INTRODUCTORY. 



No business has had such a surprising growth within the 

 last few years as the raising of squabs for market. Only 

 a few years ago the use of squabs for food was confined to a 

 few of the most wealthy families. Game was plentiful and 

 cheap and those who were not very well off preferred to buy 

 quail and other game birds to paying the high prices asked 

 for the few squabs which were sent to market. 



Gradually the demand for squabs grew larger, as more 

 people became acquainted with their delicacy and good quali- 

 ties as food, and this led to larger numbers being produced. 

 Soon all the larger markets furnished squabs and then the 

 smaller ones began to supply them and now many a compara- 

 tively small market is not complete without squabs as a 

 part of the supplies of food kept on hand or provided on 

 order. 



Game birds have become scarce and high-priced, and 

 squabs have taken their place in such a manner that the de- 

 mand for game is not so large as it was, while the demand 

 for squabs continually increases. 



The rearing of squabs for market iS immensely profitable 

 as well as easy. Squab-raising can be conducted on a scale 

 large enough to make it worth while in the back yard of a 

 town lot, or it can be conducted on a scale large enough to 

 require several acres with equal profit on every dollar in- 

 vested in the business. 



Squab-breeding is a business which is profitable when con- 

 ducted as a side line on a small space and all the work may 



