52 The Sporting Dog 



prefer to be guided by one more than by 

 the other. All of the successful lines in the 

 American Llewellins are practically of equal 

 studbook value, and the beginner can safely 

 begin his tests of breeding at the third or fourth 

 generation from existing specimens of approved 

 looks, worth, and ancestral respectability. Noth- 

 ing but a phrase ever made Count Danstone any 

 more a Llewellin than Marie's Sport; and a 

 phrase which would rank the Cincinnatus Pride- 

 Queen Vic family below the untried progeny of 

 untried straight-bred sires and dams can only 

 be sharply condemned by good sportsmen. Race 

 horse practices have their excellent reasons in 

 their own domain of breeding science. English 

 setters are another story. Purity of race is a 

 good thing when it is good. Sometimes it is a 

 misnamed conglomeration, and sometimes it needs 

 breaking up and disturbance. At any rate, the 

 English setter is not strictly a pure breed, nor is 

 the Llewellin a straight strain. It is mere pre- 

 tence to treat them as if they were. 



