After the squabs are picked and cooled, pack them in ice in barrels or boxes. We prefer rather small boxes, say about the size of soap-boxes, but many thousand pairs are sent to market in clean barrels. Empty apple barrels or cracker barrels may be used.
In the bottom of the packet put a good layer of cracked ice. A good many times the ice is not cracked as small as it should be. It should be broken into pieces about the size of a hickory nut, so the pieces will work down through the space between the birds. After the bottom is covered with ice, put in a layer of squabs, pack down and so the carcasses are closely packed but not squeezed together. Over these put another layer of ice and again a layer of birds until within two or three inches of the top. Fill the remaining space with cracked ice and fasten the package.
Be liberal about using ice, for it is necessary that the birds should be kept cool and the express companies make allowance for the weight of the ice in weighing squabs packed this way.
If any grain has been found in the crop of a squab as it is being dressed, it should be removed. Cut a very small slit in the breast over the crop and wash out the grain. A small hose with light pressure from a tank or water system is very handy for this purpose.
Before packing the birds, carefully wash all the blood from them and wash the feet and legs until they are bright and red.
If there is a shade of difference in the quality of squabs, select the best for the top of the package and take pains that the top layer is very carefully laid in so that it will look nice when the package is opened.
If there happens to be a number of dark-fleshed or rather light-weight squabs in a killing, these should be packed by themselves and sent on in anticipation of receiving a low price for them. Nothing is gained by putting some poor squabs among a number of good ones, for they will reduce the price of the whole package. If fine ones are put by themselves and marked "Firsts" and the poorer ones sent without any particular mark the prices obtained for the whole shipment will be larger than it would have been if good and poor had been packed together.
It is best to kill on a certain day in the week, the day depending on the distance to market. In South Jersey they kill on Monday or Tuesday and send the squabs to New York and usually get a check for them by Saturday. Some kill Thursday in order to catch the Saturday markets, but as a rule it is best to reach the market Friday morning, so as to give the commission merchant two days in which to sell the birds. Often an early shipment gets the best price.
At the same time the squabs are sent to market, mail a letter to the commission man, advising him of the number of birds you sent to him and by what express company or freight line. Give him any particulars which may help him to make a good sale, if you think of anything that might interest him.
In the eastern market squabs are graded by weight and quality. They are called 10-pound, 9-pound, 8-pound, 7-pound and 6½-pound, and the prices range accordingly. When 10-pound squabs are worth $6.00 a dozen, those weighing 6½ pounds will sell for from $1.50 to $2.75 a dozen, according to the state of the market, the high-priced ones always selling first, unless a buyer has a special reason for securing a lot of light-weights.