1873.1 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
99 
Through this tube is passed the horse-hair loop 
(c), d is a steel-rod with a spoon (c) at one end 
and a pointed hook (/) at the other, and g is a 
steel splint 6 inches long with a broad, flat hook 
(A) attached to each end by twine, three quar- 
ters of an inch slack being allowed. 
The best way to hold the subject is to place 
a board, 14 x 24 in., in the lap of the operator, 
upon which the fowl is to rest upon its right 
side, while an assistant grasps its wings with 
one hand and its feet with the other, as repre- 
sented in fig. 2. 
Remove the feathers from a spot as large as a 
watch at the point ». Next pull the skin back- 
wards, so that it may slip forward again after the 
operation is completed, and with the knife make 
an incision an inch and a half long, parallel with 
the last two ribs and between them, until the 
intestines are visible, taking care to not injure 
the latter. Now separate the ribs by attaching 
one of the hooks (A, A, fig. 1) to each, and al- 
lowing the ends of the splint to spread, as they 
will do when let go. The intestines may be 
to the organs removed. The best age for cock- 
erels to be operated upon is two months. In 
order that the intestines may not be distended, 
prepare the bird by shutting it up without food 
or drink for thirty-six hours. Capons continue 
to grow for a long time, and they should be kept 
until twenty months old, in order to gain the 
full advantages of the operation. 
The Milk-Mirror in Cows. 
A correspondent in Andovcr, Mass., asks us 
to explain the meaning of the term " milk-mir- 
ror." This is used to describe that portion of 
the animal's hide on and in the viciuity of the 
udder, on which the hair grows in the opposite 
direction from that of the adjoining parts. The 
line of demarcation between the two is gener- 
all}' quite distinct, and constitutes what is often 
called a " quirl," the up-growing and down- 
growing hair meeting sometimes quite abruptly. 
More often the change of direction is more 
Fig. 1. — INSTRUMENTS FOIt CAPONIZING. 
pushed away with a tea-spoon handle or other 
flat, smooth instrument, and when the testicles 
arc found (attached to the back) the tissue which 
covers them must be held by the tweezers and 
torn open with the pointed hook (/). Next 
pass the horse-hair loop around one testicle, 
which cut off by pulling upon the ends of the 
horse-hair, so as to communicate a sawing mo- 
Fig. 3. — HOLDING THE FOWL. 
tion to the loop. The spoon (e) is now intro- 
duced to scoop out from the cavity the severed 
organ and the blood, when the operation is re- 
peated upon the other testicle, the incision is 
closed (no sewing being necessary), the skin is 
allowed to resume its place, and the feathers 
which were removed are stuck on the outside 
and left to adhere by means of the blood, form- 
ing the only bandage necessary. 
■ There need bo no more than 6 or 8 per cent 
of the birds killed even by an indifferent oper- 
ator, and as those die by bleeding to death they 
may be eaten as if they had been butchered in 
the regular way. To avoid bleeding take care 
to not rupture the large blood-vessels attached 
gradual, but it is always clear enough to be 
seen at a glance, especially in- summer, when 
the coat is clean and the hair is short. The sig- 
nificance of the mirror was discovered by a 
French cow-herd, named Guinon, who classi- 
fied the different forms of mirrors, and estab- 
lished a system by which he claimed that he 
could tell, from an examination of the mirror 
alone, how much milk any individual cow 
would give (supposing her to be of average 
size and in good health), what would be the 
quality of the milk, and how rapidly she would 
dry off after becoming impregnated again. This 
discovery was subjected to a very critical exam- 
ination in 1837, by a committee of the Agricul- 
tural Society of Bordeaux. About sixty animals 
were submitted to Guehon's inspection, and his 
statement concerning them was recorded and 
afterwards compared with the statements of the 
owners of the cattle. They were found to agree 
in every instance. Other trials, in different 
parts of France, were equally successful, and 
high honors have been awarded to Moiis. 
Guenon for his discovery. In other countries 
the success of the system has been no less 
marked. That it is a carefully arranged system 
is shown by the fact that others have attained an 
equal efficiency with its discoverer in applying 
its principles to practice, and although the mi- 
nute classification that has been given by the dis- 
coverer may, perhaps, be questioned, there is no 
longer the least doubt of the fundamental 
soundness of the idea. In America, as well as 
in all countries of Europe, it is fast becoming a 
recognized standard by which to determine 
the milking qualities of cows, and to foretell 
the promise of calves and the probable breed- 
ing value of bulls. 
We are not ourselves sufficiently familiar with 
the minuter details of Guunon's classification 
to determine how closely they may be followed 
with advantage, but we are constantly apply- 
ing the general principle in the purchase and 
sale of animals in our own herd. Although the 
system, applied with our imperfect knowledge, 
is not absolutely infallible, we would no more 
think of buying a- cow with a very defective 
escutcheon, or of selling one (unless for an ex- 
tra price) with a perfect escutcheon, no matter, ] 
what their other qualities may be, than we * 
would think of breeding from a second-class 
bull to save a few dollars in the cost of service. 
We can not here give the space necessary for 
even a rough sketch of this method, but a trans- 
lation of the original work is published at this 
office, which will be mailed, post-paid, on re- 
ceipt of the price, 75 cents. 
Cooking Food for Stock. 
We would be glad to receive statements of 
the practical results of experiments in feeding 
stock — especially horned cattle — with steamed 
food. We want facts, not opinions. Most of 
the literature of this subject is made up of the 
notions of the writers, and of their conclusions, 
based on their own experience ; and these no- 
tions and conclusions are hardly worth the 
paper they are written on, except to the man 
who forms them and others situated like him. 
The hidden character of the processes of 
animal life, and the degree to which attending 
circumstances affect the result of any experi- 
ment in feeding, make opinions that are based 
on single experiments exceedingly untrust- 
worthy. The most skillful physiologist would 
be uncertain as to the true bearing of any effect 
that he might observe, and surely even the most 
intelligent farmer is incompetent to give us a 
reliable theory of the experiment that has, in 
his case, brought a certain result. All he can 
do, that will be worthy of the world's attention, 
is to state the result, and so much as he can of 
the attending circumstances — that is, the kind 
of shelter, the amount of exercise, the tempera- 
ture of the water, the breed, age, and condition 
of the animals fed, and all else that could in his 
opinion affect the result. Here he ought to stop, 
and allow the public to form its own conclu- 
sions as to the "why and wherefore," and as to 
the general applicability of the truths that a 
majority of the instances reported seem to point 
out. Should the reports that we ask point very 
generally in one direction or the other, we 
might venture to express an opinion as to their 
force, but we doubt whether the experience of 
the country is yet sufficient to justify a decision 
as to the propriety or impropriety of steaming 
under all circumstances. 
We would especially suggest that our corre- 
spondents leave out of the consideration the 
question whether steaming fodder seems to them 
more or less " natural" than the common prac- 
tice. Left to a state of nature, our domestic 
animals would soon cease to exist in a useful 
condition. They are the product of artificial 
treatment, and the real question is not what 
treatment is the most natural, but what artificial 
deviation from natural conditions promises still 
further artificial advantages. . 
Our Native Bats. 
When a bat enters a dwelling room of an 
evening, flitting noiselessly about and searching 
for some avenue of escape, the whole household 
is aroused, and with brooms, towels, and other 
weapons the little creature is beaten to death, 
unless b}' some fortunate chance it escapes 
