124 



NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK 



"Of course cleanliness, care and sanitary 

 conditions about the plant are imperative. 

 The most successful squab growers do not 

 scatter sand or dirt of any kind on the floor 

 or in nest boxes. Neither do they use any- 

 thing but straw for the birds to build their 

 nests. The droppings are all thoroughly 

 scraped up from the board floor, from the 

 nest boxes and under the perches once or 

 twice a week with a hoe, and stored away in 

 bags and sold at 50 to 60 cents per bushel. 

 They are used by tanners in making the very 

 best grades of leather. These droppings are 

 of no value when mixed with tobacco stems, 

 shavings, sawdust or sand. Grain or feed 

 of any kind if mixed in with them will not 

 injure their value, nor will some little straw 

 or feathers count much against their value. 

 Buy a good sharp hoe; floors constructed in 

 this way can be thoroughly cleaned by scrap- 

 ing up once or twice a week, and in this way 

 the sanitary conditions will be of the very 

 best. 



"Those who do not care to dispose of the 

 droppings in this way in some instances 

 spread from six to eight inches of soil from 

 their land over the floor of the squab house. 

 This is allowed to remain from three to six 

 months. Usually at the end of the moulting 

 season all the nest boxes and the whole house 

 is thoroughly cleaned out and the entire con- 

 tents of same dumped on the floor, scraped and 

 hauled away and scattered over the land. 

 This makes an excellent fertilizer. We know 

 of one instance where a large number of 

 squabs are kept in this way, and the house is 

 cleaned but twice a year. In the spring all 

 the cleanings from the house are hauled out 

 and spread over the land for the growing of 

 summer crops. After the fall moult, the 

 place is thoroughly cleaned up for winter, 

 the cleanings of the house are stored away 

 in a dry place and retained until spring. 

 Many persons would call this a filthy, un- 

 healthful way to keep a squab house, but 

 some of the most successful breeders follow 

 this plan. The presence of the five or six 

 inches of dry soil on the floor keeps it in good 

 condition throughout the season. The cloud 

 of dust that is raised at times by the pigeons 

 flapping their wings and flying about is 

 almost a certain guarantee against insect 

 attack. However, we do not advise this 

 method. We simply give the facts as we 

 have seen them. 



"The only limit to the extent of such a 

 ■ plant is the ability of those who possess it 

 properly to care for and manage all its 

 branches at a profit. Where there is a family 

 of boys and girls it might be well to engage 

 the attention of all in growing these several 

 kinds of products, and to lend encourage- 

 ment to each by giving him a share of the 

 profits. Scattered all over the country are 

 thousands of families in country places con- 

 tinually worrying and wondering why they 

 cannot keep their children at home. The 

 real reason so many of the young people 



leave the farm is that they are compelled to 

 work continually and never receive any 

 portion of the income for their labor. If the 

 parents would allow their growing families 

 to make an equal sum of money or in propor- 

 tion to what they can make by leaving home, 

 there would be far less complaint on this 

 score. All children wish to have the privilege 

 of earning a few dollars that they may call 

 their own." 



The following paragraph is from the same 

 paper in its report of the New York pigeon 

 show, January, 1904: 



"There seems to be a depression in the sale 

 of high-class pigeons. Well-favored speci- 

 mens of the highest character still sell at top 

 prices, but the absence of any commercial 

 value for a large number of pigeons that are 

 grown detracts from the numerous sales that 

 their producers might have. If producers of 

 the hundreds of varieties of beautiful pigeons 

 would turn into the market as squabs the 

 greater part of all their product that was 

 not valuable for the exhibition room,- greater 

 returns would come for those which were 

 saved for exhibition piirposes. There is a 

 grand stride forward in growing squabs. 

 The combination of poultry-growing with 

 squab-growing works well, and is being 

 adopted by so many small farmers as to 

 create an unusual demand for all grades of 

 pigeons that are good for this purpose. 



"It is well for those who qo into the squab 

 business to remember that the price is graded 

 by size and quality. During winter squabs 

 that would average eight or nine pounds to the 

 dozen have sold at retail in the New York 

 market at from 35 to 40 cents each, while 

 those which averaged two or three pounds less 

 to the dozen sold at from 123^ to 20 cents. 

 It takes quite as much time and as much 

 care and food to produce the small specimens 

 that bring the lower prices as it does to pro- 

 duce the higher grades which bring the better 

 prices. People are beginning to find this out. 

 and taking advantage of the knowledge, are 

 looking about for the best quality of pigeons 

 to produce the best market squabs." 



SQUAB PIN-MONEY. The following para- 

 graph appeared in the January, 1904, issue 

 of the Designer, a monthly magazine for 

 women published by the Butterick Publishing 

 Company of New York City: 



"A young woman of my acquaintance 

 has kept herself supplied with hats, boots and 

 gloves during the past year by selling the 

 squabs of six pairs of Homer pigeons. They 

 require very little care, and the young are 

 ready for market when four weeks old. My 

 friend is so well pleased with her success that 

 she has added seven pairs to her stock, and 

 confidently expects to dress herself completely 

 on the sum derived from the sale of her 

 squabs. — M, P." 



THEY FLEW HOME. A dispatch from 

 Paris, printed by the Baltimore Sun, says: 



