SELECTION OF SIRE. 203 



of excellence, and in the mean while practically neglect 

 others. And in doing so they frequently find it necessary 

 to take risks ; that is, in order to improve one quality they 

 are often obliged to put another in jeopardy ; but he who 

 is wise never does this unless the gain promises to be 

 much greater than the loss. 



Setter breeders well illustrate this principle of " give 

 and take." They have produced in what is known in this 

 country as the Llewellin setter great speed and dash, yet 

 have sacrificed much of the beautiful setter quality that is 

 seen in the Laveracks. 



But in breeding for the field, while it is desirable that 

 both sires and dams be well broken, to base selections 

 purely on excellence as workers is clearly wrong if real 

 improvement is the end in sight, for, manifestly, there is 

 no chance for form if one breeds for nose, another for 

 speed, and so on, ignoring the points of the breed. And 

 the reader should unhesitatingly accept that he can never 

 justly sacrifice type for any educational quality. Moreover, 

 he should be duly mindful of the fact that less importance 

 is to be attached to a killing pace and more to other essen- 

 tial qualities, also, that he cannot expect greyhound speed 

 in setter form, and if he is to have one he must give up 

 the other. 



Every beginner should start out with a fixed purpose of 

 breeding, not for market m^erely, but to advance his special 

 variety of dogs to a higher grade of excellence. Even if 

 he is so fortunate as to be able to indulge his inclinations 

 to their full extent, he should not invest largely at first. 

 Three or four brood bitches will be quite as many as he 

 can do justice to while yet inexperienced, and to him they 

 will prove more profitable than would twice this number. 



If he has a dog of his own he will likely use him 

 in every instance, and if he does so he will be liable to go 



