MARKETING 109 



they are allowed to hang over night to cool 

 thoroughly and so the blood may drain out of 

 the body into the head before shipping, when 

 they can be graded; tie the best ones in bunches 

 and the smaller ones together, and send thus 

 properly ticketed with the address of the mar- 

 ket and that of the shipper and number of 

 birds in the bunch; or the bunches tied in a sack 

 and ticketed. There is less likelihood of any 

 of the bunches being lost by following the latter 

 plan. 



No matter how the squab breeder ships he 

 must grade his birds, putting the largest to- 

 gether and the smaller ones by themselves; it 

 is also best to send the same grade to the same 

 market each time, so the markets will know 

 what to expect. There is danger of lowering 

 the price and injuring the reputation of the 

 pigeon plant by mixing grades. 



When I had my squabs plucked I employed 

 two men and paid them by the squab one cent 

 and a half. They could kill, pluck, plunge 

 into water, and hang up to dry from twenty- 

 four to thirty squabs in an hour. 



While one man was getting some vessels of 

 water ready, the other started in to kill and 

 hang up; then the other followed closely with 

 rough picking, beginning at the neck and leav- 

 ing atout three-quarters of an inch next the 



