TO MAKE CAPONS. 65 



left. According to another trial, in the winter sea- 

 son, a cock and two hens kept by themselves seven 

 clear days, consumed a quarter of a peck of the best 

 barley, having no other food, having as much as 

 they chose to eat. The same being tried at their 

 liberty, and pecking about, with cabbage leaves oc- 

 casionally thrown to them, did not eat so much bar- 

 ley in the week, although allowed all they desired. 

 They were in a perfect thriving state, but it must 

 be remembered that light and ordinary corn would 

 not have gone so far, or have kept the fowls in such 

 condition. 



Poultry which have their fill of corn, will eat occa- 

 sionally, cabbage or mangold leaves greedily. Barley 

 and wheat are the great dependence for chicken 

 poultry. The heaviest oats will keep them, it is 

 true, but neither go so far as other corn, nor agree 

 so well with the chickens, being apt to scour them, 

 and the chickens generally are tired of oats after a 

 while. Brank or French wheat, is also an unsub- 

 stantial food. Oats, however, are recommended to 

 forward and promote laying in hens ; and in Kent, 

 Sussex, and Surrey, are deemed superior for fatten- 

 ing both poultry and pigs. 



SUN-FLOWER seed has been periodically recom- 

 mended with high commendations, as food for poul- 

 try, game, sheep and pigs, but never yet attended 

 to by the generality of feeders. I have used it occa- 

 sionally in small quantities, but without any attention 

 to its merits. The experiment may easily be made. 



THE CAPON. I have already acknowledged my 

 inferiority in the affair of quickly feeding poultry in 



