638 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK vir. 



the lower testicle in the same way. It is necessary to be careful not to 

 rupture the large vein under the testicles, and also to get the whole of 

 the latter out. The bird may be untied and allowed to go without the 

 incision being sewed up, but for a few days it should not be allowed to 

 fly up to roost. Birds may in this manner be caponised in any number, 

 and without loss of more than one or two per cent. Large breeds of 

 poultry when caponised young, and well fed until ten or eleven months 

 old, and then fattened, will weigh 14 Ib. or 15 Ib. each, and the meat on 

 them will be found of the tenderest and most succulent description. 



It is to be noted that the chief dangers found in practice with all 

 systems of caponising, is in tearing the veins near the testicles, which 

 results in the bird's bleeding to death, and in the losing of the testicles 

 amongst the intestines, an accident which is almost certain to cause 

 inflammation and death. These occurrences seldom happen except 

 through want of care, or inexperience, but it is important to have a good 

 light, in order to prevent such as far as possible. The want of care 

 can be avoided, and, to overcome the want of experience, it is better 

 for a novice to make his first experiments on a dead chicken, so as to 

 learn exactly the position of the place to be cut, as well as of the 

 testicles. A little study of anatomy in this way is highly useful, and, 

 in fact, it would be cruelty for any novice to commence operations on a 

 living bird. The first time must necessarily partake of the nature of 

 an experiment, and, therefore, there should not be any risk of giving 

 unnecessary pain. Amongst the essential conditions for all operations 

 are firmness and confidence, without which a bungle is sure to be made 

 and these are not to be had except there is actual knowledge of the 

 subject, and of what has to be done. This actual knowledge can only 

 be obtained by experience. 



The fattening of fowls has not received that share of attention in 

 Britain which it deserves. In France the system has been reduced to 

 a science, and the fattened fowls of that country are the finest in the 

 world. But in France all fowls to be fattened are caponised, and 

 without the introduction of this system we can never hope to produce 

 such table poultry as do our neighbours across the English Channel. 

 The process of fattening is a very simple one, and the effect remark- 

 able. A capital article by the Hon. Rose Hubbard, better known 

 under her nom de plume of "Henwife," appeared a few years ago in 

 the " Live Stock Journal Almanack," and a portion of this may be 

 quoted : 



" On most farms there is some disused barn, cowshed, or old stable, 

 which can be utilised as a fattening house, and if it be water-tight in 

 the roof, the wooden sides can easily be repaired sufficiently to keep 

 out snow and cold winds. The floor, probably of earth, must be 

 levelled and sanded, well beaten down and rendered hard with an 

 admixture of lime and water ; the walls should next be cleaned and 

 whitewashed, and a couple of glass windows introduced. The walls 

 may now be fitted with coops of the most common deal, each about 24 

 by 13 inches. The floor-boards must be sufficiently thick to support 



