148 
‘shipping baskets, We buy this burlap in 
large roils weighing 150 pounds and contain- 
ing irom 300 to 320 square yards. We do 
not hem it or sew it in any way for the cages, 
simply cut it and in stretching it over the 
nails fold the raw ee under, 
Having read the Manual, you know that 
we do not use sand or sawdust in our squab 
houses, so we are able to deliver manure 
which is absolutely pure. The tanneries do 
not like to get lots of impure manure and of 
course pay more for the unadulterated arti- 
cle. It is just as easy and more business- 
like to keep this by-product pure. Feathers 
and grain in the manure do not injure it for 
tanneries. 
The manure in the houses has no odor, 
but when we have got it scraped up and 
banked in the manure house, it gives forth 
a pungent, ammonia-like smell. As the 
manure house is entirely cut off from the 
squab houses by the slide in the passage- 
way, this pungency does not trouble any- 
one, It is not a nasty smell, anyway. 
We have had customers from as far off as 
Illinois write that they were quite charmed 
with our story about the manure, and that 
they were saving up bags of it to ship by 
freight to the American Hide and Leather 
Company at Lowell, Mass. This tannery 
is a branch of the Leather Trust, which has 
other tanneries, so use your wits and find 
out which tannery is nearest you, and ship 
to that one. If you can find a tannery not 
in the trust, sell to that, if you wish to. 
you sell to a trust tannery, the check which 
pays you will come from the New York of- 
fice of the trust, same as ours do. We rec- 
ommend our New England customers to 
ship to Lowell. We have always found the 
leather people square in measuring the 
manure, in fact they have given us credit on 
two or three occasions for more than we 
thought we had. They pay after you have 
sent your bill of lading and the report of 
the measurer has gone to the New York of- 
fice. You need not be afraid of swamping 
the leather trust with pigeon manure. They 
will take all you can scrape up. Chemicals 
which are used ‘as substitutes when pigeon 
manure cannot be had are said to be injur- 
ious to the hide. 
. We write the above to help you sell the 
manure from your squab houses. Do not ask 
us to advise you further on this point, for we 
cannot. If you cannot find a tannery within 
shipping distance, try the florists or market 
gardeners. We are informed that the florists’ 
exchange in New York City is a good place to 
sell pigeon manure, and customers near that 
city have told us that they are selling there. 
SQUABS IN THE POULTRY PRESS. The 
magazines devoted to poultry are beginning 
to take up squabs on account of the increasing 
interest shown by poultrymen in the subject. 
In the Poultry Keeper for November 15, 1902, 
appeared a contribution by A. P. Spiller. 
NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK 
After giving the general arrangements for 
caring for the birds, he says: ‘‘At about four 
weeks of age the squabs are ready for market. 
Some markets require them dressed, others 
only killed. Good breeding pigeons will 
hatch and rear from six to eleven pair of young 
a year. The cost to keep a pair of breeders, 
including the raising of the young, at the pres- 
ent time is about eighty cents a year, this, of 
course, varying some with location and cost of 
feeding stuff. Wild game birds are becoming 
more scarce each year. The properly raised 
squab piece comes nearer taking the place of 
these wild birds than anything else. That 
they make fine eating, those who have eaten 
them cannot deny. There is always a ready 
sale for good plump squabs at hotels, restau- 
rants, markets and private families, prices 
ranging from $2.50 to $4.50 per dozen, de- 
pending upon quality and season. When one 
begins to raise pigeons it is better to try to 
secure strains from some reliable breeder who 
has stock bred along profitable lines. There 
is a difference in regard to breeding and feed- 
ing qualities and results obtained which war- 
rants the paying of a little more at the start in 
obtaining more profitable stock. The writer 
is in favor of the straight Homer, carefully 
selected as to size, shape, breeding and feeding 
qualities, as it is well known that the Homer 
pigeon is one of the best feeders and breeders 
of any variety, and the numbers they will pro-_ 
duce in a year more than balance any slight 
advantage that may be obtained in size. 
The breeding of pigeons is fascinating to 
most people. It is true there are some losses, 
but with care and some experience in manage- 
ment the few losses that occur to the beginner 
may be reduced to a very small percentage. 
The work is light and not as exacting as in 
some other lines, affording a lucrative employ- 
ment almost from the start to those who are 
not strong, as well as to the most robust. A 
flock once mated will give but little concern to 
‘their owner, as they remain constant for life 
regardless of the numbers contained in the 
flock, and for years will amply repay in profit 
and pleasure for the feed and care given them.” 
e wish to call the special attention of 
our readers to that portion of the above 
article by Mr. Spiller where he says that the 
cost of a pair of breeders is eighty cents a year. 
We say the cost is sixty cents a year at the 
present prices for grain (1903). In his article 
Mr. Spiller says nothing about -keeping the 
pigeon manure free from dirt and selling it to 
tanneries. This must be done in order to hold 
the feed bill down to its lowest notch. Wesay 
that the manure will pay one-third of the 
grain bill, and taking Mr. Spiller’s figure of 
eighty cents, and deducting one-third from it, 
we have as the net cost fifty-three cents. 
We asked one of our friends living in West 
Newton, Mass,, to ask Mr. Spiller if his esti- 
mate of cost was made when he was saving the 
manure and selling it to tanneries. Mr. 
gee replied by letter as follows under date 
of February 16, 1903; “No, the manure was 
