148 



NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK 



shipping baskets. We buy this burlap in 

 large rolls weighing 150 pounds and contain- 

 ing from 300 to '.^20 square yards. We do 

 not hem it or sew it in any way for the cages, 

 simply cut it and in stretching it over the 

 nails fold the raw edges under. 



Having read uhe Manual, y- nx know that 

 we do not use sand or sawdust in our squab 

 houses , so we are able to deliver manure 

 which is absolutely pure. The tanneries do 

 not like to get lots of impure manure and of 

 course pay more f' ir the unadulterated arti- 

 cle. It is just as easy and more business- 

 like to keep this by-product pure. Feathers 

 and grain in the manure do not injure it for 

 tanneries. 



The manure in the houses has no odor, 

 but when we have got it scraped up and 

 banked in the manure house, it gives forth 

 a jiungent, ammonia-like smell. As the 

 manure house is entirely cut off from the 

 squab liMuses by the slide in the passage- 

 way, Ihiir^ pungency does not trouble any- 

 one, It is not a nasty smell, anyway. 



We have had customers from as far off as 

 Illinois write that they were quite charmed 

 with our story about the manure, and that 

 they were saving up bags of it to ship by 

 freight to the American Hide and Leather 

 Company at Lowell, Mass. This tannery 

 is a branch of the Leather Trust, which has 

 other tanneries, so use your wits and find 

 out which tannery is nearest you, and ship 

 to that one. If you can find a tannery not 

 in the trust, sell to that, if you wish to. If 

 you sell to a trust tannery, the check which 

 pays you will come from the New York of- 

 fice of the trust, same as ours do. We rec- 

 ommend our 'New England customers to 

 ship to Lowell. We have always found the 

 leather people sciuare in measuring the 

 manure, in fact they have gi^-en us credit on 

 two < ir three occabi^ ms for more than v.-e 

 thought we had. They pay after you have 

 sent your bill of lading and the report of 

 the measurer has gone to the New York of- 

 fice. You need not be afraid of swamping 

 the leather trust with pigeon manure. They 

 will take all you can scrape up. Chemicals 

 which are used as substitutes when pigeon 

 manure cannot be had are said to be injur- 

 ious to the hide. 



We write the above to help you sell the 

 manure fn^m your squab houses. Do not ask 

 us to advise you further on this point, for we 

 cannot. If y^ni cannot find a tannery within 

 shipping distance, try the florists or m.arket 

 gardeners. We are infMrmcd that the florists' 

 exchange in New Ynrk Cit\' is a good place to 

 sell pigcun manure, and customers near that 

 city have told us that they are selling there, 



SQUABS IN THE POULTRY PRESS, The 



magazines devoted to poultry are beginning 

 to talcc up squabs on account of the increasing 

 interest shnwn by poultrymen in the subject. 

 In the Poult.-y Keeper for November L5, 1902, 

 appeared a contribution by A. P. Spiller. 



After giving the general arrangements for 

 caring for the birds, he says: "At about four 

 weeks of age the squabs are ready for market. 

 Some markets require them dressed, others 

 only killed. Good breeding pigeons will 

 hatch and rear from six to eleven pair of young 

 a year. The cost to keep a pair of breeders, 

 including the raising of the young, at the pres- 

 ent time is about eighty cents a year, this, of 

 course, varying some with location and cost of 

 feeding stuff. Wild game birds are becoming 

 more scarce each year. The properly raised 

 cquab pigeon comes nearer taking the place of 

 these wild birds than anything else. That 

 they make fine eating, those who have eaten 

 them cannot deny. There is always a ready 

 sale for good plump squabs at hotels, restau- 

 rants, markets and private families, prices 

 ranging from $2.50 to $4.50 per dozen, de- 

 pending upon quality and season. When one 

 begins to raise pigeons it is better to try to 

 secure strains from some reliable breeder who 

 has stock bred along profitable lines. There 

 is a difference in regard to breeding and feed- 

 ing qualities and results obtained which war- 

 rants the paying of a little more at the start in 

 obtaining more profitable stock. The writer 

 is in favor of the straight Homer, carefully 

 selected as to size, shape, breeding and feeding 

 qualities, as it is well known that the Homer 

 pigeon is one of the best feeders and breeders 

 of any variety, and the numbers they will pro- 

 duce in a year more than balance any slight 

 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 manage- 

 ment 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 employ- 

 ment 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 pleasure 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 sa\' the cost is sixty cents a year at the 

 present prices for grain (1903). 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 pav 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 esti- 

 mate of cost was made when he was saving the 

 manure and selling it to tanneries. Mr, 

 Spiller replied by letter as follows under date 

 of February 16, 1903: "No, the manure was 



