THE MARKETS 85 
field and gathers up all the killed and mained birds he can 
find, and sells them for two and three cents apiece, or for 
anything he can get, and these find their way into the markets. 
The cruel practice of pigeon shooting by miscalled “sports- 
men’ on Long Island is quite common, and the presence of 
these birds in the New York butcher shops accounts for the 
above quotation in the Tribune. It is unnecessary to add 
that such birds do not compete with squabs. They can be 
made palatable only by stewing for hours in a pie, which takes 
out a little of their toughness. There is now a law in New 
York forbidding pigeon shooting. 
As to squabs, the quotation, ‘‘ Prime, large, white, per dozen 
$3.50 and $3.75,” is for the kind of squabs that are raised 
from our Homers, namely, No. 1 grade. : 
By the quotation, ‘‘ Mixed, $2.75 and $3.00,” is meant that 
these amounts are paid for lots of birds composed of No. 1 
and No. 2 grades, mixed: If you sort up your birds care- 
fully you will be able to get the No. 1 prices for all. Some 
people do not know how to sort them, and they have to be 
satisfied with the price of a mixed lot. 
By the quotation, ‘‘ Dark, $1.75 and $2.00,” is meant the 
dark-fleshed squabs, as you have learned by reading our 
Manual. Squabs whose flesh is dark do not sell for as much 
as the white-fleshed squabs. 
Pigeons are of all colors, 7. e., as you see their feathers, and 
the squabs likewise, but when you pluck the feathers off the 
flesh is either a pure white with a tinge of yellow, or dark like 
a negro’s skin. 
Quotations for squabs as found in the market reports in 
the newspapers are always lower than they really are. The 
writers of the market columns in the daily papers see only the 
commission men and cater only to them; they smoke the 
commission men’s cigars and believe what the commission 
men tell them. They do not see the producer at all. The 
object of the commission men is to get the squabs as cheaply as 
they can. When you are breeding squabs make up your mind 
to get from twenty-five cents to one dollar or more per dozen 
than you see quoted in the market reports. The only way to 
find out the truth about the squab markets is to go into them 
and offer to buy squabs, not to sell them. Then you will learn 
the true prices. 
