THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



467 



demand, and when they are we have the 

 meat works, where they can be frozen for 

 the export trade. 



Now on the practical question of capon- 

 ising, which is a very old and universal 

 practice in China, France, and many parts 

 of England. The Chinese are the mo^t 

 expert caponisers, and on most of their 

 big farms it is quite a regular thing every 

 three months for all the young stock fn- 

 tended for market to be operated upon, 

 the females being converted into poulards, 

 the cockerels into capons. In Queensland 

 it will be many years before we have any 

 surplus females for treatment, the egg 

 industry being in far too flourishing a 

 condition for them to be spared. In 

 China, and also in France, eggs are a drug 

 in the market, often fetching only Id. to 

 l^d. per dozen. The advantages gained 

 by caponising are— a lai-ger bird, more 

 delicate meat, and a bird that can be kept 

 or held for market much longer than a 

 cockerel, without being a trouble in the 

 yard or growing coarse. This last is a 

 great advantage in the bush, where far 

 from a market, as one can hold them till 

 there are enough to make it worth while 

 to send them in. Cockerels are one of the 

 greatest troubles on a poultry farm, be- 

 cause they worry the hens, fight with each 

 other, and grow coarse almost at once 

 after they have reached maturity. Not 

 so the capon, for he remains fit for table 

 up to and over two years of age. 



The actual operation of caponising is 

 extremely simple— when you have the 

 proper instruments to work with ; but the 

 novice should experiment on at least a 

 dozen dead birds before tackling a live 

 one. It does not take more than a couple 

 to three minutes once you understand, 

 and to all appearances the bird suffers less 

 than a nervous operator, and within a few 

 minutes of being released will eat readily 

 and appear to have nothing the matter 

 with it. Therefore, on the score of 

 cruelty, there is no fault to be found with 

 the practice. Naturally, anvone who 

 operates should know exactly \vhat he is 

 al)out, and have rendered himself an ex- 

 pert by practice on dead birds first, then 

 on Jiving, otherwise he may cause un- 

 necessary suffering, and probably lose a 

 large percentage of birds. The instru- 

 ments should all be of the best ; it is a 

 mistake to work with makeshifts. There 



are several firms in Brisbane who keep 

 the tools in stock, but the best I have seen 

 are those sold by Hordern, of the Hay- 

 market, Sydney. My attention was only 

 drawn to them quite recently by a lady, 

 who had a set bought there. They are an 

 American make, and, so far as 1 can re- 

 member, the prices range from £1 Is. 

 upwards, the set consisting of a knife, 

 with forceps at one end, a spreader for 

 holding the wound open, a hook for tear- 

 ing the thin skin apart, a tube, with horse- 

 hair at the end, for severing the testicles, 

 and cord and hooks for holding the bird 

 down. There are other kinds of instru- 

 ments, many of them very primitive. 

 The Chinese, who are about the most ex- 

 pert caponisers, use merely a penknife, 

 and a bit of split bamboo with a loop of 

 silk or thread. Many of them even dis- 

 pense with the latter, and use their fingers 

 to tear out the testicles. Strange to say, 

 rough as this method seems, I have known 

 it to be veiy successful. Some few years 

 ago I saw an old Chinaman caponise 

 twenty-one birds in two minutes under 

 the hour, and his only instruments were 

 a small penknife and some cotton wool. 

 He worked with his fingers, and was 

 wonderfully expert. Of the twenty-one 

 birds only one died, and that was hardly 

 his fault, as it was far too young for the 

 operation, and the opening that he had to 

 make tore through, the bird being so soft 

 and tender. 



It is a mistake to think that all breeds 

 are suitable for caponising. I know that 

 many of the books and the articles that 

 deal with the question tell one that every 

 bird can be improved by caponising. It 

 is not true. The small, active varieties 

 are not worth operating on, because the 

 difference made in their size is hardly 

 noticeable. At the same time, it is as 

 well if one begins the practice to subject 

 every cockerel to it for the sake of peace 

 in the yard. Only when one has to pay 

 from 2d. to 3d. per head to a man to do it, 

 it is worth while to consider whether the 

 bird will gain that sum in value for the 

 market. Capons are smaller feeders 

 than ordinary fowls, and they will put on 

 fat on far less food than cockerels will. 



The best breeds for the operation are 

 Wyandottes, Plymouth Rocks, Brahmas, 

 Orpingtons, and any of the above with a 

 game cross. A game capon is without 



