THE IRISH SETTER. 57 



I am digressing from the subject; yet this incident serves to 

 show the difference in the reliability of the two breeds, to 

 the advantage of the Irishman. 



We find two shades of red in this breed, the dark and 

 the light, the modern fashion favoring the former. The 

 presence of white has already been spoken of. It is no 

 fault or blemish. 



In coat texture we also find a variety, both, no doubt, 

 being all right, and a peculiarity of the strain the one 

 short on body, rather harsh, is frequently the darker, while 

 the light shade is longer, Spaniel-like, having a sort of 

 undercoat; and this seems to me the more useful one for the 

 purpose, giving the better protection from wet and cold. 

 It is this kind that is so apt to become wavy when exposed 

 to the hardships of the field; the very thing that handicaps 

 them at the shows, which, in this breed more than in any 

 other of the sporting breeds, have actually been detri- 

 mental to the breed, in placing before any other quality 

 that beauty of color and gloss of coat of the mahogany 

 red. 



In speaking in this manner of bench shows, I do not 

 mean to condemn these institutions; for they are useful, and 

 to the owners and trainers very entertaining, if to the dogs 

 a torture. They are a sort of necessary evil. No event of 

 the year equals in interest one of our larger shows, where 

 all the men interested in dogs seem to gather for a sort of 

 love-feast; and extreme good-fellowship usually prevails, 

 especially among those who are favored by the blue, while 

 the disappointed ones each find some grand, good quality 

 in his dog, somewhere, which the judge had overlooked, 

 but which they are bound all shall recognize with them. 

 Animosity is wiped out, and new friendships are sealed, 

 around the corner, if it takes all day and a few hours of the 

 next day. East and West, North and South, all are happy 

 alike; the St. Bernard man was never known to leave his 

 row, while the Bulldog man looks with utter contempt 

 on any breed that can't fight. The Pointer man blows 

 a bit more than the rest, and the English Setter man feels 



