64 SHOOTING SETTEES. 



contend that, for all kinds of shooting therefore 

 there is nothing equal to the Russian, or half-bred 

 Russian setter, in nose, sagacity, and every other 

 qualification that a dog ought to possess. It may 

 appear an exaggeration, but it is my opinion, in 

 which I am supported by many of the first sportsmen 

 in England, that there is not one keeper in fifty that 

 knows how to manage and break a dog efficiently. 

 It is a common practice for keepers to take their 

 dogs out for an hour or two, twice or thrice a week, 

 morning or evening, just before the commencement 

 of the season what would be thought of training 

 a horse in that way, for a race over the flat, or 

 a steeple-chase? Hard and constant work is as 

 necessary for a dog, that has to hunt from morning 

 to night, and frequently for several successive days, 

 as for a race-horse. He should be taken out two or 

 three hours daily, in the middle of the day, to use 

 him to the heat, for three or four weeks before the 

 season begins ; and let me observe, in conclusion, 

 that if his master were to adopt a similar course, 

 he would have good cause to rejoice in the precau- 

 tion before the end of his first week's shooting." 



Another gentleman, a large breeder of sporting 

 dogs, thus answered our queries as to the kind of 

 animal best suited to the general purpose of 

 shooting : 



" I have tried all sorts, and, at last, fixed upon 

 a well-bred setter as the most useful. I say well- 

 bred, for not many of the dogs with feathered sterns, 



