B., State of Washington.

A NOVA SCOTIA CUSTOMER.— "The
Homers arrived safely today, and I am
very much pleased with them. They are
a fine lot of birds."— J. H., Nova Scotia.

KIND AND CORDIAL METHODS.—
"Many thanks for your kind and cordial
methods of doing business, and if I find
that the conditions here are suitable to
squab raising, I shall be wanting some
more stock before long. So far I am very
well pleased, and the birds you sent are
certainly well worth the prices you quote."
— D. T. S., Kentucky.

CHICKEN INDUSTRY NEEDS A MAN-
UAL LIKE OURS. — The Manual sent me
is the most complete and concise work
on the subject of squab raising I have
ever read. I doubt whether there ia. a
book written on any subject of its kind
so complete in all its datail. I would be
willing to give most anything for a like
account of how to succeed with chickens.
If you know of any such work I would
consider it a personal favor if you would
kindly send me the title and where to get
it. I am glad to. have in my possession
such a book as the Manual, it is a pleas-
ure to read it. Of course it's business,
but I think it wonderful that you should
give such valuable information to the pub-
lic."—J. H. J., Pennsylvania.

"SAME AS YOU SENT BEFORE."—
"Enclosed you will find $15 for six pairs
of your best breeding Homers that breed
white squabs, the same as you sent be-
fore."—F. P., Virginia.

FROM FIFTY DOLLARS TO FIFTY
CENTS.— "Please send to us as soon as
possible 48 nappies. We shall want 48 of
your Extra Homers as soon as these nap-
pies reach us, and if conditions prove
favorable, hope to buy a thousand birds.
I think there must be money in this busi-
ness. I wrote a squab raiser in Iowa,
asking if he would show me through his
farm, and he replied that he would for
fifty dollars. I enclose fifty cents for a
National Standard Squab Book, which
kindly send me." — A. D., Minnesota.

MAKING MORE MONEY WITH
SQUABS. — "The nappies have not yet
come. I have quit the railroad and gone
into the squab business. We are going to

send for some of your Homers soon and
let what we have raise with a few addi-
tions occasionally until the Homer trade
gets rooted. I am now making more with
pigeons than while working for the com-
pany, or rather, I am making a good liv-
ing and putting in a large stock of
pigeons."— S. D., Texas.

OUR CLAIMS PROVEN TO HIS SAT-
ISFACTION.—"Last February, 1903, I
bought a small lot of adult Homers from
your company and am satisfied they arc
all you claim for them. Being desirous of
getting along faster in the business, I have
advertised for additional capital in a .New
York City paper, and have had nearly two
dozen inquiries about the industry." — A.
D., New Jersey.

A HUSBAND WAITS FOR THIS
YOUNG WOMAN.— "November, 1902, I
bought twelve pairs of your Homers, now
I'm sorry to say I must give up the idea
of the squab business, and wish to know
if you care to buy them and what you will
pay. I have ninety birds, and sold some
last summer. I think your birds have
done very well. I would not have any-
thing but your Plymouth Rock Homers."
—Miss E. J. D., New York.

A TEXAS WOMAN FINDS THEM
EASY TO RAISE. — "I have now (January
7, 1904), raised one hundred from those I
bought of you (six pairs Extra sold De-
cember 11, 1902.)"— Mrs. R. M. H., Texas.

ONE HUNDRED PAIRS IN MON-
TANA'S COLD WEATHER.— "The squab,
breeders arrived here all safe and well in
spite of the cold snap Monday noon. We
are much pleased with the flock. Number
is correct, 208 birds (only two casualties).
They certainly are having a fine initiation
to Montana weather. The mercury stood
thirty-two degrees below zero last night
and has been below since their arrival."
— W. H., Montana.

DEALERS ADVISE HIM TO BUY OF
US. — "About a year ago I bought your
Manual and plans for squab houses. I
have been studying the book thoroughly
and find it very complete in every detail
and 'out of sight' as compared with
others I have seen. I am compelled to
move to Southern California and will try
squab raising. What discount do you give
on 300 pairs of your best birds? I have*
been somewhat used to stock raising, in-
cluding poultry. I am advised by dealers
in Los Angeles to get my stock from Bos-
ton, even at the expense necessary. While
no names were mentioned, I presume they
referred to you."— W. W. D., Minnesota.
(Correct. We have shipped to California
within the past few years thousands of
pairs of Homers and at all the places in
California where squabs are sold and
eaten, the product of our Homers is

136

NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

wanted because they are the best in the
market there.)

USES THE HEALTH GRIT.— "Please
send me by American express one hundred
pounds Health Grit, for which find $2
enclosed. My pigeons are doing finely and
I now have 75 in addition to my original
lot, and the young ones are hatching out
squabs."— W. L. J., Maine.

HE IS PLEASED WITH US AND OUR
BIRDS. — "I am so much pleased with the
birds I got from you and the bright pros-
pects of the squab industry, that I feel
interested in getting some of my friends
started in squab raising. The last ship-
ment of squab breeders reached me in
splendid condition and are very fine birds.
I am very much pleased with the selec-
tion and your good judgment. All your
stock, birds, supplies and dealings with
me in the past have been so satisfactory
that you may expect more orders from me
and my friends in the future. I have
raised and sold pigeons and pet stock for
years, so of course am capable of judging
good stock when I see it, and I consider
your squab breeding Homers the best that
can be bred for successful market squab
breeding. Trusting that you may con-
tinue to have much success in this worthy
business."- L. E., Virginia.

THEY EAT OUT OF HER HAND. — "I
enclose money order for more nappies. I
like my pigeons better every day. They
are so tame now they will eat out of my
hand."— Miss L. V. P., New York.

THREE MONTHS' WORK.— "We are
going to move this week to California.
The six pairs I bought of you in March,
three months ago, have all nested and
done -fine, and I have raised 24 young birds
from them."— Mrs. H. B. S., Massachu-
setts.

ALL THE WAY TO VANCOUVER.— "I
received my birds on June 8 and all of
them were in fine condition except one
hen, which seems to be a little stupid.
My express charges were all right. Thank
you for the free birds. Hoping that I will
be able to send for a few more soon." —
G. A. L.. Vancouver.

HAS SEEN HOW OUR BIRDS WORK
IN HIS TOWN.— "I am sending you here-
with money order for $31.50, for which
please sond me 12 pairs of your Extra
Plymouth Rock Homers, and two of your
drinkers, same as you sent me before.
I have seen two different lots of your
Home-rs in this city, and although I have
some good ones that are rapid breeders
and raise large squabs, I am so much
impressed with the work that Mr. Bar-
rett's Homers (purchased of you) are do-
ing, that I have gone to work and fitted
up two more breeding pens to accommo-

date some of your stock." — W. H. M.,
Massachusetts.

ALL AT WORK IN SIX WEEKS.—
"Whoever took the pair of pigeons from
the basket must have been an expert in
determining the sex and mates, as every
one of them, that is, twelve females, have
eggs and are setting. Don't you think
this is strong evidence that two pigeons
never were taken from the basket during
transit? I will make no claim against
the express company. I feel very posi-
tive they are not at fault. The shipment
reached me six weeks ago." — C. S., Ohio.

INCREASING HIS FLOCK.— "The
twelve pairs of breeders that I bought
from you last fall are beginning to lay
very nicely and I am very much pleased
with them. Please send me six more
pairs, in payment for which you will find
money order enclosed." — H. W., New
York.

A LARGE SHIPMENT TO CALI-
FORNIA.—"I received all the birds (312
pairs) without one being dead, and the lot
seems to be in splendid condition, on the
whole, after such a long journey. It
seems wonderful to me that none was
dead with all the rough handling they
must have received on such a long jour-
ney. The birds are beauties and attract a
great deal of attention."— P. W., Cali-
fornia.

QUICK WORK HATCHING.— "The
Homers I got of you are doing finely; re-
ceived May 1, five weeks ago, and I have
a dozen or more squabs from the dozen
pairs."— J. F., New Jersey.

FINEST HE EVER SAW. — "The Extra
Homers arrived today in first-class shape,
and are the finest I ever saw."— L. C. Y.,
Maryland.

UNABLE TO FILL ORDERS FOR
HOMERS.— "The writer has been engaged
in selling Homer pigeons for squab breed-
ers for the past several months, but my
stock is now almost completely exhausted
and I am unable to fill my orders. Have
just received an order from Hot Springs,
Arkansas, but as I make it a rule not to
attempt to fill orders for birds which I
do not have in my own lofts, have de-
clined the order and referred the cus-
tomer to your company. He wants fifty
pairs, and would suggest that you get
into correspondence with him. Trusting
that you may be able to get the business."
— G. C. S., Ohio.

OUR PIGEONS AT THIS LARGE
SHOW IN 1906 MADE A CLEAN SWEEP
OF THE PRIZES.— Plymouth Rock Squab
Co , Boston, Mass. Gentlemen:— Pardon
the delay in not answering about the safe
arrival of the birds. The show was a big

SUPPLEMENT

137

success and over nine hundred entries were
registered. I had a nice coop fixed up
and brought the entire flock of fourteen
birds. They behaved fine and did not
mind the close confinement after the first
day. One of the pairs laid two eggs. My
flock took first, second, third and fourth
prizes, also one for the largest flock of
one exhibitor (which was $3), and the
white birds took first prize over three
other pairs. The judge was high in praise
of the birds and their markings. I un-
derstand you have sold some birds to Mr.
Marsh, who has heard about my success
and is to start with one hundred pairs.
The pigeons sold several months ago to a
doctor of Warren were through my
recommendation. Thanking you again for
pas.t favors, I remain, etc.— Mrs. R. C.,
Pennsylvania. (The pigeon exhibition to
which she refers was held in February,
1906.)

OFFERED FIVE DOLLARS A PAIR
FOR THE BIRDS.— "Pigeons arrived
August 29th in good condition and I thank
you. I am well pleased with the birds;
thay are the finest flock I have ever seen.
The teamster who brought them out from
Seattle informs me a man on the way
offered him five dollars a pair for the
birds. Had I been with him, I surely
would have taken him up, and made
nearly $100 by the bargain. You may ex-
pect another order from me in a month
or six weeks for one hundred pairs, and
then I shall have enough breeders to
commence with." — C. C., State of Wash-
ington.

We have had quite a number of letters
similar to this one, and from other infor-
mation which we have in regard to the
Western market for breeders, we know it
to be a remarkable one. Anyone who
buys our fine birds can find a purchaser
who is willing to pay in many cases much
more than the difference in express
charges. We receive numerous requests
from wholesalers who wish to sell our
birds in their territory, but we sell all
the birds we wish to at retail, to the ex-
tent of our capacity, at one price to all,
and do not supply such dealers. We are
shipping at least one order a day the year
round to California or the State of Wash-
ington.

OUR HOMERS ARE PRIZED' BY
FANCIERS AS WELL AS SQUAB-
BREEDERS.— Our Homers sell on their
merits as squab breeders, but they are
first-class flyers, able to win in any com-
pany. At the New York and Chicago Na
tional Pigeon shows in January, 1904, in
competition with the whole country,
Homers sold by us and exhibited by our
customers were the best birds there. In
awarding the first prize, New York show,
class of Blue Homer Cocks, the judge
said: "Grand one; the best bird in the
ring today to my way of thinking. He is
a larg-e, fine-colored Homer with almost

perfect head, broad shoulders and wedge-
shaped body, nice eye and fine dark cere.
This cock also won the cup for best
Homer shown, and this honor was not
new to him, as he did the same trick at
Lawrence earlier in the season."

The class of Blue Checker Cocks at the
New York show was the largest. "A
finer class of Blue- Checker Homers we
have never seen," said the judge. The
first prize in this large class was awarded
a Homer from our coops exhibited by one
of our customers with the following com-
ment by the judge: "Grand-bodied, up-
standing bird, elegant head and eye with
the most perfect checkering I ever saw
on a Homer, but for being a trifle light
(in color) on rump he would be hard to
find fault with."

In awarding the first prize in the New
York show, class of Blue Hens, to a hen
sold by us and exhibited by one of our
customers, the judge said: "This class
outside of the winner was not bang-up.
Good blue hens are scarce, but the first
bird is an exception, and probably one pf
the best hens going. She is extra large
for a hen, almost over the limit in this
respect, but she is built on the correct
lines, very good color and smooth type of
head. She would maka a great mate for
the first Cock."

In the fall of 1903, one of our custom-
ers, with a Homer Cock bought of us,
won first prize every time exhibited, also
special prize for best Homer in the show,
every time exhibited, at the pigeon and
poultry shows at Taunton, Brockton and
Hartford.

THIS COMMISSION FIRM IN NEW
YORK CITY WANTS ONE THOU-
SAND DOZEN SQUABS DAILY, PAY-
ING FROM $4 TO $6 A DOZEN FOR
SQUABS BRED FROM OUR BIRDS.
The large commission houses handle
squabs by hundreds of dozens daily and
firms which are known to furnish squabs
of first-class size and weight, such as our
birds breeu, get more orders than they can
fill. We received the following letter in
January, 1904, from a well-known com-
mission firm in New York City (whose
name and address we give to customers
who buy breeding stock of us):

Plymouth Rock Squab Co., Boston, Mass.:
Gentlemen: I am receiving quite a faw
letters from time to time from the differ-
ent customers of yours, that are starting
In the squab trade. I wish if you see or
write them, that you would advise them
as I have done, to put themselves in a
position to ship from 5 to 10 dozen squabs
at a time, and" if they intend to make a
business of it, they might as well buy
enough breeders in the start, so as to be
able to ship a quantity at a time, as
these little shipments of one or two dozen
hardly pays one to handle, the expense
eating up the commission. I have stated

138 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

to them before, and you can also tell
them, that the squab trade is in its in-
fancy, and will certainly increase from
time to time, and we are in a position
to handle daily any part of 1,000 dozen
squabs, as we have a big outlet to place
them promptly at top prices, with check
to balance same day goods are received
and sold. For the present, and until fur-
ther notice, we quote you market as fol-
lows: Squabs weighing ten pounds to tha
dozen, $5.50 per dozen; nine pounds, $5.25
per dozen; eight pounds, $5 per dozen;
seven pounds, $4 per dozen; six and one-
half pounds, $2.75 per dozen; dark, $2.10
per dozen. Would like to have all the
squabs you can get. In case you have
any good customers that ara starting in,
T wish you would send me a complete list
of that trade, so that I can write to them
occasionally, and post them on the con-
dition of the market.

To our answer we received the follow-
ing letter from the above firm:

Plymouth Rock Squab Co., Boston, Mass.:
Gentlemen: Your letter of the 1st duly
received, and I am glad to hear from
you so promptly. I have received quite a
number of letters from small shippers
who, judging by the way they write, must
be _beginners, and know but very little of
the' business. I have tried to make things
as plain as possible to them, and encour-
aged them all to start in and increase the
size of their purchases from you to such
an extent that it will pay them to ship.
Of course we are obliged to take these
small shipments, and encourage them
along as much as possible, but very often
after we have got a man started, he would
have made a pretty fair shipper, but
someone gets hold of him in the mean-
time and makes him believe that they
can do better than we can, which is one
reason that I object to helping thase small
shippers along. As above stated, as soon
as they get started they begin switching
around, and the man who starts them
has very little for his trouble and pains
of putting him in the way of making
money.

I wish if you have any shippers' ad-
dresses in the West or in Wisconsin
(which seems to be quite a squab coun-
try) and also in either Illinois or Minne-
sota, that you would send them to me.
They seem to be doing pretty well in that
section, and are satisfied with the fair
prices they get from our market, on ac-
count of the poor prices they get in Chi-
cago, or elsewhere nearer home.

Ai the present time, squabs are very
scarce and very high. We are even re-
turning more money than the last quota-
tions I sent you, in order to get enough
birds to supply our trade. So if you can
put rne in the way of increasing our squab
supply, I would greatly appreciate it, and
try in some way to reciprocate for same.
Thank you for the information you have
given me thus far in regard to shippers.

Under date of January 30, 1904, we have
the following letter from a commission
firm in St. Louis, showing that the de-
mand in that section is becoming ex-
traordinary:

Plymouth Rock Squab Co., Boston, Mass.:
Gentlemen: We are in the market for
squabs and if you have any customers in
this vicinity who are seeking a market
for their squabs, we would be glad to be
placed in correspondsnce with them. We
will pay the highest market price for
them, and feel confident that the service
we will render your patrons will prove
advantageous to you, to them and our-
selves. Please let us hear from you.

We do not give the addresses of these
firms, and other good squab buyers, until
we have sold breeding stock to the cus-
tomer. Commission men in all the cities
are getting letters from curiosity seekers
who are merely "looking up" squabs, and
to such letters the commission men pay
scant attention, for lack of time, and as
there is no money in it for them. Any-
one who doubts the genuineness of the
letters we print should come or send a
friend to our Boston office to see the
originals.

APPENDIX A.

NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK.
BY ELMER C. RICE.

CALIFORNIA MARKET.— The California you do not care to deal Witk Commission

market for squabs is excellent, especially at men.

the invalid resorts. In San Francisco it is BRANCHING OUT. — We have put some of

not so good as at the Southern Coast places our best birds, in largest orders, for 300 to

frequented by rich travelers. We print the 1,000 pairs, right into the heart of the squab

following letter: country around Philadelphia, showing that our

Poultrymen's Union of California, 413 Front ideas and our birds are all right. On Fe~b.

street, San Francisco (Jan. 28, 1903): "Your 9. 1903, we received the following letter from

Valued favor just received and in reply would Heacock & Hokanson, architects, of Phila-

say that usually the quotations in the papers delphia:

are close to being correct, but if you desire "Enclosed please find 25 cents for a plan of

to call and see us at any time, we will give your style of squab house. Our client in-

you exact quotations. There is always a forms us that you have prints showing the

good market here for large, fat squabs. They details of house, nests, self-feeders, etc. We

are readily selling today at $3 per dozen." have two clients who have been making some-

SUMMER RESORT MARKETS.— The pleas- what of a success at this work and are now

ure and vacation resorts all over the country ready to build houses with every essential

are good squab markets. Maine squab breed- and practical feature necessary to make _a

ers ship to Boston in the winter but In the success on a somewhat larger scale."

summer they get better prices at Bar Harbor SQUABS IN UTAH.— The following letter

and elsewhere along the coast. The White comes to us from James A. Hepburn, Utah,

Mountain resorts in New Hampshire are a dated Jan. 24, 1903:

fine summer market, also the resorts along "Enclosed find check for $1.70 for which
the eastern coast of Massachusetts. Newport, please send me postage paid your leg band
in Rhode Island, is a good summer squab outfit. I recently received your book on pig-
market. Two or three of our customers .in eons and although I have been breeding
the vicinity of Lenox, Mass., and in North Homers for flying for a long time, I learned
Carolina, and Florida, are quite enthusiastic many things of interest to me from the boojc.
over the splendid market at their doors, j intend now to increase my flock and raise
Wherever the good eaters go, winter or sum- SqUabs for the market also. I find I can sell
mer, there is the demand for squabs. all I can supply here to the local markets."

HOSPITAL TRADE.— A woman in the state SQUABS NOT GAME.— A correspondent
of Washington wrote us that two big hgs- writes us that she does not think she can
pitals in a, city near her had offered to take market squabs in her state because the game
all the squabs she could supply. She moved laws arc so strict. In reply we wish to state
out, bought a farm and in January, 1903, we that squabs are not game, but are a domes-
shipped her four baskets. Under date of Feb. tic product same as chickens, and can be
7 she replied: "Please pardon my delay in marketed in any state or territory at any
acknowledging the receipt of the shipment of time of the year in any quantity without vip-
fifty pairs extra mated Homers I ordered from lating the game laws.

you. I have been so busy with them that I CHICAGO MARKET.— The Chicago market

have not really had time to write. Out of for squabs is fairly good, but nowhere near

the whole lot there was only one dead one, so good as the markets of New York, Phila-

which surprised us." (As we had shipped two delphia and Boston, because the only squabs

pairs more than the order called for, or 52 obtainable there in large quantities are the

pairs altogether, the customer had no com- inferior squabs of common pigeons. We have

plaint.) "The birds are perfect beauties and customers in Illinois who have written us

we are greatly pleasel with them. They seem that their fat Homer squabs from our birds

to like their new home. Thanking you for are salable at prices from $1 to $2 in excess

yo»r kindness and with best wishes." of the prices quoted by the Chicago com-

The hospital trade in squabs is worth cater- mission men. The Chicago market is an

ing to, for they are such a delicacy that eager one, and the dealers are imploring

they are greatly esteemed by physicians, squab raisers to sell, saying they will tajte

There may be a suggestion in this for you if all offered. We advise our customers in the

(Copyright, 1903, by Elmer C. Bice.)
139

140 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

Middle West to sell their squabs to the trade times. We assure you, and you can rely on

direct over the heads of the Chicago commas us to obtain the highest possible price for

sion men until the latter advance prices. We your stock at all times."

print herewith some letters from Chicago Cougle Brothers, 178 South Water street,

commission houses, showing that they wajit Chicago. 111. (Jan. 29, 1903): "Replying to

them both with the feathers on and off, de- your favor of Jan. 27th will say that good

pending on the dealer: fat squabs are worth from $2 to $2.50 per

C. B. Hayden, Jr., & Co., 214 and 216 dozen. We can handle all of that kind

South Water street, Chicago, Illinois (Jan. you can get. The best way to ship them is

26, 1903): "Your favor of the 24th inst. at just to pinch their necks, cool thoroughly and

hand and in reply will say, fat dressed pack in a box. Do not bleed them nor take

squabs bring $2 to $2.25 per dozen. We haji- the feathers off. We hope you can ship us

die them in any quantities." . some of this kind of squabs as we need

Gallagher Bros., 191 South Water street, them."

Chicago, 111. (Jan. 26, 1903): "We have your F. W. Melges & Co., lOu South Water
favor of the 24th to hand and noted. In r.e- street, Chicago, 111. (Jan. 28, 1903): "Re-
gard to handling squabs will say, we are in plying to your favor of the 27th in regard to
a position to handle any quantity to good squabs we beg to say that there is a wfde
advantage. We are now getting fancy squabs range of prices according to quality. If they
from Wisconsin, which are selling at $2.50 are fine fat birds we can handle advanta-
per dozen, about seven pounds to the dozen." geously all you can ship us. We shall do all

C. H. Weaver & Co., 129 South Water in our power to obtain the very top price for

street, Chicago, 111. (Jan. 29, 1903): "Your same at all times."

favor of the 27th received. The market on A. Booth & Co., 63-65 Lake street, Chicago,

squabs is $2.25 per dozen for the weights you 111. (Jan. 25, 1903): "If squabs are well

speak of. We can handle all that you will dressed arnd weigh eight to nine pounds to

be able to ship us, but would advise making the dozen, we can use them at $2.25 per

a small shipment at first, so that we will get dozen F. O. B. Chicago."

an idea of your stock and dressing." H. G. Lane, buyer for the Wellington Hotel,

Theo. C. H. Wegeforth Co., 133 South Wa- Wabash avenue and Jackson boulevard, Ctti-

ter street, Chicago, 111. (Jan. 28, 1903): "In Cago, 111. (Feb. 2, 1903): "In reply to yours

reply to your favor requesting us to quote of Jan. 26th about squabs would say that we

you prices on squabs will say that there is a are buying the large white squab you speak

very good demand for them on this market at of. We have them shipped with the feath-

present and when fine they will bring from ers on and market price for the best squab

$2 to $2.25 per dozen but in order to bring is $2.75 to $3.00 per dozen."

these prices, the squabs must be fat and William H. Taylor Co., 156 and 158 South

weigh on an everage about three-quarters of Water street, Chicago, 111. (Feb. 4, 1903):

a pound each, and for such there is a ready "Your letter at hand in regard to squabs,

sale. If you have any, or receiving, you can Would say we could use all your squabs you

safely ship all you can get." can ship. We would just as soon have them

H. R. Waszko, 213 South Water street, Chi- \vith the feathers on as off. We can offer you

cago, 111. (Jan. 29th, 1903): "In reply to $2.50 now for good stock. Should at any time

your letter of Jan. 27th, we wish to say that market do better, we should certainly give it

we can handle your squabs, in fact we can to you. Please let us know how soon you

place any amount at the extreme top market can ship and how many each week. We have

price, for we are heavy receivers of dressed the trade for them and can do as well as any

squabs, especially from South Dakota and one for you."

Wisconsin. Squabs should weigh not less Herman Weber Co., Inc., Union Hotel and

than six or seven pounds per dozen. Should Restaurant, 111-117 Randolph street, Chicago,

be dry-picked as the trade that can pay m. (Feb. 3, 1903): "Your favor of the 1st

fancy prices want them No. 1, and we quote to hand. I am buying squabs fresh in the

them firm at $2.50 per dozen, but they must market all the time and am paying $3 per

be fancy. We think we can get you still dozen for same. You can bring in two dozen

higher prices but we can tell from your first of your squabs and if satisfactory will buy

shipment to us just where we can place same of you rjgnt aiong."

them and what we can do. See that they are The letter last quoted above, that from

well cooled off before shipping. Trusting Herman Weber, is an indication of what

that you will favor us with a good shipment the consumer in Chicago is paying for in-

as soon as possible and also give us an idea ferior squabs. It rests with you whether you

of how^ many you can ship us daily or will be satisfied with breeding a product

weekly." which commands a price of $2 to $3 a dozeji,

Peter Britten & Sons, 2 and 4 Fulton street, or $3 to $6. If you put squabs weighing ten

Chicago. 111. (Jan. 30, 1903): "There is no pounds a dozen and over into the Chicago

limit to the amount of squabs we can handle, market, you can get from $3 to $6 a dozen,

as we have inquiries for the same at all NEW YORK MARKET.— In the first part of

APPENDIX A 141

January, 1903, we received the following let- weighing 100 pounds, transport it to New

ter from the manager of the squab depart- York, and in that city deliver it by team to

ment of a commission house in Washington the commission dealer for $1. In the case of

market, New York city: a box of our squabs weighing twelve pounds

"Your name and address as raisers of fancy to the dozen, about eight dozen and the box
squabs was given me by Mr. Howes of De- would weigh 100 pounds. If we delivered
troit, Michigan, who was over to your place them in New York at the price quoted, $4.50
a few days ago. As I have heard of your per dozen (or $36 gross), we would net, de-
plant before and have tried to get your ad- ducting his five per cent, commission and the
dress so as to write to you for squabs, I hope $1 express charges, $33.20. The commission
this letter will mean some business for us man would resell the squabs to his trade for
both. If you have any squabs to ship, I $5 to $8 per dozen. By a dozen squabs we
would like to get your output, and can use all mean in this case and in all cases where
you can ship at full market, and make you prices are quoted, twelve squabs. We do not
prompt returns day received and sold. This mean one dozen pairs of squabs. We mean
week I am returning the following prices: six pairs of squabs. Squabs are always
Squabs weighing ten pounds to dozen and quoted at so much per dozen, not so much
up, $4.50 per dozen; eight pounds and up, 3> per dozen pairs.

seven pounds and up, $3.50; six and one-half On January 8, 1903, the New York squab

pounds and up, $2.60; dark, $1.80 per dozen, buyer above quoted offered the following

If you will prepay charges, account of sales prices for squabs: For squabs weighing ten

will be sent you same day goods are fe- pounds to the dozen and up, $4.75; eight

ceived, less five per cent, commission." pounds and up, $4.50; seven p6unds and up,

Letters like the above come to us from all $3.60; six and one-half pounds, $2.75; dark

parts of the country, and squab breeders and No. 2 squabs, $2. '

whom we have supplied get similar communi- On January 25th, 1903, he offered the fol-
cations. The poultry and game dealers in all lowing prices: Ten pounds and up, $5.50 per
sections are after squabs all the time and dozen; eight pounds and up^ $5.00 per dozejj;
could sell a great many more than they are seven pounds and up, $4; six and one-half
now able to get hold of. The above letter is pounds, $3; dark and No. « squabs, $2.10.
written notwithstanding the fact that in New On February 6, 1903, he offered us the
Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania alone are same prices as last quoted, adding that he
today four or five thousand squab breeders, would pay $3 to $3.75 per dozen for squabs .of
many of them with large flocks of over one average weight and grade. In this letter he
thousand pairs of birds each. In the town of said: "As I have been getting quite a few
Moorestown, New Jersey, to take only one letters from some of your squab customers of
case, are from 200 to 300 squab breeders. As late, I want to thank you for same, and
we say in our Manual, people in these sec- n«pe to get some of their birds and prove to
tions keep hens for their own use, but not for their satisfaction by the prices large fine
market, for they know that squabs pay better birds will sell at, that squab raising if prop-
than hens. Poultrymen in other sections of erly carried on is a very profitable and pay-
the United States are fast finding this out ing industry. The demand for squabs in on
and are putting in squabs along with poultry, the increase and will be from now on, as
or giving up poultry altogether. In spite of the game laws of all the states are such as
the large output of squabs from the 4,000 to to prevent much small game from reaching
5,000 breeders in New Jersey and Eastern the several markets, where there has been a
Pennsylvania, which go into the Philadelphia big supply of such at low prices that squabs
and New York and Boston markets (for the will now take their place, so that new be-
squab raisers in New England supply only ginners have nothing to fear from a glut by
about one-tenth of the Boston demand), there over production of good-sized squabs. Tt's
is all the time a scarcity of squabs, as the we have proven to our own satisfaction when
above letter proves. This letter comes to us we introduced the large or royal squab to our
because we have the reputation for dealing best hotel and cafe trade In this market, dur-
in a fancy product. There are breeders ing the past season, and it now looks ag
of squabs who send to market an inferior though our demand will be greater this corn-
product from small and cheap Homers, and ing season. The buyers of these large
such squabs are not the kind which commis- birds see they are worth the difference in
sion dealers are anxious to get. Be sure you price, that they have a better ca,ll for them
are able to breed a fancy squab by getting once they introduce them to the sonsumer.
your breeding stock of us. Some beginners Encourage all your buyers to invest in birds
are anxious as to express rates, not compre- that produce large, plump squabs. It will
hending that they can ship squabs long dis- pay them best in the end and make a r>°*ter
tances at a trifling cost. The express rate demand for their grade of birds."
from Boston to New York is $1 per 100 On Feb. 16th, 1903, he offered us the foi.ow-
pounds. This means that an express team ing prices: Squabs weighing ten pounds to
will call at our door, get a box of squabs the dozen and up, $6 per dozen; nine pounds,

INTERIOR OF MATING HOUSE.

This shows mating coops in use in one of our mating houses. This house is
heated by hot water.

142

APPENDIX A 143

$5.50 per dozen; eight pounds, $5 per dozen; for squabs is growing. I will take your

seven pounds, $4 per dozen; six and one-half squabs at market price day received."

pounds, $3 per dozen; dark, $2.10 per dozen. C. T. Wiggins, East entrance City market,

The above quotations are a good indication Kansas City, Mo. (Jan. 26, 1903): "It is only

of what the New York market for squabs is. a question of how many you can supply. I

One of the practical ways we have of can handle all the squabs you will offer and

helping our customers is to refer them to will pay you good prices for them. The

such first-class buyers of squabs as the firm demand is strong and increasing. Hope you

above quoted. We will give the address of will soon make a start with me."

the above New York firm to you when you George O. Relf, steward, Midland Hotel,

buy breeding stock of us. Kansas City, Mo. (Jan. 27, 1903): "We can

SCRANTON MARKET.— The following let- use squabs almost any time at $2.75 per

ter is from Chandler and Short, commission dozen. If you have some now we will take

merchants, 15 Lackawanna avenue, Scranton, one or two dozen and if O. K. will very

Penn., dated Feb. 15, 1903: "We have yours likely use them right along."

in regard to squabs. They are worth Ewins-Dean Hotel Co., proprietors Hotel

from $2.75 to $3 per dozen, dressed, on our Metropole (St. Joseph, Mo.) and Hotel Balti-

market. Whatever you ship, we will en- more (Kansas City, Mo.) (Jan. 30, 1903):

deavor to get the very highest market prices "Kindly quote me prices on squabs by the

for. All you have to do is to have the dozen. I have been using about two hun-

feathers picked off." dred per month and expect to use more. If

CLEVELAND MARKET.— The steward's your prices are right, you will hear from me

department of the Union Club, 158 Euclid jn a few days." (Signed) E. G. Venable,

avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, sends the follow- steward.

ing letter under date of Feb. 13th, 1903: ' E. Klidey, the New Coates House, Kansas

am in receipt of your letter of yesterday and City) Mo- (jan_ 29, 1903): "We are using a

beg to say regarding your questions about few squabs which we buy from the commis-

squabs, that they are worth to us from $3 to Sjon men here aj $2.50 per dozen. Let me

$3.50 per dozen for the best and largest know what price you want for yours and we

squabs either dressed or in the feather." may be abie to use eight or ten dozen a

W. H. Bennett, proprietor of Oyster Ocean week."

Cafe, 368 Superior street, Cleveland, Ohio D. P. Ritchie, steward Hotel Baltimore,

(Feb. 12, 1903): "I use about one and one- Kansas City, Mo. (Feb. 6, 1903): "Your favor

half dozen squabs a week. Price averages $3 Of Jan. 27 received. We pay $2.75 per dozen

per dozen the year through." for fancy squabs delivered, with feathers

W H. Seager, Sheriff street market, on."

Cleveland, Ohio (Feb. 12, 1903): "I purchase OUR PIGEONS GOING AROUND CAPE
squabs when offered in this market and have HORN. — We have sent our breeding stock
sent to California for them on special occa- about everywhere, but one of the most curi-
sions. The market price varies from $2.40 Ous orders we ever had is from Captain Lane
to $4 per dozen." of the ship Kennebec, which arrived in Bos-
Gibson Pinkett Company, Fulton market, ton in November, 1902, from Seattle, with a
21-25 Prospect street, Cleveland, Ohio (Feb. cargo of lumber. At this writing (Feb. 18,
12, 1903): "We buy squabs and pay what 1903), Capt. Lane is making arrangements
they are worth. Price runs from $2.50 to $4 with us to supply him with a breeding out-
per dozen. We could use fifty dozen or more fit of our Homers, which he will instal on
today." his ship so that on his long return voyage

KANSAS CITY MARKET.— The market for to San Francisco (or Seattle) he will have

squabs here is steadily improving. Here are fresh squab meat regularly. Capt. .Lane is

some letters bearing on the subject: part owner of his big ship and Is accom-

From James R. Peden & Co., 404 Walnut panied by his wife and young son. He hs.8

street, Kansas City, Mo. (Jan. 26, 1903) : visited our place and knows about our birds

"Send your squabs to me. I have good, and our methods.

steady demand for them and will take all SQUABS IN NEW MEXICO.— Here In the

you can offer. Top prices paid, or handled east we would not look upon New Mexico as

in commission." (Mr. Peden ships squabs a fancy market for squabs, but here is a

..:> New York city and other points east.) letter from a customer in Albemarle, New

W. M. Woods, produce company, stalls J2 Mexico, which proves that he is getting in-

and 13 west side, City Market, Kansas City, terested (Jan. 29, 1903): "The pigeons you

Mo. (Jan. 26, 1903): "The market for squabs sent me on the 20th were received yesterday

is good. Prices range from $1 to $1.50 for in excellent condition, and am well pleased

common stock and from $1.80 to $2 and $2.25 with them. Please find enclosed a money

for fancy. I am sure you will find a market order for thirty dollars, for which send me

for your squabs and if they come up to the twelve more pairs of your extra mated thor-

mark you have set for them, will command oughbred adult pigeons. Ship as Before by

a much better price. Kansas City market Wells Fargo express."

144 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

SOUTHERN MARKET.— Our breeding Stock
has gone to every state in the South. If you
live in any part of the South, you can market
squabs as readily as poultry is marketed.
One of our Southern customers, who lives in
Citronelle, Alabama, has been to Boston to
see us. Under date of January 30, 1903, he
writes: "I have received Homers from two
others, but they do not compare with yours.
I will build my second house very soon as
the first one is filling up fast."

LONG DISTANCE SHIPMENTS.— To all
inquirers we wish to state again emphati-
cally that we certainly do guarantee the safe
arrival of every bird, no matter in what part
of the world you live. We are learning all
the time how to handle the long distance
shipments best and experience has taught us
little wrinkles about the baskets and the
arrangements of the feed and water dish.es
which are valuable. The express messengers
get their instructions not from guesswork or
from written notices or tags, but from a
board a foot square on which is printed in
bold type the necessary directions. This
winter (1903) we have shipped every week "to
California. One order of 200 pairs for Santa
Ana, California, filled seventeen baskets.
Of the 400 birds, only one turned up dead,
but as we had sent along four more pairs
than the order called for, we were seven
birds ahead on the count. Another large
shipment to San Rafael, California, in Janu-
ary, 1903, brought back by return mail .the
following letter, which we print exactly as
we got it, word for word, and altogether it is
one of the best recommendations for us to
people who live at a distance that we ever
received:

"Yesterday, A. M. (Jan. 20th) at 8.30 we
received your letter advising us of the ship-
ment of 100 pairs of Extra Mated Homers, on
Jan. 14th; advising also that the pigeons
would reach us before the letter. Well, they
did not arrive until 4.30 today, Jan. 21 (7)
seven days on the road. We notice that
seven days is also required to get your ship-
ments to Los Angeles; and when you assume
that they will reach here at or before the
receipt of notice of shipment we think you
are mistaken. Nevertheless, be this as it
may, the birds reached us tonight at 5.30,
every bird in first-class shape — every indi-
vidual one being in first-class shape; giving
evidence of being shipped in perfect condition
and having plenty of feed and water en
route. Your feed ran short, as evidenced by
charges of 40 cents made by express com-
pany for feed provided by them, which we"
are only too glad to pay, and at same time
shows care and attention of express company
messengers — a good fault. Every bird in the
lot is bright and active, and they come into
a first-class home, a fine house and flying
pen, plenty of feed and a galvanized iron
pan 6 inches deep with water 4 inches deep

running constantly. Dimensions of pan, 4
feet 6 inches by 2 feet 10 inches, guarantee-
ing plenty of bathing facilities. They were
liberated after dark, but the early morning
will afford all the bathing facilities they will
need, and we prophesy they will embrace the
opportunities afforded at first opportunity.
We wish to compliment you on your prompt
methods of doing business, and on the su-
periority of the birds shipped us. They were
indeed high class birds, in fact, Mr. Rice,
they are better stock than we expected _to
receive. Your sending us 4 extra pairs above
order was a graceful act on your part, one
which we fully appreciate, and thank you
right here for it. Your shipment was nearly
a week before we expected it, but by extra
exertion we got all ready in time and they
have a fine home. Express charges at $14 p.er
hundred Boston to San Rafael, 270 Ibs. weight
of shipment, amounted to $37.80 plus 40 cents
for feed, $38.20 total, at merchandise rate.
Still at rate given in your circular $4 for 24
birds (12 pairs), this is too much by a
margin. $4 rate to San Francisco per 12
pairs is not just correct, still we are not
kicking, for the difference is not very much.
Note this, 201 birds came out of those bas-
kets, now we are sure, absolutely sure of
the count; two people kept count as each
bird was liberated and 201 birds came out
of the crates. If idO pairs are mated, what
will we do for that poor lone bird? We
await for suggestions; pretty tough on that
lone bird, 3,500 miles from home, but he or
she is here sure. In conclusion we thank
you for your promptness, your honesty and
your fair, square dealing and will keep you
posted as to our progress as per your sug-
gestion. We thank you for the crates; they
are fine. We wrote you yesterday and look
for reply in accordance with your usual
promptness."

We sent the above letter to Mr. R. H.
Dwight, agent for the Wells-Fargo Express
Company in Boston, and he was quite as
pleased as we were. Through Mr. Dwight' s
co-operation our through western shipments
by the Wells-Fargo have been a remarkable
success. The only difficulty we have ever
had on account of long distance trade came
when we were shipping in crates, not bas-
kets. We sent a large order into San Fran-
cisco and on the way four of the crates were
broken into by rough handling and fort£-
two birds got away. The Wells-Fargo Ex-
press Company settled with us for the loss
of those birds and we made good to the
customer, sending the missing birds on, and
the customer was out not a cent for further
express charges, for the Wells-Fargo people
carried the birds deadhead.

The baskets in which we now ship cannot
be broken open except with the aid of an axe
and they can be thrown ten feet across a
depot platform without being injured.

APPENDIX A 145

There is a minor criticism in the above know of his experience. His letters are at

letter in the matter of express charges. Ac- our Boston office, where they may be seen,

cording to the figures which we give in the We will not give his name by mail because

circular headed "Express Rates," the cus- he is a customer, but if you think the above

tomer should have been asked to pay about letters are made up by us, you write to the

$33, instead of $37, as he did pay. We be- Boston office of Dun's or Bradstreet's com-

lieve the figures which we give to be correct mercial agencies and ask for one of their

fn every case— the slignt variation which men to be sent to our office to investigate,

may come as* it came in this case is due to PIGEON MANURE. — Our advice in the

the fact that no two persons will weigh up Manual as to pigeon manure has interested

the same lot of goods exactly the same, and pigeon breeders all over the country, nearly

that, of course, the birds vary in weight, all of whom say that they never have taken

The weight when the shipment starts is less pains to save it, and when it got too thick

than when it finishes, because at the end they have scraped it up as best they coul*

the bottoms of the baskets are covered with and used it for fertilizer. They want to know

manure. (The grain which we send for feed how we keep it pure, and all about the

is not weighed in and charged for transpor- market, etc.

tation.) If the waybill is lost or delayed, The pigeon breeder who does not make pfo-

and the agent at destination weighs the vision for the purity of the manure and the

shipment, he will get a greater weight, and steady sale of it is just throwing bank bills

consequently a higher rate, than the express straight into the fire. We have erected, a

employee who weighed the shipment here jn- special building at our place for just the

Boston. manure, and take every precaution to keep

We wish to say further that if you think the manure free from straw, sawdust, sand,

we have figured the express rates to you too etc. The building stands at the back of one

low, send us money which we claim to be of the long houses, and about halfway in the

correct and we will prepay all charges, thus whole plant, so that we can reach it easily

putting on ourselves and not on you the dif- with a wheelbarrow from the houses. There

ference. if there is any. is a slide cut in the north wall of what we

COMMON PIGEONS AGAIN.— We have had call No. 2 squab house, and through this

some of the old-time raisers of squabs from slide the manure is shovelled from the

common pigeons on the ranches in the Mid- wheelbarrow (standing in the passageway)

die West write us for more proofs that Horn- directly into the manure house, where it

ers are ahead of common pigeons. stays until there is from $50 to $100 worth

In reply we will print here the letter of it, when we bag it up and send it off.

which we received in January, 1903, from, a First we take the wheelbarrow empty down

customer as follows: a passageway and stop at a unit pen, then

"I have for sale between four and five go into the unit pen with a bushel basket

hundred pen fed common pigeons. Can you and scrapers. We use a trowel to clean off

use them, and at what price? Should you the nest-pans, a tree-scraper to clean out

not be in a position to use them yourself the nest-boxes and a hoe or a floor chisel

probably you could refer me to some one (same as is used to clean off snow and ice

that is in the market for some fine pen fed from city sidewalks), six inches wide at the

birds. The Homers which I purchased of blade and with a long handle so that it can

you some time last summer are doing very be used easily while the operator is standing,

nicely, and have to make more room for them In scraping the floor, the manure rolls up

is the reason of wanting to dispose of my with little exertion off the blade of the

common birds. Thanking you in advance for chisel. It is shovelled into the bushel

favor asked." basket and the basket taken out into the

We asked him to tell us if he had not passageway and dumped into the wheelbar-

found our Homers more profitable than com- row. It takes one man not over thirty min-

mon pigeons. He replied as follows: utes to clean a pen thoroughly and the

"In reply to yours will say that your state- product of each pen is between two and three
ment of the Homers being more profitable bushels, or from $1.20 to $1.80 for half
than the common birds is true, as the fact an hour's work, which is pretty good pav.
has been demonstrated to me in the past (We have been getting in the winter of 1903
five or six months, by my experience of hav- sixty cents a bushel from the American Hide
ing the two lots side by side in senarate and Leather Company of Lowell, Mass.) We
pens. My common birds referred to are fijie ship the manure by freight in bags. We buy
birds and will sell them F. O. B. at $2.50 per these bags when we can from farmers who
dozen, which, taking the plumpness of the have large herds of cows and who use con-
bird in consideration, is very reasonable." siderable grain, and they let the bags go for

The above breeder lives in Missouri and one and two cents apiece. Second-hand bags

we expect to sell a good many of our Horn- in the Boston junk shops cost from four to

ers to him and to those in his state who n'ne cents apiece. The leather people let

146

APPENDIX A 147

the bags pile up and then send them back tomers to ship to Lowell. We have always
to us in a "bunch. We are particular to save found the leather people square in measuring
not only the manure in the unit pens, but the manure, in fact they have given us credit
in the sorting and mating cages and coops, on two or three occasions for more than we
We cover the floors of these cages with bur- thought we had. They pay after you have
lap, not tacking the burlap down, but sent your bill of lading and the report of
stretching it over three finish nails tacked the measurer has gone to the New York
at the bacKS of the cages and two nails office. You need not be afraid of swamping
tacked at the front of the cages. The the leather trust with pigeon manure. They
manure cakes and dries on the burlap as it will take all you can scrape up. They use it
would on the floor. When there is a layer to take the hair off the raw hides, and it is
about half an inch thick, all tramped hard, said to be the only substance which will do
dry and odorless by the constant hammering this job thoroughly without injuring the
of the feet of the birds, we take the burlap hide. Chemicals which are used as substi-
off the nails and stretch it outside, bottom tutes when pigeon manure cannot be had are
up, then sprinkle water on the back and said to be injurious to the hide,
the manure drops off in large cakes. The We write the above to help you sell the
burlap then is dried and replaced. This manure from your squab houses. Do not
method saves an immense amount of time ask us to advise you further on this point,
which otherwise would be consumed in for we cannot. If you cannot find a tannery
scraping the floors of the cages. We have -within shipping distance, try the florists.
108 of these cages at the farm and in our We are informed that the florists' exchange
Boston shipping room, each capable of hold- in New York city Is a good place to sell
ing from 12 to 20 pairs of birds, and we have pigeon manure, and customers near that
burlap carpets on all of them. We use a city have told us that they are selling there,
large amount of burlap not only for this SQUABS IN THE POULTRY PRESS. — The
purpose but for small grain bags to go with magazines devoted to poultry are beginning
orders for breeders to distant points, and to take up squabs on account of the in-
also for the floors of our shipping baskets, creasing interest shown by poultrymen in
We buy this burlap in large rolls weighing the subject. In the Poultry Keeper for Nov.
150 pounds and containing from 300 to 320 15th, 1902, appeared a contribution by A. P.
square yards. We do not hem it or sew it in Spiller. After giving the general arrange-
any way for the cages, simply cut it and in ments for caring for the birds, he says: "At
stretching it over the nails fold the raw about four weeks of age the squabs are
edges under. ready for market. Some markets require

Having read the Manual, you know that we them dressed, others only killed. Good

do not use sand or sawdust in our squab breeding pigeons will hatch and rear from

houses, so we are able to deliver manure six to eleven pair of young a year. The cost

which is absolutely pure. The tanneries do to keep a pair of breeders, including the rais-

not like to get lots of impure manure and ing of the young, at the present time is

of course pay more for the unadulterated about eighty cents a year, this, of course,

article. It is just as easy and more business- varying some with location and cost of

like to keep this by-product pure. feeding stuff. Wild game birds are becom-

The manure in the houses has no odor, ing more scarce each year. The properly

but when we have got it scraped up and raised squab pigeon comes nearer taking the

banked in the manure house, it gives forth place of these wild birds than anything else,

a pungent, ammonia-like smell. As the That they make fine eating, those who have

manure house is entirely cut off from the eaten them can not deny. There is always

squab houses by the slide in the passage- a ready sale for good plump squabs at

way, this pungency does not trouble any- hotels, restaurants, markets and private fam-

one. It is not a nasty smell, anyway. ilies, prices ranging from $2.50 to $4.50 per

We have had customers from as far off dozen, depending upon quality and season,
as Illinois write that they were quite When one begins to raise pigeons it is better
charmed with our story about the manure, to try to secure strains from some reliable
and that they were saving up bags of it to breeder who has stock bred along profitable
ship by freight to the American Hide and lines. There is a difference in regard to
Leather Company at Lowell, Mass. This breeding and feeding qualities and results
tannery is a branch of the Leather Trust, obtained which warrants the paying of a lit-
which has other tanneries, so use your wits tie more at the start in obtaining more
and find out which tannery is nearest you, profitable stock. The writer is in favor of
and ship to that one. If you can find a the straight Homer, carefully selected as to
tannery not in the trust, sell to that, if you size, shape, breeding and feeding qualities,
wish to. If you sell to a trust tannery, the as it is well known that the Homer pigeon
check which pays you will come from the is one of the best feeders and breeders of
New York office of the trust, same as ours any variety, and the numbers they will pro-
do. We recommend our New England cus- duce in a year more than balance any slight

148 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

advantage that may be obtained in size, them to us. In the winter of 1902 we received
The breeding of pigeons is fascinating to a clipping from the New York Evening Sun
most people. It is true there are some of Feb. 28, 1902, in which white squabs were
losses, but with care and some experience quoted at $5 a dozen and dark squabs at
in management the few losses that occur to $3.50 a dozen. We are told that the New
the beginner may be reduced to a very small York Evening Sun prints every Friday even-
percentage. The work is light and not as ing a household market column giving quo-
exacting as in some other lines, affording a tations on squabs.

lucrative employment almost from the start The Rural New Yorker, an old-established
to those who are not strong, as well as to and progressive farmers' weekly, printed the
the most robust. A flock once mated will following quotations for squabs as whole-
give but little concern to their owner, as sale prices ruling Feb. 6, 1903: "Squabs
they remain constant for life regardless of prime large white, per dozen, $3.75; mixed,
the numbers contained in the flock, and for $2.75 and $3; dark, $2 and $2.50."
years will amply repay in profit and pleas- The Albany (New York) Express, on Feb.
ure for the feed and care given them." 9, 1903, printed the following quotations:

We wish to call the special attention of "Squabs, native, $5; Philadelphia squabs, $5

our readers to that portion of the above per dozen; pigeons, $1.50 per dozen."

article by Mr. Spiller where he says that the The Chicago Tribune, on March 10, 1902,

cost of a. pair of breeders is eighty cents a printed the following quotations: "Squabs,

year. We say the cost is sixty cents a year, prime, large, white, per dozen, $3."

In his article, Mr. Spiller says nothing The St. Louis Republic, on Dec. 2, 1902,

about keeping the pigeon manure free from printed the following quotations: '"'Squabs,

dirt and selling it to tanneries. This must white, choice, dozen, $2.75 and $3; mixed,

be done in order to hold the feed bill down $2.25 and $2.50; prime dark, $1.87 and $2."

to its lowest notch. We say that the The San Francisco Chronicle, on April 2,

manure will pay one-third of the grain bill, 1902, printed the following quotations:

and taking Mr. Spiller's figure of eighty "Pigeons, young, $2.50 and $2.75; ditto, old,

cents, and deducting one-third from it, we $1.50 and $1.75."

have as the net cost fifty-three cents. SQUABS IN THE STATE OF WASHING-

We asked one of our friends living in TON.— The squab raisers in New Jersey, New
West Newton, Mass., to ask Mr. Spiller if York and Pennsylvania are very well satis-
his estimate of cost was made when he was fied with the New York and Philadelphia
saving the manure and selling it to tanner- markets for squabs, and we have done con-
ies. Mr. Spiller replied by letter as follows siderable talking about the New York niar-
under date of Feb. 16th, 1903: "No, the ket ourselves, but let us tell you that tie
manure was not taken into consideration at market for squabs on the Pacific Coast is a
all. I do not know what the tanneries pay fine one, too. Here in the East we think
for it." Seattle is a long way from home and you

The owners of large flocks of common pig- may find some city chaps around us who

eons in the West who are breeding squabs think that city is but just on the edge of

for market do not sell the manure and for the tall timber. If you live out in Michigan,

this reason they lose an important source of Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky,

revenue. It is remarkable to us th.it or any state in that section, you ought to

pigeons pay with them at all. Certainly the feel pretty sure that the markets for squabs

manure is a very important by-product, and around you are good, after you have read

you should figure on selling It just as you -what we are going to tell you here about the

figure on selling the squabs. market for squabs in Seattle and its vicinity.

NEWSPAPER MARKET QUOTATIONS.— These letters were obtained for us by "a

Only a few of the daily newspapers of the customer who lives near Seattle:

country are in the habit of printing regularly Fulton Market, corner Second avenue and

market quotations on squabs. The Boston Columbia street, Seattle, Wash. (Feb. 11,

Globe has an article about once a week for 1903): "Yours at hand and will say that if

the information of the household and in this your birds are as you say, we can use on an

article squabs are regularly quoted. A-t average of twenty dozen per week at $2.50

Thanksgiving time, 1902, the Globe quoted per dozen, feathers on."

squabs at from $4 to $5 per dozen. In the A. D. Blowers & Co., 817-819 Western ave-

Globe of Feb. 14th, 1903, squabs were quoted nue, Seattle, Wash. (Feb. 12, 1903): "Your

at $4.50 and $5 per dozen. If our New Eng- valued favor to hand regarding squabs. In

land customers will buy a copy of the Friday reply will say that most of the squabs used

or Saturday Globe each week, they will prob- in this city are brought from the east and

a'bly find this household article containing held in cold storage, so that native birds

the quotations for squabs on one of those will no doubt sell much better than thia

days. article. We have made some inquiry about

Our customers sometimes cut from the them and find that it will be no trouble In

newspapers quotations for squabs and send selling four to six dozen a week, and no

APPENDIX A 149

doubt many more, as the trade would open Williams Bros., Gilt Edge Cafe, Everett,

up. We do not think there is anyone in Wash. (Feb. 12, 1903): "In reply to yours

this part of the country who raises them will say, I cannot say at present how many

for sale, and think if you can produce a squabs I can use, but will start with two

good article that you will have no trouble dozen a week, picked, at $2.50 per dozen,

whatever in selling them here. The price for Ship as soon as you please and will look the

eastern squabs is $2.25 to $2.50 per dozen, market up for you in the meantime."

Some of the customers prefer to have them Gordon & Co., commission merchants, 811

plucked, others alive. We think it would be Western avenue, Seattle, Wash. (Feb. 13,

better, perhaps, in the first shipment to 1903): "Replying to your letter will say that

send them alive until a regular trade was we have telephoned to several of the hotels

established. Our commission for sellipg and restaurants here that would be apt to

them will be ten per cent, of the gross sales, use squabs and we find that there are some

If you have any nice ones, it would be well places that make a specialty of using them

for you to send two to four dozen along and and we do not believe we would have any

see what we can do with them for you." trouble in disposing of them nicely. We

(It is better to ship squabs killed and prop- would suggest that you send down a small

erly cooled. Do not send them alive to your box of them and let us show the customers

market. Few butchers in the commission just what they are and find out just what

men's employ understand how to kill and cool they will be willing to pay for them. They

a squab right. Do your own killing and cool- have been selling recently for 25 cents each,

ing and packing as we have given you pre- If you care to make this shipment, we will

cise directions and you will know (not guess) be glad to get it."

that your product is reaching the consumer Seattle Market, Cor. First avenue south and

in perfect condition.) Washington street, Seattle, Wash. (Feb. 10,

Palace Market Co., Second avenue, Seattle, 1903): "In reply to yours would say, it

Wash. (Feb. 11, 1903): "Squabs such as you would be a good idea for you to ship us in

speak of would be worth 20 to 25 cents each, two or three dozen squabs for sample, I could

Would prefer the feathers on. We can use get the hotel and restaurant people's opinion

all you have." on price and quality and be able to talk to

California Commission Company, 923 West- you on quantity. Eastern frozen squabs are

ern avenue, Seattle, Wash. (Feb. 11, 1903): selling on this market for $2 to $2.25 per

"Your favor to hand and contents noted, dozen. If your stock is as you say, I think

In reply we beg to state that squabs are it would be a better seller than frozen

selling from $2.50 to $3.50 per dozen, accord- goods."

Ing to the quality of the birds. We want Mai son Barberis, restaurant and dining par-

them with the feathers on and not drawn, lors, 204-210 James street, Seattle, Wash.

You may ship us two or three dozen for a (Feb. 11, 1903): "We will take thirty dozen

trial and then we will be better able to tell squabs every month; have them plucked, and

what we can do for you and see how many will pay you $3 per dozen. Please answer

we can handle at a time. Our commission and say about what day of the month you.

is ten per cent, on all goods. We are cer- will send them in."

tain that we can give you entire satisfaction E. C. Klyce & Co., commission merchants,

and know that our business methods will 906 Western avenue, Seattle, Wash. (Feb. 13,

please you. We make prompt returns and 1903): "Yours regarding squabs to hand. We

keep shippers well posted on the market con- have investigated the market here and find

ditions. Trusting to be favored with your a good many of the first-class hotels and cafes

further valued orders." will take them at very fair figures. There

C. W. Chamberlain & Co., 905-907 Western seems to be a variance of opinion as to what

avenue, Seattle, Wash. (Feb. 13, 1903): they will pay, but we presume that the sup-

"Yours of the 9th at hand and contents fully ply has been very limited, and they would

noted. Squabs, such as you mentioned, pay just about whatever the seller would ask

would sell here for about $3 per dozen. Our in order to get them. We think the averrge

selling charge is ten per cent. Twelve to price would be about $2.50 to $2.75 per do^en.

fifteen dozen per week could be disposed of Of course there would be some bidding

from present information at hand. They among the different buyers in case they were

should be shipped alive." scarce, and we might get more for them.

J. F. Gayton, steward Ranier Club (this We have immediate access by 'phone and

club is composed of the richest men of Se- salesmen with all our customers who serve

attle), Seattle, Wash. (Feb. 13, 1903): "I am squabs for short orders or otherwise. By

in receipt of your letter with regard to this means you would be in close touch with

squabs. Yes, I want some squabs at any the people most in need of them and would

time. Will be glad to have them. I will always try to get you top notch prices. We

take a dozen at 25 cents each, either dressed believe this is a good investment for you to

or undressed, three dollars per dozen. After grow them for this market. Of course you

I see the first birds I can tell whether I can would have to start in and graduate up to

take them regularly." find how large the volume of trade will be

VIEW FROM PASSAGEWAY.

VIEW FROM INTERIOR OF SQUAB HOUSE.

Above are two views of a model made to illustrate what we call the dowel
system of feeding and watering. It is a great time-saver in a long house. Between
the floor of squab house and the lowest tier of nest boxes is one foot space. Fill
this space with three-eighths inch doweling set one and one-half inches apart, as
pictured. (This doweling comes in any length from a carpenter and is very cheap.)
Set galvanized drinker and feed trough as shown. The trough has a three-quarter
inch slot in its bottom so that the grains will fall into position ready for eating on
the back side of the bottom strip into which the dowels are driven. The birds
stick their heads through the dowels to eat and drink, and cannot foul either grain
or water. Push a wheelbarrow with grain along the passageway and a house one
hundred feet long can be attended to in fifteen minutes. Without this arrangement,
if you go into each unit pen to feed and water, you will use up at least an hour, and
it will be harder work. By this method you need enter the breeding pens only when
killing or cleaning times come.

150

APPENDIX A 151

that we can command you on them. Any- at that, you to pay the express, I should be

thing in the way of game, fowls or meats glad to have same."

are staple sellers at good prices." Duquesne Club, Pittsburg, Penn. (Feb 1]

Hamm & Schmitz, Hotel Butler, Seattle, 1903): "Wish to know, if you have squabs

Wash. (Feb. 12, 1903): "In reply to yours, of first quality, should you have about three

will say that we could use three dozen a dozen on hand, I would pay you per dozen

week of the squabs and will pay three dollars squabs plucked and delivered, from $3.50 to

per dozen for plucked birds, laid down $3.75 per dozen. If price suits you please

here." let me know." Signed by E. Max Hein-

The above letters indicate to us that peo- rich, superintendent.

pie in the state of Washington who eat Lincoln Hotel, Lincoln, Nebraska. (Feb

squabs have to pay from $3 to $4 a dozen 16, 1903): "Replying to your letter. We can

for the cold storage, frozen kind. Poor as use about two dozen squabs per week in our

these are (they are the lightweight squabs cafe at present. Will pay $2.50 per dozen

of common pigeons) they are in active de- delivered here, feathers on."

mand. Of course the consumers would pay as Hoted Victoria, Pittsburg, Penn. (Feb. 18,

much, and no doubt more, for fresh-killed 1903): "In regard to your letter, will say[

squabs bred from our fine Homers. The com- we use about one dozen or one and one-half

mission men are certainly eager to get dozen per week, just depends on the business,

squabs. They are willing to pay from $2 and will pay $3.50 per dozen delivered here

to $3.50 per dozen. They resell them at a at the hotel."

profit. Fred Harvey, general office, Union Depot

The above letter from E. C. Klyce & Co. Annex, Kansas City, Missouri, Chicago office

is sensible and could well be written by any Cor. 17th street and Wentworth avenue,

commission firm in any state in the Union, (Feb. 14, 19Q3) : We can use 15 to 20 dozen

or by any commission firm anywhere that squabs per week if the birds are very nice

sells poultry, eggs and butter. Wherever and the price reasonable. Can use them with

there is a sale for hens and chickens, dressed feathers on. Do not know what we can af-

or with feathers on, there is a sale for squabs ford to pay, it depends entirely on the birds,

at higher prices not only because they are If you will please send three dozen squabs

a greater delicacy, but also because good by Santa Fe baggage car to Kansas City,

eaters everywhere know they are a greater charging them at such a price that you can

delicacy, and expect to pay, and do pay, more afford to furnish them, I will use them as a

for squabs, pound for pound, than they pay sample. If the birds are not of the right

for hens and chickens, geese and turkeys. quality and the price is too high, we will not

We ship to Seattle by the fastest express need any more, but if the birds and price are

trains. The birds go from Boston to St. right, we can use quantity given above. I

Paul (Minnesota) by the Wells-Fargo Express enclose baggage car shipping bill; be careful

Company. At St. Paul the birds are taken to fill it out Correctly. This bill is made in

by the Northern Pacific Express Company, duplicate: you hold one copy as your receipt

which has charge of them to destination, and the other goes with the birds. Please

Every express messenger in the employ of put the squabs in a small box with a little

these two companies on this long route has ice."

handled our shipments and made a fine Hotel Savoy, Ewins-Childs Hotel Co., pro-
record, and is trained to the work of feeding prietors, Kansas City Missouri. (Feb. 16,
and watering all sizes of shipments. Our 1903): "What is your lowest price on best
Seattle trade can be sure that their ship- squabs In five dozen lots? We are not in the
ments will be treated right and will reach habit of stnding out of town for our sup-
them in perfect condition. That is what we plies, but if you have something better than
guarantee. we can get here, it is possible that we can
MORE LETTERS.— Here are more letters do business with you." (Signed by George
from squab buyers, unclassified, as they came Thompson, steward).

to us in the first part of February, 1903: Frank E. Miller, superintendent Dining

Allyn House, Hartford, Conn. (February, Service. Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway

1903): "In answer to yours will say we system, No. 707 Chestnut street, St. Louis,

are continually using squabs. We buy them Missouri. (Feb. 16, 1903): "I have your

plucked in all cases. We pay all prices, ac- favor relative to squabs. It is proper for you

cording to size, age, and condition when re- to state the price per dozen. We occupy eight
ceived. They run from $2.25 to $3.25 per or ten large dining stations and requi^ a
dozen. Sometimes the market is a little large number."

higher." Hollenden Hotel, Cleveland, Ohio. (Feb. 19,
Russell House, Detroit, Michigan. (Feb- 1903): "In reply to your letter making in-
ruary, 1903): "In reply to your letter would quiry regarding squabs I will state that we
say that we use quite a few squabs here. Am are paying $3.00 per dozen for nice dressed
paying at present $2.50 per dozen for squabs. We do not buy any unless they are
splendid stock. If you care to send me any fully dressed, no feathers on."

152

NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK

Louis A. Fisher, Manager Century Club,
Cleveland, Ohio. (Feb. 17, 1903): "We buy
all our squabs in New York as the prices of
three and four dollars per dozen prevailing
in this city are too high — that is, we buy
cheaper in New York than here."

A. S. Barnett, steward Morton House,
Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Feb. 11, 1903):
"In reply to your inquiry in regard to
what we would pay for squabs such as you
have, we are paying $2.25 per dozen. Should
you consider our price an object, would be
pleased to learn how many you could fur-
nish a week."

Hotel Schenlen, Pittsburg, Penn. (Feb. 10,
1903): "Your squabs must be according to
the weight and you should find a ready mar-
ket for such stock. Nice white squabs are
bringing $3.50 today."

Hotel Rider, Cambridge Springs, Penn.
(Feb. 11, 1903): "We can pay you $2.25 per
dozen for genuine squabs (no pigeons) de-
livered here. Can use six or eight dozen
at a time, but we do not want anything but
young birds."

E. A. Goodrich & Co., commission mer-
chants, 103 South Water street, Chicago,
Illinois. (Feb. 13, 1903): "Your favor at
hand. If you mean fat young pigeons that
have left the nest and can fly, they are
worth 75 cents to $1 per dozen, and the trade
wants them alive. (This is the way the
trade in Boston wants them, but they pay
more). If you mean nestlings, or very young
pigeons which have not left the nest and are
unable to fly, we can get you $2 to $2.25 per
dozen, dressed neatly. Either kind is good
sale at prices named and can handle for you

any quantity from five dozen to one hundred
dozen. If nestling tie in one-half dozen
bunches packed in ice and ship by express."

A FINAL WORD.— Our object in printing
the letters from marketmen and other squab
buyers, in this appendix, is to convince any
intelligent man or woman that there is a
market for him, provided he goes to raising
squabs, no matter where he lives. We have
hundreds of similar letters on hand, but we
have not room to print all, and we think we
have printed enough. If you are not con-
vinced by what we have printed that there
is a paying market for squabs within five
hundred miles of you, do not write to us and
ask us to tell you the names and addresses
of squab buyers in your town or city, or
your county, for that we may not be able to
do, but sit down at your writing desk, or go
out in person, and find out for yourself.

It is unnecessary to argue the squab mar-
ket within anyone of common sense who
lives east of the Mississippi and Missouri
rivers, and on the Pacific coast, and within
shipping distance of Denver. If you live in
a barren territory or a foreign country, and
wish to take up this subject with us, we
will reply to the best of our ability, but
remember that you are on the ground, and
can find out such facts for yourself better
than we can tell you.

This Manual is intended to te a book of
facts, backed up by evidence. If anybody has
any additional facts as to squabs which will
improve this Manual, we will be glad to con-
sider same, and will pay for them if ac«
cepted.

APPENDIX B

(Copyright, 1906, by Elmer C. Rice)

In 1907, we expect our trade to be even greater. In 1906, we sold more
birds ard supplies than in any previous year. That our trade is larger than
that of all others combined is not an idle boast, but is very, much of a fact, due
to this, namely, that we sell Homers which are larger, more prolific, and which
breed larger squabs, than any others. This supremacy we intend to maintain.

We offer additional proof in the following pages. For every letter which
we print here, we have a dozen just as good, or better. ' The following letters,
only a part of many received in nine months of 1906, are not from customers
merely pleased by the fine appearance of the birds on arrival, but are accounts
of breeding which has won success.

There are some very strong letters here. All are worth reading for the
practical information and news they give of the squab industry up to date.
We do not print the names and addresses of these customers. Many are
regular buyers 'of our birds. We guarantee the genuineness of the letters,
and will prove it in any way desired. The originals are at our Boston office
and may be seen there.

We ask your trade for 1907 by deserving it. If anybody tries to make a
sale to you by " running down " competitors, insist that he or them demon-
strate the worth of claims by furnishing proof in volume and character, con-
cerning birds, matings and management, equal to the letters we print here
and in our other publications.

OUR LARGEST 1906 ORDER. In looking birds had a long trip to reach him. We

back over our year of business, 1906, we recall expect to sell him more yet, judging from his

first an order from a customer whom we last letter. We will be pleased to show the

started in 1905, with 120 pairs Extra, for correspondence at our Boston office. The

which he paid $300. We sent him 125 pairs, point we wish to make is, that we are the only

five pairs free. A year later we received the firm anywhere actiaally filling orders this

following telegram from him: size, or able to fill them, and that we earned

" Wire bottom prices for one thousand pairs the confidence of this customer by giving him

Extra, including two thousand nappies and his first lot of birds so good that he kept on

date you ship." trading with us. More 1906 experiences

We quoted him our regular price for Extras, follow,
the same to all, namely $1.70 per pair in large

lots of 300 pairs and over. Our customer was STARTED WITH SIX PAIRS EXTRA AND

a man of few words and knew what he IN TWO YEARS RAISED SIX HUNDRED

wanted. Three days after sending us the AND THIRTY-SIX SQUABS. Nearly two

above telegram he sent us the following years ago (in October, 1904), I purchased of

letter: " Enclosed find draft for $2111.25 as your firm six pairs of your best Extra Homer

payment in full for 1150 pairs Extra and pigeons, from which I have been breeding

supplies. I trust you will exert every care in since, and it may be of interest to you to have

interest of shipment. You will please hold some particulars as to results. I should pre-

the birds until May 10, as it will crowd me to mise by saying that I was, at the time a nov-

get my quarters ready before that time." ice pure and simple— as a matter of fact a

We shipped 1200 pairs, giving the customer lawyer by profession — and knew absolutely

50 pairs free. He lives in the West and the nothing of the care or culture of pigeonsy

153

1906 LETTERS FROM CUSTOMERS 1906

STORIES OF SUCCESS ON THIS PAGE ARE NEW. THEY WERE RECEIVED BY
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK SQUAB COMPANY OF BOSTON IN NINE MONTHS OF 1906

However, study of your squab book, close and
constant observation of the birds, their habits,
etc., with the resultant experience, enable me
to get along pretty well.

My pigeon house was not originally in-
tended or constructed for that particular pur-
pose, but had, hitherto, been used for a hen
house. It is about 40 feet by 12 feet, with
five windows. Along the whole of the wesb
front and extending across the south end I
built a fly 10 feet wide, 12 feet high and about
70 feet long. My flock has hatched, up to th?
time of writing this, six hundred and thirty-
six squabs (636), without those consumed at
my own table, but I contemplate marketing
the squabs this fall as the overcrowding stage
is rapidly approaching.

If you can find time I shall be glad to hear
whether or no, in your expert opinion and in
the above circumstances, you think that I
have been fairly successful. Although I feel
reasonably satisfied with my progress, were I
to start again, ab initio, I think that I should
dp so with a complete flock of fully matured
birds rather than waste the time consumed
raising stock, by breeding, to a business
basis. Wishing you continued success. — W.
C., Massachusetts.

DOING GREAT WORK. The Homers
which you sold me two years ago are doing
great work. I am perfectly satisfied with
them. — F. S., New York.

TOOK FRIEND'S ADVICE. Enclosed find
an order for birds and supplies with remit-
tance. A friend here was much pleased with
pur birds from your lofts and decided to go
into the business. We prevailed on him to
order from you because we felt your birds were
the best. He could have bought here in
Illinois at a much cheaper rate but he took
our advice. So we trust you will do well by
him and trust you will send us another order
blank like the one enclosed. — Mrs. K., Illinois.

MULTIPLIED SIX-FOLD. About two
years ago next June, I bought of you 60 pairs
of your Extra selected Homers and they were
a very fine lot of birds, and I have raised a
very fine lot of birds from them . I have about
400 birds now, and they are straight bai
wing and mottle "vith the exception of about
eight chocolate. — A. C., New Jersey.

GETTING THREE DOLLARS A DOZEN.

Please send me your new literature on squabs.
I bought 18 pairs of you in 1903 and now have
a flock of 190 birds and am getting $3.00 for
my squabs in St. Louis. If any one in this
section writes to you for squabs you may refer
them to me. — F. L., Missouri.

NEIGHBOR PLEASED. Your favor of the
21st to hand, also price list of $1.70 for Extra
Homers in 300-pair lots. Mr. J. A. Westen-
dorf, of this city, purchased of you on a trial
order five pairs of Extra. Why cannot you
make me the $1.70 rate for 50, 100 or 200-pair
lots? In going over my buildings I find that
I cannot accommodate 300 pairs so would not
like to order that number for fear of being too
crowded.

Mr. Westendorf is pleased with his birds
and if the birds you should send would be the
equal of those I would be more than satisfied.
— A. S., Missouri.

ENTIRELY SATISFACTORY. Please send
me the feeding slip that you have published
as your daily feeding ration. The birds we
got from you are entirely satisfactory. — J. D.,
Pennsylvania.

RECOMMENDED BY ANOTHER. Will
you kindly let me know how I can expect to
receive birds ordered from you to be sent to
the above address? I have been recom-
mended to try your birds by Mr. R. Warner,
of 9 DuBois Avenue, and if you can guarantee
safe shipment I will place an order with you
as soon as I hear to this effect. And if they
are as you represent them, I shall be a regular
customer of yours. If you will give me the
desired information, you will greatly oblige. —
G. S., New York.

THIS SHOWS WHAT A CUSTOMER DID
WITH TWELVE PAIRS OF OUR BIRDS.

My Extra Plymouth Rock Homers have done
finely. I sent to Boston $30 for 12 pairs.
The birds arrived before I expected them and
they all looked fine. I got my first egg March
21, 1905. I raised all of my young to increase
the flock for one year and found at the end of
the year that I had 271 young birds, all seam-
less banded, and as fine a lot as I ever have
seen. This year I am selling squabs and
mated pairs, raising my best young, and have
already sold squabs and mated pairs which
have to date netted me $60. I have sold my
squabs for $3 a dozen, and mated pairs for
$2.50 a pair.

I now (September 10, 1906), have 400 birds
that I have raised. A good lot of them are
worthy to be put in the show pen, and if they
were they would be among the winners.

When I went into the pigeon business I
bought what I thought was the best stock to
be obtained, namely, Extra Plymouth Rock
Homers, and my flock shows that I did not go
wrong, for every one that has seen my birds
pronounces them the best lot they have ever
seen together.

My birds now are in the midst of moult,
but most of them are breeding right along.

These are strong letters. Read them over. You want some assurance, when you buy
pigeons, that you will be treated right, as these customers were.

154

1906 LETTERS FROM CUSTOMERS 1906

STORIES OF SUCCESS ON THIS PAGE ARE NEW. THEY WERE RECEIVED BY
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK SQUAB COMPANY OF BOSTON IN NINE MONTHS OF 1906.

I now have 95 mated pairs at work and as soon
as the moult is over I snail begin mating again.
By November I expect to have 50 pairs more
mated and at work.

I feed tne best of grain, using cracked corn,
kaffir corn, red wheat, buckwheat, a little
hemp, and during the moult sunflower in the
head letting the birds pick cff the seed as they
like.

I use the self feeder Mr. Rice describes in his
Manual and I find with it the feed is always
clean. I never feed on floor. I use automatic
water fountains and scald them out every two
or three days. I give the birds a good clean
bath every day.

I have trays to feed any dainty which I
have, removing trays when seeds are eaten.

One thing that is essential with pigeons is
cleanliness. I clean loft every Saturday,
cleaning out nests that have young, putting
in new straw, and spraying over lofts with
liquid disinfectant.

I have followed the instructions of Mr.
Rice's Manual and found it to be good solid
advice.

In the past 18 months I have been in a good
many pigeon lofts and have seen exhibits at
New York State Fair and Rochester, N. Y.,
Pigeon Shows, and never have seen any better
birds than I have raised from the Extra
Plymouth Rock Homers.

I am perfectly satisfied with what my birds
have done and when I buy more they will
surely be Extra Plymouth Rocks.

The feed bill will not exceed eighty-five
cents a year per breeding pah*. I use tobacco
stems for nesting material and like them.
I shall always try and speak a good word for
the Plymouth Rock Squab Company, for I
have found them always ready to assist at any
time. — W. R. R., New York.

THEY HAVE NOT LOST A BIRD. I wrote
to you some time ago in regard to the squabs
we got from you in the month of May, or
rather pigeons, 50 pairs, and have yet to lose
our first bird, which not only speaks well for
your birds but it looks as if we are giving them
the right attention.

There is one thing we wrote to you about,
those not working — but they are doing fine
and, counting your birds, we have 100 pairs,
besides we have sold some which were
greatly admired.

The hotel we take them to in Washington
gives seventy-five cents a pair all the year
round dressed, the commission merchants
never higher than 60 cents a pair. — M. B.,
Maryland.

MANUAL INDISPENSABLE TO SUCCESS.

In regard to the National Squab Book which
you publish, would ask if you ever revise it.

The one I purchased of you in May, 1904, is
all right and I could never have raised the
number and quality of squabs I do without its
guidance. Of course you are learning new
points about your business and if you have a
later edition than mine please let me know.

The Homers have started in on their annual
spring campaign and from all appearances
they are going to outdo their former produc-
tions. With best wishes for your continued
success.— A. T., Ohio.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO HIM BY
OTHER CUSTOMERS. Some time ago I
wrote your company for their free book on
squab raising. Later I sent for your National
Standard Squab Book. I have read each one
from start to finish and am well pleased with
them. I have made up my mind to give the
squab business a trial as I am quite sure that
there is money in it, if properly conducted.

I realize that to make a success of any
business one must thoroughly understand it.
As I have had no experience in this line I wish
to start in with a small number and increase
them as I grow to understand the business.

My plan is to buy 12 pairs of the very best
breeders that I can obtain and keep only the
best of their increase for breeders till I get my
flock to the desired size. Now, from reading
your books and having you highly recom-
mended to me by other parties, I have made up
my mind that you can give me what I w ant in
this line.— H. B., Illinois.

FROM FOUR PAIRS TO THIRTY PAIRS
IN NINE MONTHS. Nine months ago I
bought of you four pairs of Extra Homers.
I had to move them twice to make room. I
have now 60 first-class Homers. I have had
several chances to sell some of the squabs
but I think too much of them. By studying
your manual carefully I have not lost a bird.
Prom a friend of your Homers. — W. M., New
York.

NO DISEASE. You no doubt have my
name on your books as a purchaser of 10 pairs
Extra, which I purchased of you last winter.
I am still enthusiastic over the industry. I
have all the original 1 1 pairs you sent me and
33 young, all the offspring of your birds, 55
birds in all. They are every one in finest
condition, disease has never touched my flock.
— J. P., Virginia.

FIVE MONTHS IN CALIFORNIA. When
I received those birds from you in March I
turned them into a pen and have been so taken
up with other work that they have been left
to themselves until now. At present I am
taking all the working birds out and banding,
and when they have young squabs I have

Beware of anybody who tries to make a sale to you by running down the Plymouth Rock
Squab Co. Insist that he show you letters like these in proof of his claims.

155

1906 LETTERS FROM CUSTOMERS 1906

STORIES OF SUCCESS ON THIS PAGE ARE NEW. THEY WERE RECEIVED BY
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK SQUAB COMPANY OF BOSTON IN NINE MONTHS OF 1906.

moved them also, putting them in a corres-
ponding section in the other pen, the arrange-
ment of the pens being the same. I find that
the old birds find their young and go right on
keeping house just the same as before they
were moved. At present I have 100 young
birds, the oldest being less than five months
and already at work. The squabs are fully
developed and out of the nest at three weeks.
I expect to have about 80 or 90 pair of birds
at work about the first of November. Then
I shall begin to ship. — E. R. C., California.

GETTING ALONG IN VIRGINIA. Please
ship by freight to us six drinking fountains
and six bath pans. We got some birds of you
last year. They have done very well.
Thank you for the advice — P. N., Virginia.

GENEROUS TREATMENT OF CUSTOM-
ERS. Your letter of May 21 was most satis-
factory and certainly very generous. I hope I
made it very plain to you that you were not at
all to blame for the loss of one of my pigeons.
Your offer to replace it free of charge was
quite in keeping with my impression as to
your very generous treatment of your cus-
tomers. I have at last found that the lost
pigeon was a female and if you think a white
pigeon would be well received by my colony
of three checkered, I would like to have a
white female Extra Homer pigeon. My

6'geons are in fine order and doing well. —
rs. H. C., Georgia.

LOST ONLY ONE SQUAB IN FIVE
MONTHS. Five months since , come the 12th ,
I received of you, by express, 13 pairs of your
Plymouth Rock Homers. Up to date I have
lost but one squab (and I think he was killed
by a dislocation of the neck), possibly 10 eggs,
several by frost. I have 54 squabs, most of
them able to take care of themselves, and
seven pairs of eggs. Three pairs of young
ones have hatched and begun to build their
nests. Now I wish to ask you if you think
they are doing well. I do, and I am proud of
my intelligent birds. I am now preparing
to remove all young ones from the pen except
those that are mated and then as fast as the
others mate, to do as you say, put them into
the breeding pen. I shall also build on
another unit to my breeding pen in a short
time, as I figure on 110 birds in my present
house.

I wish I was financially able to put in a good
plant as these birds have demonstrated their
fecundity. I notice you say that there is
little liability of nest-makers mating. I have
not discovered any with the few I have. I
have just gone through the nest boxes with
whitewash containing a good per cent of

carbolic acid and vitriol solution. I clean
out houses often and so far have not had a
sick bird. Occasionally I put ginger in the
drinking fount and I firmly believe it is by
following your plain and definite instruction
that they keep as well.

I hope I am not trespassing on your valu-
able time but cannot resist telling you how I
am getting on with your stock. — W. G. P.,
Wisconsin.

CONVINCED AFTER TRIAL. I have de-
layed in writing you as I wanted to see how
the birds were going to turn out. Can say
now, I am more than pleased with the birds.
I have now 18 squabs and five pairs of eggs.
Three squabs died and six eggs went to waste.
That is all over with now. Don't expect that
to happen again. As far as I can see squab
raising looks to be very simple and profitable.
I have a nice clean house and running water
so the time spent is nothing. Enclosed you
will find my check for 12 pair Extra more. —
J. S., Washington.

GETTING FOUR DOLLARS A DOZEN
FOR SQUABS. Please send me as speedily
as possible 25 pairs of Extra Blue Homer
Pigeons. I have now about 125 pairs of birds
bred from the original 20 pairs I bought from
you about 18 months ago and am selling
squabs at $4.00 a dozen. I am building a
coop 48 feet by 14 feet which will accom-
modate about 600 birds and if successful will
enlarge my plant shortly.

Will you kindly supply me with the name
of the large Commission house in New York
mentioned in your circular? The original
birds were bought from you in November
1904 and shipped to my partner in the busi-
ness.— H. B., New Jersey.

QUICK TIME. I have read a large num-
ber of your testimonials, none like this how-
ever. Now I will make an affidavit that I
received the 38 pairs Saturday morning, put
them in the pen by ten a.m. I gave them a
few tobacco stems from a crock on the floor
in the corner. At! five p.m. a hen laid an
egg. She laid her second egg to-day, Monday,
and is now setting. Can any of your cus-
tomers beat this? — S. H., Illinois.

THINKS WE ARE TRUE BLUE. I am

giving my pigeons occasionally lettuce or
some raw cabbage, which they most heartily
enjoy. Is this conduct prudent? The last
batch of birds you sent me "Extra selected"
were magnificent. You people (The Ply-
mouth Rock Squab Company) seem to be
"true blue." ' I like to deal with your kind;
don't find them all the time. Please answer

Is there anybody in your town who has failed at squab raising? Some play at pigeons
as they would with a new toy, then they give them up. If they bought of us., the trouble is
with them and not with the pigeons.

156

1906 LETTERS FROM CUSTOMERS 1906

STORIES OF SUCCESS ON THIS PAGE ARE NEW. THEY WERE RECEIVED BY
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK SQUAB COMPANY OF BOSTON IN NINE MONTHS OF 1906.

the above and return to me. Yours well
satisfied with your treatment. — O. J., Illinois.

SUCCESS IN TEXAS. In October 1905
I purchased from you 25 pairs of birds and
since that time I have had fair success in
raising squabs. I have about 175 young
birds on hand at present. They are all
strong and healthy, having had the best of
care, and a great many of them are mating
now.— W. B., Texas.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR LETTER. I

received the birds all O.K. The last ones
were every one all right, as were the first.
A thousand thanks for your kind, courteous,
and prompt treatment in all our business
dealings and you will be sure to hear from us
again. If our letter will help you any, you
are perfectly welcome to use it. Thank you
again. — J. C. H., Michigan.

SELLING MANURE. Some time ago I
bought 24 pairs Homer Pigeons from you-.
I have had fairly good luck with them, having
increased my flock to about 200 pairs. I
want to write you in regard the manure.
You state in your National Standard Squab
Book, that the Leather Trust used it for
tanning purposes. Now I have considerable
on hand and I wrote them. They said in
reply, that they did not use it at all, which
was a surprise to me as I have been careful
in saving it. — W. H. H., Pennsylvania.

Answer. The trust does use pigeon manure
or did, the last we knew. We shipped to one
of the Lowell plants of the American Hide
and Leather Co. for three years. Perhaps
your letter was directed to one of the plants
of the trust which does not use pigeon manure.
We have printed so long the fact that pigeon
manure is salable to tanneries of the trust
that the New York office of the trust has been
bombarded with pigeon manure letters for
the last five years to such an extent that they
are sick of the topic there and give an in-
quirer poor satisfaction. For some time we
have been selling our pigeon manure to
leather men whose factories are within ten
miles of our Melrose plant. Their teams call
for it and take it away with very little trouble
to us. We get sixty cents a bushel for it,
same as usual. If any customer of ours
wishes to ship manure to New Jersey or New
York, we will help him to find a buyer there,
as we have letters from tanneries in both
States on file asking us to sell them "pigeon
pure."

HIS FLOCK GROWING. About a year
ago I bought some birds from you, some
$2.00 per pair and some $2.50. My flock is

growing and seems to be getting along pretty
good, having now 180 birds — will soon have
200 birds. I thought I would try and sell
some now. They are all good birds. I want
to try and sell what I raise now and if possible
make a business of the squabs if there is
enough in it to warrant putting up more
buildings and getting more stock.

It costs me about $1.90 per week for feed
for this amount. Am I feeding enough? —
M. N., Massachusetts.

BUILT NEW HOUSE. I have built a
new house for my pigeons. Have increased
my flock from the original six pairs to 50,
besides selling 30 pairs of squabs. Could I
have done any better than that ?

Have been having some trouble by a few
going light and have followed your advice
and think have got the better of the difficulty.
I lay the trouble to the poor quality of wheat
they have been furnishing me. It seems to
be all shrunk up and they don't eat half of it.
— A. D. V., Pennsylvania.

Answer. More pigeon troubles are caused
by wheat, or too much of it, than almost any-
thing else. Squabs which are thin and dark
are caused by too much wheat in the ration.
Pigeons fed on too much wheat get thin, with
sharp breastbones, and will not lay as they
ought to. A good ration of Canada peas and
hempseed is necessary to bring eggs and keep
the flock in condition. A pigeon will not
thrive if not kept in condition by nourishing
food. The results of too much wheat are
loose droppings, stupid and non-productive
birds. Pigeons should be active and eager.

IN FINE CONDITION. My birds I bought
a little over a year ago (12 pairs) are still
doing fine; have sold several small lots of
squabs. I have been following your manual's
instructions as close as possible. I have about
sixty pairs. They are in fine condition and
have lots of eggs and youngsters. — C. W. H.,
North Carolina.

SQUABS WEIGHING NEARLY A POUND
APIECE WHEN ONLY THREE WEEKS

OLD. Please send me your price list on birds
and supplies as I intend to get about ten
more pairs of Extra Homers and want to get
them of you. The birds I have now, which
I got from you, are doing fine and I have
doubled my flock. I could sell all the squabs
I have but want them for breeders.

Would you kindly advise me if oats are
good for breeding pigeons if fed moderately.
Also do you think it wise to sell my squabs
when they are from two and one half to three
weeks old, as some of them will weigh about
fourteen ounces at that age. — A. P., Ohio.

Look up the standing and character of the concern with which you contemplate dealing.
Your bank will find out the facts for you. Avoid advertisers whom you find out by investiga-
tion are worthless. Have their ratings looked up for you.

157

1906 LETTERS FROM CUSTOMERS 1906

STORIES OF SUCCESS ON THIS PAGE ARE NEW. THEY WERE RECEIVED BY
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK SQUAB COMPANY OF BOSTON IN NINE MONTHS OF 1906.

Answer. Pigeons do not care much for
oats. Pigeons in the street eat them, as they
eat peanuts or bread. Of course if you have
oats handy and cheap, you can feed some,
but pigeons will eat almost every other grain
in preference. When squabs weigh 14 ounces
they can be killed, no matter what their age.

MOVE THEM AS YOU PROPOSE. I have
pigeon breeders in unit numbers one and
three. Squabs in unit number two, from
one to three months old. I wish to put num-
ber three with number one. Number three
is breeding right along. Will it hurt to move
nest, pigeons and squabs out of number three
into unit number one? Will it damage eggs
and squabs to do so? If rot I can move
them through unit number two, as I can let
number two in flying pen while I am moving
number three.

I shall want more pigeons by fall. I got
13 pairs from you last year, and I have 100
pairs in all now, so you see I have done well
with them. I wish you would answer as soon
as possible as I do not wish to molest them
before I hear from you. — J. P. M., Michigan.

Answer. Move them as you propose,
putting the nests in the same relative posi-
tions in the new nest-boxes. You will lose
few, if any.

INCREASED STOCK. In May, 1903, you
sent C. I. Bruce forty (40) pairs of your
pigeons at $2.50 a pair, and in 1904, twelve
(12) females. We have sold and increased
stock since then by breeding, until, at present,
we have about three hundred (300) birds. —
Miss H. J., Connecticut.

BEST HOMERS HE EVER SAW. You

favor of the 12th June, answering my inquir -
of the 9th June, was duly received. Thank
for the information. I had fully intended tD
visit your plant, but, just as I am ready to
start, my wife, who was to accompany me on
a two weeks visit to the New England coast
is taken sick. I have seen the birds which
you sent to my neighbor, Mr. P. C. Evans,
and they appear to be all you claim for them,
tie best specimens of Homers I have yet had
the pleasure of seeing.

If you can let me have a small lot of one-
half dozen pairs, at same price as paid by Mr.
Evans, you may enter my order for same,
with dozen bowls, for early delivery. — G. W.
G., Pennsylvania.

FLOCK WENT TO WORK QUICKLY.

Out of the seven pairs of Extra Homers you
shipped me June 2, 1906, I have already
(August 10) got twelve squabs. I am very
much pleased over having such good success,

but I have no way of marking them. You
will please send me an outfit for marking
them by mail. Send about what you think
a beginner ought to have. As the business
grows, will send you a larger order. — L. L.,
Nebraska.

A WOMAN'S WORK. I have 90 pigeons
on hand, bred from the 26 my husband bought
of you a year ago last April. — Mrs. H. C.,
Illinois.

STRICTLY ALL RIGHT. A friend of mine
of this city recommended you to me as being
strictly all right. I will thank you to send
me your literature explaining the cost of
starting a squab farm of about 250 pairs,
raising and marketing same, as I contemplate
going in that business. Thank you in ad-
vance for any information that you may give
me. — W. M. A., Alabama.

RESULTS TELL THE STORY. As all of

my birds secured from you in May this year
have their second pairs of young ones and I
think will continue to multiply as fast, will
you kindly forward me a list of commission
men as stated in your letter of recent date.
Am perfectly satisfied with the results ob-
tained from your birds. If you have any
inquiries for birds in this locality I will be glad
to attend to them for you. — J. L. T., Indiana.

SIZE OF SQUABS A REVELATION. We

are pleased to advise you that we ate our first
squab from the lot of birds you shipped in
May last Sunday and wish to state that the
size of these squabs is a revelation to us, being
almost twice as large as any we have ever been
able to secure.

The enclosed list will give you an idea as to
their productiveness. I also would like to
have you answer the questions contained
therein.— H. B. R. Illinois.

OUR BIRDS BETTER THAN WE CLAIM.

My birds reached me in good order and was
glad to see them when I got home from work
safe and sound. I think the American
Express Co. is about the best there is. Every-
body that sees your birds say they are the finest
they ever saw. I think when anybody is look-
ing for good birds they don't need to look any
further than your place and I know they will
go ahead of any birds in this town for looks
and flying. I think we will stay here till we
get a good flock of birds then we will move
outside of town. The next time I send for
birds I will try and send you a bigger order.

Your birds are better than you claim for
them. Some of them have eggs before their
young ones are two weeks old. They get so

We were the first. Our birds and methods revolutionized the squab industry and are
widely imitated. But imitators who copy or find fault with our printed matter cannot give
you our birds. We have no agents.

158

1906 LETTERS FROM CUSTOMERS 1906

STORIES OF SUCCESS ON THIS PAGE ARE NEW. THEY WERE RECEIVED BY
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK SQUAB COMPANY OF BOSTON IN NINE MONTHS OF 1906.

big they just about can't sit in the nest. I
think if you would put an advertisement in
some of the evening papers you would get
some more trade. I am advertising your
birds to everybody I know. — J. S., Wisconsin.

COMPLIMENTED BY AN EXPERIENCED
JUDGE. One of my hens made her nest and
I thought she was ready to lay but she sat all
one day and part of the next and did not, but
had her mouth open panting and seemed very
sick. I telephoned to Mr. M. to come and tell
me what to do. When he came he held her
in warm water for 15 minutes and then fast-
ened her in her nest. In ten minutes she laid
her egg and got all right.

Mr. M. holds the world's record for three
hundred miles and has some of the most val-
uable birds in Chicago, and he said my birds
were very fine, in fact he said he could have
hardly told them from his own, they resembled
them so much.

When so good a judge will compliment
them so highly I feel very proud of them. —
A. B., Illinois.

SQUABS WEIGHING ONE POUND AT
TWO WEEKS. I thought you might like to
hear from the birds you sent us a year ago.
They have been working overtime since. We
have 54 birds now with several nesting. Every
one is a solid color the same as the old ones.

The squabs we have weighed have averaged
a pound at three weeks old. One weighed a
pound at two weeks.

There is a party here getting birds of all
kinds and colors and claims they are better
than what we got for Extras on account of the
bands.— J. W., South Dakota.

Answer. It is quite common for parties
selling poor Homers to put bands on their legs,
some of them quite ornamental , in an endeav-
or to enhance their value, same as putting
a gaudy label on cheap goods. It is the pig-
eons that count, not the bands. Bands are
useful to number the birds, that is all.

NO. 1 PLYMOUTH ROCKS ARE GOOD
HOMERS. It will probably be fall before I
get my house built and give you an order for
more birds. If money is not too scarce the
order will be for your best birds, for the No.
1 Plymouth Rocks are doing even better than
the Manual claims them to. Your Extra
birds must be wonderful.— W. H. W., Massa-
chusetts.

WE " SHOW THEM " OUT IN MISSOURI.

I received the grits and oyster shell all O. K.
My birds jump on to the grits and hemp seed
in a hurry. They are doing well. I will have
about sixty squabs this month- and quite a

number mating this week. I had an order
for 100 squabs this morning. It made me
sick to think I could not fill it, but my time
came after a while. I will build another house
soon and I want 100 more of your birds. Mr.
Hall's birds look well. They came through
nice. He is well pleased and I think he will
order more. There are two more people talk-
ing of going into the squab business. I will
try to get an order for you. — J. W. H., Mis-
souri.

HAS NEVER SOLD ANY SQUABS LESS
THAN NINE POUNDS TO THE DOZEN.

About three years ago I purchased of you six
pair of Homer pigeons for which I paid $2.50
per pair. My flock are all from the stock I
bought of you and I have some nice birds. I
have never sold any squabs under nine pounds
to the dozen at four weeks old. I never sell
my birds after they have left the nest for
squabs. Will you send me your price list for
grains, that is, Kaffir corn and red wheat.
I would like the address of Boston dealers. —
C. E. W., Rhode Island.

LETTING BIRDS FLY. I would like to
have your opinion and advice on a matter that
is very important to me. I have a beautiful
start with your birds, have followed your book
exactly and the result has been very gratifying.
Now what I want to do is to buy about three
hundred more old birds from you and pen
them. Will the young birds be as prolific,
mate and hatch as well if properly fed, watered
etc., exactly as my pens are, if I allow them to
run loose on my farm ? There is no danger of
them being shot and I would much prefer
allowing them the run of the farm. I have
the buildings that I could convert into com-
fortable houses at once, and I will appreciate
your thoughtful opinion and advice in the
matter for I know you are headquarters. —
T. W., Tennessee.

Answer. Birds which you raise you can
let fly because they know no home but yours,
but Homers which you buy you cannot let fly
safely because they know another home (their
old home) and their instinct and desire to go
home may lead them to leave you.

NEW JERSEY NEIGHBORS ALL AGREED.

The six pairs of birds received from you the
first day of May are still doing fine (Jtily).
One pair has her third pair of young at this
writing — less than three months. The rest
will hatch this week. Mr. Tevis (the neighbor
I spoke to you about in a former le: ;er) came
over after me to see the birds that he had
just received from you. They are fine birds
and he is very much pleased "with them and
sorry that he did not take my advice and send

The squab industry is growing every year. More squabs were bred in 1906 than ever
before. Prices were better and they are going to be as good or better in 1907. The habit of
squab eating is growing in every section.

159

1906 LETTERS FROM CUSTOMERS 1906

STORIES OF SUCCESS ON THIS PAGE ARE NEW. THEY WERE RECEIVED BY
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK SQUAB COMPANY OF BOSTON IN NINE MONTHS OF 1906.

to you in the first place, but he bought about
60 pairs from a New Jersey dealer. He
showed him a letter that was supposed to have
come from a man that bought birds of you,
saying that he didn't want any more of them.
But now he sees the difference when he has
them side by side. Mr. Webster, my next
door neighbor, is so well pleased with the
way mine are doing that he is going to send
for a few pairs this fall. I would if I could,
and had the room.

I now have 16 pairs of the Plymouth Rock
birds. My pen is open to any one that wants
to see the birds before they send to you for
breeders. I thank you for the fine birds you
sent to Mr. Tevis. It shows that I didn't
exaggerate your ability, to send six pairs or
100 pairs of fine birds.— D. C. T., New Jersey.

FINEST FLOCK HE HAD EVER SEEN.

A year ago to-day we received eighteen pairs
of your Homers. Our flock now numbers
nearly 100 pairs and all are doing fine. We
have sold a few pairs at $1.25 per pair, and
have had any amount of inquiries after squabs.
We have had a number of fanciers up to look
at the flock, and all seem to think they are
an exceptionally fine lot of birds. One
gentleman who keeps an excellent lot of
imported birds said they were the finest flock
he had ever seen, which speaks well for your
birds. — B. B., Michigan.

BEST BIRDS IN HIS CITY. Find en-
closed $16.34 for which to send me a dozen
of your Homers, a dozen of nest bowls, and
two feet of aluminum tubing. Would have
liked to send an order sooner but had no
place to keep them. My birds are doing
fine. We have moved into a larger place
where I can let my birds out in a wire cage.
Your birds are the best I ever saw and the
only ones I ever intend to keep. I have sold
off all my young stock so I have more room,
for the others. — J. B. T., Wisconsin.

SPLENDID WORK WITH SPLENDID
BIRDS. I wish to advise you now (August,
1906) of the splendid luck I have had with
the six pairs of birds purchased from you last
May and which were received at my home
on May 17.

These birds, within a week after arrival,
commenced to construct their nests and, out
of the six pairs, five began hatching within
two weeks and every egg produced a squab.
Two squabs weighed at the age of four weeks
and two days, 16 ounces, after plucking, and
the remainder weighed from eight to 12

ounces. The two squabs, weighing 16 ounces,
were the largest I ever saw and I thought you
would be interested in knowing the weights.

On account of not having room for any
more birds, I am killing the squabs as they
mature but would have liked to have mated
the two large squabs, as I believe that their
offspring would have averaged 16 ounces
each. — S. P. N., New Jersey.

DOUBLED IN THREE MONTHS. En-
closed find money order for $1.70 for which
please send leg band outfit. The birds I
bought of you in April are doing fine. They
have doubled themselves. — W. A., Missouri.

DOING WELL IN CANADA. Saw your
advertisement in R. P. Journal, "Squab book
free." Anything new in it? I have your
book of 1904 with two dozen your Homers.
They are doing fine. What would you sell
me one dozen more? — P. I. B., Quebec.

ORDERS FOR A FRIEND. I enclose you
herewith a check for $30. Please ship to
enclosed address 12 pairs of your Extra
Plymouth Rock Homers. Be sure to send
him some nice ones.

Those we bought of you some time back
are doing nicely and if these show up as well
I think that I will be able to send you some
more orders soon. — S. W. T., Georgia.

HAS DEALT WITH THE FAKIRS. The

pigeons that you shipped to us have arrived
in fine condition and the best of health. We
are shipping back to you, via American
Express the wicker basket in which you sent
our pigeons. Also our many thanks for the
trouble you took in selecting the different
colored pairs.

I wish to say that the pigeons are beauti-
fully mated, because one pair have started
in business already, the hen having laid two
eggs, and all the others have showed promis-
ing signs of mating.

After having dealt with poultry fakirs and
receiving their treatment, I fully appreciate
your kind treatment which is so unlike that
of these fakirs, but your endeavors are not in
vain, as I soon expect to order some more
pairs. Your treatment has encouraged me.
I have provided an excellent house and pen
for them. Thank you for your interest shown
in this matter. — L. J. H., Illinois.

IN THE BLUE GRASS STATE. Could
you kindly tell me where I could get some
white Homers? The Plymouth Rock Homers

New laws passed a year ago by the legislatures of Massachusetts and New York forbid the
sale of quail except in the months of November and December. The penalty is a heavy fine
for every quail found in the hands of any marketman or restaurant keeper. Quail are no
longer found on bills of fare in these two states except around Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Squabs are on the bills of fare all the year everywhere. Other states, it is said by sportsmen,
will follow Massachusetts and New York with a similar game law.

160

1906 LETTERS FROM CUSTOMERS 1906

STORIES OF SUCCESS ON THIS PAGE ARE NEW. THEY WERE RECEIVED BY
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK SQUAB COMPANY OF BOSTON IN NINE MONTHS OF 1906.

I got from you are doing fine. — R. L. J.,
Kentucky.

HIS SECOND ORDER. Enclosed please
find express money order for five dollars for
which please send me three pairs of your No. 1
Plymouth Rocks at your earliest convenience.
A previous order which I received from you
has been doing fine. — J. E. D., Pennsylvania.

PROLIFIC BIRDS. I purchased 12 pairs
Homers of you about 18 months ago and they
have done fine work for me. I have 50 pairs
mated birds, saved the best ones and sold the
second class. — J. A. D., Pennsylvania.

SENT SISTER GOOD BIRDS. I enclose a
money order for $17.88 for which please send
three dozen nappies and six pairs blue
checkers. You sent my sister such fine birds
that I would like the order duplicated. — H.
S. B., New York.

RECOMMENDS OUR BIRDS TO EVERY-
BODY. The birds arrived in good order and
I am pleased with them. I have 14 fine birds
from the first ones I bought of you and I think
the last four pairs will go to work soon. I
recommend your birds to everybody. — J. M.
M., Philadelphia.

HE KNOWS OUR TEACHINGS ARE
RIGHT. I have read your Manual carefully,
studied every point as I went, because I
wanted to impress it on my mind. I have
fsund in my own experience that pigeons do
just as your Manual says. Your book is
worth two or three dollars instead of 50 cents.

I want to thank you for the favor you did
at finding the weight and charges of some
things for me. Would you kindly tell me
what would be the cost of freight charges on
one hundred, two hundred and three hundred
pounds of grain? — G. A. S., Georgia.

FIVE DOLLARS A PAIR WOULD NOT
BUY HIS. Birds came Friday at noon, and
accept many thanks for the fine birds you sent
to me. My friend says $5.00 per pair would
not buy his. — J. P. B., Georgia.

PLEASANT BUSINESS FOR A WOMAN.

You will possibly remember that a year ago
last April I bought from you twenty-five pairs
of your Extra Homers. '

I now have some eighty pairs in my house
and have used something like two hundred
squabs. My birds have done well and I have
lost only one of my original stock.

I am thoroughly convinced that there is
money raising squabs and it is a very pleasant
business for a woman, requiring only a little

time each day to attend to them and one soon
becomes very much attached to them — Mrs.
M. L., Kentucky.

GENEROUS TREATMENT. The pigeon

that I wrote you abdut a few days ago has
died. I think it must have been injured in
shipping. It was a female. I think your
promise to send another a very generous one,
and I would appreciate it very much. In
about two or three months I expect to order
more birds of you. The others are doing
excellently. — A. H. B., Massachusetts.

TRADE BEGETS TRADE. I have been
instrumental in making some sales of pigeons
for you. At least I have recommended you to
several people who said they would buy of you.
Did a doctor of Fairhope buy a lot
of pigeons of you? He came over here to see
me about what I thought of the business and I
recommended you to him strongly. I just
sold 30 pair of my pigeons to Dr. O. F. Caw-
thon and E. J. Buck and I recommended them
to buy 10 or 12 pairs of you. I will continue
to advertise you all I can. Later on I want
to rearrange my house and build up a big
place and I will send to you for what I need.
— M. O., Alabama.

GOOD INCREASE IN SIX MONTHS.

Yesterday I wrote you for the Manual or
National Standard Squab Book, but I forgot
to tell you of some of your birds I have seen.
Last August or September a doctor friend of
mine in Brunswick bought of you six pairs of
Homers. In two or three weeks they began
to lay and hatch. He sold four or five pairs
at $l".00 to $2.00 a pair. He has now between
seventy and eighty total. They are beauties
and if mine are as pretty and do as well I don't
think I will be disappointed. Please send
Manual as quick as possible. — G. S., Georgia.

GOOD RECORD FOR FIRST MONTH. I

deem it will be gratifying if you know how the
13 pair of Homers I received from you on May
3d are doing.

There has not been a sick one in the lot and
they are very much admired by all who see
them, and are pronounced first-class Extra
stock.

They are contented and very busy all the
time. Eight pairs are breeding now, with
three nests each having a pair of nice healthy
squabs. I think this a splendid record for the
first month in a new home. — S. H. W., Penn-
sylvania.

LOST HIS TEXT BOOK. Please find en-
closed 50 cents, and send me another Nat-
ional Standard Squab Book. I have mis*

Remember, these are stories told in 1906, by customers who are really raising squabs
with our birds and not merely talking about what they are going to do. They are getting
satisfactory results day after day.

161

1906 LETTERS FROM CUSTOMERS 1906

STORIES OF SUCCESS ON THIS PAGE ARE NEW. THEY WERE RECEIVED BY
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK SQUAB COMPANY OF BOSTON IN NINE MONTHS OF 1906.

placed my other one and can't find it. My
birds are doing well. I have had 15 pairs of
young birds since I had them. I sold one pair
of old white birds for three dollars to a bird
store. — H. K., Missouri.

ATTRACTING ATTENTION. Please to
send some literature to address of gentleman
enclosed, descriptive of the squab business,
and give him prices on same. I have been
talking with him in regard to the business and
as he has a couple of farms over in Michigan,
I have no doubt but what he wilt make an
investment.

The pigeons that I purchased of you last
spring are doing very nicely. Our pen is
attracting considerable attention. We have
about 75 in it now and we are about to build
larger accommodations. — T. T., Illinois.

ENLARGING PLANT. Will you kindly
advise the address of party who purchases
pigeon manure?

My birds are getting along very nicely.
Intend putting up a large house for them in
the near future and will write you later regard-
ing wire for flies. — B. T., New York.

SWAMPED WITH SQUAB ORDERS. It

is impossible for .me to fill the orders that I
have for squabs. I am sending you an order.
Please get them out as soon as possible.
When I receive them, I will order another
dozen Extras. I now have about 350 pair of
breeders. They are doing fine. — H. S.,
Louisiana.

SATISFIED WITH ALL. I received the
two baskets containing 36 birds on Thursday.
Pardon delay in not answering sooner, as I
was out of town. I am perfectly satisfied
with all the birds I bought of you and hope to
be able in the future to secure more. Am
shipping the two baskets this morning by
National express, homeward bound. — J. W.,
New York.

GOOD REPORT. Please find enclosed a
money order for which please ship me 12 pair
pigeons as I saw some birds which you shipped
to Mr. Walter of this town. I received a
booklet from your firm some time ago but did
not order birds until I saw Mr. Walter report
on his. I decided to give you an order if
you can send me mixed colors. Ship via
Adams express. Wishing you success. — L. D.,
Pennsylvania.

ONE YEAR'S GOOD TRIAL. Quote me
prices on your No. 1 Homers. Those I
bought of you one year ago are doing nicely.
— C. M. R., Pennsylvania.

THIS LETTER WAS WRITTEN BY ONE
OF OUR CUSTOMERS TO HIS FRIEND IN
A NEIGHBORING TOWN. I am pleased
to know that you are getting along so nicely
with your squab house. Wish you could see
the last consignment of birds I received from
the Plymouth Rock Squab Co. of Boston.
They are beauties, and they commenced
building their nests the second "day after they
arrived. I have no idea where you are going
to purchase your birds but I certainly think
you will make no mistake if you get them
from Mr. Rice, for the ones he sent me are
the finest I ever saw.

I am confident if you buy your birds of Mr.
Rice he will use you right for he has done the
right thing by me.— F. B., New York.

WANTS 500 PAIRS IN THE SPRING. My

pigeons are "doing very well but they are
shedding a great many feathers. I want to
make arrangements early in the spring for
500 pairs of your best stock, but before build-
ing my houses I want to take a trip to Melrose
and look your plant over, in order to get all
the ideas about construction, maintenance,
etc. I enclose separate slip with a few
questions that I would like to have you answer
if it is not too much trouble. — J. W., North
Carolina.

LOST ONLY ONE BIRD, AND THAT BY
ACCIDENT. I recently bought a few pairs
of birds that you sold to a gentleman in this
city about March 1st. He was moving to St.
Louis and had to dispose of the birds. With
what I got from you and the seven pairs I
bought from him I now have 65 birds. Have
never lost but one bird and that was my own
fault for I was experimenting on it and accident-
ally killed it. I have a market in St. Louis for
all I can ship at $4.00 per dozen. If not ask-
ing too much would you kindly give me the
address of a couple of Chicago and New York
commission men that handle squabs. — W. E.
T., Missouri.

STARTED WELL. I write you in regard
to the pigeons you will remember we bought
of you (24 pairs) about two years ago this
month. Our Homers have done very nicely.
I have about 200 pairs. We sold 40 pairs
last year. We have quite a nice little plant
started. — A. C., Wisconsin.

DOING WELL, GOING TO BUILD. Please

send me a plan for your multiple unit house.
My pigeons are doing fine. — D. B., Illinois.

STARTED IN TO MAKE REFORMS.

Please find enclosed check for nine dollars

Somebody handling the small, stunted Homers may tell you that eight pounds to the
dozen is good weight for squabs and that squabs are not bred to weigh more from Homers.
That is true, from his Homers. In these pages you will find that eight pounds is low for
Plymouth Rock Homer squabs.

162

1906 LETTERS FROM CUSTOMERS 1906

STORIES OF SUCCESS ON THIS PAGE ARE NEW. THEY WERE RECEIVED BY
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK SQUAB COMPANY OF BOSTON IN NINE MONTHS OF 1906.

lor which kindly send us one dozen drinking
fountains. We would like you to get these
off as soon as possible.

I was very much pleased with my visit to
your plant at Melrose which I made yesterday,
especially with your facilities for mating
birds up. Got some new ideas along with a
lot of good advice from your superintendent,
and to-day have started in to make a few
new reforms here. — T. H. D., Connecticut.

KNOWS PLYMOUTH ROCKS BY EX-
PERIENCE. I saw your advertisement of
Homer Pigeons in a magazine. I would like
very much for your company to send me one
of your catalogues, and how much you charge
for Homers a pair. I know from experience
that a Plymouth Rock Homer is a good
breeder. A friend of mine got some from
your people a short time ago, but I did not
inquire as to the price of them. In answer
to letter from you, I will send for some, and
if they are satisfactory, I will be glad to get
more, as I am a great pigeon fancier. — W.
A., Illinois.

ONE YEAR'S SATISFACTION. Send one
bushel of Kaffir corn and one bushel of Canada
peas to me. It may interest you to know that
the birds I bought from you a year ago are in
every way satisfactory. I have doubled the
number of workers in that time and have had
all I wanted for my own table, and sold quite a
number. — J. B. H., Massachusetts.

SOME WEIGH 14 OUNCES WHEN 15
DAYS OLD. I received your pigeons in May
when I was in Longueuil. They have done
well, as I have had some which weigh 14
ounces at 15 days old. What do you think
of a mirror in my squab house? I will be
very pleased to receive all your advertising
booklets.— G. C., Canada.

SUNFLOWER SEEDS ARE GOOD. Your
book doesn't say anything about feeding
pigeons sunflower seeds. Will they eat them
or isn't it good for them to have them ? Please
let me know. The pigeons I got from you are
doing pretty well, I think. I may get more
next year. — B. J., Vermont.

Answer. Sunflower seeds are a good pigeon
food and are used by many of our customers.
They are rich and oily and should not be fed
in excess, but as a dainty. A good way to
feed them is to throw the whole head in front
of the birds and let them pick out the seeds
themselves with their bills.

BREED WELL IN CALIFORNIA. En-
closed find money order for 40 cents for which

kindly send me two feet of your aluminum
tubing for bands. Also send one of your

¥rice lists, as mine has been mislaid,
wenty-four pairs of Homers purchased of
you one year ago are doing fine. Flock now
numbers 150.— W. J. M., California.

CONTINUOUS SATISFACTION. Enclosed
find check which is to cover enclosed order.
All the birds which you have sent me so far
are very satisfactory. — G. S., New York.

FINEST BIRDS AROUND. Your birds I
bought of you a year ago are going fine — the
finest birds around, so my friends say. — Mrs
J. J. M., Massachusetts.

HOTEL KEEPER RAISING HIS TABLE
SQUABS. Am very glad to know that you
were pleased with our menus and will con-
tinue mailing them to you from time to time
if you do not object. I hope that the temp-
tation will be strong enough to cause you to
come to our city and look over our squab
farm. I have been quite successful and have
a fine lot of birds. It is more than likely,
however, that I shall want some additional
birds in the very near future. I would like a
few show Homers, Dragoons and Runts"
For squab raising purposes, I could not ask
anything better than I now have. Will mail
you an order for supplies in a few days. — W.
S., Georgia.

BEAUTIFUL, HEALTHY BIRDS. Will you
please quote me the price of your wicker
shipping baskets, size for 12 pairs, or kindly
forward me the address of the manufacturers
of same. Also state in your letter if the drop-
pings must be entirely free from straw and
feathers, or reasonably so, to satisfy the pur-
chasers at the tanneries. The six pairs I pur-
chased of you two years ago have increased to
150 or 170, besides what I have killed, and the
stock has proven entirely satisfactory in every
way. I have taken pains to follow your
instructions to the letter so now I have the
above number of beautiful, healthy birds. —
W. H. Y., New York.

Answer. It is impossible to get all straw
and feathers entirely out of the manure.
Sweep out what you can with a broom before
cleaning the squab-house. The leather peo-
ple do not care if some straw and feathers get
in but they do not want gravel and tobacco
stems. The latter discolor and stain when
wet.

BIRDS THAT FLY AWAY. On about
April 20, 1905, we bought of you six Plymouth
Rock Homer pigeons. Since then they have

For six years we have had a complete monopoly of the fine trade of the United States. We
sell more Homers every year than all other firms and breeders combined. The reason for this
is that our birds demonstrate their value and make friends wherever they go. This supremacy
we intend to maintain.

163

1906 LETTERS FROM CUSTOMERS 1906

STORIES OF SUCCESS ON THIS PAGE ARE NEW. THEY WERE RECEIVED BY
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK SQUAB COMPANY OF BOSTON IN NINE MONTHS OF 1906.

done exceedingly well, and we have got a
pretty good start in pigeons now, but what
I write you to-day for is this. This morning
at 9 o'clock one of the birds we got of you got
out of the flying pen. She flew into the air and
started for Boston. This was a brown bird,
and we thought she might arrive at her
destination, so I wish you to keep a lookout
for her and see if you can tell if she gets there.
If she does arrive, would you mind letting me
know? I am anxious to know if she gets
there. This was a female bird and she left
a young bird about a week old in the nest. —
R. H., Iowa.

Answer. No Homer would fly that dis-
tance. We receive many letters like the
above. Customers should watch the doors
of squab-house and pens and not let their
birds get away.

LARGE, HEAVY AND FULL-BREASTED.

Enclosed find money order for one more
dozen pairs of your Extra Plymouth Rock
Homers.

I did not rush a letter down to you the
same afternoon I received the other birds for
the reason that I wanted to try them out
first. The dozen pair of Plymouth Rocks,
on their arrival weighed exactly 22 pounds,
while a few days later I received another
dozen pair from another company and they
weighed only 17 pounds. They were not
full-breasted like your birds.

I received first shipment on the 2nd of
March. They are now working like good
fellows. Have three nests with eggs in.

You will hear from me occasionally with
further orders. — A. P. S., Michigan.

WANTS TO BUY SOME GOOD ONES.

Kindly send your catalogue and any other
printed matter you have about pigeons. An
acquaintance wants to buy some good birds
and he is going to look at my lot that I
received last Thursday. I feel sure I can
land him as a customer foV you. — H. D. C.,
Pennsylvania.

GOING SLOWLY. Please send free book,
"How to Make Money with Squabs." The
birds bought of you are doing well now and
some of their young are hatching. Have
enough now to ship a dozen a month now. —
W. M., Maryland.

JUST THE BIRDS. I thought I would
let you know how my birds are getting along.
They arrived on Tuesday, May 1st, as I wrote
you.- Thursday of the same week one pair
had commenced to build. At this writing
four pairs have eggs. The others are build-
ing. That is what I call going right to work.

I am very much pleased with them. There
was a party here this morning looking at
them. He talks of putting in one hundred
pair, and says they are just the birds that he
wants. He is coming up to see your plant.
Of course I showed him my birds and told
him just what they were doing and where
they came from so I think he will be a cus-
tomer for you. I shall advertise the Plymouth
Rock birds wherever I have a chance. Thank
you for your kindness. — J. C., New Jersey.

SQUABS WEIGHING ONE POUND APIECE
WHEN ONE MONTH OLD. I received my
pigeons from you April 20, 1905. I have one
pair that has hatched eleven (11) times up to
the 22nd day of April, 1906, so you can see
that they have had fairly good care. I now
have 110 birds and am getting them fast now
and will commence shipping when I get 70
or £0 pairs. I have weighed a number of
birds four weeks old that weighed 16 ounces
and I think that is very good. — L. P., Iowa.

QUICKLY AT WORK. Please pardon my
delay in acknowledging the receipt (right
side up) of the pigeons you shipped to me at
Harpers Ferry, W. Va., which place I left
before the shipment arrived. My wife
informed me that they were all in good shape
and the finest specimens she ever saw. Also
thought they had returned the baskets to you.
As soon as I go home, which will be in a/ew
days, will send you another order. My wife's
third letter tells "me that 16 pairs put of the 18
have gone to setting. Don't think you can
beat that at home. We have everything good
to feed them, peas, kaffir corn, wheat and
millet, and we intend to make a success of
the business. — W. S., Virginia.

SQUABS HAVE AVERAGED ONE POUND
APIECE. Enclosed please find certified
check for $173.98 for which kindly send me
birds and supplies as enclosed. Kindly send
the shipment of birds as soon as possible as
I would like to receive theni before Tuesday.
All my birds are doing nicely. My squabs,
under your system of feeding, have averaged
a pound apiece and I expect from the present
outlook of things to make them average a
good deal more. — E. H. M., Pennsylvania.

THIS WOMAN IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
KNOWS WHAT A FINE HOMER IS. A

week ago I wrote you complaining of non-
acknowledgment of my remittance sent in
with my order. As I was beginning to
wonder if it had miscarried, I am pleased to
be able to inform you that I received the best
possible answer to my letter in arrival of
the birds I ordered from you. They arrived

The equipment at our farm for mating birds cost $2000 and no expense was spared to
make it perfect. A thousand mating coops are in constant use. The principal mating house
is heated by hot water so as to get the best and quickest results in the cold months.

164

1906 LETTERS FROM CUSTOMERS 1906

STORIES OF SUCCESS ON THIS PAGE ARE NEW. THEY WERE RECEIVED BY
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK SQUAB COMPANY OF BOSTON IN NINE MONTHS OF 1906.

about the same time as your letter (May 1st).
All of them are in first-class condition and I
am very pleased with them, as I consider
that they are a fine lot of birds, and I think I
know what a fine Homer is when I see it, as
my father and brothers have bred and sold
trained flying Homers for years in Lancashire,
England, some of them worth twenty-five
dollars a pair. Although I never heard of
squab raising before I came to Canada three
years ago, when I first saw your book adver-
tised in Munsey's I thought it was some kind
of game bird reared in captivity, and sent for
your book more out of curiosity than any-
thing else. I think I shall like the business
very much and shall probably be sending
another order in a month or two when I see
how I go on with the birds I have got. Thank
you very much for the two pairs extra you
sent, also nest bowls. They were a very
agreeable surprise to me as I did not expect
anything like that on such a small order.
The express charges were six dollars, and 25
cents duty on nest bowls. If you would
write me from time to time giving me your
prices I shall be much obliged. — Mrs A. R.,
Canada.

SQUABS WEIGHING FROM 13 TO 16
OUNCES. Please send me at your earliest
convenience the names of reliable merchants
to whom I can ship squabs, in New York.
The 80 pairs I bought of you last fall are doing
well. I sold squabs that weighed from 13
ounces to almost one pound apiece. I have
over ICO pairs of young ones that I am sav-
ing for stock. — H. J., Ohio.

WORTH THEIR PRICE. Some time ago
I sent you an order for three pairs No. 1 and
three pairs Extra Homers, stating that I
wished to compare with Homers a friend of
mine was ordering at a very much lower
figure. In a word, after due comparison, I
order six more pairs Extras. Please send me
fine birds.— C. J., Illinois.

SQUABS WEIGHING 16 TO 17 OUNCES
EACH. Please find enclosed remittance for
which send me 12 pairs and supplies noted.
The dozen pairs you sent me started in to do
business last month, having been moulting up
to that time. The first two -pairs squabs
hatched, at one month old, weighed one pound
each, with one that was 17 ounces. That is
very good, is it not ? I am well pleased with
them. Make this dozen as good and I shall
be more pleased. — C. B. G., Connecticut.

HIS FOURTH ORDER. Enclosed you will
please find money order for which you will
please send me as soon as possible one dozen

pairs Extra bred Homers (fourth order.) — L
C., Louisiana.

SUPERIOR IN LOOKS AND WORKS.

The birds (60 pairs) arrived on the late train
from St. Paul on Sunday night last, and
remained in the depot here until early on the
following morning when we took them home.
Outside of the injured ones mentioned, I will
say that the birds arrived in perfect condition
and are fully up to what we expected them to
be. They are now " at home " and present
a beautiful appearance. The birds which you
sent me last November (nine months ago) are
entirely satisfactory, and " out-class " any
I received from the — — or those which my
friend here received from the same people.
Mine are plump, his are " cranish," long-legged
and long-necked. I would not keep that kind
of birds. My friend has not accommodations
for pigeons, and wanted to sell out. A doctor
who for several years rented offices in my law
office building here, looked them over with the
view of purchasing the outfit, and I advised
him to do so, to get a start in the business.
He visited my lofts, and saw my birds, wanted
to buy some from me, and after he saw mine,
he would not buy of my friend. I gave him
your address, but have not seen him since,
and do not know whether he has made a pur-
chase or not. I have none to sell at this time
as we are trying to increase the flock to at
least 1200, for which we have ample accommo-
dations, then we will begin to sell.

There is no mistake in saying that the birds
which I received from you, out-class those

which the have sent here. If your

Mr. Rice should ever come to this country I
would be pleased to have him stay with me
and look over the " greatest " farming coun-
try on earth.

My elder boy (17 years of age) visited the
great Minnesota State Fair. Saw Dan Patch
break his record, reducing it to 1.55 flat. He
looked the pigeons over as a matter of course,
and he tells me that he could find no Homers
there which compared with ours. He intends
to exhibit some at the fair next fall. — H. M.,
Minnesota.

MADE A SUCCESS AND GOING AHEAD
ON A BIG PLANT. I have a party that wants
to go into the squab business with me, and it
is possible that I will call on you during Nov-
ember for 2000 breeders. I have done very
well with the 800 I have, encouraging enough
to put in quite an extensive plant. I would
like to have your personal opinion as to
whether 2000 birds will do as well in 20 units of
100 birds each with one fly 12x48x200 as they
would in 20 units with 20 "flies 10x12x48. On

Our whole time and energies are given to squabs. We handle trade as it ought to be
handled — promptly, courteously and thoroughly, with every detail attended to. Letters are
answered at once. It is a business with us, pushed steadily every day in the year except Sun-
days and holidays, and not a side issue or an amusement.

165

1906 LETTERS FROM CUSTOMERS 1906

STORIES OF SUCCESS ON THIS PAGE ARE NEW. THEY WERE RECEIVED BY
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK SQUAB COMPANY OF BOSTON IN NINE MONTHS OF 1906.

account of labor I would prefer the one large
fly, but I want no experiments and leave the
matter with you. I can get $4.00 per dozen
for a large portion of my squabs, and would
like to have an opinion as to what 5000 of
your breeders would net us yearly when we
raise our own feed on the farm.

WE SUPPLY HENS TO THOSE WHO
NEED THEM. After recommending your
firm to A. F. Kennelley of this city and he
being a purchaser from you recently, I find
that he is well pleased with treatment accord-
ed him. Enclosed please find $5.00 for five
female birds to be used as breeders. I bought
some birds from a friend of mine and he had
five odd cocks which I want to mate up.
You will forward these by first express to my
address.— H. E. W., Ohio.,

BEST BIRDS HE EVER SAW. The

Homers ordered from you reached me in due
time and in excellent condition. They
certainly are the finest birds I ever saw. I
really believe they are a finer lot than the
first consignment, if that be possible. The
second day after their arrival they commenced
building their nests, which I imagine is a
pretty good record.

Some of my friends have secured birds from
other parties and although I have not seen
their birds, I am confident they can't tell me
that they have a finer lot than mine.

If I have an opportunity of securing you
any customers I shall be only too glad to do
so.— B. Y., New York.

BEST HOMERS IN CALIFORNIA. Birds
received in Al condition. Your birds have
stirred up quite some interest here and what I
hear from people who know is that your birds
are the best in the colony. As it is, I am well
pleased with the bunch. I have a house
12 x 32 feet divided into four pens 8x9 feet
with a three-foot passage running the length
and everything up to date. That also has
opened their eyes in the building and arrange-
ments in an up-to-date squab house. I have
had the birds less than a week and am pretty
well advertised already. The market here
is strong at $3.00 to $3.50 and the demand
far exceeds the supply. — C. H., California.

SOLD YOUNGSTERS FOR $2 A PAIR IN

KANSAS. Enclosed find remittance for one
leg band outfit. My pigeons have been doing
fine, and are keeping busy all the time. Have
sold off the young pigeons at eight weeks old
for $2.00 per pair. What is the difference in
Canada peas and the peas we raise here?
Will the common peas do to feed to the
pigeons? — G. W. S., Kansas.

LATEST NEWS FROM THE NEW YORK
MARKET; HIGH PRICES WHICH ARE
GOING HIGHER BECAUSE OF THE NEW
LAW FORBIDDING ENTIRELY THE SALE
OF QUAIL EXCEPT IN NOVEMBER AND
DECEMBER. I take the liberty of asking
you for a little more advice for the birds I
bought from you last November. Of sick-
ness I have not seen any sign of it. I lost only
two of them, one of apoplexy I think, because
it fell like shot dead, the other one died of
diarrhoea. Of the young squabs, the cas-
ualties have been a little higher, but out of
50 I did not lose more than six, or 12 per 100.

Now I wish you would give me your
opinion how I have progressed, if I am on the
regular average or if I am under it..

The prices for squabs on the New York
market have been very high all winter — have
reached as high as $6.50 a dozen for squabs
of over 10 pound a dozen, and $4.50 for birds
of near eight pound or so. Of course private
trade is better and I have been able to sell
squabs for 50 cents apiece easily.

I have a set of birds that give me three
eggs and have hatched them successfully
with three days late for the extra one. Does
that happen often? — H. G., New York.

WILL NOT BUY ANY HOMERS BUT
PLYMOUTH ROCKS. Last May I ordered
from you twelve Plymouth Rock Homers.
They arrived on the eighth of May and on the
twelfth of the same month the first egg was
laid. Five pairs of them went to work almost
immediately and have been at work ever
since. I raised the squabs during the summer.
I have now 13 pairs of mature pigeons. Twelve
pairs work constantly and I am very much
pleased with them and want to thank you
for them and as you are so kind as to offer to
answer questions and to help we people who
do not know all about raising squabs I shall
be so much obliged if you will give me a little
help. My present ambition is to increase my
plant. I want to buy some Extras from you
as soon as I can raise the capital. I can buy
Homers nearer home but yours have done so
well for me that whatever new stock I get I
would like to get from you. You say in your
book that you will give your patrons the
address of a good New York buyer. Will you
please send me the address? — C. O., New
Jersey.

BRANCHING OUT. Please quote me your
best figures on the following: Homer pigeons
in pairs ready to go to work in lots of 20, 50
and 100 pair lots. Hempseed in bushel lots.
Health grit in 100 pound lots. I have your
prices of last year but presume there are some
changes. I purchased 12 pairs of Homers
from you last spring and they raised me about

These are strong letters. Read them over. You want some assurance, when you buy
pigeons, that you will be treated right, as these customers were.

166

/906 LETTERS FROM CUSTOMERS 1906

STORIES OF SUCCESS ON THIS PAGE ARE NEW. THEY WERE RECEIVED BY
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK SQUAB COMPANY OF BOSTON IN NINE MONTHS OF 1906.

60 young ones by the first of November. —
R. W. H., Iowa.

BLOOD AND HIGH BREEDING COUNT.

Enclosed find draft for which you will send
by Pacific express, Extra Homers, as per
memorandum. Several weeks ago I ordered

1 5 pairs of . When the birds came I did not

think they were much more than common
birds. A friend in our town wanted some
breeders and I got him to try your birds.
They came last night. There is a big differ-
ence between the birds. My first birds do
not show any white on bill to amount to any-
thing and they are most all white or very
light color. Yours show their high breeding.
Blood tells, when you put them together. I
sold mine at half price to-day to get shut of
them. What I want is blooded stock or
nothing. Please send me a good collection
of assorted colors, blues, reds and checkers.
I ordered one of your squab books some time
ago and I think it the best I ever read on
pigeons. — J. A., Missouri.

TRIFLING DEATH LOSSES. In January
of this year I purchased 12 pairs of your
Extras. They are now (April) in fine condi-
tion and have hatched out 24 young ones, 22
of which are living and doing fine. — W. J.,
Massachusetts.

SEVEN PAIRS WORTH $25, THIS
ARKANSAS CUSTOMER THINKS. Writing
you a few lines to let you know that I got the
pigeons all O.K. They were all well. I got
them two weeks to-day and out of the seven
pairs, four pairs of them have built and are
setting on eggs already. I would have
written you sooner but wanted to see what
they were going to do. I would not take
$25 for the seven pairs. Sending the basket
back this evening with the letter. You can
put this letter on your list. I think it is the
only one from Arkansas. — C. W., Arkansas.

GOOD SHOWING AFTER THEIR 3000-
MILE JOURNEY. Enclosed please find Wells
Fargo Express money order for $1.70 for which
please send me by mail post paid, one leg
band outfit at your very earliest convenience.
My birds received from you March 17 are
doing fine. They got right to work and one
month from the day I received them I had
three pairs of squabs hatch. Since then one
more pair has hatched and two more pairs are
setting and two pairs building. I think that
is a pretty good showing in six weeks for 10
pairs after travelling 3000 miles. I lost one
hen. She got sick and I could not find what
was the trouble. She did not have diarrhoea,
but just seemed to droop and die. The
remainder of them are as fine as could be.

Will you please quote me prices on nine pair
Extra Homers to be delivered in June or July.
Cannot tell yet just when I will be ready for
them, but either June or July sure. Best
wishes for your continued success. — E. M.,
California.

ARKANSAS CUSTOMER IS PLEASED
WITH SQUARENESS. I received your Man-
ual a day after I wrote that letter, and I
received another one. I have sold both of
them, and find enclosed $1.00 to pay for your
extra one and another one for myself. You
people treated me so well I won't buy any
Homers from anybody else. I was surprised
at your squareness and have told every one
about it and got them all a-going in the right
direction. I was very, very much pleased
with your Manual. — G. R., Arkansas.

HIS MONEY TALKS FOR HIM. Last

August I purchased 124 pairs of your Extras
and am now in the market for about 375 pairs
more. I am also in need of some extra hens
of the same quality. Can you supply same?
Also let me know if you can furnish these birds
in pairs in the following colors: blues, blue
checkers and red checkers in any number I
may desire. Please state your very lowest
price on above number of pairs. Let me hear
from you by return mail, as I am in a great
rush for the birds. — S. T., Indiana.

CANNOT SAY TOO MUCH IN PRAISE OF
OUR HEALTH GRIT. Enclosed find $2.00
for 100 pounds of health grit. I find this grit
the best on the market for pigeons. I cannot
say too much for it as it keeps the pigeons in
fine health. Although the price is high I
would never be without it. I have quite a
few people that want to get this grit from me.
Can you let me have it cheaper, so that I can
make something out of it? Answer and let
me know. — R. O., New Jersey.

BIG SQUAB FARM WHOSE OWNER
BOUGHT HIS BREEDERS OF US. I visited
a squab farm last Sunday and before I left
found that the owner bought his breeders of
your company, five hundred pairs. He has
1100 pairs at present and is making a fortune.
After seeing this farm I was more than con-
vinced that the Plymouth Rock Squab Co.
is O. K. If I get as good a lot of birds as
he has I certainly will be pleased.

I am sorry that I did not figure on handling
more birds than I did. Have built house to
accommodate 100 birds. Enclosed find stamps
for which please send plans and specifications
for squab houses. No doubt you will receive
a larger order from me in a short time. Will
notify you in a few days when to ship -birds.

Beware of anybody who tries to make a sale to you by running down the Plymouth Rock
Squab Co. Insist that he show you letters like these in proof of his claims.

167

1906 LETTERS FROM CUSTOMERS 1906

STORIES OF SUCCESS ON THIS PAGE ARE NEW. THEY WERE RECEIVED BY
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK SQUAB COMPANY OF BOSTON IN NINE MONTHS OF 1906.

I want to have everything complete before I
have them shipped. — I. S., New York.

HAS TRIED THEM AND KNOWS. I am

at present debating with myself and with
some of my relations in regard to starting in
the pigeon business. My folks are trying to
persuade me that it is going to cost too much
to start, and that I will not realize any great

Fronts very soon. As I see, and at the best
can figure it out, it will take about $100 to
start in with fifty pairs of breeders and build a
home to accommodate them, getting the price
of building down as low as possible with lum-
ber at its present price. What I want to
know is, do you think it would pay me to start
and about how long do you think it would
take to get back the amount paid out if I
relied entirely on the birds ?

I think I could get it back in four months
at the most, because I have three pairs I pur-
chased of you in January, besides the young
ones I have raised. I have watched and studied
their ways and know something about them.
I know how fast they breed, etc. Now am I
right in my estimation as to the time it would
take to regain my money and would you
advise me to start if possible? My birds I
have now are doing fine. — S. A., Massachusetts.

MANURE FOR SALE. Will you please
give me the address of some firm to which I
can sell my pigeon manure? My pigeons are
doing well this spring. — T. O., New York.

RHODE ISLAND SUCCESS. I am enclos-
ing money order for which kindly send me
enclosed supplies. If this money order does
not cover cost do not delay the grain but
send me bill for extra. My birds are all doing
finely.— B. O., Rhode Island.

THIS IS THE KIND OF PLAIN TALK ONE
LIKES TO HEAR. I am finding out for my-
self if there was money in squabs and I have
found it to be true by other squab breeders.
I was to a man's place this afternoon and he
said he had no trouble in selling his squabs
for a good price. I guess the only trouble
is people are sleeping half the time. That's
why they don't know much about squab
breeding. If a fellow doesn't believe in squab
breeding, all he has to do is to open his eyes
and look around. I've been to a couple of
bird shows and have seen nothing to go ahead
of your birds yet. My friend was saying what
nice birds they had at the show, and I thought
I would go down with him. We had to pay
25 cents to get in. After we looked at the
birds, he said that mine would get the first
prize if I would take them down. Then I
found out that I have some of the biggest birds

in town. I would like to get some pictures
taken and show you some of the birds I got
from yours. I found your book to be a book
anybody can read and knows what he is read-
ing about. Everything is so plain — what a
beginner wants to know about breeding birds.
I was thinking of sending you my third order.
If I do, it will be next week. Hoping you are
doing a good business. My birds are doing
fine. Your birds are the best breeders and I
won't take any others. — S. C. H., Wisconsin.

NEST BOWLS ALL RIGHT. Please find
a money order for one dozen more of your nest
bowls. They are O. K. Put them in the
house one evening and on going in the next
found that a pair had already taken posses-
sion and started a nest. Have 11 pair setting
on eggs and they are doing fine. I intend to
purchase more from you later as I am going
to build a unit to start this spring and enclose
money for your plans for squab houses.
Wishing you every success. — W. A., Massa-
chusetts.

ENLARGING. Enclosed find check for
which please send me seven pairs of your
Extra Homers and one dozen fibre nests.
Send by American express. This time I
would like to have different colored birds.
The birds and supplies you sent me in Janu-
ary came in good shape. I was well pleased
with same. Am thinking some of putting in
50 or 100 pairs more this summer if I can
arrange for another house. — H. B., Indiana.

BEST EVER SEEN IN OKLAHOMA.

Enclosed please find money order for which
send me your best Extra Homers as specified.
Send all blue-speckled birds, as shown on
right of special offer sheet. Your last ship-
ment of birds are fine ones and every one that
has seen them say they are the finest they ever
saw. Trusting these will be the same or
better and that I may receive them at your
earliest convenience. — -W. H., Oklahoma.

BUYING MORE AFTER ONE YEAR'S
EXPERIENCE. A little over a year ago, I
bought 24 pairs of your pigeons. Now I wish
to buy 300 pairs of your Extra Plymouth
Rock Homers and am fixing a house for them
and will be in shape to receive 75 pairs a
month, say March 1, April 1, May 1 and June
1. I see that $1.70 per pair is your price in
lots of 300 pairs and upwards. I should
want the best birds as I believe they are the
cheapest. Now if this arrangement is all
right, you can let me know and I will send
you $127.50 for the first 75 pairs. I want
your best birds. — E. P., Ohio.

Is there anybody in your town who has failed at squab raising? Some play at pigeons
as they would with a new toy, then give them up. If they bought of us the trouble is with
them and not with the pigeons.

168

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