584. QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL, [1 Dec., 1901. 
sewn up at all, and, being liberated from the operating table, commence to feed 
at once. The small amount of suffering can be altogether obviated by chloroform, 
and at so trifling a cost as to be unworthy of consideration. Miles’s method is to 
divide the skin and muscle between the two last ribs, a1 1 get a view within of the 
viscera by means of a spreader, while another instrume 't, like a pair of tongs, is 
inserted, with which to grasp the testicles one by one. 3 :previous to cutting the 
skin, the bird’s head is held in a wide-mouthed glass jar’ +t, with a sprinkling of 
chloroform at the bottom of it, he will soon drop «; » head and be perfectly 
insensible. The operation is so short that he need run no risk of an overdose 
of the anesthetic, and, beyond being a bit tipsy, feels no inconvenience, generally 
feeding before he is quite able to walk straight. 
Fasting for twenty to thirty hours makes the work very much easier, as the 
empty intestines collapse, and the testes are visible to the operator. The autumn 
months are the best for caponing, as spring chicken fetch too high a price to need 
any castration, but from August to the end of October leggy cockerels of no 
great value are a nuisance on the farm, neither fatting themselves nor letting 
the other sex have any peace. Birds made into capons during these months 
fatten without putting up, and come into the market as large, fine-fleshed fowls 
before the earliest of spring chicken come to hand and when game is over. 
PLANTING SEASONS AT STANTHORPE, 
C. any F., Sranriorpe.—A. correspondent asks us to supply some 
information as to the times and seasons for planting and sowing various crops 
in the Stanthorpe district. Mr. A. H. Benson, Instructor in Fruit Culture, 
has kindly prepared the following table, which will, we think, furnish all the 
information required :— ; 
Crop. ' Season to Plant. Crop. - Season to Plant. 
All grasses March and September Kafir corn August to January 
Apple August , Lucerne March to July 
Apricot July Maize August to January 
Artichoke May to September Mangelwurtzel August and September 
Asparagus August to October Nectarines July 
Barley March and April Oats March and April 
Beans May to December Onions April and May 
Beets February, March, Sep- Panicum January 
tember Peach July and August 
Broom millet August to January Pear July and August 
Cabbage March to September Plum . July 
Cape barley January to March Potatoes August and March 
Carrot Nearly all seasons Rape September 
Cauliflower February and March Raspberry June 
Celery September Rhubarb August and September 
Chestnut-trees August Rye March and April 
Clover March Sorghum August to January 
Cow pea September to November Strawberries February to March 
Cucumbers, melons August to November Sweet potatoes September to December 
Pumpkins, marrows August and September Teosinte August to January 
Culinary herbs February Tomatoes July and September 
Field peas April to August Tobacco September 
Fig-trees Angust Turnips March and April 
Flax March to September Vetches and tares August to February 
Grapes August : Walnut August 
Gooseberries July Wattle-trees August 
Imphee August to January Wheat March to June 
Mr. Benson says that although the seasons for planting at Goondiwindi 
correspond fairly to the seasons at Stanthorpe, still they are for some products 
as much as a month later in the latter district. All deciduous trees should be 
planted from June to the middle of August. 
