FIRST-CLASS HOMERS IN THEIR KANSAS HOME. 



SIXTY CENTS A PAIR, by Charles S. Eby. 



I have a standing order for all the Plymouth 

 Rock Extra Homer squabs I can raise from a 

 large firm in Detroit (Michigan), and they 

 pay me sixty cents a pair, just as they are off 

 the nest. They told me they were the largest 

 squabs they had ever seen. They weigh 

 from one pound to nineteen ounces apiece. I 

 think I have the largest or rather the heaviest 

 Homer . squabs in the country. Don't you 

 think so? The smallest squab I ever weighed 

 at four weeks of age weighed fifteen ounces. 

 I have lost but three old birds since I started, 

 and that was with sour crop, caused by poor 

 feed. 



Question : I am going to start squab raising 

 in a carriage house which is now overrur. r\ixn. 

 rats and mice. How should I arrange the piace 

 to keep them out? Answer: I advise you to lay 

 one-half inch mesh wire netting on the whole 

 floor, also the walls and ceiling, so as to make 

 it physically impossible for* rats or mice to 

 get into the squab room from the outside. 

 If you have a double floor you can lay the wire 

 netting between the floors. You must be 

 careful to screen the ventilators, and in the 

 management of the window, especially when 

 closing for the night. 



Question: Here in Illinois we have cow peas 

 in plenty. Are they good feed for squabs, and 

 are they as good as Canada peas? I can buy 

 them for from $1.25 tq $1.75 per bushel, accord- 

 ing to the season. Answer: Cow peas are not 

 favored so much as Canada peas and are gen- 

 erally more expensive. They are all right to 

 feed to pigeons. 



_ Question: I am a woman and dislike to 

 kill and pluck the squabs. Would you recom- 

 mend my shipping the young squabs alive 

 from Mississippi to the northern markets? 

 Answer: No. If you don't like to kill them, 

 why don't you raise up your pigeons for breed- 

 ers and sell them alive in pairs, as so mary are 

 now doing? ^ 



WHAT AN EASTERITER SEES IN CALI- 

 FORNIA, by B. F. Babcock. Having been in 

 Southern California and Los Angeles for over a 

 year, it has given me a good opportunity to 

 look around and give to the readers of this 

 magazine an idea of the possibilities of squab 

 business in Southern California. The climate 

 is Par excellence (except occasional fog and 

 dampness in the morning, which may cause 

 sickness among the breeders, but this is easily 

 overcome) having none of the extreme Eastern 

 winters and no bad storms. I have not so far 

 seen any squabs in the markets that compare 

 with the ones that I raised in New Jersey from 

 Plymouth Rock Extra Homers and sent to the 

 New York markets. 



I have been raising pigeons for the last few 

 years, but never paid any attention to the rais- 

 ing of squabs for market until about a year ago. 

 I had some Homer pigeons, and then I bought 

 a few more, and sold my first pair of squabs in 

 May, 1910, and from that time on I have had 

 sale for all the squabs I could raise. I sell all 

 my squabs dressed, and get seventy-five cents a 

 pair for all. I feed corn, wheat, kaffir corn, 

 buckwheat, hemp, peas, barley and millet. 

 They are very prolific breeders and raise nice 

 squabs. I am a great lover of pigeons and find 

 squab raising very interesting work. I have 

 been a subscriber to the Squab Magazine since 

 January, 1910, and think it is the best period- 

 ical on pigeons every published, and would not 

 be without it. — Ralph Lenz, Ohio. 



I bought some fine Homers from the Ply- 

 mouth Rock Squab Company two years ago. 

 A friend asked me to try my birds in a Homing 

 Club, but I thought they were not good enough 

 for racing. I joined one of the largest Homing 

 Clubs in Canada. I won a good many prizes 

 in ifhe club, the birds flying as far North as 

 Cobalt. — Peter Chormanu, Ontario. 



The retail prices in Providence for ten- 

 pound squabs are $1.10 per pair, $5 per dozens— 

 H. C. Card, Rhode Island, 



