42 THE IRISH TERRIER. 



More value than ever is now being attached to good ears, 

 and a marked improvement is visible. A very strong feel- 

 ing has grown up against cropping, which was done very 

 extensively in former years. Good ears must now be bred 

 for, and breeders will have to produce dogs that do not 

 require cropping. Acting on the advice of the Irish Terrier 

 Club, the English Kennel Club has passed a rule that no 

 cropped Irish terrier, born since December 31, 1889, can 

 compete at shov/s under their rules. 



The most preferable and fashionable color is a bright red 

 and orange, tipped with red ; but other shades are by no 

 means signs of bad breeding. Color is merely a question 

 of fashion, and, as red or yellow are now considered the 

 " correct " color, the dark puppies are generally destroyed. 

 The dam of '' Killiney Boy," — the very pillar of the breed, — 

 was a rough black-and-tan, and the type now accepted as the 

 Welsh terrier. As already stated, in the litter which included 

 that successful dog " Bachelor," there were three red, one 

 grey, and five rough black-and-tan colored puppies ; and in 

 that in which the celebrated " Benedict " was produced there 

 were three red and five rough black-and-tan in hue. 



In Mr. Lee's book we find the following interesting 

 remarks regarding color and coat : 



•■ When red puppies are born in the same litter as black-and-tans, 

 the former are nearly always a good bright red ; but the black-and-tan 

 have the better coats, invariably as hard as pin wire. I am by no means 

 certain that, by not using the latter to breed from, we are losing the hard, 

 wiry coats, and brighter red color ; and were it not for the art of trim- 



