362 



APPENDIX G 



MR. tr6xel'S squab killing chute. 



I CAN SELL 100 DOZEN DAILY IN 

 OREGON, by Louis A, Hart. The squab 

 market here is quoted in the papers at $2.50 

 per dozen, but Ijust ignore that price and go 

 to Mr. Hotel Man and engage my pound birds 

 at $5.50 and the nine pound to the dozen birds 

 at $4.50. I find the market firm and demand, 

 well, say, I guess I could sell one hundred 

 dozen every day if I only had them Only 

 you who are near New York city can appreciate 

 the position that I am in, for it surely looks 

 good to m.e. The staple grain is wheat, al- 

 though some com and barley are raised. I 

 am located close to a broom factory, so for 

 n,esting material I use the refuse broom straws, 

 with ^1 tlae dead twigs I can fiijd. 



HOW I TEST EGGS THROUGH A STRAW 

 HAT, by H. A, Davis. For an egg tester, I_ 

 use a straw hat draped with black cloth that 

 draws together with a string at the bottom 

 around my shoulders. This is practically a 

 small dark room for one's head, except for a 

 small hole opposite the eye through which the 

 egg to be tested is seen when held to the light. 

 The egg is held close to the hole to shut out 

 all ligh*;, and it is surprising how easy it is 

 to teU whether the egg is fertile or not. When 

 we pass through the pen to test, we glance 

 at the date the egg should hatch, and reckon 

 back ten days. Thus we are testing an egg 

 about eight days old, and we have gained 

 more than ten days more than once, by testing, 

 which only takes a few minutes. We like 

 to record on the sticker the date the eg^ should 

 hatdi rather than the date it was laid. We 

 find our birds will drink from the bathpan. 

 but since we have whitewashed the bathpans 

 once a week in summer, their bowels are in 

 better condition than before. We put a piece 

 of rock lime about the size of a hickory nut 

 in each drinking fountain also. 



EXPERT TELLS HOW TO 

 KILL AND PLUCK, by Clinton 

 L. Troxel. Being a poultry 

 dresser long enough to dress 

 more than forty thousan d chick- 

 ens, I willgive you agoodidea 

 how to dry-pick squabs. They 

 look better than when scalded. 

 It is also much quicker. One 

 . can be killed, dressed and 

 drawn in less than five min- 

 utes. I dress them upon a 

 barrel. (This is fixed in a man- 

 ner known to poultry dressers 

 as a chute.) The way it is 

 made is to take a barrel and 

 place it upon a box one ioot 

 high. This makes the barrel 

 the right height. Place another 

 box, which may be about two 

 feet square, with the top, bot- 

 tom and end removed, upon the 

 barrel. This leaves the re- 

 maining three sides to form a 

 shield around your squab, which 

 keeps the feathers from Axorp- 

 I)ing upon the floor. They 

 will drop into the barrel, where they can be 

 saved, then sold. 



Over the center of the barrel is a board eight 

 inches wide, which is used to lay the squab upon 

 while dressing. This board is padded so. as 

 not to bruise the squab. At far end of the 

 board is a hole two inches round. Below this 

 hole a cup is placed so that the blood cannot 

 drop upon the feathers. At the other side 

 of the hole a sharp hook is set. 



I*lace the bill over the hook, hold the feet, 

 and tip the wings in the left hand. Insert a 

 sharp-pointed kiufe in front of the eye, upward 

 into the brain. Bleed from the side of the 

 throat; sticking in this way causes the squab 

 to give up its feathers more easily, and at same 

 time it also loses its feeling. 



One would be surprised to see how quickly 

 and easily a squab can be dressed, llie tail, 

 wings, entrails and head can be placed in a pail 

 which hangs near. 



In front right-hand comer, a small shelf is 

 used to support a lamp for night work. In 

 front left-hand comer is another shelf upon 

 which is a cup of water m which to moisten the 

 fingers. 



After dressing, draw and remove the head, 

 singe and put into pan of cold water for four or 

 five hours. Add pinch of salt to the water. ' 



I have no trouble in disposing of my squabs 

 after dressing like above. We find in this 

 locality, with prices high on feed, that it costs 

 $1.25 per pair per year. Our birds average 

 about five pairs squabs per year. We get 

 twenty-five cents each aHve for them. This 

 gives us a profit of $1.25 on each pair a year 

 after paying above amount for feed. 



Did you ever see a drunken pigeon raiser? 

 Rum and squabs don't mix. Therp is no such 

 thing as a squab plant with a whiskey bottle 

 hid in the grain bin. 



