THE BOSTON TERRIER 55 



pups, do not on any account ever change. Let 

 the marriage last for life. Somewhat closely 

 connected with this last fact is another equally 

 important, the fact of prepotency in a stud dog, 

 consisting of the capacity on the part of the dog 

 to transmit his share of characteristics to his 

 offspring in a far larger degree than is im- 

 parted by the average dog. Those who closely 

 follow the breed will discover how certain dogs 

 do, and have done in the past, from "Barnard's 

 Mike" down to certain dogs of the present time, 

 stamp the hall-mark of excellence on all the 

 pups they sire, in a greater or less degree. 

 Happy are those owners of dams who are aware 

 of this important fact and take pains to use in 

 the stud dogs of this character. I have some- 

 times wondered how much Barnard's Mike was 

 worth to the breed. It will be doubtless re- 

 membered by horsemen that the great trainer, 

 Hiram Woodruff, speaking of the importation 

 of the thoroughbred, "Messenger," one of the 

 founders of the American trotter, in 1788, said 

 that "when Messenger charged down the 

 gang-plank, in landing from the ship, the value 

 of not less than one hundred million dollars 

 struck our soil." He would be a very courage- 

 ous man who would dare compute the worth of 

 "Mike" or "Buster" or "Sullivan's Punch," 

 when viewed from the same standpoint. 



