„ilHIIIUIPuu^JS| 
p'JQu 
Lir* 
VOL.  LI.  No.  2210. 
NEW  YORK,  JUNE  4.  1892 
The  Capon. 
“  FINEST  CHICKEN  MEAT  IN  THE  WORLD.” 
Over  two  months  ago  we  received  from  Mr.  George  Q. 
Dow  a  Plymouth  Rock  capon  dressed  ready  for  mar¬ 
ket.  Mr.  Dow,  in  a  letter  dated  March  8,  said  : 
“  I  caponized  only  my  late  chickens  the  past  season 
(the  early  birds  all  being  sold  for  breeders),  conse¬ 
quently  I  cannot  send  as  large  a  specimen  as  I  would 
like.  The  one  I  send  was  not  hatched  until  June  8, 
and  was  caponized  about  the  middle  of  August,  since 
which  time  he  has  had  the  same  treatment,  care  and 
feed  as  my  other  cockerels.  He  has  cost  me  to  date, 
including  labor,  85  cents.  I  sold  his  companions  last 
week  for  20  cents  a  pound,  alive.  They  brought  $1.00 
each,  leaving  me  a  profit  of  75  cents  apiece.  My  capons 
last  winter  I  sold  in  Providence  for  28  cents  a  pound 
(dressed),  and  they  paid 
way,  and  only  at  certain  seasons.  What  is  there 
about  the  work  to  prevent  any  one  who  grows 
or  handles  poultry  from  raising  capons?  *  Must 
doing  so  be  confined  to  a  certain  State  or  locality  or 
can  they  be  grown  successfully  anywhere  ?  Is  there 
anything  pertaining  to  the  art  that  would  require  one 
to  have  long  experience  or  training  to  perform  the 
work  successfully  ?  Must  a  certain  breed  of  fowls  be 
used,  and  is  there  any  “trick  or  knack”  about  the 
business  ?  Is  it  dangerous,  hazardous  and  liable  to  a 
large  percentage  of  loss  ? 
All  these  questions  and  many  more  presented  them¬ 
selves  to  my  mind  as  I  imagine  they  do  to  thousands  of 
others  to-day  ;  but  instead  of  letting  the  matter  drop 
with  the  remark,  “  I  guess  I  won’t  try  it,”  I  determined 
to  spend  a  few  dollars  in  investigating  the  subject. 
that  locality  and  “hire  out”  for  two  or  three  weeks. 
After  spending  two  or  three  days  about  the  m  irkets 
of  New  York,  I  learned  that  there  was  a  big  demand 
for  capons,  that  the  prices  were  universally  higji,  that 
the  supply  did  not  begin  to  equal  the  demand,  and 
that  they  were  only  to  be  found  in  the  markets  during 
January,  February,  March  and  April;  whereas  if  they 
could  be  gob,  they  would  sell  readily  every  monbh  in 
the  year.  Of  course  an  enormous  supply  w  mid  have 
a  tendency  to  reduce  the  prices  somewhat;  but  a 
capon  would  always  sell  at  prices  “’way  above  ”  a 
cockerel.  At  Philadelphia  1  learned  that  the  reason 
why  the  name  “Philadelphia”  became  a  prefix  to 
capons  was  that  about  all  the  capons  grown  for  mar¬ 
ket  were  produced  in  towns  that  were  nearer  to  this 
city  than  any  other,  consequently  the  farmers  sent 
their  stock  there  to  the 
me  a  profit  of  nearly  $1.50 
each,  being  early  and  3 
well  matured  birds.” 
We  have  had  a  careful 
picture  of  this  capon 
made  ;  it  is  shown  at  Fig.  vj*) 
167.  It  is  the  first  time  *  |||) 
we  have  ever  seen  a  pic- 
ture  of  a  capon.  The  F 
spurs  are  not  developed  |i 
as  in  the  case  of  a  cock-  K 
erel — they  are  only  stubs.  j(J| 
The  comb  and  wattles 
are  also  undeveloped, 
while  the  plumage  is  very  V 
brilliant  and  profuse. 
Perhaps  the  most  charac-  nw'' 
teristic  thing  about  a  ca- 
pon  is  its  liead.  It  does 
not  look  like  the  head  of 
a  hen  or  of  a  rooster,  but 
like  that  of  a  capon,  and 
nothing  else.  There  is 
nothing  fierce  or  ener- 
getic  about  it,  but  rather 
a  sneaking,  lifeless  ex- 
pression.  The  comb  and 
wattles  are  undeveloped  aA ^ 
and  the  head  has  nothing  lv  i|t!I  'l 
but  fine,  hairy  feathers  lift 
gro wing  on  it.  ^  O  j| j)  | , 
To  bring  out  the  charac-  _ A 
teristic  features  of  this  nU  Ul 
capon  more  strikingly,  we 
also  show  the  drawing  of 
a  cockerel  of  about  the  JjS&rprzf? 
same  age,  which  we  found  — - JA 
m  the  Washington  Market  ,y  ■  jft* 
in  this  city.  This  bird 
is  also  a  Plymouth  Rock. 
It  is  smaller,  poorer,  and 
inferior  in  every  way  to  Plymouth  Roo 
the  capon.  The  capon 
was  roasted  and  eaten. 
We  compared  it  with  a  Brown  Patagonian  rooster 
well  fattened  and  in  good  condition.  The  Brown 
Patagonian  is  noted  for  its  large  proportion  of  breast 
meat,  yet  the  capon  exceeded  it  in  this  respect 
by  at  least  15  per  cent.  The  amount  of  fat  on  the 
capon  was  astonishing — we  all  remarked  the  difference 
in  the  two  gravy  dishes.  The  flesh  was  of  excellent 
flavor,  all  pronouncing  it  “the  best  chicken  meat” 
they  had  ever  tasted. 
Mr.  Dow  probably  does  as  much  caponizing  as  any 
man  in  the  country.  He  gives  us  the  following  facts 
as  to  the  way  he  began  the  work  : 
“On  undertaking  to  do  this  work  for  the  first 
time  after  long  deliberation,  I  realized  that  capons 
invariably  sold  high,  that  they  were  to  be  found 
in  the  markets  of  our  largest  cities  only  in  a  limited 
W  m 
llpt 
im 
'■*  -fa*  J  ,j//y 
Plymouth  Rock  Capon. 
A  Plymouth  Rock  Cockerel.  Fig.  168 
Drawn  from  Life. 
commission  houses  for 
sale,  and  as  a  result  all 
the  rest  of  the  country 
turned  to  that  city  for  its 
supply.  I  also  learned 
that  the  supply  was  lim¬ 
ited  and  the  demand  very 
large  and  that  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  capons  was 
not  confined  to  any  par¬ 
ticular  locality  in  New 
Jersey,  but  that  the  work 
was  practiced  more  or  less 
all  over  the  State.  This 
at  once  dispelled  the  idea 
that  they  could  be  pro¬ 
duced  only  at  some  partic¬ 
ular  spot. 
With  this  end  in  view  I  packed  a  pair  of  “  overalls  and 
a  jumper”  in  my  grip  and  informed  my  family  I  was 
going  on  a  trip  to  New  Jersey  “  to  see  the  country  and 
have  some  fun.”  The  wardrobe  I  was  packing  rather 
excited  the  suspicions  of  the  family,  as  it  did  not  seem 
to  them  exactly  appropriate  for  the  society  of  Cape 
May  or  Long  Branch,  but  I  held  my  peace,  for  I  did 
not  feel  like  letting  my  business  be  known  until  I  saw 
I  could  make  it  a  success  ;  but  my  mind  was  made  up 
first  to  visit  New  York  city  and  find  out  about  the  sup¬ 
ply,  demand  and  markets  for  capons,  then  go  to  Phil¬ 
adelphia,  and  depend  upon  my  Yankee  trait  for  asking 
questions  and  “  quizzing  into  things  ”  to  find  out  fi-om 
the  commission  and  market  men  in  what  part  of  Jersey 
the  best  and  greatest  number  of  capons  were  produced, 
and  when  I  ascertained  this  fact,  to  “head  for” 
Having  learned  the 
W names  of  some  people 
fn|  who  were  producing  ca- 
1 .  Fy  pons  for  market,  I  took 
if  J  the  train  for  their  address 
j|nl  llii/lf/  im/h  and  “dropped  in  on  them.” 
i  !/  /////  *  frankly  told  my  errand 
I  (  f/'/n-  — that  I  had  come  out 
!f/  ,//// there  to  learn  all  about 
I'll,  caponizing,  and  made  a 
x/lmk  trade  with  a  farmer  to 
Aj'  board  me  for  a  few  weeks. 
Am  and  teach  me  or  let  me 
//vff  learn  what  I  could.  He 
seemed  to  think  it  very 
Vi strange  that  I  had  come 
<//  so  ^ar  learn  such  a 
simple  matter,  and  told 
me  he  could  have  written 
me  a  letter  giving  me  all 
the  necessary  information 
Said  he  :  “  Come  right  out 
with  me  now  and  I  can 
OKEREL.  1<ig.  168.  show  you  all  there  is  in 
the  work  and  you  can 
caponize  as  well  as  I 
in  two  hours’  time.”  This  statement  I  really  doubted 
at  the  time,  as  it  seemed  to  me  necessary  for  one 
to  practice  for  a  long  time.  One  can  judge  my  sur¬ 
prise  when  I  saw  him  do  the  work,  with  very  awkward 
tools  that  seemed  to  me  ill-adapted  to  the  business,  in 
less  than  three  minutes.  Of  course  I  carefully  watched 
every  move.  It  was  now  my  turn  to  try,  and  while  I 
was  rather  clumsy  and  awkward,  yet  I  caponized  the 
bird  in  very  good  shape  in  less  than  10  minutes.  The 
newness  or  strangeness  was  off ;  I  saw  that  it  was  a 
very  simple  operation,  and  I  caponized  the  next  bird 
in  about  five  minutes.  The  next  morning  I  caponized 
20  more,  and  took  the  train  at  night  for  New  Hamp¬ 
shire,  laughing  to  myself  at  having  gone  to  so  much 
expense  and  trouble  to  learn  what  1  might  just  as  well 
have  acquired  at  home  from  well  written  directions. 
