170 AMERICAN SQUAB CULTURE 



industry, and the fact that Thousands of people are entering the 

 squab business annually, has created a demand for squab breed- 

 ing stock, which in turn has caused mnny people to enter this 

 branch of tlie business unprepared ar;d without special knowl- 

 edge of what is necessary to success in this kindred industry. 

 The results have been that many have effected their success 

 along the line of squab breeding by accumulating a lot of birds 

 which they saved to sell for breeders at a heavy expense, and 

 eventually a loss on account of having to sell at a reduced price. 



Like anything else, there is much to learn about this branch of 

 the business that one would not foresee or appreciate until too 

 late. 



To start with, there is not the margin of profit in selling squab 

 breeders as it might appear on first thought. Tliere are many 

 things to be reckoned with besides the expense of feeding birds 

 from the time they are old enough to kill for squabs until ma- 

 tured and sold for breeders. There is a certain per cent of 

 squabs that could not be sold for breeding stock on account of 

 size, weight or color, which defect cannot always be determined 

 at squab killing time; then a percentage of young birds die alter 

 they leave the nest, and before they learn to care for themselves. 



It is next to impossible to distinguish between a male and 

 female squab, and a person accumulating squabs for breeding 

 purposes will invariably save more males than females, which 

 is a total loss, as there is no demand for extra males. 



The additional space or room for housing birds unti' tlicy 

 mate and can l)e sold is quite an item to consider, together with 

 their care and time and labor it takes to segregate them into 

 classes, and mating them up properly, but all these things ca)i 

 be mastered and coped with successfully by most any squal} 

 breeder. 



The j)riiicipal trouble comes in selling breeders, for even in 

 the face of an increasing demand, it is hard to find ready l)u> e.'s 

 lor breeding stock, and especially so for those who are not known 

 and have to depend upon a limited means of advertising. It 

 takes a number of years to build up an established business of 

 this kind to such an extent that breeders can be sold at the 

 proper age, at a fair price. The average purchaser of breeding 

 stock would prefer to buy his birds from a well established 

 breeder at an advanced price, than from some one who is in- 



