SUPPLEMENT 



125 



A man named Maraud complained to M. 

 Brunei, 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 hoits^ of another man. 



"The magistrate went to the place indicated 

 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 Mr, 

 Brunet. There he had a wax seal attached 

 to each bird's leg and the birds liberated. 



"They flew back to Maraud'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 Jersey 

 State Board of Agriculture. Years ago when 

 poultry and egg i^roduction was being first 

 advocated extensively, there were many 

 fears expressed that the business would be 

 overdone, that chickens and eggs would come 

 to be common and low priced, and the fear 

 that there would be no money in the business 

 no doubt kept many out of it. Nevertheless, 

 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 people not informed as to squabs 

 think that if many go into squab raising the 

 prices are going to drop until there is no 

 profit in the business. On the contrary, 

 prices for squabs have been increasing every 

 year here in the East, and they are going to 

 Uicrease in the West in the years to come. 

 Consumers who have 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 grovvs. 



If all the Homer breeders we have sold 

 during the years we have been in business 

 were concentrated in one plant, we could sell 

 the entire squab output of that one plant to 

 any one of a htmdred commission men in one 

 of the large cities. „ . , 



New Jersey is domg well with squabs. 

 Other States, notably California, Iowa, 

 Wisconsin, ^Michi^an and Massachusetts are 

 producing a great many. Just what is being 

 accomplished in New Jersey comes as a 

 surprise to people who look upon this busmess 

 as somethmg new and untried. At the 

 annual meetmg of the New Jersey State 

 Board of Agriculture in January,^ 1904, an 

 address was given by Mr. G- .L. Gillmgham on 

 equab raisinq, in the course of which he said: 



"The prodiiction of squabs for the markets 



of our large cities is an industry that is reach- 

 ing considerable proportions in this State. 

 And, although it is growing yearly, yet the 

 prices seem to be advancing; 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 seasons of the year. There- 

 fore 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 persons, 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 atten- 

 tion 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 successful. 



' '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 3000 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 aggre- 

 gate to 86,000 squabs, for which the peoi)le 

 of that town received nearly $25,000; while 

 another single grower in the same county 

 shipped from his own lofts between 13,000 

 and 14,000 birds. 



"The cost of feed and care for a working loft 

 of pigeons is about $1 per pair per year 

 (mantire not sold). Some put it much lower, 

 but at the present prices of feed , if proper care 

 is given, we should not figure 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 buildings, etc., which 

 need not be expensive, according to the taste 

 and means of the builder 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- 



