ON EXHIBITING 65 



by a fluke. It may be that he is the owner of several 

 champions, acquired by purchasing winners, merely as 

 an accident of w r ealth. In neither case has he proved 

 himself to be a competent judge. 



But the power for good or evil which he temporarily 

 wields is far-reaching in its future effects. The mere fact 

 of his awarding a championship to a dog ensures a 

 number of applications for its stud services from beginners 

 who have no knowledge of the first principles of the 

 science of breeding, but whose ambition it is to produce a 

 winner. Thus the effect of a mistake on his part may 

 affect the future of the breed for several generations. 



The injudicious selection of specialist judges and the 

 tendency to exaggerate show points are the weapons with 

 which the cynic attacks the popular breed upon the show 

 bench. 



But, on the other hand, the arguments in favour of 

 exhibiting are manifold, and they are founded, moreover, 

 on a far firmer basis. 



Competition must ever tend in the direction of 

 improvement by the mere sordid fact of stimulating that 

 commercial instinct to which, as "a nation of shop- 

 keepers," we are supposed to be peculiarly susceptible. 



Conceding the correctness of our label, we must 

 obviously admit that as a mere matter of pounds, shillings, 

 and pence it is to our pecuniary advantage to produce 

 a better animal than our rivals. On this, the very 

 lowest ground admissible, dog shows certainly tend 



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