SUPPLEMENT 



121 



newspaper in your territory which will 

 produce results. Or you might pick out two 

 or three likely families and make them a 

 present of a squab or two to get them started. 

 The products of the plants of hundreds 

 of our small customers are spoken for ahead 

 of capacity all the time by a neighborhood 

 trade, and this is what you should aim at. 

 This is the way the finest butter and eggs 

 and poultry are sold, and also squabs, and 

 the plants of our customers who are selling 

 squabs direct- to the consumer are paying 

 better than the plants of other customers 

 whose product is marketed with poor judg- 

 ment. 



Don't be too fast to sell to a hotel. Some 

 farmers and breeders get the idea that if only 

 they can find a hotel to take all their goods, 

 their fortune is made. In every city there 

 are one or more first-class hotels which want 

 the best of everything and pay accordingly. 

 On the other hand, there are many hotels 

 which do not care for the best. For example, 

 few hotels care for the best ducks, because 

 a single dinner order is half a duck, and half 

 of the big, first-class, expensive ducks is more 

 than a diner wants, so the hotel keeper of 

 course prevents waste by buying a small 

 duck. Same with squabs. The hotel buyers 

 are sharp bargainers, and if they think that 

 their trade will be satisfied with a seven or 

 eight-pound squab, they will take such a 

 bird rather than pay more for a ten or twelve- 

 pound squab. The average squab breeder, 

 like the average farmer and gardener, is 

 content to sell to the middleman, and if you 

 make the acquaintance of a good one, of 

 course you avoid some bother, yet it has been 

 our experience that it is just as easy to sell 

 squabs to the consumer as to anybody else, 

 in fact, after you have started with him 

 he will come after you and pay you a great 

 deal more than anybody else , still he is 

 paying just what he always has paid, and he 

 is better satisfied. Squabs are phenomenal 

 sellers and it is well to take advantage of 

 this condition, which is not always true of 

 poultry. 



MR. McGREW CALLS. The following is 

 from the pen of Mr. T. F. McGrew, associate 

 editor of the Feather, poultry editor of the 

 Country Gentleman, also a widely quoted 

 writer for the government's bureau of animal 

 industry, and a lecturer for the New York 

 State Board of Agriculture. He is one of the 

 best known judges of poultry and pigeons in 

 the United States. The visit to our farm of 

 which he speaks was made in November, 

 1903; since then our stock of Homers has 

 been increased. 



"It was our pleasure within the last two 

 weeks to visit the home plant of the Plymouth 

 Rock Squab Co., at Melrose, Mass. We were 

 beautifully entertained by Mr. Elmer C. Rice 

 and his family. The buildings at the home 

 plant are by far the best that we have ever 

 seen for squab growing, Each building is 



constructed for the best possible light, air, 

 and sanitary conditions. Thuse who may 

 be interested in squab growing will find it to 

 their profit to communicate with Mr. Rice 

 at Boston for the printed matter which gives 

 a full description of his plant and methods 

 of doing business. 



"We saw at this plant 12,000 full-grown, 

 well-matured Homing Pigeons ready for dis- 

 tribution for growing squabs. In all our 

 experience we have never seen a better lot 

 than these. They are large, vigorous, full- 

 breasted, broad-shouldered specimens such 

 as one would select for producing squabs of 

 the best chara^-ter. There are Blues, Blue 

 Checks, Silvers, Reds, and mixed colors such 

 as would naturally be produced through the 

 cross mating of any of these varieties. While 

 we were there Mr. Rice shipped from the 

 plant between five and six hundred birds, 

 all of which are sent out in large roomy 

 baskets, the baskets returnable at the shipper's 

 expense. So far as we can calculate, we are un- 

 der the impression that Mr. Rice is doing a 

 very large business. In addition to this we 

 carefully perused a number of letters received 

 by Mr. Rice from localities as far west as San 

 Francisco, as far south as Florida, all of 

 these communications speaking in the highest 

 terms of the shipments made to them by Mr. 

 Rice." 



RUNTS NOT DESIRABLE. From the 

 Farm Journal — "Our remarks in the October 

 issue respecting the relative merits of large 

 and small birds were put in a way to be 

 easily misunderstood. 



"By large birds we meant Runts and that 

 class , usually found only in the hands of 

 fanciers and experts in pigeon breeding. 

 They are not at all desirable for squab 

 breeding. 



"Common pigeons are not hardy and 



f)rolific in proportion to their smallness. The 

 argest of these should be selected for breeding 

 always. 



"There is a great difference in the size and 

 quality of what are called common birds. 

 Where they are chosen as the basis of a squab 

 breeder's business a careful selection should 

 be made. 



"Of all the pure-bred types, we know of 

 nothing superior or equal to the Homers for 

 breeding squabs. They are hardy and 

 prolific and rear large, meaty squabs. There 

 is also room for selection in Homers, some 

 being much larger than others. 



"When a breeder already has a flock of 

 common pigeons he can greatly improve it 

 by the infusion of Homer blood.*' 



USEFUL MESSENGERS. We have quite 

 a call for our birds from physicians having a 

 country practice. They leave two or three 

 birds at a patient's house to be let loose when 

 the doctor's services are needed. In cases 

 of expected confinement at a distance of 

 several miles from the doctor's home, our 



