THE MARKETS 87 



At the same time the report quoted above was printed in 

 the New York Tribune a breeder in Mauricetown, N. J., was 

 getting from four dollars and twenty-five cents to four dollars 

 and fifty cents a dozen for his squabs. (This was the last 

 week in January, 1902.) You see, it does not pay to trust 

 wholly to the market reports in the newspapers. The motive 

 of the city men is to get their goods as cheaply as they can. It 

 is your motive to get as much as you can, and don't be fooled 

 by second-hand information. Go direct to headquarters 

 yourself in person and learn the truth. If the middleman 

 tries to hold down the price to you, go to a consumer and 

 make your bargain with him at top prices. 



A breeder in New Jersey writes that there are several 

 squab breeders in his town, all of whom give their regular 

 time to other businesses. He continues: " I am now (Feb- 

 ruary, 1902), getting thirty-two cents each as they run, no 

 sorting, for what few squabs I am now raising, and they 

 are sold to a man who calls every Tuesday for them. When 

 I have enough, I ship direct to New York by express. They 

 sort them in New York." 



This was doing well then for unsorted squabs. It is only 

 another bit of evidence which proves the money-making 

 condition of the New York market. (The above correspon- 

 dent's breeders are not first-class, he admits, saying he has 

 been breeding for seven years and his flock has nm down.) 



The Xansas City market does not yet know what a fat 

 squab is. The only things obtainable there are the squabs of 

 common pigeons, which are quoted low, as they are all over 

 the country. A correspondent in Atchison writes: " I wrote 

 to the Kansas City dealer again, telling him I thought his 

 prices were pretty low for Homer squabs. He replied that 

 they had so few Homers offered that they did not quote them, 

 and they wotdd be worth from two dollars to two dollars and 

 fifty cents per dozen. He quoted common pigeon squabs at 

 one dollar and twenty-five cents to one dollar and seventy-five 

 per dozen, as I wrote you before. That is better, and I want 

 to try raising them as soon as I can get into a place where I 

 can handle them." 



Fact is, the squabs that bring from three to five dollars a 

 dozen east of the Mississippi will bring that (and more) as soon 

 as the wealthy trade of Kansas City gets a taste of them. 



