330 



APPENDIX G 



NOAV, BT'F!Tr:R, DON'T MOVE. 



CARNEATJX PRICES. It is a peculiar 

 thing about the pigeon trade that whereas 

 there are a certain number of purchasers at, 

 say, six dollars a pair, the number will treble 

 and quadruple at three dollars a pair, with 

 no further inducement than the price. This 

 is an absurdity and in the old days did more 

 to drag the pigeon business down than any- 

 thing else, for few selling pigeons at cheap 

 prices could afford to replace dead birds, odd 



sex, etc. Cheap pigeons are never 

 cheap, but in most cases are a total 

 loss and a source of the utmost 

 vexation from start to finish. In a 

 pigeon transaction, the price is a 

 very small matter. What you wish 

 to know is: Will I get them prompt- 

 ly , or wait from three to six months 

 while the birds are being bred for 

 me? In case there are some dead 

 ones in the coop on arrival, will the 

 seller promptly make good, or will 

 he refuse, putting the blame onto 

 the express company, which never 

 pays such claims unless the deaths 

 have been caused by a wreck? In 

 case I am not satisfied with some or 

 all of the pigeons, have I any redress? 

 Who pays the express, myself or 

 the shipper? In case I find some 

 youngsters, or more of one sex than 

 the other, can I force the seller to 

 make good? So, you see, suppose 

 you can buy Cameaux at $3 a pair, 

 and do not buy character, reputation 

 and good service with it, you get 

 less than half of what you would 

 have secured had you paid $6 a 

 pair and received satisfaction. The 

 friendship and good will between 

 buyer and seller is a very important 

 matter in a pigeon sale. If one 

 finds he can buy regular ten-cent 

 soap for six cents, why one would 

 of course pay six cents. Soap is not 

 alive and does not breed. It can 

 be transported without risk. It is 

 not likely that you would ask for 

 a refund of the money. But there 

 is some risk in buying pigeons and 

 it is to your advantage to trade 

 with a firm which will take the ri^, 

 and not compel you. 



I can talk Homers all day. I owe 

 a great deal of my success to the 

 National Squab Magazine. I start- 

 ed three years ago with thirty-six 

 Plymouth Rock Extra Homers. I 

 have now nineteen units on Mr. 

 Rice's plan, and have between 1200 

 and 1500 birds. In June I shipped 

 434 squabs to a northern market, 

 first week in July 115. We have 

 no local market in summer, this 

 being a winter resort. My best 



f rices are obtained in the winter, 

 sold in two and a half months 

 eight hundred squabs at six dollars 

 ,— W. C. Hyer. South Carolina, 



Your Manual, the National Standard Squab 

 Book, is the best and most thorough publica- 

 tion on pigeons and squabs ever pubUshed. I 

 am more than pleased with it. I shall send on 

 an order early this spring, possibly earlier, 

 and if your birds are like your book, there 

 shall certainly be another order. — W. C. Val- 

 entine^ Illinois. 



per 



dozen 



