CAPONS AND CAPONIZTNG. 
.5 
PROFITS. 
It is extremely difficult to make any general statement concerning 
the profits yielded by capons. That they do yield a profit in practi¬ 
cally all cases is undoubtedly true, but whether the profit is sufficient 
to give up to them the time and room they require is a question which 
must be settled b} r each man’s experience and by local conditions. 
Many poultrvmen think that they can do better to turn off their sur¬ 
plus cockerels as broilers as long as the market holds up and rely 
upon caponizing only for later-hatched chicks. The house room thus 
saved they use for pullets or other laying stock, feeling that they 
make more money in this way. It is certain, however, that many 
poultrvmen find capon raising profitable enough to induce them to 
continue in the business. On several farms in Massachusetts 500 to 
1,000 capons are raised annually, and the writer knows of one farm 
on which in one season 5,000 cockerels were held for caponizing. 
Although the industry is growing rapidly year by year, the supply 
does not yet equal the demand. The best prices are commanded 
by capons produced near to the market, and consequently perfectly 
fresh. The markets of the West usually do not quote as good prices 
as the eastern ones; hence most of the western-grown capons are 
shipped East, in which case the express rates cut down the profit 
materially. On the whole, the profit is probably rather greater for 
eastern producers than for those of the North Central States. 
Fig. 10.—Capons dressed for market. These illustrations show appearance after picking, 
but do not show fowls in perfect condition of flesh. 
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