408 BRITISH DOGS 



as the lisping showman in "Hard Times," sapiently observed; and 

 the powers that be in this country have scarcely even yet realised 

 the important fact. 



Badger-hunting is quite entitled to be called legitimate sport. It 

 is best conducted at night by the light of the moon, when the object 

 is to bag the badger. Late in the evening the badger, which is of 

 retiring and secluded habits, leaves his home to hunt for provender, 

 and in his absence a sack is placed in the entrance to his earth, the 

 mouth kept open by means of a withy bent into a circular form. 

 The dogs are then sent to scour the country round, with the conse- 

 quence of alarming the badger, which, seeking safety in his strong- 

 hold, finds himself trapped at the entrance, the bag being speedily 

 closed, with the "grey" inside, by the party who have been waiting 

 his return. 



Terriers are used in digging out badgers, being sent to earth after 

 them, where the dog, if an adept at his work, keeps on baying the 

 badger, thus intimating the position of the quarry to the diggers, 

 who, with ears to the ground, constantly listen that they may know 

 from the sounds where dog and badger have shifted to. It is no 

 easy task for the dog; for the badger, provident against dangers, 

 constructs his earthworks on scientific principles, and has chamber 

 after chamber into which he can retire as he is fought first out of 

 one and then another. These earths are often constructed among 

 roots of aged trees, and in rocky ground, which makes it difficult for 

 dog and digger combined to dislodge him ; and when in light, sandy 

 soil, the badger, borson, bawsind, grey, or brock for by all these 

 names is he designated is said to be able to dig his way into new 

 ground as fast as two men with spades can clear the earth to follow 

 him. There is no better dog for badger-hunting than a Bull-terrier, 

 if well entered. 



The Bull-teriier, as a breed, seems to have been established 

 towards the end ov the eighteenth century. Taplin says : " Terriers 

 have, by the lower classes, for the purpose of badger-baiting, been 

 bred in-and-in with the Bulldog, which has enlarged them and 

 increased their natural ferocity." 



Although descended from the dogs referred to, our modern Bull- 

 terrier is much changed for the better, in both appearance and 

 manners. Dog-shows have undoubtedly done much to make the 

 breed respectable, and the well-built, strong, yet active, pure white 

 Terrier, with black eyes and nose, is quite a gentlemanly fellow by 

 comparison with the limping, pied or brindle-and-white, blear-eyed, 

 and face-scarred companions of the Bill Sykes of a past generation. 



Mr. W. J. Tredinnick, well known at one time as a breeder of 

 these Terriers, says : " The Bull-terrier, like all other breeds of dogs, 

 has been greatly improved in general appearance, since dog shows 

 have become so general, for now, instead of having a variety of types. 



