Related article: BAILY S MAGAZINE. [March hunting and hints that he had no aversion from a comfortably established outlyer. Nevertheless, four seasons is a long holiday for a stag. This period has been enjoyed by a deer enlarged by the K.D.Gs. before their regi- mental hounds in Norfolk, only to be taken by the 5th Hussars on January 23rd of this year. This good deer defied the huntsman of The Black Horse on several occa- sions. The 7th Hussars had to ride hard for twenty miles before they got their quarry. On the 27th, however, they uncarted an untried hind which successfully eluded them and was left out after a very severe run, so they are no gainers. The second case was with Mr. Greene's hounds. After a fair morning's sport, the master got " Khabar " of one of his outlying hinds. In a small covert near Rougham they found her*, and with every hound speaking to the line, drove her out. The run was fair steeplechasing for an hour, and panting horses and riders were scattered all along the line of the chase, but the scent served throughout, hounds were never far from their deer, and she was finally captured in Bardwell Vil- lage. This was a great week for the staghounds, for on the Thurs- day the Ripley and Knaphill Harriers, a sporting little pack which hunt part of the wild country round Guildford and Godalming, went to look for an out-Iyer near Lord Pirbright's house. Hounds soon struck the line, and for five hours and forty minutes held to the line, travelling over thirty miles and being beaten by darkness at last, when Mr. Echlin (the master) had to give her up. Those who know the country, rough and wild as it is in parts and noted for its trappy fences, will not undervalue the perform- ance of these game little hounds, which, by the way, are a very neat pack of Dwarf fox-hounds. Resignation of Major de Freville. — It is much to be hoped that the people who have given it as their opinion that Major de Freville might improve upon his manner of keeping up the Cotswold Hounds are large subscribers. However, their criti- cism has only had the disastrous effect of causing the master to announce his resignation ; nor could he be induced to alter his mind, and one is glad to learn that at present there is no chance of his giving way unless he is provided with a much amplified subscription. It is a fitting protest against the fussiness of some people who fancy that they are justified to whole manage- ment of a hunt to which possibly they gave but a nominal sum. The Major has had the Cotswold country for six years, and during that time has succeeded in pleasing quite as many people as a master can hope to please. Mr. Elwes, the chairman of the meeting, who spoke with a forty years' knowledge of the hunt, praised the Major's services and said that no one could have shown better sport; the farmers are exceedingly partial to him, and so are the field as a rule. Good and experienced masters are not so plentiful now that hunts can afford to let them go too easily, and it must be rather annoying to a master who does his best, to be criticised Buy Copegus by some- one who never had any experi- ence of the difficulties of carrying on a hunt. The Major's services have been so much appreciated, however, that he is to be pre- sented with a testimonial, and £go was promised in the room before the meeting broke up. Other Changes. — Mr. Port- man is already weary of the 1899] "OUR VAN. ii 227 difficulties of the Taunton Vale. Lord Southampton, the well- known No. 2 of the Freebooter team, is chosen as master of the Woodland Pytchley. Every reader of Baily knows that he has been a most successful deputy- master of the Warwickshire. This last-named pack have had a series of misfortunes. The doctors have finally forbidden Lord Willoughby to hunt hounds himself. Jem Cooper, K.H., the second of the name who has won credit in the annals of hunting, is on the shelf with an injury to his back, which has interrupted a hitherto success- ful career as huntsman. Yeo, from the Shropshire, takes his place at Kineton. Bonner, of the Meynell, has resigned the horn, and wishes for a new place. Walter Keyte has been appointed huntsman of the Quorn, he, like his predecessor, having never served as first whipper-in. Mr. Hargreaves is resigning the Cat- tistock and Captain Harrison the East Gal way. • Poultry. — This is a threatening question in some hunts, indeed it seems likely to be almost as se- rious as wire or pheasants. The attention of the writer has been called to some very minatory letters in a contemporary dealing with poultry, on the subject of hunting, and advocating certain methods of trapping foxes. Both the methods suggested are likely to bring trouble on those who practise them, but it is the spirit which is serious. In some dis- tricts poultry farming and poultry fancying are become common interests. No matter how often our friend Mr. Tegetmeier demon- strates the hopelessness of making hen-farming pay, still the will-o'- the-wisp attracts. The blame of failure is laid on foxes, or any- thing indeed except the inherent difficulties of the work. The case of the fancier is more serious, because to hunt secretaries a hen is a hen, and nothing more, and the uninitiated do not know the gulf which separates the useless bird which will not lay and which you cannot fatten, from the useful, necessary, barn-door bird. The price of the fancy bird is estimated in guineas, the latter in shillings. Yet facts are facts, and I am afraid we must take cognizance of the existence of fancy poultry. What is suggested here is that in these exceptional cases the birds should be valued by a competent person before each season and their Copegus 200 Mg loss made good on a fairly liberal scale when the hunt secre- tary pays out his poultry fund. If it be said that this is laying a new burden on the funds of the hunt, we cannot deny it, but it must be faced. On the other hand* a fair valuation of the poultry in each division of the hunt while they are alive would probably be an invaluable guide