A Few Business Matters. 131 



you blow hard enough you will be sure to pierce somebody's 

 ear and hold bis attention. In order to build up a "special " 

 market, a man must cultivate self-reliance not " cheek," but 

 an honorable opinion of himself, his work and his product. 

 The world loves a self-reliant man and will take pleasure in 

 following him in the egg-business as well as any other. 



Limed Eggs. Do not sell eggs when the price is low. Pack 

 them in lime pickle, and take all the cash you can spare and 

 buy good fresh eggs of the neighbors to be also packed. New- 

 laid eggs put down in this way can scarcely be told from fresh 

 ones when taken up. Hotels and boarding-houses are glad to 

 get such eggs at an advance of one or two cents over ruling 

 prices for limed eggs. For liming small quantities of eggs, 

 casks with wooden hoops are best. The following is the pro- 

 portion for pickle : Stone-lime, two pounds ; salt one pint ; 

 water four gallons. Slake the lime, and when cold put it and 

 the salt with the water into some receptacle, stir and let settle 

 twice ; the clear liquid is what you want. Have just enough 

 pickle, when through packing, to cover the eggs, then place a 

 cloth over them and spread some of the lime sediment on it. 



Caponizing. Bull directions for performing this operation 

 will be found in the pamphlets of those who have tools for sale. 

 The great majority of poultry men do not try to raise capons. 

 Some breeders of the smaller breeds caponize their surplus 

 roosters, but most of them prefer to raise roasters or broilers. 

 James Rankin thus states why caponizing does not pay him : 

 " I had some experience with caponizing 20 years ago, and 

 found the business very profitable, as the birds readily brought 

 from 30 to 35 cents per pound. At present, when capons bring 

 but little more than half that price, it is not nearly so profit- 

 able, and for this reason I have given it up. I can get out a 

 Brahma chick the latter part of January or the first of Febru- 

 ary, put him upon the market by the first of June, when a 

 little over four months old, when he will dress six pounds, and 

 get $3 for him as a roaster ; while a capon which I had capon- 

 ized and kept for nearly a year, though he weighed eight or 



