Evening star., 1916-10-01


way Or unless state or local law re-
quires it. No diseased poultry should
be offered for sale under any circum-
stances. It is desirable to offer only
plump; well fattened birds; old stock
of doubtful table quality should be dis
posed of in some other way.
Dressed poultry may be roughly
divided as follows: Chickens. hens.
ducks, geese and turkeys. The term
chickens includes broilers, fryers and
roasters.
'Broilers usually weigh from one to
two and one-half pounds; fryers from
two to three and one-half pounds. and
roasters from three and one-half
pounds up.
Hens for roasting must be in de-
sirable condition. and not SO old that
the flesh Is not tender. Hens for stew
ing may include the older fowls.
old roosters. unless specially Or
dered. should not be marketed by par
eel post. as they usually are not Of sat
isfactory quality.
Turkeys may be classed as young or
OLD hens or toms. Ducks and geese
should be sold at such an age and in
such condition as required by the Gus
toner"
Extended suggestions for marketing
poultry and other farm products are
contained in farmers bulletin No. 7O3,
Suggestions for Parcel Post Market
ing" which may be obtained by ad-
dressing the division of publications of
the Department of Agriculture.
Growing chicks cannot be expected to
thrive on short rations, and there is no
economy III trying to raise chicks in
such way The chicks must be fed
iiberally. though it is much better to
to give the chicks all they will eat
morning and night. If the right kind
of feeds are used there Is little danger
OF overfeeding. especially if the chicks
however, to see that the chicks get no
musty. moldy, sour or decayed feed of
any kind, as such stuff is bound to
cause trouble sooner or later-usually
sooner
Now is the time to be culline the
flock. Reject and get rid of ali poor
and Improbable birds; don't delay in
the hope that they may improve, be-
cause they will not. Instead. such birds
lower the average of the flock both
from financial and a health point of
view.
| poultrymen make serious mistake
, when they sell their Matched
cockerels at low price. BY caponizing
these birds and then fattening them
for winter markets they may be dis
posed of at handsome profit. and
market. for the reason that the supply
| of properly fattened and dressed capons
| is never equal to the demand. Caponiz-
ing is an operation that is made easy
! ny experience; After being caponized
the cockerel loses it's male character
istics and becomes more like the fe-
males in appearance and disposition,
though growing to much larger size.
Ihe heavier breeds, such as Plymouth
Rocks, Brahmas. Orpingtons or Wyan-
dottes. are preferable for caponizing.
The operations should be performed
when the cockerel is about two months
old. though it may be safely done even
| at three months. skilIful operator
using proper instruments can perform
| the operation in one to two minutes.
There are good sets of instruments
on the market that may be bought at
reasonable prices. and each set is ac-
companied by complete and easily COM
pretended instructions. The operation
consists of making an incision in the
side of the fowl. locating the male or
gans. inserting small cutting tool
organs and allowing the loose skin
on the fowls side to slip back and
cover the wound. With care no more
than two or three cockerels out VI a
Inconvenience or make any disturb
ance, and even those that may be
killed by accident are not loss. as
their heads may be cut off at once and
as Il It hsd feea Sssn killed fS'T pu9
posely. A day and half after it has
been operated on the bird may be fed
and watered. though many will begin
put down from the operating bench.
They are usually given soft feed for
the first few days. and then go on q
regular fattening ration. Such a ration
may be composed Of seventy pounds Of
cornmeal. thirty pounds of low-grade
-four, twenty pounds Of dried beef
scrap and ten pounds Of wheat bran.
In feeding mix a quart of buttermilk
mash and feed twice day in guam
titles the capons will clean up in about
twenty minutes. OF course, plenty Of
water. grit and charcoal should be sup