National Standard Squab Book. 55 



sell for fifty cents a pair and are frequently oftereJ as Homers. Do not 

 start with common pigeoas and think to learn the haljits of sqnati Ijreeders 

 with tho^m. If you cross a common with a Homer pigeon you will take 

 away the good qualities of the Homer and add nothing. There i.s not 

 one element in a common pigeon which if added to a Homer would im- 

 prove the offspring. It is hard to convince some people that there is any 

 difference m pigeons whose feathers are the same color. The result is 

 they buy the cliea;pest they can get. After feeding them for a time and 

 getting no profitable results, they are compelled to sell them to the first 

 ti'ap shooter who comes along, and they go among their townspeople de- 

 eiariag that tlie pigeon 'business is no good. Remember this point, that if 

 yon are going to buy grain and feed it to anything so as to get a profit, 

 it is the best policy to feed it to that grade of animal which will show the 

 largest profit. Tery few people are satisfied with shoddy suits nowa- 

 days, even if they look almost as well as the all-wool garments. It is 

 the wear which the customer is after. Beware of .shoddy pigeons. Buy 

 the best Homers you can get, they will wear best and give you the most 

 pride. Experienced poultrymen do not go here and there looking for 

 fowls at cut prices. They buy breeding stock of a reliable breeder which 

 is reliable and sold at a price which will enable the seller to deliver a 

 high quality article. We can tell pretty well when an order for our 

 breeding stock comes from an old poultry man, for they all write: "I 

 want the best stock you can give me." 



Good Homers do not glut the markets. They are always fairly scarce, 

 a'ld the price for them has always been well kept up. Beware of cheap 

 Homers for sale at cut prices. There is always something the matter 

 with such birds. They have been worked too long and are played out, 

 or if a flock is offered "at a bargain," the birds do not produce the large. 

 plump, No. 1 squab, but only culls. If a squab breeder is going to quit 

 the business and offers ymi his flock of birds on the bargain counter, 

 make him give a good reason to you for selling. If lie has been unable 

 to make the flock pay, you may be sure that .vou will >)>e unable to make 

 them pay. If he ofl:ers them to you without a good reason for selling, 

 the chances are that it is a poor flock and he has got tired of buying 

 grain for them, and wishes to saddle the burden on you. "We are always 

 selling breeders and it is very much to our interest to protect our repu- 

 tation by sending out only good Homers that will make money for their 

 owners, "and this is what we do, and our large business has been built 

 up bv square dealing, and knowing the business thoroughly. 



A pair of Homers capable of earning a pair of squabs in one moath 

 which will sell for at least 50 cents is worth more than .$1 or $1.25 a pair. 

 A pair of birds capable of earning only a ten-cent or twenty-cent pair of 

 squabs once m two or three months is worth only 50 cents a pair. .Jersey 

 cows are worth more than common co ivs because they earn more. Good 

 Homer pigeons, bred skilfully, are woith more than poor Homers because 

 thev earn more. 



