82 SQUABS FOR PROFIT 



We could quote from scores of letters from corre- 

 spondents in almost every state and from Canada, 

 reciting such disappointments and failures. More 

 than 99 per cent of these correspondents had pur- 

 chased their stock of dealers, whose advertisements 

 occupy large space in some of the leading magazines 

 and periodicals; in fact, 90 per cent of the letters 

 came from persons who had purchased of one dealer. 

 Many of the complaints were that but few of the 

 birds would mate, even after being kept six months 

 or a year. 



This chapter would have been more appropriately 

 headed, perhaps, had we said : "How Not to Buy 

 Birds." We desired to emphasize the costly and disas- 

 trous manner in which some breeders have attempted 

 to make a start by buying of unscrupulous dealers, 

 who know but little about pigeons or willfully mis- 

 represent those they sell. Any honest man who 

 deals in pigeons, knows whether his birds are mated 

 or not and should be willing to give a written guaran- 

 tee to that effect. If he has a large flock he cannot 

 know that they are mated unless he keeps a record and 

 notes down each pair of birds as they have mated. 

 If he has kept such a record, it is a very simple matter 

 to copy the list and give it to his customer, who will 

 then have some evidence of the reliability of the 

 seller. 



If a dealer, big or little, cannot give this written list, 

 showing the pairs, our advice is, shun him. Nine 

 times out of ten, the dealer will get your money and 

 you will get a lot of worthless birds. 



The guarantee. — Now let us inquire what the 

 terms guarantee and warrantee mean. Webster says: 

 "Guarantee, v. t., to engage, assure, or secure a thing 



