APPENDIX A 145 



There is a minor criticism in the above Itnow of hia experience. His letters are at 

 letter in the matter of express charges. Ao- our Boston oface. where they may be seen, 

 cording to. the figures which we give in the We will not give his name by mail because 

 circular headed "Express Rates," the cus- he is a customer, but if you thinlt the above 

 tomer should have been asked to pay about letters aro made up by us, you write to the 

 $33, instead of $37, as he did pay. "We be- Boston office of Dun's or Bradstreet*s com- 

 lieve the figures which we give to be correct mercial agencies and ask for one of their 

 in every case— the slight variation which men to be sent to our office to investigate. 

 may come aa it came in this case is due to PIGEON MANURE.— Our advice in the 

 the fact that no two persons will weigh up Manual as to pigeon manure has interested 

 the same lot of goods exactly the same, and pigeon breeders all over the country, nearly 

 that, of course, the birds vary in weight, all of whom say that they never have taken 

 The weight when the shipment starts is less pains to save it, and when it got too thick 

 than when it finishes, because at the end they have scraped it up as best they coul'' 

 the bottoms of the baskets are covered with and used it for fertilizer. They want to know 

 manure. (The grain which we send for feed how we keep it pure, and all about the 

 is not weighed in and charged for transpor- market, etc. 



tation.) If the waybill is lost or delayed. The pigeon breeder who does not make pro- 

 and the agent at destination weighs the vision for the purity of the manure and the 

 shipment, he will get a greater weight, and steady sale of it is just throwing bank bills 

 consequently a higher rate, than the express straight into the fire. We have erected a 

 employee who weighed the shipment here jn special building at our place for just the 

 Boston. manure, and take every precaution to keep 



We wish to say further that if you think the manure free from straw, sawdust, sand, 

 we have figured the express rates to you too etc. The building stands at the back of one 

 low, send us money which we claim to be of the long houses, and about halfway in the 

 correct and we will prepay all charges, thus whole plant, so , that we can reach it easily 

 putting on ourselves and not on you the dlf- with a wheelbarrow from the houses. There 

 ference. if there is any. is a slide cut in the north wall of what we 



COMMON PIGEONS AGAIN.— We have had call No. 2 squab house, and through this 

 some of the old-time raisers of squabs from slide the manure is shovelled from the 

 common pigeons on the ranches in the Mid- wheelbarrow (standing In the passageway) 

 die West write us for more proofs that Hom- directly into the manure house, where it 

 ers are ahead of common pigeons. stays until there is from $50 to $100 wortfc 



In reply we will print here the letter of it, when we bag it up and send it off. 

 which we received in January, 1903, from, a Plrst we take the wheelbarrow empty down 

 customer as follows: a passageway and stop at a unit pen, then 



"I have lor sale between four and five go into the unit pen with a bushel basket 

 hundred pen fed common pigeons. Can you and scrapers. We use a trowel to clean off 

 use them, and at what price? Should you the nest-pans, a tree-scraper to clean out 

 not be in a position to use them yourself the nest-boxes and a hoe or a floor chisel 

 probably you could refer me to some one (same as is used to clean off snow and ice 

 that is in the market for some fine pen tgd from city sidewalks), six inches wide at the 

 birds. The Homers which I purchased ~of blade and with a long handle so that it can 

 you some time last summer are doing very be used easily while the operator is standing. 

 nicely, and have to make more room for them In scraping the floor, the manure rolls up 

 Is the reason of wanting to dispose of mv with little exertion off the blade of the 

 common birds. Thanking you in advance for chisel. It is shovelled into the bushel 

 favor asked." basket and the basket taken out into the 



We asked him to tell us if he had not passageway and dumped into the wheelbar- 

 found our Homers more profltable than com- row. It takes one man not over thirty mln- 

 mon pigeons. He replied as follows: utes to clean a pen thoroughly and the 



"In reply to yours will say that your state- product of each pen Is between two and three 

 inent of the Homers being more profitable bushels, or from $1.20 to $1,80 for half 

 than the common birds is true, as the fact an hour's work, which Is pretty good pav. 

 has been demonstrated to me in the past (Wo have been getting In the winter of 1903 

 ft\'e or six months, by ray experience of hav- -sixty cents a bushel from the American Hide 

 ing the two lots side by side In seoarate and Leather Company of Lowell, Mass.) We 

 pens. My common birds referred to are ^e ship the manure by freight In bags. We buy 

 birds and will sell them F, O, B. at $2.50 per these bags when we can from farmers who 

 dozen, which, taking the plumpness of the have large herds of cows and who use con- 

 bird in consideration, is very reasonable," siderable grain, and they let the bags go for 

 The above breeder lives in Missouri and one and two cents apiece. Second-hand bags 

 we expect to sell a good many of our Hom- in the Boston junk shops coat from four to 

 ers to him and to those in. his state who n!!ne cents apiece. The leather people let 



