National Standard Squab Book. 
advantage that may be obtained in size. 
The breeding of pigeons is fascinating to 
most people. It is true there are some 
losses, but with care and some experience 
in management the few losses that occur to 
the beginner may: be reduced to a very small 
percentage. The work is light and not as 
exacting as in some other lines, affording a 
lucrative employment almost from the start 
to those who are not strong, as well as to 
the most robust. A flock once mated will 
give but little concern to their owner, as 
they remain constant for life regardless of 
the numbers contained in the flock, and for 
years will amply repay in profit and pleas- 
ure for the feed and care given them.’’ 
We wish to call the special attention of 
our readers to that portion of the above 
article by Mr. Spiller where he says that the 
cost of a pair of breeders is eighty cents a 
year. We say the cost is sixty cents a year. 
In his article, Mr. Spiller says nothing 
about keeping the pigeon manure free from 
dirt and selling it to tanneries. This must 
be done in order to hold the feed bill down 
to its lowest notch. We say that the 
manure will pay one-third of the grain bill, 
and taking Mr. Spiller’s figure of eighty 
cents, and deducting one-third from it, we 
have as the net cost fifty-three cents. 
We asked one of our friends living in 
West Newton, Mass., to ask Mr. Spiller if 
his estimate of cost was made when he was 
saving the manure and selling it to tanner- 
ies. Mr. Spiller replied by letter as follows 
under date of Feb. 16th, 1903: ‘‘No, the 
manure was not taken into consideration at 
all. I do not know what the tanneries pay 
for it.’’ 
The owners of large flocks of common pig- 
eons in the West who are breeding squabs 
for market do not sell the manure and for 
this reason they lose an important source of 
revenue, It is remarkable to us_ that 
pigeons pay with them at all. Certainly the 
manure is a very important by-product, and 
you should~<figure on selling it just as you 
figure on selling the squabs. 
NEWSPAPER MARKET QUOTATIONS.— 
Only a few of the daily newspapers of the 
country are in the habit of printing regularly 
market quotations on squabs. The Boston 
Globe has an article about once a week for 
the information of the household and in this 
article squabs are regularly quoted. At 
Thanksgiving time, 1902, the Globe quoted 
squabs at. from $4 to $5 per dozen. In the 
Globe of Feb. 14th, 1903, squabs were quoted 
at $4.50 and $5 per dozen. If our New Eng- 
land customers will buy a copy of the Friday 
or Saturday Globe each week, they will prob- 
ably find this household article containing 
the quotations for squabs on one of those 
days. 
—Our customers sometimes cut from the 
hewspapers quotations for squabs and send 
II 
them to us. In the winter of 1902 we received 
a clipping from the New York Evening Sun 
of Feb. 28, 1902, in which white squabs were 
quoted at $5 a dozen and dark squabs at 
$3.50 a dozen. We are told that the New 
York Evening Sun prints every Friday even- 
ing a household market column giving quo- 
tations on squabs. 
The Rural New Yorker, an old-established 
and progressive farmers’ weekly, printed the 
following ‘quotations for squabs as whole- 
sale prices ruling Feb. 6, 1908: “Squabs 
prime large white, per dozen, $3.75; mixed, 
$2.75 and $3; dark, $2 and $2.50.” 
The Albany (New York) Express, on Feb. 
9, 1903, printed the following quotations: 
“Squabs, native, $5; Philadelphia squabs, $5 
per dozen; pigeons, $1.50 per dozen.’’ 
The Chicago Tribune, on March 10, 1902, 
printed the following quotations: “Squabs, 
prime, large, white, per dozen, $3.’’ 
The St. Louis Republic, on Dec. 2, 1902, 
printed the following quotations: ‘‘Squabs, 
white, choice, dozen, $2.75 and $38; mixed, 
$2.25 and $2.50; prime dark, $1.87 and $2.’’ 
The San Francisco Chronicle, on April 2, 
1902, printed the following quotations: 
“Pigeons, young, $2.50 and $2.75; ditto, old, 
$1.50 and $1.75.’’ , 
SQUABS IN THE STATE OF WASHING- 
TON.—The squab raisers in New Jersey, New 
York and Pennsylvania are very well satis- 
fied with the New York and Philadelphia 
markets for squabs, and we have done con- 
siderable talking about the New York mar- 
ket ourselves, but let us tell you that the 
market for squabs on the Pacific Coast is a 
fine one, too. Here in the East we think 
Seattle is a long way from home and you 
may find some city chaps around us who 
think that city is but just on the edge of 
the tall timber. If you live out in Michigan, 
Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, 
or any state in that section, you ought to 
feel pretty sure that the markets for squabs 
around you are good, after you have read 
what we are going to tell you here about the 
market for squabs in Seattle and its vicinity. 
‘These letters were obtained for us by a 
customer who lives near Seattle: 
Fulton Market, corner Second avenue and 
Columbia street, Seattle, Wash. (Feb. 11, 
1903): ‘‘Yours at hand and will say that if 
your birds are as you say, we can use on an 
average of twenty dozen per week at $2.50 
per dozen, feathers on.’’ 
A. D. Blowers & Co., 817-819 Western ave- 
nue, Seattle, Wash. (Feb. 12, 1903): ‘‘Your 
valued favor to hand regarding squabs. In 
reply will say that most of the squabs used 
in this city are brought from the east and 
held in cold storage, so that native birds 
will no doubt sell much better than this 
article. We have made some inquiry about 
them and find that it will be no trouble in 
selling four to six dozen a week, and no 
