THE TOOLS NEEDED. 27 
wish to caponize at all—may thenumber of cockerels 
to be operated on be half adozen or a thousand—the 
first thing to do is to get a complete set of tools. 
They are cheap enough, and they will last you a life 
time. 
If you once learn the operation, easy as it is, you 
will have calls from neighbors and others, and possi- 
bly you may find a little work at better wages than is 
paid for ordinary farm work. If you once learn the 
operation, I am sure you will not allow a worthless 
lot of roosters to infest your premises, bother your 
laying hens, and eat three times more than they will 
be worth in the end. 
If you do not feel able to invest the small amount 
for tools, don’t undertake the job of caponizing. 
For thesake of humanity and decency, don’t murder 
poor brutes with clumsy tools. Be merciful. When 
properly performed, and with the tools here de- 
scribed and illustrated, the operation involves no 
element of cruelty. The birds seem to suffer slightly 
when the incision is made, but for a moment only, 
and again when the testicle is twisted off, but at no 
other time, and they are ready to take their meal as 
soon as the job is done. 
Ido not know that any set now offered for sale 
contains the exact combination of tools here de- 
scribed. Possibly manufacturers will make changes 
in their sets according to my suggestions, and put 
this, my favorite set, on sale before another season 
comes around. In the mean time I am now having 
some of “my sets’’ made, and shall be pleased to 
furnish them to my friends at a reasonable price. 
