544 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
their value from 30 to 40 per cent.” Mr. Engle gives the following 
memoranda of his sales in illustration of the superior market value of 
caponized fowls: ‘Seventy-one pairs of capons sold in February and 
March, 1870, the crop of the previous summer, weighed 1,313 pounds. 
Amount received, $463 89. Average weight per pair, 184 pounds. 
Average price per pair, $6 53.” Mr. Leavitt, of New York, also speaks 
highly of the increased value of capons over cockerels. 
instrunents for making capons may be purchased for $5 per set, and 
consist of a spring, with which the incision, made by a sharp knife, is 
kept open during the operation; nippers and hook, with which to remove 
the covering of the testicles; a tube containing a silk-worm gut, with 
which the connection of the testicle with the bird is severed, and a spoon 
for removing the severed parts. The operation may be performed with 
more simple implements, however; as a sharp pocket-knife, a pair of 
forceps, a sharp-pointed hook, a horse-hair, and a teaspoon. The opera- 
tion is performed in the following manner, as described by those 
familiar with it: Confine the fowl to a table or board, left side down- 
' ward, by weights, or by straps which will securely fasten the legs and 
wings, the latter being drawn well over the back, and the legs extended 
backward, the upper one drawn farthest out. The head and neck 
should be left free. The position of the confined fowl is denoted in the 
accompanying cut. Pluck the 
feathers from a spot an inch 
and a half in diameter, near 
the hip joint, and on a line 
from the hip to the shoulder 
joint. Draw the skin back, so 
that when left to itself again it 
will cover the wound in the flesh 
and make an incision between 
the last two ribs, commencing 
an inch from the back-bone 
and extending obliquely down- 
ward. The incision should 
be about an inch long, and 
_ only deep enough to separate the ribs, not wounding the intestines. 
The proper location for the incision is indicated by the line through the 
circle in the cut. The wound is kept open by a spring or otherwise for 
f£onvenience of subsequent operations. Cut open the membrane covering 
the intestines, with care, pushing them with the spoon forward toward 
the breast-bone first, if they are not sufiiciently. drawn up. ‘The testicles 
will then be exposed to view. They are connected with the back and sides 
by cords and covered with a thin membrane. The membrane must be 
seized with the forceps or nippers and torn open with the hook, com- 
mencing with the lower or left testicle, which is generally nearer the 
rump than the right one. Then introduce the tube containing the silk- 
worm gut, or the horse-hair, with which to sever the connection of the 
testicle, using the bowl of the spoon when horse-hair is employed to 
iacilitate the operation, and with a sawing motion sever the chords; A 
Similar process is repeated with the right testicle, and then both, with 
the blood around the wounds, are to be removed with the bowl of the 
spoon. The left testicle should first be removed to prevent the blood 
Which may issue from it from covering the right one and rendering 
the operation more difficult. After the operation the skin must be drawn 
over the wound and a few stitches taken in it with fine linen thread, 
after which the fowl may be released. 
