58 LEWIS'S AMERICAN SPORTSMAN. 



the setter should be shown. The front of the hind legs below the 

 hocks is always bare. 



" The tail (value 10) is very thick at the root, where it is clothed 

 with very short hair. Beyond the root, however, the hair is per- 

 fectly short, so as to look as if the tail had been clipped, which it 

 sometimes fraudulently is at our shows, but the natural bareness 

 of the tail is a true characteristic of the breed. 



" The coat (value 10) is composed of short curls of hair, not 

 woolly, which betrays the poodle cross. A soft, flossy coat is ob- 

 jected to as indicative of admixture with some one of the land- 

 spaniels. 



" The color (value 10) must be a deep pure liver without white ; 

 but as in other breeds, a white toe will occasionally appear even on 

 the best-bred litter. 



" The symmetry (value 5) of this dog is not very great." 



RELATIVE MERITS. 



The relative merits of setters, pointers, and spaniels is a ques- 

 tion upon which many battles royal have been fought. Sportsmen 

 have their preferences, and will continue to hold to them, in spite 

 of argument, until satisfied by experience that they are wrong. 

 For spaniels there is of course but limited use. Their place is in 

 thickets and close woodlands, and their game the ruffed grouse and 

 woodcock. Comparison with setters and pointers must therefore 

 be restricted to this kind of work, as for open shooting the greater 

 speed and range of the latter dogs give them an unquestionable 

 superiority. It is claimed that the short range required in wood- 

 land shooting is injurious to the speed of setters and pointers. 

 This is an English idea, which has been adopted here ; but, speak- 

 ing for ourselves, we have seen too many cases in which this theory 

 has been utterly refuted, to admit that it is based upon either 

 reason or fact. The question in our mind is not one of speed, but 

 simply of natural adaptation for work, and upon this we have a 

 decided opinion, though we do not propose to express it, but to 



