THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, September 25, 1860. 
393 
•get number of them have never floated on water. They are 
; '. eC) gpeeially for Goose-loving appetite, upon some of the barest 
i bleakest hill-sides in county Derry, above Moneymore, 
*'Jertmartin, and Newtownlimavady, where they graze like 
untain-sheep or goats, and, like them, have herds. When 
own to a suitable size, they are purchased in lots by dealers 
a Is. to Is. 3 d. per head, or exported by the breeders them- 
elves. Their drovers to Belfast rarely take advantage of the 
•ail, halting their cackling and hungry charge here and there on 
a common or other piece of waste ground, and feeding them as 
sparingly as may be. The profit in England, where they are 
sold to other dealers, is from 2s. to 2s. 6 d. per head. When 
fattened up—a quick process—they bring from 7s. 6d. to 9s. 
each in London, and pass for Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire 
Geese, which they resemble.—( Belfast News-Letter.) 
ANOTHER SUFFERER WITH “E. C.” 
In your number of August 21st, you announced that, should 
you hear of any more such transactions by the party who 
Victimised “ E. C.,” you would publish his name and address. 
Will you kindly give your opinion on the following ? 
In consequence of the advertisements of R. Tate, of Driffield, 
I, on 21st July, wrote to him as follows : — 
“ 21st July. 
“ Wanted, one, two, or three pens of this year’s Malay chickens ; 
they must be dark in colour, flat on the head, not less than three 
months old, and strong, so as to be able to stand a short sea 
voyage.—Apply, stating price, &c., to yours, &c., 
“ Richard Baxter, Leadenhall Marlcet .” 
I received this answer :— 
“ Sib,—I can send you a pen of Malay chickens, very good, 
over three months old, for 30s., and Is. Gd. the hamper, and 
on receipt of a post-office order they shall be forwarded imme¬ 
diately.—Yours truly, “R. Tate.” 
I then sent him the following letter, and a post-office order 
for 31s. 6 d .: — 
“ 28th July, 1860. 
“Sib,—T he price you mention is more than I expected to 
have to pay for the pen of Malay chickens (cock and two hens). 
The party who has ordered then of me is a very old Malay 
fancier and excellent judge of their merits, so I hope you will not 
send them unless you feel sure that they are pure bred. The 
cock Black-breasted Red, and the hens dark brown; age over 
three months. If not approved, me to return them and pay the 
carriage back. I arrange for this as I am sure you would not 
wish me to have them on my hands if the customer refuses them ; 
although there is no fear of that, if they are good ones. Upon 
this condition I send you a post-office order for 31s. 6 d., and 
shall look to reeeive the hamper on Monday. You do not say 
if you have more than one pen, as I want three pens. 
“ To R. Tate.” “ R. Baxter. 
Mr. Tate’s answer, 29th July, acknowledges post-office order, 
and promises to send them next day. They did not arrive till 
2nd August, and then came a little dirty old basket, broken and 
partly covered with a dirty piece of sacking, containing three 
sickly chickens, about six weeks old, and such a specimen ; but 
there, I cannot describe them. I fed. the poor little things, sent 
them off again, and wrote him as follows :— 
“ Sib,—T he birds you sent and wbicli arrived here this day, 
were ‘ not Malays ;’ they were not of the age bargained for; they 
were not of the stated colours ; and there were two cocks out of 
three. I have been a dealer and fancier above thirty years, and 
my name is well known through the kingdom. I never saw so 
absurd a specimen of prize poultry sent to order. I told you 
that my customer was a good judge, and you have sent things 
to me which would not fetch Is. each in tins Market. I, there¬ 
fore, fed them and sent them back immediately. It is really too 
bad to put me to the trouble and expense of carriage. I will 
thank you to send me a post-office order for the cash back.— 
“ To Mr. Tate.” “ Yours, &c., R. Baxter. 
Having been delayed thus long, I was obliged to depart for 
the Continent on my half-yearly trip to visit my customers, and 
those who are in the habit of consigning goods to me. (The 
Malays were ordered for the purpose of taking them with me.) 
When I returned I expected to find the cash sent back ; but, 
oh, no! nothing of the kind. There were a pen of old birds, 
a-nd a slasliing letter telling me that the chicks were bred from 
prize birds, offering to lay a large sum that I was in error about 
the two cocks, and informing me that my thirty years had 
been badly spent if I could not see the merits of the birds he 
sent, and then modestly concluding, that, as he had sent me a 
pen of year-old birds, I could send him 5s. more in stamps. 
But not a word about returning my money. On meeting this 
cool piece of impudence I again wrote him. 
“ Sir, —When I returned the worthless things you sent me 
for Malays the time was up, and I was obliged to start for the 
Continent without that part of the order. I expected on my 
return that I should find you had returned the money, instead 
of which you send me a pen of old birds, ‘ equally worthless 
to me.’ Will you return me my money, and I will send them 
back ? If you do not do so, I assure you I shall not put up with 
it tamely.—Yours, &c., “ R- Baxter.” 
Mr. Tate does not deign to reply to this ; he thinks, no doubt j 
that it will blow over, but he is mistaken. I have the birds, and 
am keeping them awaiting his answer. Mr. Tate will find that 
he must come to a reckoning with me, and if I then find that I 
am obliged to take to them, I shall be glad to take half-a-crown 
each for them. I have preserved the basket and old piece of 
sacking, and should like to show it to the Editors of The Cottage 
Gardener, if I did not fear offending their sight with the filthy 
things. It is not worth one halfpenny.—R. Baxter, Leadenhall 
Market. 
BURTON-ON-TRENT POULTRY EXHIBITION. 
The Staffordshire Agricultural Society this year held their 
annual Meeting at Burton-on-Trent. The day was, most luckily, 
one of the very finest throughout the past su mm er, and, con¬ 
sequently, the attendance of visitors was, perhaps, the most 
numerous of any that has taken place in the midland counties 
for some years past. Bv the care and attention of a most pains¬ 
taking Committee, everything was carried out in a manner so 
complete, that not a single expression of dissatisfaction met our 
ears throughout our visit. The show-yard was constantly well 
filled, and no small proportion of the assembly were ladies. This 
proves beyond doubt how peculiarly attractive a portion of such 
exhibitions is the poultry. We will instance one fact. Only 
last week a similar agricultural Meeting, but without poultry, 
was held at Coleshill, which is only 10 miles from Birmingham, 
whilst Burton is 31)- miles from that dense population. Both 
places are situated on the same line of rails, and the fares were 
about triple as much to the Meeting now under consideration, 
yet thousands of visitors and a great proportion of them ladies 
with their families, were enjoying themselves at Burton, whilst 
scarcelv a female could be seen at the Coleshill Meeting. 8till 
the weather on both occasions was equally favourable. On making 
inquiry on the spot, the reason universally assigned for this ex¬ 
traordinary discrepancy in receipts was attributed exclusively to the 
attractiveness of the poultry department; and a close observation 
for several hours convinced us that this opinion was undoubtedly 
a correct one. At this particular season of the year, poultry, 
however, are scarcely to be expected in perfect plumage ; the bulk 
of the collection was, nevertheless, in far better feather than we 
anticipated. , , , , 
The Game class was a good one, but not a feiy cockerels nad 
barely recovered the pull-back consequent on dubbing. The 
Grey Dorkings were a marvellous class ; indeed, it is only rarely 
at the very largest of our exhibitions we see so good a display. 
The Spanish are not deserving of particular mention, if we except 
the second-prize pen, which, with age, will, no doubt, improve 
greatly. The Golden-pencilled were the best of the Hamburghs, 
and the first-prize pen of this variety would, indeed, be hard to 
beat anywhere, if kept up to their present condition. 
The Geese and Turkeys exhibited by Lady Chesterfield were 
universally admired, so much so, that the price they were 
entered at—six guineas each pen—it was thought would not prove 
prohibitory of sale. , , 
The birds were carefully attended to, and promptly dispatched 
at the close of the Show. 
Gasie.— First, G. Cargev, SandonFarm (Black Red). Second, J. Stubbs, 
eston Hall, Stafford (Black Red). Highly Commended, G. Cargey ; 
B. Chune, Coalbrookdale (Black-hreasted Red). Commended, E. Bell, 
orninglow Road, Burton (Black-breasted Red); Mrs. Hardy, Dunstall 
Sp’ani^ii 0 —First, G. Cargey, Sandon Farm. Second, The Duke of Suther- 
nd, Trentham Hall (White-faced). Commended, G. Cargey. 
Dorkings.— First, Sir H. Desvoeux, Drakelow. Second, G. Cargey, 
mdon Farm (Silver Grey). Highly Commended, Sir H. Desvoeux (Silver 
rey); G. Cargey (Silver Grey) ; J. B. Chune, Coalbrookdale; E. Tud- 
an, Ash Grove, -Whitchurch (Grey); Lady Chesterfield, Bretby (Grey), 
