492 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 
and quite as small a percentage of these imported dogs 
and bitches showed the excellent field form with which 
they were credited abroad. Many of them were first 
class in bench show competition, but as a whole they 
were lamentably inferior as workers. However, dur- 
ing the past two decades there has been wonderful im- 
provement in this breed, quite a number of pointers 
showing ability equal to that of the best setters in field 
work and field-trial competition. 
The comparative qualities of setter and pointer have 
been long debated without any final conclusions being 
reached. It is held that the pointer, having much the 
shorter coat as a rule, suffers much less from excessive 
heat than does his longer-haired brother; but that dic- 
tum has so many exceptions that it is far from being 
accepted. The shorter coat of the pointer, in compari- 
son with that of the setter, counts for very little; for 
the setter, when properly conditioned by actual field 
work, loses nearly all his feather, and his coat, also, 
is much thinned and shortened from contact with the 
cover. Unless fully conditioned and acclimated, both 
suffer much distress in hot weather, and then, if set at 
work, soon become exhausted. It is claimed for the 
pointer that he can do without water better than the 
setter. I myself have shot over both breeds exten- 
sively when the weather was hot, and where water 
was scarce, and I never observed this difference. As 
a rule, both breeds require an abundance of water in 
hot weather. Occasionally, one—either pointer or set- 
ter, as the case may be—will show phenomenal en- 
