122 British Dogs. 



shooting is concerned, I am compelled to admit that he is the victim of 

 circumstances. The change made in the system of cultivation in Eng- 

 land has been such that, from lack of cover to hide his game (which 

 enabled him to get up to it), and not from degeneracy in himself, he has 

 become of less service now than he was in the days of small enclosures 

 and reaped stubbles. 



The stubbles, once the chief cover, are now cut by the machine so close 

 that it is next to impossible for game to lie to a dog on them. This, 

 with other changes in agriculture, militates strongly against the dog. 

 He has now to work against very great difficulties, and difficulties which 

 are not, I am sorry to say, likely to disappear. In spite of these disadvan- 

 tages, I still maintain that a good pointer can be used during the first 

 month of the season with pleasure and advantage. I have always used 

 my dogs this season, whether I have been shooting alone or in company, 

 and during the first three weeks, in a very rough country, over 100 brace 

 were killed to them, and they did excellent service in finding wounded 

 game. 



A friend to whom I lent my bitch Stella killed over her 100 brace 

 to his own gun, and in the latter part of September he wrote me, 

 ' ' I find I can still have good sport with your dog. Stella is all that 

 I can wish for as a pointer, and I never lose any wounded game with 

 her ; she has rendered me excellent services. She does in her work all 

 but talk to me." 



Now, even in Scotland, "setting" dogs are, after the first three 

 weeks, of little service ; so that for partridge shooting (where it is not 

 conducted in gangs) I consider that the pointer has still, through his 

 usefulness, a heavy claim on our regard. 



Before I proceed to define the points considered necessary to make up 

 a first-class prize winning pointer, I may just say that there can be no 

 doubt whatever that the standard of points used to decide as to which 

 is the best looking pointer is in some measure a fancy and an arbitrary 

 one. It makes some points essentially necessary that are of no real 

 practical value, because they have no direct or indirect bearing on the 

 dog's utility. The possession of them does not render him any the more 

 fitted to assist the sportsmen with the gun. , 



I do not demur to the points now adopted as tests of beauty, simply 

 because we all have our ideas of what is beautiful, and the standard 



