414 THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DOG. 



yet their work has not been done without the national 

 characteristic of contrariness being strongly exhibited. A 

 most bitter and still undecided controversy has been the con- 

 sequence. The principal cause of all the trouble has been 

 the anomalous decisions of the judges at the various bench 

 shows. 



The question of size has been the bitterest one between 

 the different factions. There can be no doubt that many of 

 the finest and purest specimens of the breed were of large 

 size, weighing thirty to forty pounds, and even more; but 

 the desire of the most genuine fanciers of this breed has 

 been to reduce the weight to twenty -live pounds and under. 

 Another vexed question is that of cropiDing, and this sub- 

 ject had been coming up from time to time until in 1888, 

 when the Irish Terrier Club passed a resolution emphatic- 

 ally condemning the custom. Consequently, the croppers 

 are in high dudgeon, and it will take years yet of careful 

 breeding to get the ears of the Irish Terrier to conform to 

 the uniform drop of those of its contemporary, the Fox 

 Terrier. At present the anti-croppers have the best of the 

 argument as far as usefulnesss and cruelty are concerned, 

 but the advocates of cropping have some strong argu- 

 ments on their side, also, as only a small percentage of Irish 

 Terriers, as now bred, are born with perfect ears; and noth- 

 ing is such an eye-sore to a Terrier man as a badly carried 

 ear, which judicious cropping does away with in a great 

 measure. 



The English Kennel Club has also taken this question 

 up, and its latest decree is to the effect that all Irish 

 Terriers born after December 31, 1889, must be shown 

 uncropped at all shows held under their auspices. To show 

 that there are still some of the large specimens, I copy the 

 following from the "Whispers" of the Stock-Keeper, which 

 may be attributed to the editor, Mr. Krehl: 



It is one of our pet theories* that the Irish Terrier, as he existed in the 

 Emerald Isle before the cunning hand of the exhibitor had been run over him, 

 was the descendant of the Irish Wolfhound. We still consider "a miniature 

 Irish Wolfhound " a good description of what we should like the Irish Terrier 

 to be. Look at the picture of that grand old bitch Spuds, in Stoneheng ; 



