THE FOX-TERRIER 443 



Thus it is that a great number of our Smooth Fox-terriers are 

 irritating brutes, without any idea of their work, or of hunting, which 

 is a great point ; for a Terrier who is not a keen hunter, and does 

 not lash an ever-busy stern, either along a hedgerow or in cover, is 

 not the right sort at all ; while if he will give tongue on a scent, so 

 much the better. 



Avoiding, however, the mongrelised smooth dog, and sticking 

 to good old strains, we should say there is not twopence to choose 

 between the Smooth and the Wire-haired for work. It is submitted 

 that a close, dense, smooth coat will always turn wet better than one 

 that is broken. On this point ' Stonehenge ' says : * The Fox-terrier 

 Club description does not sufficiently, I think, insist on the thick 

 and soft undercoat, which should always be regarded as of great 

 importance in resisting wet and cold. An open long coat is even 

 worse than a thick short one for this purpose, as it admits the wet to 

 the skin and keeps it there, whereas the short coat speedily dries.' 

 There is no doubt this undercoat is of great importance, but even 

 when it exists in perfection, the divisions among the longer hair 

 must allow a more ready access for rain and wet in the interstices 

 than would be the case with a smooth dog, whose thick, dense coat 

 lies flat and close together. 



The Wire-haired Terrier, from the absence of those causes 

 that have so damaged the Smooth race, has preserved in obscurity 

 all the true working capacity of the tribe, for a very simple reason 

 that, as a rule, he has been bred solely for work. There can be no 

 doubt that in point of quality he is considerably behind the Smooth- 

 haired ; indeed, what would have happened to the race had not 

 Kendal's Old Tip come to the rescue and got some really good- 

 looking ones such as Mr. Carrick's Venture, Mr. Shirley's Tip, 

 Mr. Hayward Field's Tussle, and others it is impossible to say. 



The north countrymen have paid much greater attention to 

 the breed than the south, and it was there that Kendal's Tip did 

 good service with the Sinnington for some years. Mr. Carrick, of 

 Carlisle, has always a few good ones, which he uses with the Otter- 

 hounds, and several of them, such as Vixen and Venture, have 

 been very successful at shows. The late Charles Kirby, of Malton, 

 owned some excellent Terriers, chiefly from strains possessed by 

 . the Rev. C. Legard. Among these was Sam (who afterwards 

 belonged to the writer), as game a dog as ever walked, but short of 

 coat. He won a prize or two, and was worried in the kennels. 

 His blood proved very valuable, and may be met with in such 

 dogs as Mr. L. Hogg's Topper, and several others, such as Sting 

 (K.C.S.B. 5,629). Among others of Kirby's was Vic (K.C.S.B. 

 6,7 12), a beautiful bitch, by Captain Skipworth's Tartar out of Venom, 

 by Lord Milton's Sam out of Rev. C. Legard's Miss ; and there was 

 also Tip, now called Tussle, a rare little dog, one of the few Wire- 



