250 AMERICAX SQUAB CULTURE 



at any time or at th" end of the year, know just what it costs 

 him for feed, how mueh it cost for lal)or, .i?en(»ral upkeep of the 

 plant, etc. 



This will enal)le liim to manage more successfully the husi- 

 ness, and hy having such information at hand he can economize 

 and manage his husiness in such a way that greater profits 

 can be made than could be with a plant rvnming haphazardly 

 and without a knowledge of the expense of the different branches 

 of same. 



With a largo i)lant, at least ten jx-r cent ol tli" building and 

 equipment should be chaiged off anmially to i)rofit and loss for 

 depreciation, and 1") to 2{) per cent of the annual cost of breeding 

 stock should be charged to profit and loss, as the actual life of 

 a breeder is not more than five to eight years. 



One might be losing money right along and not know it, or 

 his birds might be bringing him a fairly good return for the 

 investment and prol)al)ly he would think that they were un- 

 profitable. Therefore, even if one has but a few pair, it is ad- 

 visable to open up and keep a i)rofit and loss account, which 

 ^\ill ])rove more valuable than the tini'^ spent in keeping it. 



CAUSES OF FAILURE 



There are failures in eveiy l)usiness. There are people who 

 fail at most everything they undertake and then tliere are i)eo- 

 l)le who succeed at most everything, yet might fail in some cer- 

 tain line of l)usiness. 



There are many causes of failure in the squab business. As 

 a rule, however, they can be traced to two or three reasons, viz.: 

 lack of care and attention to business or over-estimating the 

 possibilities of the business; under-estimating the knowledge 

 and care necessary to success and lack of confidence. 



While squab producing pigeons are very prolific there is a 

 limit to their possibilities. Some people over-estimate the num- 

 ber of squabs they can raise and the rapidity with which a 

 flock can be increased and then l)e disapi)ointed because their 

 expectations were not realized. 



An investment of $200 or $300 cannot be expected to yield 

 several hundred per cent profit, yet the average person entering 

 the squab business will calculate on starting with a small num- 



