per
start. In the following pages I will endeavor to present with great
simplicity the right way to start in the squab business and the results
I have obtained in raising squabs for market. The information contained
herein, may, I trust, be of as much benefit to the reader as it is my
pleasure to impart.

JOHN S. TRECARTIN.

[Illustration: PASSAIC VALLEY SQUAB FARM, CALDWELL, N.J.]

CHAPTER I.

IS THERE PROFIT IN RAISING SQUABS?

Of the question of profit in squab raising, there is no doubt. Squabs
are coming into use more and more every day, not only as a delicacy for
invalids, but also for hotels, restaurants, catering establishments,
and household use.

The first question is naturally of the market for them. The Hebrews,
who entertain lavishly, are among our largest customers. They buy the
squabs alive, as their poultry has to be prepared according to the
Jewish Dietary Laws. The hotels in all large cities use enormous
quantities of squabs, and we have had to freeze large quantities for
them in the summer in the past few years, so as to insure them a steady
supply through the winter months. We have frozen as high as 5,000
squabs for a single hotel in one year, and now we make a practice of
always keeping a reserve of frozen squabs, to meet the winter demands.

The prices of squabs are for the most part regulated by the large
cities in the vicinity. Commission merchants are always anxious to buy
in any quantity and they send out weekly quotations as to what they are
paying for squabs. The prices to butchers, hotels, and consumers of all
classes, are based on these quotations and naturally the direct sale to
the consumer, cutting out the commission man, commands a much higher
price.

The following table is made up of the quotations Conron Bros., New York
City, paid for squabs during the first week in January in the following
years:--

1912 Squabs weighing 9 lbs. to the dozen $ 4.75
1913 " " 9 lbs. " " 4.75
1914 " " 9 lbs. " " 4.75
1916 " " 9 lbs. " " 5.50
1919 " " 9 lbs. " " 9.25
1920 " " 9 lbs. " " 11.00

Squabs are graded according to the weight of one dozen. That is, one
dozen squabs weighing twelve ounces each, would weigh nine pounds to
the dozen. We have taken that weight squab as a basis, as that is the
average weight squab produced from good bre