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APPENDIX G 



SQUAB MONEY KEPT THIS BOY IN 

 SCHOOL, by Elmer Blrider. I am a boy of 



seventeen and live with my grandparents in 

 California. Both my m.other and father are 

 dead, so you see I had to find some way of 

 making money without having to quit school. 

 While reading a paper one day I saw the 

 Plymouth Rock advertisement and sent for 

 a free book, then bought the complete pigeon 

 guide, which I found was the same as having 

 an expert squab raiser with you all the time. 

 By studying this Manual I got a clear view 

 of the squab industry, purchased twelve pairs 

 of Homers in September, 1907, and up to this 

 writing (September 27, 1909) have three 

 hundred and sixty, including one htmdred 

 mated pairs. I ship the squabs at the rate 

 of about seven dozen every month to San 

 Francisco, where I get never less than thirty- 

 five cents each. 



Boys who were my best friends wanted me 

 to go out in the fields and work with them for 

 $25 a month. I told them I would not quit 

 school to go out in the hot sun and work for 

 $25 a month. Then here is where they began 

 to tease me about the pigeons and that I 

 would not make a cent out of them. So, 

 what happened is, that I have kept on with 

 my school, making a clear profit of $20 a month 

 with little work. 



This just shows what a great chance the 

 pigeon industry offers. There is one man 

 here who came from Minnesota to raise squabs 

 and on arrival took the ginseng fever and 

 began raising it. Now he is beginning to see 

 his mistake in not sticking to squabs. 



SQUABS SELLING IN BOSTON $7 A 

 DOZEN, by Elmer C. Rice. Just one year ago 

 this month I wrote an article telling how 

 squabs were selling in Boston at seven dollars 

 a dozen, the highest known up to that time. 

 This year (1911) squabs are just as high, and 

 appear to be scarcer. 



In the Boston Globe for January 27, 1911, 

 squabs were quoted at $5.00 to $7.00 a dozen. 

 In the Globe for January 20, S.").50 and $6.00 

 a dozen. For January 13, $5.00 and S6.00 

 a dozen. For January 6, $5.00 and $6.50 a 

 dozen. For December 30, $5.00 and S6.00. 



The Globe prints the squab quotations in a 

 special market article every Friday afternoon 

 throughout the year, along with quotations 

 on meats, butter, cheese, eggs, fruits, vege- 

 tables, fish. 



When squabs weighing eight pounds to the 

 dozen sell for $6.00 a dozen, this means that 

 the buyer pays seventy-five cents a pound; 

 ten pounds to the dozen at $7 a dozen, seventy 

 cents a pound; twelve pounds to the dozen at 

 $7.00 a dozen, sixty-seven cents a pound. 

 This is double the prices at which chickens 

 sell, pound for pound, and indicates how 

 profitable it is to breed squabs. 



MY SQUAB PLANT PAYING 22 1-2 

 PER CENT PROFIT, by H. C. Longcoy. For 



any one entering any business, the hrst ques- 

 tion coming to mind is: How have others 



succeeded? So a few figures of actual facts 

 are here submitted. I have been raising 

 squabs in Ohio for five years and have made 

 big money for the time spent on them. I get 

 all my grain, grit, etc., at wholesale. I sell 

 through a retail store. They give me $3.50 a 

 dozen, flat rate, the year round. I have 

 fifteen pens of breeders at present, but, for 

 example, we will take one pen of twenty-one 

 pairs of large crosses with actual figures. 

 These birds have done no better than the 

 others: 



Grain for 365 days S30.57 



Cost of house (pro rated) SI. 57 per pair or 32.97 

 Value of birds, 21 pairs at .'^4 84.00 



Interest on S84 plus $32.97 (investment) 7.01 

 Depreciation on investment 10% 11.69 



Actual outlay $30.57 plus $7.01 plus $11.69, 

 total $49.27. 

 Twenty-one pairs produced 246 squabs 



during the year at 83.50 per dozen S71.75 

 Droppings sold 3.90 



Income .S/o.65 



$75.65 minus $49.27 equals S26.3S profit, or 

 $1.25 1-2 per pair. 



Very few business propositions pay 22 1-2% 

 net; so I say a squab plant well taken care of 

 is the best money maker I know today. 



POISONED PEAS, by C. W. Blanding. I 



found it extremely hard to procure Canada 

 peas, and to take their place I bought some 

 peas of a dealer which he recommended as 

 pigeon peas. In less than two weeks my birds 

 were all dead with the exception of a few pairs. 

 A careful examination proved that the peas 

 had been doped to prevent the worms from 

 bothering them, as they are very poor sellers. 

 You can bet now that I know what my feed 

 is when I buy it. 



Question: No two accounts agree as to the 

 average yearly increase from working pairs of 

 pigeons, and I am at sea as to what I might 

 reasonably expect from say fifty pairs in one 

 year under favorable circumstances. Answer: 

 Accounts differ with regard to the average 

 yearly increase of a flock of birds, because the 

 abilitj'^ of each breeder varies. It depends 

 mostly on yourself what you will do with a 

 flock of pigeons. If you are skilful you will 

 get the maximum results. If you are not 

 skilful you will get the minimum results. If 

 you have average ability you will get average 

 results. It is impossible for . anybody to pre- 

 dict what you will do at squab raising. 



A buyer appreciates that prices mean very 

 little when he puts $20 into a lot of pigeons, 

 obtains twice the number obtainable for the 

 same money elsewhere, but finds on getting the 

 birds from the express company that perhaps 

 one-third of them are desirable, and he can get 

 no relief, frequently not even an answer to 

 letters. It is our belief that the customer is the 

 best judge of what is shipped him, that the 

 pigeons themselves talk more convincingly than 

 printed matter or letters. 



