BREEDING MASTIFFS. 51 



as Mr. Green's champion Monarch, one of the largest, and at the same time, best made dogs 

 that at the moment occurs to me. Against these advantages may be placed the probability 

 of not obtaining from him the breadth of muzzle, so much looked for by judges of the 

 present day ; and this defect I would endeavour to remedy by putting bitches from him to 

 such a dog as Rajah or one of his descendants, such as Wolsey, or The Shah. A happy 

 result of such a course was to be seen in Mr. Fletcher's Lady Love, first prize at the 

 Alexandra Palace Show of 1879; she being by the Shah, out of Norma by Monarch, and not 

 only good in head and muzzle, but also in bone, body, loins, &c. To take another example 

 from a different type, size and bone may undoubtedly be obtained from Big Ben, inherited, I 

 believe, on his dam's side, from the Duke of Devonshire's strain. Many of Big Ben's 

 immediate descendants, however, do not please me in other points, being, in my opinion, bad 

 in skull, coarse in coat, and in many cases weak behind. To these objections I consider my 

 dog Cardinal merely an exception ; but at the same time I think excellent results may be 

 looked for in combining Big Ben's blood with that of King's descendants, either through Turk 

 or Rajah. This latter dog (Rajah) has, undoubtedly, done much to improve the head in many 

 Mastiffs. Many of his descendants, however, are considerably undershot ; and although I am 

 not prepared to carry my objections to this as far as some, still I would endeavour to 

 avoid it, as I see no advantage in it. 



"If two bitches were offered to me for breeding, one with a good head but deficient in 

 length of body and width of loins, and the other good in body but with inferior head, I 

 would select the latter, believing that I should be more likely to obtain the improvement in 

 the head through a suitable sire, than to add the other points. Of course I am speaking of 

 two animals of equal pedigree. It will be gathered from what I have said, that having a 

 bitch with good head, and deficient in other points, I should go to a well-made dog like 

 Monarch ; whilst on the other hand, good-made bitches I would put to such dogs as Rajah 

 if young (Rajah is now nine years old) ; or Wolsey, or The Shah (where, however, we are 

 likely to get that dog's fault in skull as well as want of mask). I have never seen any of 

 the Lyme Hall, or so-called dogs, but if they resemble the dogs which are selected at shows 

 as being the correct type by certain authorities, I do not fancy I should admire them. 



" One thing, I think, some make a mistake in, is in not persevering in a certain cross, but 

 having mated a dog and bitch together say for instance Rajah and a Monarch bitch and not 

 at once getting what they want, they throw it up in disgust ; whereas, if they would only 

 try the bitches from such a cross again with the sire's blood, the result may be found just 

 what is wanted. 



"As regards in-breeding, it is difficult for me to give an opinion, for, in the first place, I 

 have not yet had an opportunity of trying it myself, and if I turn to the stud-book to see 

 how it has answered with others, I am met with this difficulty viz., that I know instances in 

 which the numbers of certain well-known sires such as Turk for example have slipped in 

 somehow after the name, although it is not known what Turk is the ancestor, or anything 

 respecting his breeding. To what extent this has been done I know not, and it may be that 

 where in-breeding has apparently been carried to some extent, the ancestors are not related- 

 However, I am of opinion that in-breeding, if judiciously carried out, proves beneficial, 

 and I am about trying it. I base this opinion on one or two instances where it has 

 undoubtedly been carried out advantageously, and on some promising litters of puppies from 

 my dog, where the parents are half brothers and sisters, having a very considerable 

 quantity of the same blood both on their sire's and dam's sides." 



