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HANDT-BOOK OF HUSBANDRY. 



tides, which are attached to the backbone, are entirely exposed 

 to view, together with the intestines in contact with them. 

 The testicles are inclosed in a thin skiji, connecting them with 

 the back and sides — this must be laid hold of with the pliers, 

 and then torn away with the pointed instrument ; doing it first 

 on the upper testicle, then on the lower. (The lower testicle 

 will generally be found a little behind the other — that is, a little 

 nearer the rump.) Next introduce the loop, (which is made of 

 a horse hair or a fiber of cocoanut ;) it must be put around the 

 testicle which is uppermost, in doing which the spoon is ser- 

 viceable to raise up the testicle and push the loop under it, so 

 that it shall be brought to act upon the part which holds the 

 testicle to the back ; then tear it off by pushing the tube toward 

 the rump of the fowl, at the same time drawing the loop. Then 

 scoop it and the blood out with the spoon, and perform the 

 same operation on the other testicle. Take away the hooks, 



■ draw the skin over and close the wound ; stick the feathers that 



■ you pulled off before, on the wound, and let the bird go. 



" Remarks. — If the operation be performed without sufficient 



• skin, many of the fowls will prove not to be capons ; these may 

 be killed for use as soon as the head begins to grow large and 



■ get red, and they begin to chase the hens. The real capon will 



• make itself known by the head remaining small, and the comb 



• small and withered ; the feathers of the neck or mane will also 



■ get longer, and the tail will be handsomer and longer : they 



■ should be kept to the age of fifteen or eighteen months, which 



■ will bring them in the spring and summer, when poultry is 



■ scarce and brings a high price. Take care, however, not to 



• kill them near moulting time, as all poultry then is very inferior. 



■ The operation fails, principally, by bursting the testicle, so that 

 ■the skin which incloses the soft matter, remains in the bird and 

 •the testicle grows again. 



" Birds of five or six months are less liable to have the testicles 

 ' burst in the operation than younger fowls, but they are more 

 " apt to bleed to death than those of from two to four months old. 



" A skillful operator will always choose fowls of from two to 



