The operation of caponising as performed in England is barbarous, extremely painful, and dangerous. In France it is performed in a much more scientific and skilful manner. But the small advantage gained by this unnatural operation is more than counterbalanced by the unnecessary pain inflicted on the bird, and the great risk of losing it. Capons never moult, and lose their previously strong, shrill voice. In warm, dry countries they grow to a large size, and soon fatten, but do not succeed well in our moist, cold climate. They are not common in this country, and most of the fowls sold in the London markets as capons are merely young cockerels well crammed. If capons are kept they should have a separate house, for the other fowls will not allow those even of their own family to occupy the same roosting-perch with them. The hens not only show them indifference, but decided aversion. Hen chickens, deprived of their reproductive organs in order to fatten them sooner, are common in France, where they are styled poulardes. Fattening ought to be completed in from ten to twenty days. When fowls are once fattened up they should be killed, for they cannot be kept fat, but begin to lose flesh and become feverish, which renders their flesh red and unsaleable, and frequently causes their death. Great cruelty is often ignorantly inflicted by poulterers, higglers, and others, in "twisting the necks" of poultry. An easy mode of killing a fowl is to give the bird a very sharp blow with a small but heavy blunt stick, such as a child's bat or wooden sword, at the back of the neck, about the second or third joint from the head, which will, if properly done, sever the spine and cause death very speedily. But the knife is the most merciful means; the bird being first hung up by the legs, the mouth must be opened wide, and a long, narrow, sharp-pointed knife, like a long penknife, which instrument is made for the purpose, should be thrust firmly through the back part of the roof of the mouth up into the brain, which will cause almost instant death. Another mode of killing is to pluck a few feathers from the side of the head, just below the ear, and make a deep incision there. Some say that fowls should not be bled to death like turkeys and geese, as, from the loss of blood, the flesh becomes dry and insipid. But when great whiteness of flesh is desired, the fowl should be hung up by its legs immediately after being killed, and if it has been killed without the flow of blood, an incision should be made in the neck so that it may bleed freely.