"LEOPARD" AND "LINDEN TREE." q 



ship, should be better informed than some professional breeders upon 

 land; but I have found it to be frequently the case with both naval and 

 army officers. Men are born with the breeder's gift, and no matter what 

 their calling may be, that gift is there, waiting only the opportunity for 

 development. 



Thus, Paymaster Smith was born with this gift, which had been cul- 

 tivated somewhat in boyhood ; then through years of observation, with 

 comparison in the mind, at different ports of the world, he had stored 

 away information far richer than that of men delvine a lifetime in "one 

 rut," with one idea, "upon one side of the fence." 



A breeder should be a liberally-educated man, and by nature a 

 worker, which unfortunately few are. He should be a physical worker, 

 also a mental worker, withal a thinker: and my word for it, there is 

 not one moment for play or recreation, scarce even for social conver- 

 sation. 



Some of my very best correspondents upon the questions of animal 

 life in years gone by have been officers in the army and navy. 



The question of blood and breeding in horses, cattle, sheep, and 

 dogs is of importance to all civilized nations, which these men know ; 

 and where a naval officer is interested, his opportunities for information 

 are rare indeed. Naval officers, as a rule, are some of our best- edu- 

 cated men. The system of mental training in the navy tends to make 

 strong-minded men with retentive memories. Their restriction to con- 

 finement, I may say, in connection with study, breeds and encourages 

 deep thought with after-reflection. Graduating from a naval academy, 

 they visit by schooling-ships the different distant ports of the world, cul- 

 tivating observation and memory. Curiosity prompts comparison, and 

 the most important mental faculty, memory, is constantly worked. Cul- 

 tivation of the three traits, observation, comparison, and memory, after 

 the young mind and habits have been trained and cultured (refined), 

 enhances the quality of the growing man, all being at any moment 

 successfully applied to development of any special gift possessed, aside 

 from the may be forced legitimate calling. Thus, the merchant, the 

 doctor, the lawyer, or the mechanic can become a successful breeder if 

 he has the breeder's gift; and his mental culture, with trained system, 

 will give him a wonderful advantage over the yeoman who hates " book 

 learnino." 



Paymaster (later Paymaster-General U.S.N.) Smith was by instinct 

 a breeder and handler of horses ; or, as the saying is, " was all horse" 

 when not otherwise engaged. He was a splendid driver, and superior 



