COSTS AND PROFITS 43 



of non-producing birds. It is said that he mar- 

 kets 12,000 dozen squabs a year, which, if 

 true, is a very small return from 100,000 birds. 

 or 50,000 pairs, not being quite three squabs 

 a year for each pair. This mammoth pigeon 

 plant ships squabs to Los Angeles, Pasadena, 

 and as far north as Santa Barbara. He sells 

 them dressed, and as his pigeons are all white, 

 or nearly so, he must receive a good revenue 

 from the feathers, which are easily cured and 

 will sell for from forty to sixty cents a pound. 



My birds were picked breeders and nested 

 from eight to ten times a year, producing from 

 4,500 to 5,000 squabs, which I marketed alive, 

 receiving from $2.25 to $4.50 per dozen. 



It is simply impossible to count flying 

 pigeons. Even the best experts overestimate 

 the numbers. I was supposed to have had 

 2,000, but when I began to keep strict tally on 

 the nesting capacity of the house I discovered 

 I had but 1,100; so it may be with this mam- 

 moth pigeon ranch, and if they were caught 

 up by the dozen it would be found he had 

 just half the number. When there are 500 

 birds in motion and as many more peeping 

 their heads out of nests, they certainly have 

 the appearance of 3,000 or 4,000. 



I paid $700 for my 1,100 birds and the 



