POULTRY. 1095 



you kill for the table, so that you may be able to tell the exact 

 position of the organs to be removed. You will find them in 

 the abdominal cavity attached to the back, one on each side of 

 the spine; they are light colored and shaped something like a 

 Lima bean. The size varies with the age and breed. 



"Next, kill some young cockerels and practice on them until 

 you are sure that you can perform the operation quickly and suc- 

 cessfully ; then you may try your hand on the living chickens. 

 Select young cockerels that are fully three months and not over 

 four months old, but some who caponize operate successfully 

 upon cockerels that are five or six months old. Keep them 

 from food for twenty-four hours previous to the operation ; if 

 the intestines are full the operation will be more difficult. Draw 

 the wings gently backward and secure by a broad strip of soft 

 cloth, lay the fowl on the left side, draw the legs backward and 

 secure by another strip of cloth. From the spot near the hip 

 joint, and between the last two ribs, pick off the feathers for 

 the space of an inch square. With a small, sharp knife make 

 a cut an inch and a half long through the skin, then another 

 through the flesh between the ribs, and lastly through the thin 

 membrane that lines the abdominal cavity taking care in the 

 last cut not to injure the intestines, and see that you make a 

 clean cut every time. Now introduce the fore-finger, which 

 should be well oiled, find the testicles, scratch them off with the 

 finger nail, and bring them out with the finger. If you have 

 practiced enough on the dead chickens you can do this quickly 

 and readily ; and if you have not practiced enough on the dead 

 fowls you have no business to attempt the operation on the liv- 

 ing ones. This part of the operation over, bring the edges of 

 the cut together, take two or three stitches, and press the feathers 

 that were removed upon the cut to absorb the blood and cover 

 the wound. Feed sparingly for a few days. Of course some 

 of the chickens will die, but unless you bungle your work the 

 loss will be trifling. 



" Instead of performing the chief part of the operation with 

 the finger, as I have directed, some use the caponizing instru- 

 ments that are made especially for the purpose ; but I can do 



