SPOUTING DOGS BREEDING AND BREAKING. 277 



best shooting within a thousand miles of the Atlantic 

 seaboard is to be had, the setter is probably to 

 be preferred. There are, however, several weighty 

 matters which tell in favor of the pointer. The 

 latter stands heat better than the setter, and 

 there are many hot days in September, and even 

 in October. Some think the pointer stands thirst 

 better than the setter, but the truth is that both 

 want water every hour and a half or two hours. 

 The defects of the pointer for the prairie are 

 his thin skin and tender feet. In the fall of the 

 year the prairie-grass has a beard which cuts 

 into skin or leather. Shoot in a pair of new 

 boots, and the toes will be cut through in about 

 ten days or a fortnight, or in less time, if you 

 go into the dry grass much while the leather is 

 still wet. Consequently, as the skin of the pointer 

 is not protected by a thick coat of wiry hair, 

 like that of the best and hardiest setters, it is 

 cut on the legs, flanks, sides, and the inside of 

 the thighs. The feet are also cut and lamed. 



On the other hand, the long, thick coat of the 

 setter gets full of cocKle-burrs in those old fields 

 in which game is often found, and they cause 

 him a vast amount of trouble and annoyance. 

 About one-fourth of the time in such fields the 



