188 BREEDING. 



a year and a quarter to a year and a half ; while terriers and small 

 toy dogs reach maturity at a year old, or even earlier. 



IN-AND-IN BREEDING. 



The questions relating to in-and-in breeding and crossing are 

 of the greatest importance, each plan being strongly advocated 

 by some people and by others as strenuously opposed. Like 

 many other practices essentially good, in-breeding has been 

 grossly abused ; owners of a good kennel having become bigoted 

 to their own strain, and, from keeping to it exclusively, having at 

 length reduced their dogs to a state of idiotcy and delicacy of 

 constitution which has rendered them quite useless. Thus I have 

 seen in the course of twenty years a most valuable breed of 

 pointers, by a persistence in avoiding any cross, become so full of 

 excitability that they were perpetually at " a false point," and 

 backing one another at the same tim^ without game near them ; 

 and, what is worse, they could not be stirred from their position. 

 This last was from a want of mental capacity, for it is by their 

 reasoning powers that these dogs find out when they have made 

 a mistake, and without a good knowledge-box the i^ointer and 

 setter are for this reason quite useless. But the breed I allude to,, 

 when once they had become stiff, were like Chinese idols, and 

 must absolutely be kicked or whipped up in order to make them 

 start oflf beating again. Mr. A. Graham, who has had a long 



