APPENDIX G 



397 



HOW I OBTAINED A PROFITABLE 

 PRICE, by John F. Bushmeyer. My brother 

 has been selling Homer squabs in St. Louis at 

 ten and fifteen cents apiece, not knowing they 

 were worth more; in fact, not even looking up 

 the market prices in the daily papers. We got 

 wise to the fact that they were worth more 

 through the Manual and the magazine, which 

 is a daisy. My brother decided not to sell 

 any more squabs unless he got a better price. 

 One day last week, having three pairs of 

 squabs ready for sale, he put them into a small 

 box and went down to the market ; but instead 

 of going to the ten-and-fifteen-cent dealer, he 

 went into the opposite side of the market to 

 walk through, and the first butcher's stand he 

 passed, the man behind the counter, seeing 

 the box he carried, called him, saying, " What 

 have you got there, squabs? " 



'*_Yes," answered my brother, '* are you 

 buying them? " 



" Are they commons? " 



" No," answered my brother, "they are 

 fancy Homers." 



" What do you want for them? " asked the 

 dealer. 



*' The market price," was the answer. 



After looking them over, he asked again, 

 " What do you want for them? " 



" The market price as I said before, if I 

 cannot get any more." 



" Say, Chollie," the butcher called to another 

 man behind the counter, " what are Homer 

 squabs selling for today? " 



Chollie picked up a morning paper, made a 

 bluff at looking at it; "$1.75 a dozen," he 

 answered. 



" Wake up and let me see that paper," said 

 my brother, which he did after some stalling, 

 and my brother proceeded to read the market 

 quotations, whigh were as follows: 



"'Pigeons and Squabs — Live pigeons at 

 seventy-five cents per dozen. Squabs — Fancy 

 Homers at $2.75 per dozen for eight-pound, 

 $3.25 for nine-pound, $3.50 for ten-pound 

 and at $1.50 for small; common at $1.00 and 

 $1.25 per dozen.' This is out of the Post 

 Despatch of today. Now if you want those 

 squabs, weigh them up and give me the price." 



The butcher put them on the scales and 

 they weighed four and a half pounds; for the 

 six he readily produced $1.60 and said, " Bring 

 me all you can get." This shows you how 

 anxious they are to get good squabs. 



I am now shipping all my Plymouth Rock 

 squabs to a Chicago marketman. He pays 

 $3.25 for eight-pound squabs, $3.75 for nine- 

 pound, $4.00 for ten-pound, and sends check 

 weekly. I ship at 4.12 p.m. and they arrive in 

 Chicago at 8.30 a.m. the following day. I am 

 building another fine addition for three hun- 

 dred more pairs of my Carneaux. — J. B. Beck- 

 man, Missouri. 



Squabs are a good proposition around here. 

 Ours are in demand, many more than we can 

 care for. The trade is waiting for them at $5 

 to $6 a dozen. — Mrs. Ed Cogley, Iowa. 



SQUAB CONDITIONS IN ST. LOUIS, by 

 Fred L. Stock. This is intended mainly for 

 the information of the western squab breeder, 

 yet it may prove of some interest to the eastern 

 breeder, to the extent of giving him some 

 inside, as to the conditions now in force in 

 St. Louis. But, in the start, I wish to make 

 my position clear, by the statement that I 

 have no interest in any manner with the Ply- 

 mouth Rock Squab Company, as I do not 

 own one bird that was ever purchased from 

 this firm. The market in this city (St. Louis) 

 is without doubt the most unsatisfactory 

 market in the United States today, and will 

 continue to be such so long as the conditons 

 are in force that now prevail, the conditions 

 I refer to being the limited number of really 

 good flocks of Homers in the city. In fact, 

 I can use one hand in counting the owners of 

 these first-class Homers, and in each and every 

 case the original breeders were purchased from 

 the Plymouth Rock Squab Company, and their 

 owners have no trouble in finding a private 

 market for their squabs at the eastern market 

 price, owing to the vast difference in quality 

 of squabs' from these birds, and the squabs to 

 be found ^i the public market. 



Many people state how much per pair it 

 costs. to feed their birds. The price of grain 

 in California and the Middle States differs 

 so greatly that their estimate gives me no idea 

 whatever of what it would cost me per pair. 

 For this season I am weighing all the feed 

 used in one house. In the past three months 

 they have eaten at the rate of eighty-four 

 pounds to each pair per year. I will continue 

 to weigh for a full year. There is little demand 

 for large squabs in the small towns, but in San 

 Francisco they want large squabs and lots of 

 them. San Francisco is only seventy miles 

 from here, so I ship my squabs alive. The 

 express is fifty cents per hundredweight. A 

 few of my squabs go to commission houses, but 

 most of them go to marketmen direct, and I 

 pay no commission. Several marketmen have 

 asked me to contract my squabs to them by the 

 year at a given price. They are willing to give 

 a good price anyhow so I have not contracted 

 yet. Squabs are quoted at $2 to $4.50 per 

 dozen. My squabs are classed as extras and I 

 never receive less than $3 per dozen and this 

 for only a few shipments each year. I have 

 been unable to find a demand for larger than 

 a one-pound squab on the open market. — D. D. 

 Powell, California. 



The largest New York hotels consume on an 

 average of sixty dozen squabs a day, each hotel, 

 and the prices range from 75 cents to $1.50 per 

 squab, according to the location and size of 

 the hotel. My readers can draw their own 

 conclusion as to whether squab raising pays in 

 this part of the coimtry. — Harry M. Samson, 

 New York. 



I can sell all my squabs to private customers 

 from fifty cents to seventy-five cents a pair. — 

 Ray F. Peavey, Massachusetts. 



