326 FKAKK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. 



to it. The Russians, on the contrary, being much closer 

 rangers, quartering their ground steadily — heads and tails up — 

 and possessing perfection of nose, in extreme heat, wet, or cold, 

 enabled us to bag double the head of game that mine did. 

 Nor did they lose one solitary wounded bird ; whereas, with 

 my own dogs, I lost six brace the first two days' Partridge 

 shooting, the most of them in standing corn. 



" ' My old friend and patron, having met with a severe acci- 

 dent while hunting, determined to go to Scotland for the next 

 three years, Seeing that my dogs were well calculated for 

 Grouse shooting, as they had been broken and shot to on the 

 moors, and being aware of my anxiety to possess the breed of 

 his Russians, he very kindly offered to exchange them for mine, 

 with a promise I would preserve a brace of Russian puppies 

 for him. Although I had refused fifty guineas for my brace, I 

 most gladly closed with his offer. Since then I have hunted 

 them in company with several dogs of high character, but 

 notliing that I have yet seen could equal them. If not taken 

 out foi six months, they are perfectly steady, which is a quality 

 rarely to be met with. Every sportsman must know, that the 

 fewer dogs he can do his work with properly, the better ; for 

 if they are in condition, they cannot be too frequently hunted ; 

 and their tempers, style of working, &c., become more familiar 

 to him. On this the whole comfort of shooting depends. Upon 

 these grounds I contend that, for all kinds of shooting therefore 

 there is nothing equal to the Russian, or half-bred Russian Set- 

 ter, in nose, sagacity, and every other qualification that a dog 

 ought to possess. It may appear an exaggeration, but it is 

 my opinion, in which I am supported by many of the first 

 sportsmen in England, that there is not one keeper in fifty that 

 knows how to manage and break a dog efficiently. It is a 

 common practice for keepers to take their dogs out for an hour 

 or two, twice or thrice a week, morning or evening, just before 

 the commencement of the season — what would be thought of 

 training a horse in that way, for a race over the flat, or a stee- 

 ple-chase ] Hard and constant work is as necessary for a dog, 



