CAPON. 



CAPON. 



poultry from the earliest antiquity, for the pur- 

 pose of improving the flesh. In England, it is 

 chiefly practised in the great poultry-breeding 

 counties of Sussex, Essex, and Berks, but is 

 little known anywhere else. There are, in- 

 deed, persons who make a trade of it, and it is 

 best to employ one of those when they can be 

 had; but it is not uncommon for the poultry- 

 farmers' wives and daughters to acquire dex- 

 terity in performing the operation. This, in- 

 deed, seems to be no new thing, for Mascall, 

 in his minute but very quaint directions, uses 

 the feminine gender throughout. "To cut 

 young cockrels," he says, " to make them ca- 

 pons, the time thereof best to cut and carve 

 them is soone after their dam has left them, or 

 when they cry or pule no more after her, as 

 when they begin to crowe and waxe hole to 

 tread the pullets. The common way of cutting 

 or carving is not to be dispraysed, and is most 

 knowne as this waye : they take them in the 

 morning, commonly in the wane of the moone, 

 and laye the cocke in her lappe, upon his back, 

 trussing up his legges by his sides. Then the 

 carver pluckes first awaye the feathers above 

 the vent, and takes up the upper skin on the 

 point of a needle, and slits it over-thwart an 

 inche long, and then takes up the under thin 

 skinne nexte the guts, and slits that likewise. 

 Then the carver annoyntes her fore finger of 

 her right hande with oyle or butter, and puts it 

 gently to the raines of the cock, on the left 

 side, and with her finger bringes forthe the 

 stone. Then she annoyntes the fore finger of 

 her left hande, and puts it into the stone on the 

 right side of the cocke, and with her finger 

 bringes it forthe. So done, she placeth the 

 guts, and sowes the skinne up again with a 

 threade, and then annoyntes that place with 

 some fresh butter, and lets him go." 



The art of caponing fowls forms a part of 

 rural economy, and as the mode of operating 

 is very little understood in the United States, 

 we propose giving such ample and minute 

 instructions upon the subject, as, with the aid 

 of original drawings, will enable any one to 

 succeed who possesses common dexterity. 



The chickens intended for capons should be 

 of the largest breed that can be obtained, and 

 in the United States there is not perhaps one 

 better suited in this respect than the celebrated 

 large Buck's county breed, well known in the 

 Philadelphia market, where capons made from 

 these fowls have been sold weighing 25 Ibs. 

 the pair. As in breeding with a special view 

 to making capons, male chickens alone are 

 required, those eggs should be selected to set 

 under hens which produce males, namely, 

 such as have the sharpest points. The altera- 

 tion of the chicken into a capon will, in about 

 a twelvemonth, nearly double the size of the 

 bird. Persons wishing to become expert in 

 the operation of making capons would do well 

 to imitate surgeons, who always try their hand 

 upon dead subjects before performing on the liv- 

 ing. It is, however, quite simple, and in France 

 and Italy is often allotted to mere children. 



The Chinese mode of operating we think 

 preferable not only to the old one described by 

 Mascall, but to any other of which we have 

 ever heard. 



Chickens intended for capons may be ope- 

 rated upon at any age, though when between 

 two and three months old is considered much 

 the best time. Old fowls seldom survive the 

 operation. Previous to cutting, the chickens 

 must be kept entirely from food, and even 

 water, for about thirty-six hours, as experi- 

 ments have determined this time to insure the 

 best chance of success by causing the bowels 

 to be empty and lessening the tendency to 

 bleeding. The fowl may be secured either in the 

 Chinese mode, that is to say, lying on its left 

 side with its wings folded back till they meet, 

 and pressed under the foot of the operator, 

 whose other foot is placed upon the legs ; or, 

 it may be held by an assistant in a similar 

 position; or, what adds greatly to the con- 

 venience of the operator, especially in reliev- 

 ing him from the necessity of stooping low, 

 the fowl may be confined by straps, &c. to a 

 table one of which, of a highly ingenious con- 

 struction, has been invented by a Philadelphian, 

 and will be subsequently described and de- 

 lineated. (See Figs. 2 and 3.) 



The chicken being secured with its left side 

 downwards, wings clasped behind its back, 

 legs extended backwards, the upper one be- 

 ing drawn the furthest back (see fig. 3), the 

 head and neck left perfectly free, the feathers 

 are next to be plucked from its right side 

 near the hip joint, in a line between that 

 and the shoulder joint; the space uncovered 

 (a, fig. 3) may be a little over an inch square. 

 Having first drawn the skin of the part back- 

 ward, so that when left to itself after the ope- 

 ration, it will cover the wound in the flesh, 

 make an incision with the bevel-edged knife, 

 (fig. l.a,) between the last two ribs, commenc- 

 ing about an inch from the backbone, and ex- 

 tending obliquely downwards about an inch or 

 inch and a half, just going deep enough to 

 separate the ribs, and taking good care not to 

 wound the intestines. A pair of broad blunt 

 hooks (fig. 1, r, r) attached to a piece of elastic 

 whalebone or ratan (/>) about six inches long, 

 are then applied, one hook to each side of the 

 cut, and these being stretched apart by the 

 spring bow, keep the wound open wide enough 

 to give room for the operation. Then care- 

 fully cut open the skin covering the intestines, 

 which last, if not sufficiently drawn up in conse- 

 quence of the previous fasting, may be pushed 

 forwards or towards the breastbone, by means 

 of a flat instrument contrived for the purpose, 

 or, what answers equally well, the handle of a 

 teaspoon. When the testicles are exposed to 

 view, they will be found to be connected with 

 the back and sides by means of a thin skin 

 which passes over them. This tender cover- 

 ing must be seized with the pincers a, a, and 

 torn open with the assistance of the sharp- 

 edged hook h; after this, with the left hand, 

 introduce the curved spoon under the lower or 

 left testicle (which is generally a little nearer 

 the rump than the right one) : then take the 

 tube i, and with the right hand pass the loop n, 

 over the small hooked end of the spoon h, run- 

 ning it down under the spoon and included 

 testicle, so as to bring the loop to act upon the 

 part which fastens the testicle to the back. 

 Then by drawing the ends of the hair-loop 



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