SF I 
 
 
 499 1 
 
 \ ■ 
 
 i 
 
 C 
 
 1 
 
 PRICE, 30 CENTS. 
 
 APONS V 
 
 FOR 
 
 ' Profit. 
 
 BY T. GREINER. 
 
 kH 
 
^f>/»VVvy v«V V v» VWY»Y» Yw: 
 
FROM THE 
 
 LIBRARY OF 
 
 OLNEY BROWN KENT 5r. 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 92406671 31 1 
 
CAPONS FOR 
 
 PROFIT. 
 
 ^^ 
 
 HOW TO MAKE 
 
 AND 
 
 HOW TO MANAGE THEM. 
 
 Plain Instructions given by a Beginner for the 
 Beginner. 
 
 iXiXjU-STiaA.Tsr). 
 
 BY 
 
 T. GREINER, LaSalle, N. Y. 
 
 SPRING, 1894, /av 
 
 Oi.«nejew««Keirt 
 
E ^T'S^? 
 
 COPYRIGHTED, 1893, 
 BvT. QREINER, LA SALLE, N. Y. 
 
 HAAS & KLEIN, PmNTERS, 
 
 SENECA STREET, CORNER TERRACE, 
 
 BUFFALO, N. Y, 
 
THE TRUTH ABOUT POULTRY. 
 
 A FRIENDLY TALK THAT MAY SERVE AS 
 AN INTRODUCTION. 
 
 T AM not a novice in the poultry business. As an 
 apprentice I have served long and faithfully, 
 but I am an apprentice, a learner, still, and expect 
 to be one as long as I live. My interest in poultry 
 is about as old as my memory. I was not yet in my 
 teens when I made my first practical experiment in 
 chicken raising, by inducing a pair of fancy pigeons 
 to adopt an ordinary hen's egg for hatching in place 
 of their own two little eggs. Well do I remember 
 the pleasurable excitement that thrilled 
 ^t cwlk. ^"^ throbbed all through my whole 
 being when I found the little chick try- 
 ing to get out of the shell, and how I had to run to 
 tell my mother, all aglow with pride and joy. Then 
 how I watched, fed and petted the little motherless 
 thing for a few days, until an unlucky accident 
 
4 CAPONS FOE PKOFIT. 
 
 put an end to its life and to my enjoyment. I could 
 not have grieved more had I lost a fortune. 
 
 A dozen years later, at the age when a person 
 knows more than all the rest of mankind, I could 
 see golden opportunities in poultry raising as a 
 business Poultry papers and poultry writers had 
 told me of the lot of money that might be made by 
 raising chicks and eggs for market. Estimating 
 profits on paper, from imaginary figures, is always 
 an easy enough matter. One hen gives $1.00 a year 
 clear profit; 1,000 hens must give $1,000. That was 
 as clear as day light, and needed no proof. Any- 
 how, if I had no acquaintance with the real facts, I 
 had unlimited faith in these figures, for figures can- 
 not lie; and if I was without practical 
 
 So lignres Liel . -r ,. ^ • ^ j- 
 
 experience, I was lully convinced oi 
 my own superior smartness. If others had suc- 
 ceeded, I could, and possibly in a greater degree. 
 So I made my plans, and racked my brains about 
 the construction of an incubator and brooders, etc., 
 things little thought of in those times. Next I be- 
 gan active operations with about 150 laying hens 
 which were kept for the purpose of getting eggs to 
 sell in the open market. It did not take.me long to 
 find out that 150 hens housed in one building, no 
 matter how large, will not lay 10 times as many 
 eggs as 15 hens kept by themselves, and given a 
 large range. Grain was then much dearer than it is 
 now, although I grew what corn and oats I needed, 
 and eggs were selling at the lowest prices I have 
 ever either paid or received for them. In short the 
 outcome was so discouraging that, instead of in- 
 creasing my stock of layers, as originally intended. 
 
NEW JERSEY EXPERIENCE. 5 
 
 to 1,000 hens, T decreased my number to 35 or 40, a 
 number more nearly in harmony with the conditions 
 of the farm and the market. Experiments with 
 incubators and brooders were entirely given up. 
 
 In 1885 I moved to New Jersey. The higher 
 prices which prevail near the large cities and the 
 summer resorts along the beach for spring chickens 
 and eggs revived my interest in the poultry busi- 
 ness. I made a new start with Black 
 ^"n New jene"** Langshans, and soon had as fine a 
 flock of from 1 00 to 200 fowls as any 
 one could wish to see. Grain was now reasonably 
 cheap. I used to buy a second grade of wheat at 
 my feed-dealer's at 80 or 85 cents a bushel, and corn 
 in the ear from some neighbor at 25 cents a bushel 
 ears; bran and other ground feed in proportion. 
 Fish, fish refuse and crabs were easily obtained, 
 and largely used to furnish the desired animal food. 
 My nearest grocer always bought my cockerels when 
 2 or 2^ pounds in weight, paying $1.00 per pair 
 alive. Eggs were mostly sold for hatching purposes, 
 at $1.50 per setting when shipped, or 50 cents per 
 setting to people who came after them. Hens laid 
 well. Sometimes I had to sell the eggs to the gro- 
 ceryman, and always received for them from 1 8 to 
 36 cents per dozen. I had two yards of moderate 
 size and a one-half acre orchard fenced in. In gar- 
 dening time my fowls were kept inside these fences, 
 at other times they were allowed to roam at will 
 over meadows and fields. There was some work and 
 care connected with this enterprise, but on the 
 whole it proved interesting and satisfactory. My 
 books showed a clear annual profit of from 75 cents 
 
6 CAPONS FOR PROFIT. 
 
 to $1.00 per hen. This result was obtained under 
 an unusual combination of favorable conditions; 
 but I had already reached the limit to which I could 
 hope to extend the business safely and profitably. 
 Where the conditions are less favorable (and that is 
 the usual case), either the number of fowls kept 
 must be decreased accordingly, or the profits will 
 dwindle down rapidly. 
 
 Poultry as ordinarily kept on the farm and other 
 rural homes (in limited numbers mainly) does pay, 
 and usually pays better than any other kind of farm 
 stock. There cannot be a particle of doubt about 
 it. The anxious question, ' ' Does poultry-keeping 
 pay?" can only have reference to extensive opera- 
 tions. When I hear of any one, who is out of 
 profitable employment, starting out to keep 1,000 
 hens for egg laying, or to raise spring chickens by 
 means of incubators and brooders, I always feel 
 sorry for him, and make up my mind that after a 
 while he will have a bigger stock of experience and 
 a smaller amount of money. 1 say this advisedly. 
 I well remember the delightful day I once spent 
 
 with poultry editors Jacobs and 
 '^sShm'r/'' Boyer, visiting the chicken- rearing 
 
 establishments in Hammonton, N J. 
 What I saw there interested me greatly, but it did 
 not fire up my enthusiasm to the point of making 
 me take hold of the business. Right there, with 
 climate and soil conditions about as favorable as 
 one might imagine, with good counsel to be had at 
 first hand from the older neighbors who diligently, 
 perseveringly, but carefully, had worked their way 
 gradually into moderate success, with plenty of 
 
POULTRY ON THE FARM. 7 
 
 local experience in selecting and running incubators 
 and brooders, with near markets ready to receive 
 the product, the chances seemed in every way to 
 favor success. Yet even then I noticed the impul- 
 siveness and impatience of the younger element that 
 was taking hold of the business, and the rashness 
 with which they rushed in where the older and more 
 experienced ones had feared to tread. I could not 
 overlook the fact that, while there were some mod- 
 erate successes on a moderate scale, large-scale 
 operations were yet in an experimental stage, and I 
 foresaw that there would be a liberal sprinkling of 
 failures among the successes. 
 
 I have also watched with interest the start and 
 development of other large poultry enterprises else- 
 where, but found that final failure was the rule, and 
 moderate success the exception. In short, I have 
 seen so much of this, that I feel perfectly safe in 
 prophesying failure, when I see one of the smart 
 young fellows embark in poultry raising with a full 
 equipment of incubators, brooders, etc; but without 
 previous practical experience. Theories in this 
 field are terribly misleading. 
 
 - But as I said before, poultry in the usual num- 
 bers on the farm are a paying stock. And yet they 
 can be made to pay stUl better than they really do 
 now. The ordinary management is abominable. 
 
 The scrub stock so generally met with 
 Pouiuy until only a few years ago, is fortunately 
 
 less common, and signs of mixture of 
 blooded stock, especially of Plymouth Rock, Leg- 
 horns, etc., may be seen everywhere. This is at 
 least one great step in advance, but it is only one, 
 
8 CAPONS FOE PKOPIT. 
 
 and" more improvements in management are needed. 
 One of them is in the matter of feeding. Corn is 
 yet fed by far too extensively and exclasively. It 
 is not a fit grain to be used in this manner. Wheat 
 is cheap, and considering its value as a flesh and 
 egg producer, much cheaper than corn. It can and 
 should be made use of for poultry feed much more 
 extensively than it now is. 
 
 Then there is this matter of keeping useless males. 
 They are allowed to comsume a large share of the 
 food that might be made to produce eggs, and meat 
 worth five or ten cents a pound more than that of 
 old roosters. I keep one male bird for 30 to 50 hens, 
 and the chicks I raise are strong and healthy, ap- 
 parently every egg being fertile. What is the use 
 of feeding three or four old roosters when one will 
 do as well or better? They do more harm than good. 
 Where hens are kept to lay eggs for table use, not 
 for hatching, we can go much further, even, and 
 dispense with males entirely. 
 
II. 
 
 CAPON PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 WHAT IS A CAPON, AND WHAT IS HE 
 GOOD FOR? 
 
 T HAYE to say something more about keeping 
 males. About one-half the number ol' chicks 
 in any flock are males. If they are early, so to be 
 fit for "roasters" in June or July, you should 
 always dispose of them at that time at the high 
 prices then obtainable. You will make more money 
 selling your two-and-a-half or three 
 *"* Warned. '^''* pound cockerels at 25 or 30 cents a 
 pound than by selling five or six 
 pound roosters at ten cents a pound in late fall or 
 winter. Don't keep "spring chickens" until they 
 are old roosters. The question often is what to do 
 with the later young cockerels. When they are of 
 "spring chicken" size, autumn is fast approach- 
 ing; the demand for "spring chickens" is past 
 and the call is for old hens. To keep the young 
 cockerels over means to raise a lot of old cocks of 
 little value. I cannot afford to raise that kind of 
 stock. They are a nuisance on the place, always 
 mischievous, harassing laying hens and reducing 
 
10 CAPONS roE PKOFIT. 
 
 the profits, and at best they will bring only eight or 
 ten cents a pound, that has cost you more than that 
 amount to produce. My way now is to turn them 
 into capons, and thus double the value of their flesh. 
 
 There are a great many persons in America who 
 have never heard of capons, and have not the least 
 idea what they are. 
 
 "What a magnificent lot of fowls! " 
 
 " Say, Mister, what breed are your fowls?" 
 
 ' ' Will you sell me a trio of your fowls, or a set- 
 ting of eggs in the spring?" 
 
 Thes^ are questions that I and some of my friends 
 who keep a goodly number of capons, have been 
 asked time and time again; and we had to explain 
 the matter as best as we could. If we simply said 
 "They are capons," people would answer, "Why, 
 yes; they are Just the breed we want." I think my- 
 self that they will want them after they once find 
 out how tender and sweet and juicy their flesh is. 
 
 But what are capons, anyhow? Farmers make 
 oxen of their surplus male calves, and wethers of 
 their surplus male lambs, and ordinary horses of 
 their male colts. In short, they castrate or emasculate 
 all male animals not wanted for breeding purposes. 
 Occasionally male cats and dogs are treated in the 
 same way; and the process of castration gives us 
 better cats and dogs than they are in their unaltered 
 state. We used to castrate male rabbits when we 
 were breeding them for table use, and it improved 
 them greatly in size and quality of flesh, and as in 
 other animals, made them more peaceable and quiet. 
 
 But while thus improving by castration the sur- 
 plus males of all farm stock, farmers have neglected 
 
WHY WE CAPONIZE. 11 
 
 the male chickens, probably considering them be- 
 neath their notice in this respect. 
 
 This is a big mistake. 
 
 It is easier to castrate a young cockerel than a pig 
 
 or a lamb. It is profitable in more ways than one. 
 
 Once operated on, capons become the 
 
 we^pMize ™os* tractable and peaceable animals 
 imaginable. They do not run, nor chase, 
 nor tight. All they seem to live for is to eat and 
 grow and become fat. I will not say that capons 
 while young grow faster, or lay on more flesh from 
 a given amount of food than unaltered males of the 
 .same age do. As long as the cockerel is young 
 enough so that no energy goes into the reproductive 
 organs, I think their development is about at an 
 even rate. But there is a change after a time. The 
 development of the organs of reproduction in the 
 male, and his growing activity and restlessness con- 
 sume energy, which is saved in the capon for flesh 
 production. 
 
 Water only comes to a certain degree of heat. 
 All the excess above this is utilized for the forma- 
 tion of steam. It is the same thing with the rooster. 
 He grows to a certain size or weight, and all the 
 surplus energy above this is used for the purpose 
 of reproduction. In other words, the capon will 
 continue to grow and lay on flesh much longer than 
 the unaltered male. It takes a year or more for 
 the capon to come near his full size and weight, but 
 at that age he is much larger than the rooster of the 
 same age, and several times as valuable. A pound 
 of old rooster is worth from 6 to 10 cents; a pound 
 of capon from 18 to 28 cents. 
 
32 CAPONS rOK PROFIT. 
 
 Capons stand crowding. While there is a limit 
 to the number of laying hens that one can keep 
 with profit, there is practically no limit to the num- 
 ber of capons. You can keep as many as you have 
 room for. They will do just as well when in a 
 flock of a hundred, than when there are only a dozen. 
 They are hardy, and remarkably exempt from dis- 
 ease. Their appearance and bearing is peculiar, but 
 they are handsome and interesting nevertheless. 
 
 I have always felt a great interest in the subject 
 of capon making. But I can tell you that I have 
 never taken more comfort among my poultry, or felt 
 prouder of them, than I am doing this year among 
 my first good-sized flock of capons 
 
III. 
 
 SOMETHING ABOUT THE CAPON 
 MAKER. 
 
 PEOPLE WHO CAN CAPONIZE AND PEOPLE 
 WHO SHOULD KEEP THEIR HANDS OFF. 
 
 "T^HERE are people whom I would not advise to 
 undertake the operation of caponizing. The 
 person to do it should have, above all things, faith 
 in his undertaking and in himself. He must be 
 convinced that his work is right, and then go ahead. 
 This is no place to make a trial for fun, or in a half- 
 hearted way. It is a little of the genuine enthusiasm 
 that is needed, and that is bound to overcome diffi- 
 culties should any be encountered. Then there 
 should be an average amount of mechanical skill 
 and the same amount of nerve. Clumsy fingers have 
 no business in operating on a live fowl. If you are 
 a little nervous at first, it will do no hurt. Your 
 nervousness will wear ofE after you oper- 
 Faith and g^^j-g ^^ ^^,q qj. three fowls, and see how 
 easy the job is, and how little pain it ap- 
 parently causes to the bird. You must have full 
 
14 CAPONS FOE PROFIT. 
 
 confidence in your ability to do it just right, and 
 then go ahead without fear and trembling. And 
 when you are at it once it is far better to operate on 
 all the fowls ready for the operation in one day than 
 fuss along with two or three every few days. The 
 beginner is apt to be a little nervous when he goes 
 for the first bird; but after he gets his hand in once, 
 everything moves off smoothly and nicely. His 
 hand becomes steady, and the work passes off rap- 
 idly. Of course, it is an advantage if you can see 
 some one perform the operation, even on a single 
 bird. No more is needed to teach you the whole 
 operation. But the average person does not often 
 have a chance to see it done. 
 
 We ourselves had to learn it from books and 
 printed instructions— not very plain ones either — 
 and succeeded beyond expectations. After a few 
 days' practical experience I thought nothing of 
 caponizing 20 birds before dinner. The operation, 
 indeed, after you have once undertaken it and suc- 
 ceeded, is an easy enough thing, and causes but 
 little pain and inconvenience to the bird, if you do 
 it right and with proper tools. A good set of tools, 
 of course, is utterly indispensable, and the person 
 unwilling to expend $2 or $3 for them is not in- 
 cluded in the list of persons who can safely under- 
 take the operation. 
 
 Then there are some timid souls who tremblingly 
 
 ask, ' ' Does it hurt? ' ' The farmer when castrating 
 
 lambs, or pigs, or calves, etc. , does not 
 
 "*o^eUy!"" ^^^' " ^^ ^* cruel?" The butcher, when 
 
 he kills a sheep, or hog, or calf, does 
 
 not stop inquiringly, " Does it hurt? " Both know 
 
PLEA rOE HUMANITY. 15 
 
 well enough that they do inflict some pain to their 
 victims. But they yield to the demands of neces- 
 sity. We can not always avoid suffering pain, or 
 giving pain. 
 
 What is cruelty? The needless infliction of pain. 
 This is cruelty and decidedly a wrong. Yet many 
 persons, too tender-hearted to stick a pig, or to 
 castrate a hog, or to have a boil on their own back 
 lanced, will, when provoked, use the whip freely on 
 their children, or kick and strike their horses and 
 cows most unmercifully on slightest provocation. 
 
 All this is a needless infliction of pain, and there- 
 fore cruelty and inhumanity. We can and should 
 be merciful and decent, all the more 
 
 f r HimtT t ^1^611 ^6 ^^^ compelled to make other 
 creatures suffer. It is not necessary 
 to insert a hog-hook into a hog's mouth and pull 
 the animal into the scalding vat before it is dead. 
 It is not necessary to begin skinning a calf or lamb 
 when yet alive. I think these things are horrible, 
 and people of any heart and feeling would not 
 stoop to do things so mean. 
 
 Nor do I think that it is merely a necessary and 
 legitimate infliction of pain, or even reconcilable 
 with mercy and decency, and the ordinary instincts 
 of humanity to kill and dress fowls in the horrible 
 manner practiced by many, and as I have seen it 
 advised even by a renowned poultry editor. To strip a 
 fowl of feathers while suffering from a death wound 
 in the throat, and to have it dressed clean before it 
 is dead, seems to me a crime for which the perpe- 
 trator himself ought to suffer. The French killing 
 knife is made for the purpose of being inserted into 
 
16 CAPONS FOR PROFIT. 
 
 the bird's brain, causing instant paralysis and in- 
 sensibility before the stripping process begins. 
 
 In short, the person whom I would like to induce 
 to turn mischievous, worthless cockerels into peacea- 
 ble and valuable capons, is the one who is impressed 
 with the necessity and advantages of the operation; 
 who has faith in his abilities, an ordinary amount 
 of mechanical dexterity and nerve, a little energy 
 and perseverance, and is in possession of the tools 
 needed for the operation. This man is neither a 
 sensitive weakling nor a cruel brute. 
 
 People too morbidly sensitive to use the knife on 
 a live bird; people with clumsy fingers; people with- 
 out proper tools, or people who are brutes, are the 
 people whom I would wish to keep their hands off 
 this business. 
 
 -'VH^???^^^??^©-^ 
 
IV. 
 THE VICTIMS AND THE TABLES. 
 
 BEST BIRDS AND BEST BREEDS FOR BE- 
 GINNERS— SIMPLE OPERATING TABLES. 
 
 'T'HERE is a great difference in breeds and birds. 
 I was especially fortunate in the materials I 
 had at hand. In the first place, I have for many 
 years taken an especial fancy to the Langshan breed, 
 and the cockerels with which I had to make my 
 first trials were either the pure black Langshan 
 or crosses of Langshan cock and Plymouth Rock 
 hen. Of all breeds I have tried I find the Langshan 
 the easiest subject to operate on, because the bird 
 makes bone first and flesh afterward, in other 
 words, is usually lean when young, showing the 
 ribs quite prominently. It offers little difficulty to 
 
 the prompt removal of the testicles, and 
 t'tt^ead s-PPS^rently is suffering the least while 
 
 under the operation. Besides this, the 
 Langshan has the advantage of large size and great 
 hardiness. It is also less liable to make what is 
 known as " slips " than most other breeds. 
 
 My next choice would be the Langshan and Ply- 
 mouth Rock cross. The cockerels, in plumage and 
 
18 CAPONS FOR PROFIT. 
 
 outward appearance, resemble Plymouth Rocks 
 quite closely, yet offer about as little difficulty to 
 the novice as the pure Langshan. They make large, 
 noble-looking capons. Most of the ordinary mixed 
 fowls of our barn-yards are easily operated on. 
 Cochins I have never tried. Of course, they are 
 large and will make good capons. 
 
 Brahmas will grow to largest size, and may prove 
 the most profitable of all breeds for this purpose, 
 yet the beginner will be apt to have trouble with 
 them. The ribs do not show prominently on the 
 outside. Although this makes little difference to a 
 person after he has operated on a number of fowls 
 it may puzzle the beginner. The most serious stumb- 
 ling block, however, is the shape of the testicle, 
 which in young Brahma cockerels is about a half 
 inch long, extending close and worm-like along the 
 big artery. To slip a horse-hair loop around the 
 Brahma testicle, so that it will catch on and cut its 
 way between the testicle and the artery, is no small 
 job for the beginner. I would have not succeeded 
 quite so well with Brahmas except for the use of 
 steel wire in place of horse-hair. My emphatic ad- 
 vice, therefore, is to make the first trial with easy 
 caponizers, especially the Langshan or Langshan 
 cross, or with ordinary smaller breeds, never with 
 Brahmas. 
 
 We are now trying the Indian games. These ex- 
 cel in quality, and will probably make the choicest 
 capons for home use. The markets, however, do 
 not yet discriminate between capons of diGFerent 
 breeds except so far as size is concerned. For profit 
 we want the fowls that will give us the greatest 
 
OPERATINO TABLES. 19 
 
 weight — Langshan, Cochiii, Brahma, Plymouth 
 Rock. 
 
 I also find that it is less trouble to operate on 
 comparatively young subjects than on older and 
 larger ones. When I want an easy job I take a two 
 pound Langshan, Langshan cross or Plymouth Rock. 
 My Langshan-Plymouth Rock crosses seldom 
 flinched even when the incisions were made or the 
 testicles tnisted off, while Brahmas, which are 
 usually taken at more advanced age and size (four 
 pounds or more) offer more or less resistance, and 
 must be held more firmly. 
 
 It is also a good plan to use a dead subject for the- 
 first lesson. Shut the victim up without food or 
 drink for 36 hours. This is important, as you want 
 the intestines empty. Then chop his head of, put 
 him on the operating table in good light, and other- 
 wise in the same way as will be described for the 
 operation on a live subject, and go ahead making 
 your observations in cockerel anatomy. 
 
 An empty barrel, bottom side up, may be made to 
 
 answer for a table, the fowl being held by means of 
 
 one stout twine tied around the wings next the body 
 
 and another tied around the legs, the 
 
 (Renting f ygg ends of both hanging down on the 
 side of the barrel and weighted with a 
 brick or piece of iron. I would put padding of some 
 kind, a piece of old carpet or a rag, upon the barrel 
 head under the chick, thus giving him as confiforta- 
 ble a rest as possible under the circumstances. This 
 kind of operating-table, however, is a poor make- 
 shift at best. 
 
 When you have a large number of cockerels ta 
 
20 
 
 CAPONS FOi: PROFIT. 
 
 operate on, or set out to caponize your surplus 
 roosters for profit, year after year, as you should, 
 you will want a more convenient table. Dow, and 
 others, advise you to have a table made for this 
 special purpose in as simple a style as you please, 
 with cleats around the top at the right to prevent 
 the tools from falling off, a two inch hole in the 
 center at the left, with a weighted lever underneath 
 and a mortise six to eight inches long from right to 
 left, also in about the center of the table, with a 
 sliding lever, weighted underneath. A twine loop 
 is fastened on each one of the levers, passed up 
 through auger-hole or mortise, and slipped one over 
 the wings, the other over the feet, thus securely 
 holding the subject for the operation. 
 You can also make a table such as is shown in 
 Fig. 1. It consists of a round 
 board larger than a barrel-head, 
 resting on an empty, headless 
 barrel. Weighted straps or 
 bands are drawn through two 
 holes bored at proper dis- 
 tances, and hold the chicks' 
 wings and legs, as may be seen 
 in the picture. This table has 
 the advantage that you can 
 turn it toward the light to suit, 
 FiQ. 1. Barrel as ophrat- without moving the barrel. But 
 iHo TABLE. i^ affords no good chance to 
 
 place the tools and is not excessively handy. 
 
 The table I use is illustrated in Fig. 2. It is a 
 light, cheap kitchen table, such as we happened to 
 have to spare, three and a half feet long and twenty- 
 
OPERATING TABLES. 
 
 21 
 
 two inches wide, more than large enough to accom- 
 modate the cockerel and leave plenty of room for 
 tlie tools, and yet light enough to be easily shifted 
 about for the sake of getting the light just right 
 upon the work. I fastened some narrow cleats with 
 screws all along the margin of the right-handed half 
 
 Fig. 2. Gbeinbb's QpEBAXiNa Tabi.b. 
 
 of the table, thus rendering this part a safe place 
 for the tools and accessories. At the middle of the 
 opposite (shorts side, screwed into the edge, is a 
 screw-eye or hook, which holds the loop of twine 
 after the latter is slipped around the wings of the 
 victim next to its body. Its legs are held by a strip 
 of board, which is padded with flannel on the under 
 side, and weighted on top with a piece of iron or a 
 brick securely fastened with wire or twine. One 
 end of this lever is cut in convenient shape for a 
 handle, while the other has a cleat which simply 
 hooks over a longer cleat screwed fast upon the 
 table. This arrangement allows the lever to be 
 moved sideways, according to the size of the fowl, or 
 entirely taken off when the table is not in use. The 
 cleats may also be removed by taking out the screws, 
 and the table be pat back where it belongs, in 
 kitchen, buttery or cellar. 
 
22 CAPONS FOR PROFIT. 
 
 I always place a piece of old carpet, an old fertil- 
 izer sack or something similar under the fowl, 
 doubled or rolled up to extra thicknesses under the 
 legs, thereby securing a close tit and a firm hold 
 without unnecessary pressure upon the fowl's legs 
 between hard objects. 
 
 The only thing that does not yet suit me exactly 
 about this table is the lever. Instead of making it 
 heavy by iron weights,! shall hereafter make it light 
 and springy, fasten the rear end to a wire on which it 
 can slide to the right or left, according to size of 
 bird, and hold it down in front by slipping a wire 
 catch over the end. This vrill hold the bird more 
 securely in its place, while the bending lever and 
 springy wires will prevent undue pressure upon the 
 bird's legs. 
 
 -"'v"-@5?5^^re^©h'V--,^ 
 
V. 
 TOOLS AND OTHER REQUISITES. 
 
 TOOLS BEST SUITED FOR THE BEGINNER. 
 
 . A S I have already said, let nobody imagine that 
 ■^ the operation can be successfully performed 
 without the proper tools. They need not necessa- 
 rily be expensive. Indeed, such tools as I have 
 found most serviceable can be bought for about 
 $2.50 a set. I have (tried the sets of several differ- 
 ent makers, and most of them serve their purpose 
 quite well, although none are perfect. At present I 
 prefer a combination of several. A per- 
 The ance. j^^^ ^^^ should Consist, first, of a knife 
 or lance. In an emergency, an ordinary pocket knife, 
 sharpened to a razor edge, might answer, but it 
 has not the best shape for the work, and is a make- 
 shift at best. A lance as shown in Fig. 3, and made 
 of a piece of steel one-sixteenth of an inch thick. 
 
 Fig. 3. The Knife ob Lanoe. 
 
 seven sixteenths of an inch wide and about six 
 inches long, rounded off to a point on one side and 
 end, is just the thing. Have an oil-stone handy and 
 
24 CAPONS FOR PROFIT. 
 
 keep the lance well sharpened. The knife as made 
 by some manufacturers has a straight edge. I pre- 
 fer to have it well rounded, as then you can make 
 the incision with one dip, and yet without having to 
 go very deep with the point as you have to do with 
 the straight-edged knife. 
 
 Next you need a spreader. A whale-bone spreader 
 
 was formerly much used. We now have wire spring 
 
 spreaders that are much simpler, and 
 
 The Spreader, , • a. j. t 
 
 much more convenient to use. In 
 fact, I think the simpler the spreader is, the better. 
 The one shown in Fig. 4 gives good satisfaction. 
 
 Fig. 4. Spbino Spbbadbb. 
 
 Still simpler and cheaper is the wire spreader shown 
 in Fig. 5. There are various other styles of spreaders 
 
 \J= 
 
 Tig, 5. Wire Spbeadeb. 
 
 that can be safely used, but those here illustrated 
 
 are as serviceable as any, and have the advantage 
 
 of simplicity. 
 
 Next comes a pair of nippers, or forceps, some- 
 
 thing like Fig. 6. It is used to hold a 
 
 The Hippera. ^■,.^ ■ , .^i ,. , 
 
 little piece of sponge with which to mop 
 up blood inside the capon, or to pick up any stray 
 
CAPONIZING IMPLEMENTS. 25 
 
 object that may have fallen on or among the intes- 
 
 FiQ. 6. Pajb op N1PPEK8. 
 
 tines. Almost any ordinary small nippers will 
 answer the purpose. 
 The set should also contain a small, sharp steel 
 
 Fio. 7. Steel Hook. 
 
 hook (Fig. 7) and a probe (Fig. 8). The former is 
 
 used to tear open the thin, film-like 
 
 ^ft\ membrane which envelops the intestines; 
 
 the latter to push the intestines back 
 
 when crowding over the testicle, or in the search for 
 
 any object fallen among the intestines. 
 
 The most important of all caponizing implements, 
 however, is the canula, with which to catch and re- 
 move the testicles. Spoon nippers or forceps are 
 
 o 
 
 Fia. 8. Probe. 
 
 often used in place of a canula, but they are not 
 safe in the hands of a beginner, and I would not use 
 them under any circumstances. To operate on 
 small (two-pound) cockerels of breeds that have not 
 the worm-like testicles of the Brahma, I prefer the 
 canula with horse-hair (Fig. 9) as I find it in the set 
 obtained from George Q. Dow, North Ep- 
 CansiM. pjjjg^ jf g Tl^ig ig a brass tube about 
 
 four inches long, a quarter of an inch wide at the 
 
26 CAPONS FOR PROFIT. 
 
 wide end, and tapering to less than one eighth of 
 an inch. It is closed at the small end, with the ex- 
 ception of two holes large enongh to admit a horse- 
 
 FiQ. 9. Dow's Horse Haib Canula. 
 
 hair or a small steel wire. Horse hair works well in 
 ordinary cases, and when one breaks another is 
 soon inserted, so that it forms a loop of proper size 
 at the small end of the canula. Occasionally the 
 testicle is of such a shape or in snch a position that 
 all the beginner's efforts to slip the hair over the 
 testicle and between it and the artery remain futile. 
 In that case I would try wire in place of the horse- 
 hair. Wire, being stiff and unyielding, is easily 
 pushed over and around the organ, and the latter 
 taken away, especially if you use the wire canula 
 illustrated in Fig. 10. This I got in the set from 
 
 Fia. 10. Pii/iiiNO's Wire CANciiA. 
 
 Geo. P Pilling & Son, Philadelphia, Pa. I think 
 it is well enough to have a canula of this kind on 
 hand, especially if you operate on Brahmas, etc. 
 Still, the other canula will do in an emergency. 
 
 Of other requisites you will need a sponge or piece 
 of sponge, and a few cents' worth of carbolic acid. 
 Also keep a few hairs out of a horse tail on hand. 
 That is about all. 
 
 Once more let me say, don't try to get along with 
 clumsy imitations and substitutes. For good work, 
 and satisfactory work, you need good tools. If yon 
 
THE TOOLS NEEDED. 27 
 
 wish to caponize at all — may the number of cockerels 
 to be operated on be half a dozen or a thousand — the 
 first thing to do is to get a complete set of tools. 
 They are cheap enough, and they will last you a life 
 time. 
 
 If you once learn the operation, easy as it is, you 
 will have calls from neighbors and others, and possi- 
 bly you may find a little work at better wages than is 
 paid for ordinary farm work. If you once learn the 
 operation, I am sure you will not allow a worthless 
 lot of roosters to infest your premises, bother your 
 laying hens, and eat three times more than they will 
 be worth in the end. 
 
 If you do not feel able to invest the small amount 
 for tools, don't undertake the job of caponizing. 
 For the sake of humanity and decency, don' t murder 
 poor brutes with clumsy tools. Be merciful. When 
 properly performed, and with the tools here de- 
 scribed and illustrated, the operation involves no 
 element of cruelty. The birds seem to suffer slightly 
 when the incision is made, but for a moment only, 
 and again when the testicle is twisted off, but at no 
 other time, and they are ready to take their meal as 
 soon as the job is done. 
 
 I do not know that any set now offered for sale 
 contains the exact combination of tools here de- 
 scribed. Possibly manufacturers will make changes 
 in their sets according to my suggestions, and put 
 this, my favorite set, on sale before another season 
 comes around. In the mean time I am now having 
 some of " my sets " made, and shall be pleased to 
 furnish them to my friends at a reasonable price. 
 
VI. 
 THE OPERATION. 
 
 WHEN AND HOW BEST TO PERFORM IT. 
 
 "T^HE three montlis for capon making are July, 
 
 Augnsit and September, but the operation may 
 
 be performed at any time when you have the right 
 
 material for it. 
 
 The iirst, and an absolutely necessary thing to 
 
 do, is to catch the cockerels to be operated on, and 
 
 shut them up in a convenient coop, so that they can 
 
 easily be gotten hold of when wanted. Do this in 
 
 the evening, and then leave them for 
 
 Essential about 36 hours without food or water. 
 Freparation. 
 
 The intestines should be fairly empty 
 in order to enable the operator to use the knife 
 without fear of cutting into them, and to give a 
 good chance for work and for seeing what one is 
 about. The long fast will not hurt the chicks, but 
 only make them terribly anxious for the next meal. 
 On the morning of the second day, when the sun 
 
ESSENTIAL PEEPARATIONS. 29 
 
 is two or three hours high, and the sky nearly or 
 entirely cloudless, the operation may begin. The 
 expert can manage to get along without much direct 
 sunlight, but the light cannot be too good for the 
 beginner. A clear day is absolutely necessary for a 
 first trial, and if the day should be dark, the cock- 
 erels may be given a very small quantity of soft 
 food, to carry them over to the next (supposedly 
 clear) day. Artificial light, with reflectors, etc., as 
 used by some experimenters, is not available for the 
 ordinary farmer and beginner in caponizing, and 
 not needed on an average fair day. 
 
 Set the caponizing table in a convenient spot and 
 in direct sunlight, or on a clear, hot day of midsum- 
 mer perhaps, under the rather open branches of some 
 solitary tree, the foliage of which permits the pas- 
 sage of occasional rays of sun, giving a slightly sub- 
 dued or modified but direct sunlight. 
 
 In all these things, of course, the judgment of the 
 operator should be consulted. 
 
 Spread the tools out on the cleat-enclosed part of 
 the table On another table, stand, barrel or box, 
 close by, have a dish with warm water seasoned 
 vsdth a few drops of carbolic acid, also a larger piece 
 and half a dozen small pieces of sponge. The latter 
 may be of about the size of robins' eggs or hickory 
 nuts. 
 
 Now pick out the first victim. Let it be a rather 
 
 lean bird, weighing not more than two pounds, nor 
 
 much less. Twist or wind the twine 
 
 '"""bm *^* ^ooT^ around the wings close to the body, 
 
 and standing in front of the table, with 
 
 the cleat-inclosed end to the right, fasten your vie- 
 
30 
 
 CAPONS FOR PHOFIT. 
 
 tim on his left side upon tlie table, as shown in Fig. 
 11. Next to the hip, and where, in a lean bird, the 
 
 Pio. 11. Bird Ready tor Opebation. 
 
 ribs show quite plainly, you find a spot which, be- 
 cause usually covered by the wings, is almost bare. 
 There may be a dozen or two of pin feathers. These 
 should be pulled out. Take hold of them between 
 thumb and index finger, not one by one, but as 
 many as you can take, and deftly pull them out. 
 Don't be nervous. Go at it as if you meant business. 
 If you are quick and determined about it, the re- 
 moval of these small feathers does not cause much 
 inconvenience to the bird, for the latter never makes 
 any fuss over it. The spot thus cleared need not be 
 more than one and one half inches in diameter. 
 
 At this stage of the proceedings I take the sponge 
 out of the water, squeeze most of the water out of 
 it, and then wipe it over the chicken's side. This is 
 not absolutely necessary, but it moistens the feathers 
 around the bare spot, and keeps them better out of 
 the way. 
 
 Now comes the incision. The right place to cut 
 is between the last two ribs; that is, the two ribs 
 next to the hip. In a lean chicken they are easily 
 recognized, and often they are very prominent. 
 They extend from the back-bone for an inch and a 
 
THE OPEUATION. 
 
 31 
 
 Fig. 12. Location of Bibs. 
 
 half or two inches in a slight curve, then take a 
 sudden turn upward toward the breast. Usually 
 the "joints" in the two ribs appear plainly and 
 prominently. Just look for the two slightly raised, 
 whitish, almost knob-like spots. Often the two 
 ribs lie quite closely 
 together, and perhaps 
 the end of the muscle 
 — a fiat layer of flesh 
 — extends over them. 
 An examination of 
 Fig. 12 will give you 
 a pretty clear idea 
 where to look for the 
 spot. Here the loca- 
 tion of ribs is plainly shown. The dotted line be- 
 tween the last two ribs is the right place for making 
 
 the incision. 
 Now proceed by taking 
 
 the knife in the right 
 
 hand as shown in Fig. 13. 
 
 Then with the left hand, 
 Fig. 13. HOLDING THE KNIFE. reacMng over the right, 
 
 push the skin and muscle from the bared spot toward 
 the hip and hold it there. Observe the two whitish 
 little spots which form the joints of the last two 
 ribs, and set the point of the knife right 
 between them, making an incision by a 
 quick dip, at the same time slightly 
 drawing the knife between the two ribs toward the 
 back bone. The length of the incision should be 
 about one inch. With the intestines nearly empty 
 there is no danger of injury to them, even if the 
 
 HaUng the 
 Inciiion. 
 
32 CAPojsrs roR profit. 
 
 point of the knife should dip half an inch deep 
 through the ribs. Minor blood-vessels usually ex- 
 tend in the skin across where the incision is to be 
 made. If they are cut, a few drops of blood will be 
 spilled: that is all. But in pushing skin and muscle 
 toward the hip, and drawing it tightly, you may at 
 the same time aim to get the blood-vessels somewhat 
 out of the way of the knife. If this is done, the 
 knife often does not draw a drop of blood. If the 
 wound bleeds badly, the moistened sponge may be 
 pressed upon it for an instant to absorb the blood. 
 Making the incision, of course, will cause a momen- 
 tary pain to the bird, but it is no more than any 
 living thing has to endure a good many times in 
 life, and will do so without complaining. 
 
 After the incision is made, lay down the knife 
 
 and take up the spreader, all the while holding the 
 
 skin back toward the hip with the left hand. Press 
 
 the spring of the spreader together 
 
 the spreader ^^^^^ ^^^ two free ends meet, and then 
 insert them in the opening and let go. 
 Also release the skin yet held with the left hand. 
 The spreader will push the ribs apart, leaving an 
 opening to the fowl's inside from one-half to three- 
 quarters of an inch wide. If the cut was not large 
 enough, you can remedy it by a slight touch of the 
 knife to one or both ends of the incision. 
 
 From now on in the proceedings you will need 
 good light. Shift the table about, or tarn it as re- 
 quired, so that the best light will reach into the 
 opening and upon your work. Looking down 
 through the incision, you will notice a thin, translu- 
 cent film or membrane, which covers the entire in- 
 
OPENING THE FOWL. 33 
 
 ternal organs. The little blood which may have 
 dropped in from the outside wound and clotted on 
 this membrane, is most easily removed by picking 
 up, with the tweezers or forceps, a little piece of 
 moistened sponge, introducing it into the opening, 
 and pulling it out again with all the blood adhering 
 
 to it. The membrane now appears clean 
 intheLi^iit ^°^ translucent. Then take up the 
 
 steel-hook and carefully pick this mem- 
 brane to pieces, always holding the sharp point of 
 the hook upward, or in the direction of the back- 
 bone, in order to avoid touching the organs that 
 may be crowding against it from below. The tear 
 through the membrane must be large enough to ex- 
 pose, under good light, the internal organs to view. 
 When bowels are nearly empty, yon will plainly 
 see, well toward the back-bone, the upper testicle, a 
 yellowish body of about pea size (of course, larger 
 in older cockerels), perhaps somewhat elongated, or 
 in the Brahma, etc., quite long, almost worm-like. 
 Sometimes both testicles come in plain view, es- 
 pecially if you push the intestines aside with the 
 probe or with a similar tool. Sometimes, again, it 
 happens that the intestines crowd upon the upper 
 testicle and hide it from view. Then introduce the 
 probe and push them aside, and the testicle will 
 come in full view. Its light color (although often it 
 is partially dark-colored, almost black) makes it 
 plainly visible. 
 
 You are now coming to the object of all this pro- 
 ceeding; namely, the removal of the testicle. Take 
 up the canula. The single horse hair should pre- 
 viously have been adjusted to form a loop of about 
 
34 CAPONS FOR PROFIT. 
 
 or nearly three- eighths of an inch in diameter. Slip 
 this loop over the testicle, and between it and the 
 
 big artery which maybe seen along-side 
 "'Tesucfe^^' of testicle. If at first you don't succeed, 
 
 try again. It may require several 
 trials, but don't lose patience. It will go all right at 
 last. In especially bad cases you may take wire in 
 place of the horse-hair; but the latter is usually to be 
 preferred, and if the testicle is in normal condition, a 
 little perseverance will surely lead to success. When 
 you see that the loop has properly caught on, draw 
 up on the loose ends of the horse hair, at the upper 
 end of canula, so that the loop is all pulled in, 
 and the testicle tightly drawn up to the end of 
 canula. Hold the canula with the left hand, twist- 
 ing it back and forth about half way around, at the 
 same time pulling continuously and strongly on the 
 ends of the horse-hair with the right hand, thus 
 cutting and twisting the testicle off its fastenings. 
 When yoa feel it give way, pull it up with the can- 
 ula and horse-hair, and if some of the strings still 
 adhere to it when you get it up through the open- 
 ing, cut them oflf with the knife so that a little bit, 
 say ^V of an inch, remains on the testicle. This is 
 important. If you cut too close to the testicle, 
 nature may try to thwart your purpose by letting a 
 new growth of testicle take place, thus causing what 
 is know as a '' slip." 
 
 The thing to be avoided is injury to the big artery. 
 If the blood-vessel should form a kink, and the kink 
 be drawn into the horse-hair loop, the artery will be 
 torn, and the fowl will bleed to death in a few min- 
 utes. With reasonable care, however, this does not 
 often happen. 
 
SECOND OPERATION. 35 
 
 Now one side is done. All that remains to be 
 done is to see that no feathers or other foreign sub- 
 stance are left inside the opening; then take out the 
 spreader, let the skin and muscle slip back over the 
 incision through the ribs, unfasten the chick, and — 
 turn him around on the other side for another oper- 
 ation. 
 
 I have described the job in all its minutest de- 
 tails. To perform the operation does not require 
 one-tenth the time that it takes to tell it. In the 
 first attempt you may possibly spend a quarter of 
 an hour or more. What does it matter? Take your 
 time. The fowl, while not especially comfortable, 
 is not actually suffering. He feels slight actual 
 pain only during the moment when the incision is 
 made, and perhaps during the removal of the testi- 
 cle. After you have operated on two or three birds 
 the task becomes an easy one, and the operation, 
 will not take many minutes. The difficulty is only 
 in the first attempt. Expert operators usually re- 
 move both testicles from the one opening, the lower 
 one first and afterwards the upper one. This is all 
 right, but it is not safe for the novice to attempt it. 
 I find it much easier, more convenient, much safer, 
 and just as expeditious to open the fowl on both 
 sides. 
 
 The turning of the bird is quickly done. Lift up 
 the lever, taking hold of the chick's legs, turn him 
 over on his right side, as shown in fig. 14, and re- 
 adjust the lever to hold his feet. Again shift the 
 table ^so the light will fall fully upon the front of 
 the fowl, and into the opening to be made on the 
 left side. The operator this time stands on the other 
 
36 
 
 CAPONS FOR PROFIT. 
 
 side of the table, next to the chick's back, as before. 
 Then a few feathers are plucked out, the moist 
 sponge wiped over the bared spot and the surround- 
 
 FiG. U. Bird Heady foe Second Operation. 
 
 BemoTlng: 
 Second Testicle. 
 
 ing plumage, the incision made and the whole oper- 
 ation gone through with in exactly the same manner 
 as was done on the other side. The fowl is placed 
 in a rather more convenient place to be operated 
 than when lying on its left side. A good deal of 
 bleeding is sometimes going on after 
 the testicle is removed. While a 
 little blood if left inside among the 
 bowels, would probably do no harm, there may be 
 more than the system can absorb in a natural way, 
 and the clotted gore might harden and cause inflam- 
 mation, blood-poisoning and death. At any rate it 
 is advisable to remove this blood by the means 
 already mentioned; namely, mopping up with little 
 bits of moistened sponge. Sometimes you will have 
 to introduce one bit after another, half a dozen or 
 even a dozen times, letting the sponge soak up, then 
 withdrawing it with the tweezers, and squeezing it 
 out in warm water. At other times there may not 
 be a drop of blood spilled. If that is the case, or 
 
MARKING THE OAPON. 37 
 
 otherwise when the flow of blood ceases, see that 
 no feather, bit of sponge or other foreign article is 
 left inside; then withdraw the spreader and unloosen 
 the bird. Next mark it in some way to show that 
 
 it has undergone the operation. One 
 ""apon.*''* °^ *^® easiest and quickest ways to do 
 
 that is to clip off the end of one toe. 
 All my capons have a stub inside toe on the left 
 foot. The style of marking is a matter of individual 
 choice. You can use one of the 25-cent chicken 
 markers with which to punch a hole or two through 
 the web between two toes; or you might use wire 
 rings, or any other of the various devices. A stub 
 toe, however, suits my perpose as well as anything. 
 Put the fowls foot upon the table, hold a keen knife 
 blade across end of toe to be amputated, with knife 
 point down upon the table, and then with a quick 
 move press down the handle of the knife, like a 
 lever, and thus clip off the toe end. It seems to 
 make no particular difference to the fowl, either at 
 the time that it is done or afterwards. 
 
 Of course, you will occasionally lose a bird. When 
 in removing the testicle you rupture a big blood 
 vessel, the bird will die under your hands, usually 
 in less than ten minutes. In that case, chop his 
 head off, if you so prefer, and have a fine spring- 
 chicken dinner. Accidents of this kind, however, 
 should not occur oftener than once in fifty opera- 
 tions on ordinary fowls, even with the beginner. 
 But if they do occur there is no loss, as the bird has 
 its full value for table use. A capon that comes out 
 alive after the operation, is " out of the woods," 
 and complete recovery is swift. 
 
VII. 
 THE AFTER TREATMENT. 
 
 HOW TO HASTEN THE HEALING PROCESS. 
 
 TV/TY elaborate description of the whole oper- 
 ation of caponizing may lead many of my 
 readers to imagine that the capon is in bad 
 shape when he comes from the operating table. 
 This a mistake. The testicles are not a vital part. 
 Their removal is of little consequence so far as the 
 bird's health and vitality are concerned; the only 
 difference it makes is in regard to the sexual devel- 
 opment of the bird. The thin membrane which 
 envelops the intestines is not a vital part. The 
 holes which we have torn into it are an injury which 
 amounts to almost nothing. The only real injuries 
 inflicted, therefore, are the two incisions, and these 
 are merely flesh wounds of the simplest character, 
 and by no means severe. The skin having slipped 
 back in its natural position, covers the flesh wound 
 between the ribs; the cut in the skin, and that in 
 the flesh, on each side, cannot well be in more fav- 
 orable shape for rapid healing. There is no need of 
 sewing the edges of the wound together, or using 
 any kind of salve, or plaster, or wash. Just trust 
 in nature, the boss physician, and you will not be 
 disappointed. 
 
 At the beginning of the caponizing season, I put 
 
 up what I call my ' ' capon hospital. ' ' This is simply 
 
 a space on one side of the barn containing, 
 
 HoB^tai. ®^y' **^^^^ ^^ ^°^^ square feet of floor 
 surface to each capon, and covered with a 
 
EELIEVIKG WIND-PtJFF. 39 
 
 low roof as a protection from rain and sun, and 
 tightly enclosed with wire netting. Inside is a coop 
 in which the convalescent fowls spend the nights. 
 A box in one comer is kept well supplied with soft 
 food (bran and meal moisted with skim-milk), and 
 a dish in the other comer contains the water, which 
 should be frequently renewed. Some of our in- 
 structors tell us to feed lightly at first; others advise 
 giving all the food that the birds will eat. I usually 
 have tried to keep the box supplied with food all 
 the time, but it is a hard task, for the birds have a 
 keen appetite and eat a great deal. Just as soon as 
 a capon is put into the "hospital," and once gets 
 sight of the feed-box, he will forget all the trials 
 which he has just experienced, and at once proceed 
 to fill his crop. It is well to keep the birds confined 
 in close quarters for at least eight days after the 
 operation. Many of them "wind-puff" badly, a 
 lot of air gathering under the outside 
 
 Wind-Puff. , . j • • xv « j 
 
 skin and givmg the capon a puffed-up 
 appearance and probably causing much incon- 
 venience. I usually looked the confined birds over 
 once a day, and gave speedy relief where needed by 
 pricking the puffed-up skin with the point of a keen 
 pen-knife. Part of the birds do not need this atten- 
 tion; others wind-puff right along for a week or so, 
 and need frequent touches with the pen-knife. 
 Usually you can teU by the appearance, and always 
 by the feeling, whether there is wind-puff and cause 
 for treatment. In consequence of this confinement, 
 of the treatment and of their voracious appetite, the 
 capons become exceedingly tame and tractable. 
 On some occasions I have given the capon his full 
 
40 CAPONS FOB PKOFIT. 
 
 liberty right after the operation, letting .Mm run, 
 feed and roost with the rest of the fowls. Neither 
 this liberty, nor the dry (grain) feed, nor want of 
 prompt attention, when wind-puffed, seemed to re- 
 tard his perfect convalesence. If I noted an es- 
 pecially pufled-up appearance, I would perhaps 
 catch the bird and give him relief with the knife. 
 Still, I believe it is a good plan to keep the birds 
 confined for from eight to tein days, giving soft 
 food and proper attention otherwise. The straw, 
 leaves or soft earth on the floor of the "hospital" 
 should, for the sake of cleanliness, be often renewed. 
 When the period of convalescence (eight or ten 
 days) are past, I give these capons their liberty. 
 They will not wander off very far, but stay most of 
 the time near where they are accustomed to get their 
 regular rations. At [night I drive them into the 
 "capon house," a warm stall with low 
 
 Capon House. , -, i ■, -, -• -i ■ • 
 
 roosts, regularly cleaned and disin- 
 fected. Capons do not seem to be particular about 
 their roosting place. I try to keep my hens and 
 capons apart at night, hen house and capon house 
 being onJy separated by the width of the barn. But 
 when a capon happens to be nearer the hen roost at 
 the time he wants to retire for the night, he forgets 
 where his place is, and unhesitatingly takes lodg- 
 ings with the hens. On the other hand one can 
 safely crowd two or three times as many capons into 
 a building as hens. Crowded hens will not lay 
 well. Crowded capons eat and grow just as fast as 
 they would otherwise. 
 
VIII. 
 FEEDING FOR MARKET. 
 
 HOW TO OBTAIN BEST RESULTS AT LEAST 
 
 COST. 
 
 'T'HE cMef aim, from the time the bird is capon- 
 ized to the time of sale or slaughter, should 
 be to produce the heaviest possible weight, and for 
 this reason a liberal supply of flesh-forming food 
 should be given. During the summer and earlier 
 fall months I feed mostly bran slightly mixed with 
 corn meal and moistened with skim-milk or butter- 
 milk, and whole wheat. Com is not a proper food 
 then; but some variation is provided 
 
 Summer Teedine. ■> i. • • • i » 
 
 for by givmg an occasional mess of 
 peas, buckwheat or oats. My fowls have free range, 
 and find good pasture on the lawn and in a piece of 
 rye and rape sown for this very purpose close to 
 the barn. Grasshoppers, bugs, worms, table-scraps, 
 etc., all help to fill the fowls crops and to produce 
 capon meat. A vessel in the yard is kept supplied 
 with skim-milk almost all the time. 
 
 All quick growing animals have good appetites, 
 and young capons seem to be always hungry. Not- 
 withstanding their tendency to laziness, they are 
 good foragers. 
 
 The problem of profitable feeding during the sum- 
 
42 CAPONS FOE PROFIT. 
 
 mer and early fall, indeed during all mild and open 
 weather, is comparatively an easy one to solve. 
 Fowls on free range find so mnch to pick up in nice 
 warm weather that small additional rations of grain 
 will suffice to keep them in good growing condition. 
 The natural advantages seem to me all in favor of 
 that climate which allows fowls to be out on pasture 
 the greatest number of days during the year; and if 
 I were to make it my chief business to raise ' ' capons 
 for profit," I think I would try to locate in a country 
 with mild, dry, open winters, and on dry sandy soil. 
 With us at the north the problem of feeding capons 
 grows in degree of complication and difficulty with 
 the severity of the winter. When we aim for largest 
 size in capons, as we should, we will have to keep 
 them until they are about one year 
 ng. ^j^ Usually there is little demand 
 in our markets for capons until February or 
 March. Before that time they would not bring 
 much higher prices than ordinary fowls. After that 
 time the prices range from 18 cents per pound up- 
 wards. In short, if we wish to secure largest pos- 
 sible size of fowl, and largest possible price per 
 pound, we have to keep the capons all winter and 
 perhaps far into the spring. Now anybody who 
 has ever wintered fowls on purchased food, knows 
 that they eat a great deal, and that the bills for grain, 
 even when wheat is only 60 or 65 cents, and corn 50 
 cents a bushel, soon run up to a large amount. 
 
 The trouble is that many people think grain is the 
 only, or even chief poultry food. This is an error. 
 Exclusive grain diet is not only expensive, but also 
 unnatural and unsafe. It may do well for a week, 
 
CHEAP FEEDING. 43 
 
 when fowls are being fattened for slaughter, but if 
 long continued, it will surely clog the system, make 
 fowls over- fat, and in the end injure their general 
 health and well-being. It should be understood 
 that the tendency in capons, especially in cold and 
 stormy weather when kept in enforced idleness, is 
 to grow and lay on fat. Even without excessive 
 feeding they are bound to get fat as butter. 
 
 What is needed, in the first place, is a cheap, 
 
 bulky material that will fill the fowls'. crops, taking 
 
 the place of the grass and leaves of 
 
 "wlitod"* summer. Then we want a little mod- 
 erate amount of grain to add substance 
 and warmth in place of the weed seeds and the like 
 found scattered about in the open season, and finally, 
 something in place of bugs and worms. 
 
 The bulky material is best and most cheaply sup- 
 plied in chopped vegetables and chopped clover hay. 
 Every fall I store a lot of beets, carrots, turnips, 
 kohlrabi, etc., in the cellar, and cabbages in the 
 bam or out-doors, for the very purpose of utilizing 
 these vegetables for winter poultry feed. Cabbages 
 are for the most part simply thrown into the hen or 
 capon houses as needed. Roots of all kinds, also 
 small potatoes and apples, are chopped up in a plank 
 box with a sharp spade, then (sometimes slightly 
 salted) mixed with a little bran and fed in their raw 
 state. In cold weather a mess of beets, turnips, 
 carrots, pumpkins, squashes, small potatoes and 
 peelings of all kinds cooked in a big kettle, and 
 stirred up with bran to a thick, crumbly mass are 
 ^eatly relished by aU fowls as a warm breakfast. 
 Chopped clover hay, and the chopped leaves of 
 
44 
 
 CAPONS FOE PJBOFIT. 
 
 corn stalks, are scalded, sprinkled with bran, and 
 then fed warm. In short, with materials of this 
 kind we can keep the birds' crops well filled at a 
 very small cost. 
 
 But one can make this food even much richer at 
 little additional expense. Green bones, with more 
 or less meat on them, are a waste product of butcher 
 shops. The proprietors usually are glad if some- 
 body comes to take it away. At any rate this rich- 
 est and (when fed in reasonable limits) best of all 
 poultry foods can be had at a very slight expense. 
 It is a most excellent substitute for the bugs and 
 worms of summer. It is a pity so much of it is 
 wasted. 
 
 The question only arises how we can get the hard 
 bones, and the tough gristle, and other fleshy mat- 
 
 ter fine enough for fowls to eat. The often-advertised 
 15.00 bone mills will not grind green bones. Two 
 ways are open for us to utilize these waste products. 
 They can be softened by steaming under high pres- 
 
CUTTING BONES. 46 
 
 sure. It miglit pay us to get a steam cooker suited 
 for the purpose. On the whole, 
 
 Bone. aTvigrtabUB. ^owever, I believe that it is pre- 
 ferable to cut bones, gristle, 
 flesh, etc., with one of the cutters now especially 
 designed for that purpose. The accompanying 
 illustration shows one of these machines. It does 
 not grind, but will cut or shave any of the materials 
 named in pieces fine enough for fowls to eat. It is 
 manufactured by Webster & Hannum, Cazenovia, 
 N. T., and sells for $12. I think this is a good 
 machine for people who keep a moderate number of 
 fowls. Where many hundreds have to be fed, a 
 power machine will be preferable. 
 
 Now and then a little grain — wheat, oats, buck- 
 wheat, etc., should be given, and the evening meal 
 should always consist of whole grain, chiefly of com 
 in very cold weather. If plenty of the cheaper and 
 more bulky food is given, four quarts of whole 
 grain would be enough for one hundred fowls. 
 
 That fresh water should at all times be kept 
 within reach of the birds need hardly be expressly 
 stated. They should have no chance to drink out 
 of stagnant pools in the barn-yard. Another thing 
 needful is a free and continuous supply of sharp 
 grit. I do not think that there is anything superior 
 to raw limestone broken into pieces of pea size or 
 smaller, although ground oyster shells or sand con- 
 taining coarser particles will answer. 
 
 This grit is as necessary for satisfactory results 
 as food. Without the required grit food cannot be 
 properly digested, and a large part of it wiUbe 
 wasted. 
 
IX. 
 THE CAPONS IN MARKET. 
 
 HOW TO KILL, DRESS AND PACK THEM. 
 
 T^ HE first thing is to decide about the market. 
 
 Have some understanding with a good com- 
 mission house in the city, or with a large hotel or 
 retail dealer, and act on advice and suggestions 
 received from your buyer or middleman. Keep the 
 birds in confinement at least twenty-four hours be- 
 fore killing, entirely withholding food and water. 
 You want their crops to be entirely empty. 
 
 You need a thin-bladed, sharp-pointed knife, the 
 regular French killing knife which retails for 50 
 cents, being, perhaps, preferable to all others. For 
 killing and dressing select or arrange a cool, well- 
 lighted shed. Fasten two pieces of strong twine to 
 a beam overhead, say a foot apart, and let the lower 
 ends, each of which has a "slipping 
 
 g apons. jjQQgg >) hang down to within three or 
 four feet from the ground, or just at proper height 
 to be most convenient for plucking the fowl. Fasten 
 one of the capon's legs in each of the nooses, letting 
 his legs hang downward. Then holding the knife 
 in the right hand, take hold of the bird's head with 
 the left, and open his bill widely. If the light shines 
 
DRESSING THE BIRD. 47 
 
 well into the throat, you may quite plainly see the 
 big jugular vein on each side. Insert the point of 
 the knife, and sever these blood vessels by a quick 
 cut across. The blood will at once follow the knife, 
 and flow freely in two big streams. Without further 
 delay run the point of the knife through the 
 roof of the mouth clear into the brain. The bird 
 now is so near dead as to be without sense of 
 feeling. Just at this time, also, the feathers come 
 off quite easily, and no time should be lost. Sus- 
 pend a two pound weight attached to a hook from 
 the bird's lower bill. Of course you are clad in old 
 clothes, and ready for the muss. Take good hold 
 of the bird, and strip off the feathers as quickly as 
 possible. Leave on the feathers of the 
 
 "'•^ *^* head and neck (hackle-feathei;?) all the 
 tail feathers, with a few feathers up 
 towards the back, and the long feathers on the hips 
 close to tail, also the feathers on the legs half way 
 up the " drumsticks.'' Be careful not to tear the 
 skin. 
 
 This peculiar style of dressing is a kind of trade- 
 mark, and serves to distinguish the capon at once 
 from any other fowl in market. The head, with 
 its shrunken or non-developed comb and wattles, 
 should always be left on the bird. Remove all 
 traces of blood from his head and mouth by careful 
 washing with cold water. 
 
 A table should be on hand upon which to dress 
 the bird, also a trough or box without ends and 
 cover, just large enough to hold him in best position, 
 back downward, for the removal of the intestines. 
 Carefully cut around the vent, and poll out the 
 
48 CAPONS FOE PKOFIT. 
 
 intestines. You will find a heavy layer of fat around 
 the opening, and the intestines covered with it. As 
 you pull out the intestines, push the fat back into 
 the bird, and when you come to the end of the in- 
 testines push your finger up into the body, along 
 the intestines, and separate them from the gizzard, 
 leaving everything else inside the bird. The layer 
 of fat around the vent may be turned slightly out- 
 ward and thus allowed to cool and harden. The 
 bird will look all the better for it Then hang him 
 up in a cool place. When thoroughly cold he will 
 be ready for boxing and marketing. 
 
 New, clean boxes should be used for shipping 
 capons. Nothing, in fact, must be neglected to 
 make the packages as well as the capons look neat 
 and attractive. Line the boxes with clean white 
 paper. Printed paper should never be used. Pack 
 the birds down in layers, backs up, as solidly as can 
 be, yet without bruising. You will have no diffi- 
 culty in finding a market for nice, large, fat, well- 
 dressed and well-packed capons at acceptable and 
 profitable prices. 
 
X. 
 
 ODDS AND ENDS. 
 
 TURKEYS AS INCUBATORS AND CAPONS AS 
 BROODERS. 
 
 'T'HERE are a few people who make a success of 
 hatching eggs and bringing up chicks by arti- 
 ficial methods. Most of us, however, will find it 
 easier and safer to stick to Mother Nature's good 
 old ways. It will not be a new thing to many of 
 my readers when I teU them that a turkey hen can 
 be utilized as an incubator. She can be made to 
 sit at any time of the year, and for an almost in- 
 definite length of time. We want early chicks, but 
 cannot always succeed in getting them, simply be- 
 cause our hens do not get broody 
 ''"''*y ^*" " early enough in the season. The 
 turkey hen then comes as a deus ex 
 machina. A writer in Country Oentleman gives 
 the following directions how to manage her: " Select 
 a turkey hen in her second year; arrange a nest, in 
 which put a number of eggs, either china or ordinary 
 eggs filled with plaster of Paris. Place the 
 turkey upon the nest, and cover her with a bar- 
 rel, preferably one made for sugar, as it is lined 
 with blue paper. This excludes the light; darkness 
 
50 CAPONS FOK PROFIT. 
 
 is necessary. Leave the hen to her meditations for 
 24 or 30 hours, or longer, after which time she will 
 sit contentedly for two months, leaving the nest 
 only for food and drink. Take away the artificial 
 eggs, and put those under you wish for chickens. 
 When these are hatched, remove the young birds 
 and replace with fresh eggs." 
 
 Now we will press the capon into service, making 
 
 him serve as brooder. The writer already quoted, 
 
 says in the same journal: ''Choose a large, fine 
 
 capon, not too young. Envelop his 
 
 »B Brooder ^®^^ ^^ ^^^^^ hand, and puff into his 
 mouth and gills smoke from a to- 
 bacco pipe, the stronger the pipe the better. Shake 
 the cock' s head after each blowing, repeating for 
 five or six times until the bird seems unconscious; 
 then place him on the young chickens and set the 
 box in a dark corner for some six or eight hours, or 
 until the next morning, when this hypnotized capon 
 will carry and care for these young birds like a hen. 
 In my hands this has proved eminently successful, 
 and I commend the process to all." 
 
 y^'^r-@i£i£mi^B£^-„^^- 
 
Poultrymen ! 
 
 Green cut bones 
 
 will make more eggs 
 
 than any POOD 
 
 known. Fowls fed 
 
 on CUT BONE wiU 
 
 nearly double the 
 
 egg yield in two 
 
 wee^. We have 
 
 the best, cheapest 
 
 and most practical 
 
 Bone Cutter yet pro- 
 duced. Highest Award and Medal at World'' s 
 
 Fair. Also first premium at New York State Fair, 
 
 Interstate Fair, Western N. Y. Fair, Nebraska 
 
 State Fair and scores of 
 local fairs. Get our cir- 
 culars, prices, &c., &c. 
 
 Pare, Raw — 
 Limestone Grit 
 
 for fowls, is the best grit 
 known. It contains lime 
 and sharp comers to do 
 the grinding. We fur- 
 nish this for $1.00 per 
 100 lbs. Get a sample 
 from us, which only costs 
 two-cent stamp. 
 
 k 
 
 Cazenovia, N. Y. 
 
A Perfect 
 Caponizing Set, 
 
 Price, = $2.50. 
 
 Just sucli a combination of tools as I wanted, 
 and as I think the beginner needs, was not in the 
 market, so I have had a lot made to order for my 
 special purposes. Every tool in the set is made of 
 the very best material, and allj to avoid expense, 
 are put up in a plain box. The set contains 
 
 I 1— Knife. I 
 
 I 2— Spreader. | 
 
 I 3-Probe. | 
 
 I 4— Canula. | 
 
 I 5— Nippers. | 
 
 I 6-Wire. i 
 
 This set will be sent post-paid to any address on 
 receipt of $2. 50. Remit by Postal or Express Money 
 Order, or in Registered Letter to 
 
 LA SALLE, N. Y. 
 
LEADING BOOKS 
 
 BY T. GREINER. 
 
 HOW TOMAKETHE ^''^ '^^^'^'"S ^'^^'^ 
 
 GARDEN PAY. "" K-^-^leinng- P'o- 
 
 fnselv illustrated. 
 
 Printed in clear type. Handsomely bound in cloth. 272 
 pages, 6x9 inches. Price, §2.00. 
 
 THE N E W ^''' ' ' ''' revised and en - 
 ONION CULTURE. ^'"''^''"^ edition. Copi- 
 onslv illustrated. It 
 
 gives all the details of the new method by which 2.000 
 bnshels are easily grown on one acre, as .Suu bushels in 
 the old way. This system mates onion growing both at 
 the North and South a certain success. Price, on < 
 
 e:s. 
 
 PRACTICAL Tells all about ma- 
 
 FARM CHEMISTRY. nure and manure ap- 
 
 plication : how money 
 
 can be saved in the purchase; and inade in the application 
 of fertilizers. Part I. — The raw materials of plant food. 
 Past II. — The available sources of supply. Part III. — ^ 
 Principles of economic application. 163 pages. Elegant- 
 ly bound in cloth. Price, si. 00. 
 
 LiBERAI. DI5lOI>-T ALLOWED TO THE TRADE. 
 
 Remit price in Resistcred Letter, Express Money Order, Postal 
 Note, or Post-office Money Order to 
 
 T. GREINER, La Salle, N. Y.