being sold at '"'sacrifice prices" are rare. There is always 

 something the matter with cheap pigeons. As in every line 

 of trade, and in farming and all stock-breeding, articles that 

 earn more are worth more. 



SUPPLEMENT 



DEFINITION. 



Look tn the Standard dictionary for the 

 word SQUAB and it is found to be derived 

 from the Swedish sqvahb, meaning FAT, or 

 fat flesh. Used as an adjective it means fat, 

 bulky. As a noun, it not only means the 

 young of pigeons, but also a well-stuffed 

 cushion. The idea that a squab is fat is 

 thoroughly conveyed by the use of the word. 

 MANURE WORTH MONEY. 



Clean the droppings out of your squab 

 house and flying pen once a month or so. 

 This manure is in demand by tanneries and 

 you should get at least $80 a ton for it, or 

 about fifty cents a bushel. The sale of the 

 manure should pay from one-quarter to one- 

 third of the grain bill. 



The tanneries want the manure for Its al- 

 kali, in which it is very rich. 



There is a point in this connection which 

 you will find helpful. "When washing the 

 nappies in hot water, to cleanse them, you 

 will not be obliged to use soap, for the al- 

 kali in the manure will unite with the water 

 to form a strong cleanser. 



Pigeon manure is In demand all the time 

 by buyers who advertise for it. Here is an 

 advertisement cut from the Boston Sunday 

 Globe of Feb. 23, 1902: 



Wanted to Buy— Pigeon manure by J. J. 

 McKitti'ick, 14 Kingston St., Charlestown, 

 Mass. 



FLYING ROOM NEEDED. 



Customers occasionally write us and de- 

 scribe a poultry house or other building 

 which they have, and ask us to tell them 

 how many pairs of pigeons It will accom- 

 modate. 



No matter what the building, it will ac- 

 commodate as many pairs of pigeons as you 

 can find room for pairs of nest-boxes. Put 

 in all the nest-boxes for which you have 

 room, then you will know how many pairs of 

 pigeons you can accommodate. As to the size 

 of the flying pen, make it as small or as 

 large as you have room. As we tell in writ- 

 ing about how to utilize a garret or bam 



loft, you do not need any more than a place 

 where the birds can hop or fly into the direct 

 sunlight. Of course it is better to give a 

 good-sized flying pen when you have room. 



Nail up the roosts in the squab house 

 wherever you have room, placing them about 

 15 Inches apart. You understand only part 

 of the birds roost at a given time. While 

 some are roosting, others are on the roof or 

 on the nests. The patent roosts which you 

 will find advertised are not so good as the 

 old-fashioned inverted V-shaped kind because 

 the latter prevent a bird from soiling the 

 bird underneath, while the patent ones do 

 not. 



A letter is just at hand in which the writer 

 says: "You do not say how many birds can 

 be kept in one pen or flock." We repep,t, 

 you can keep as many birds in one flock jor 

 one pen as you wish, or as you have room 

 for pairs of nest-boxes. We recommend llhe 

 Robinson. Unit with its 25 or 50 pairs of biids 

 because in flocks of that size you have some- 

 thing arranged orderly and precisely, wh^ch 

 you can keep track of in a positive, deflnite 

 manner, but they do equally as well in one 

 flock, regardless of number, provided they are 

 all Homers. 



SORTING SQUABS. 



Squabs are killed when they are four weeks 

 old because they are full size then. They 

 have more meat on their bones at four weeks 

 than at eight weeks, because at five weeks 

 old they begin to feed themselves, and lack- 

 ing the forced feeding giv«n by the 

 parent birds, they become thinner. Their 

 muscles are also hardening by use. At four 

 weeks all the feathers are prettily out. If 

 at four weeks you are undecided whether or 

 not to kill, be guided one or two days either 

 way hy the fullness of the feathering. Some- 

 times a squab can be killed when a day or 

 two over three weeks old. The more you 

 shorten the time, the less the product costs 

 you. 



In sorting, do not forget to keep the plump- 

 est squabs in one lot and those not so plump 



69 



