SQUAB MARKETS 195 



as you know, the broiling- chiclten is tlie biggest competitor the Squab 

 nas as a food. 



You can buy on the Chicago market today fancy broilers at 38 cents 

 per pound, and we are paying 02 cents per pound to the breeders, so 

 you can see the difference in the price of the two birds. On the other 

 hand, the greater percentage of Squabs frozen last year are still in 

 the freezer, so none of the big operators are buying for freezing pur- 

 poses. The price of feed has come down, I understand, so with the 

 lower prices on Squabs, I still see a big future for the Squab industry, 

 as these dark times cannot last. 



I do not look for the market on Squabs to go below 50 cents per 

 pound this year. For the months of May and June we will have paid 

 on an average of 65 cents per pound. 



It takes a long time to mate a pen of birds, and it would be a shame, 

 after our friends, the breeders, have taken so much pains to build up 

 the Squal> industry to where it is today, to destroy their flocks, as the 

 Squabs we are getting today are 100 per cent better than the scrawny 

 birds we were getting years ago. 



As I can remember, a year back if someone would ask me for 500 

 birds from 12 to 14 ounces apiece, I would not have enough birds to 

 begin to grade that number. 



Trusting that all the dealers will co-operate with the breeders, and 

 build, and keep on building the Squab Industry to a higher pinnacle 

 than before, and wishing them success, and hoping that the time will 

 develop for higher prices in the near future, I remain 



Sincerely yours, 

 AR— MC A. ROBINB. 



Mr. F. Arthur Hazard, Chicago, May 10th, 1921. 



420— 10th St., Augusta, Ga. 



Dear Friend: Your letter of the 28th at hand, and in reply wish to 

 state that our present paying price on Squabs is 65 cents per lb., and 

 our outlet is so large that we can use any number of them 365 days In 

 the year. 



However, the great difficulty arises in educating the breeders to 

 properly raise the kind of Squabs that will dress out, so that they will 

 grade a nice, big, plump bird. 



Then again, there are some shippers who know very little about 

 weighing squabs before shipping them to the market. They believe 

 that after they have soaked the birds in water and then weighed them 

 out in that manner, the weights should hold out at the other end. 

 Naturally, the results are disappointing, because you know the moist- 

 ure and water will soon evaporate. Furthermore, we have laws here 

 prohibiting the selling of Squabs that are soaked in water. In other 

 words, we have got to sell them practically dry. 



Another mistake is made by shippers who will send stuff by Parcel 

 Post, or other methods through the mail, forgetting that even though 

 they may place Special Delivery stamps on the package the Post 



