National Standard Squab Book. 



January. IftQS, we received the lolluwing let- 

 ter from the manager at the scitiab depart- 

 ment of a commission liouse in Washington 

 market, New York city; 



■■Your name and address as raisers of tancr 

 sciuabs was given me by Mr. Howes of De- 

 troit, Michigan, who was over to your place 

 a few days ago. As I have heard of your 

 plant before and have tried to get your ad- 

 dress so as to write to you for squabs. I hope 

 this letter will mean some business for us 

 both. If you have any squabs to ship, I 

 would like to get your output, and can use all 

 you can ship at full market, and make you 

 prompt returns day received and sold. This 

 -jieek I am returning the following- prices; 

 Squabs weighing ten pounds to dozen and 

 up, 54.50 per dozen; eight pounds and up. i 

 seven pounds and up, $3.50; six and one-half 

 pounds and up, $2.60; dark, .'?1.80 per dozen. 

 If you will prepay charges, account of sales 

 will be sent you same day goods are re- 

 ceived, less five per cent, commission." 



Letters like the above come to us from all 

 parts of the country, and squab breeders 

 whom we have supplied get similar communi- 

 cations. The poultry and game dealers in all 

 sections are after squabs all the time and 

 could sell a great many more than they are 

 now able to get hold of. The above letter is 

 written notwithstanding the fact that in New 

 Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania alone are 

 today four or five thousand squab breeders, 

 many of them with largo floclis of over one 

 thousand pairs of birds each. In the town of 

 Moorestown, New Jersey, to take only one 

 case, are from 200 to 300 squab breeders. As 

 we say in our Manual, people in these sec- 

 tions keep hens for their own use. but not for 

 market, for they know that squabs pay better 

 than hens. Poultrymen in other sections of 

 the United States are fast finding this out 

 and are putting in squabs along with poultry, 

 or giving up poultry altogether. In spite of 

 the large output of squabs from the 4,000 to 

 5,000 breeders in New Jersey and Eastern 

 Pennsylvania, which go into the Philadelphia 

 and New York and Boston markets (for the 

 squab raisers in New England supply only 

 about one-tenth of the Boston demandi, there 

 is all the time a scarcity of squabs, as the 

 above letter proves. This letter comes to us 

 because we have the reputation for dealing 

 in a fancy product. There are breeders 

 of squabs who send to market an inferior 

 product from small and cheap Homers, and 

 such squabs are not the kind which commis- 

 sion dealers are anxious to get. Be sure you 

 are able to breed a fancy squab by getting 

 your breeding stock of us. Some beginners 

 are anxious as to express rates, not compre- 

 hending that they can ship squabs long dis- 

 tances at a trifling cost. The express ratp 

 from Boston to New York is $1 per 100 

 pounds. This means that an express team 

 will call at our door, get a box of squabs 



weighing iw pounds, transport it to New 

 York, and In that city deliver It by team to 

 the commission dealer for ?1. In the case of 

 a box of our squabs weighing twelve pounds 

 to the dozen, about eight dozen and the bos 

 would weigh 100 pounds. If we delivered 

 them in New York at the price quoted, .f4 50 

 per dozen (or $36 grossj, we would net, de- 

 ducting his five per cent, commission and the 

 $1 express charges, $33.20. The commission 

 man would resell the squabs to his trade for 

 ■$5 to $S per dozen. By a dozen squabs we 

 mean in this case and in all cases where 

 prices are quoted, twelve squabs. We do not 

 mean one dozen pairs of squabs. We mean 

 six pairs of squabs. Squabs are always 

 quoted at so much per dozen, not so much 

 per dozen pairs. 



On January 8, 1903, the New York squab 

 buyer above quoted offered the following 

 prices for squabs: For squabs weighing ten 

 pounds to the dozen and up, $4.75; eight 

 pounds and up. $4.50; seven pounds and up, 

 $3.60; six and one-half pounds, $2.75; dark 

 and No. 2 squabs, $2. 



On January 25th, 1903, he offered the fol- 

 lowing prices: Ten pounds and up. $5. .50 per 

 dozen; eight pounds and up, .^5.00 per dozejj; 

 seven pounds and up, ."^4 ; six and one-half 

 pounds, $3; dark and No. '', squabs. $2.10. 



On February 6. 1903, he offered us the 

 same prices as last quoted, adding that he 

 would pay .$;i to $3.75 per dozen for squabs of 

 average weight and grade. In this letter he 

 said: "As I have been getting quite a few 

 letters from some of your squab customers of 

 late, I want to chank you for same, and 

 hope to get some of their birds and prove to 

 their satisfaction by the prices large fine 

 birds will sell at. that squab raising if prop- 

 erly carried on is a very profitable and pay- 

 ing industry. The demand for squabs in on 

 the increase and will be from now on, as 

 the game laws of all the states are such as 

 to prevent much small game from reaching 

 the several markets, where there has been a. 

 big supply of such at low prices that squabs 

 will now take their place, so that new be- 

 ginners have nothing to fear from^a glut by 

 over production of good-sized squabs. TtL's 

 we have proven to our own satisfaction when 

 we introduced the large or royal squab to our 

 best hotel and cafe trade In this market, dur- 

 ing the past season, and it now looks as 

 though our demand will be greater this com- 

 ing season. The buyers of these large 

 birds see they are worth the difference in 

 price, that they have a better call for them 

 once they introduce them to the sonsumer. 

 Encourage all your buyers to invest in birds 

 that produce large, plump squabs. It wifl 

 pay them best in the end and make a b'^'-fer 

 demand for their grade of birds." 



On Feb. IGth. 1903, he offered us the follow- 

 ing prices: Squabs weighing ten pounds to 

 the dozen and up, $6 per dozen; nine pounds, 



