14 CAPONS FOR PROFIT. 
confidence in your ability to do it just right, and 
then go ahead without fear and trembling. And 
when you are at it once it is far better to operate on 
all the fowls ready for the operation in one day than 
fuss along with two or three every few days. The 
beginner is apt to be a little nervous when he goes 
for the first bird; but after he gets his hand in once, 
everything moves off smoothly and nicely. His 
hand becomes steady, and the work passes off rap- 
idly. Of course, it is an advantage if you can see 
some one perform the operation, even on a single 
bird. No more is needed to teach you the whole 
operation. But the average person does not often 
have a chance to see it done. 
We ourselves had to learn it from books and 
printed instructions—not very plain ones either— 
and succeeded beyond expectations. After a few 
days’ practical experience I thought nothing of 
caponizing 20 birds before dinner. The operation, 
indeed, after you have once undertaken it and suc- 
ceeded, is an easy enough thing, and causes but 
little pain and inconvenience to the bird, if you do 
it right and with proper tools. <A good set of tools, 
of course, is utterly indispensable, and the person 
unwilling to expend $2 or $3 for them is not in- 
cluded in the list of persons who can safely under- 
take the operation. 
Then there are some timid souls who tremblingly 
ask, ‘‘ Does it hurt?’? The farmer when castrating 
lambs, or pigs, or calves, etc., does not 
Neen ask, ‘(Is it cruel?” The butcher, when 
he kills a sheep, or hog, or calf, does 
not stop inquiringly, ‘‘ Does it hurt?’’ Both know 
