SQUABS PAY 19 
pen and removed to breeding quarters only after they have 
gone to work. The chief difficulty with. a beginner is the 
matter of sex. The male and the female pigeon have no 
marks to distinguish them, and the beginner must determine 
their sex by observation. He must study his birds and come 
to know them. Some beginners will not equip themselves by 
study and observation to make a success and may breed in a 
hap-hazard fashion for a year or more without knowing the 
sex of the birds they raise. Birds which you raise will go to 
work more quickly, look better and breed better than any birds 
you can buy, because that is the temperament of the Homer, 
to be attached to his home, to love it, and to try to reach it if 
he can. Anybody who has doubts as to his ability to raise 
squabs should start with a small flock and breed up until he 
has acquired skill and experience. 
As part of this Manual, in the supplement and appendices, 
we print many letters from customers who started with small 
flocks and won striking successes. It is not necessary to get 
a fancy price for the squabs to make the business a success. 
In confirmation of this we have in mind the work of two of 
our customers, young men named Lunn, who have received 
only two dollars to three dollars a dozen for their squabs, 
selling to dealers who retail them for four dollars to six 
dollars a dozen. These brothers have told their story in one 
of the poultry papers as follows: 
“In February, 1905, we got the idea of going into the squab 
business. We spent some time looking around and in March, 
1905, we bought what we thought was the best stock, namely, 
the Extra Plymouth Rock Homers. We bought twelve 
pairs. The birds arrived on, March 22, 1905, and were as 
fine a looking lot of birds as we had seen anywhere. We now 
(December, 1906) have three hundred pairs. One hundred and 
fifty pairs are well mated and working. The other one 
hundred and fifty pairs are all young birds. We raised all 
our young birds up until September, 1906, and since then have 
been selling squabs weighing from nine and one-quarter to 
ten and one-half pounds and receive twenty-three and 
twenty-five cents each. We feed the best of grain, using 
cracked corn, kaffir corn, red wheat, buckwheat and peas and 
alittle hemp. We also give a little rice once or twice a week. 
During the moulting season we added barley to regular 
