Chesapeakes and IVaterspaniels 157 



when they are really of no service, whether you 

 shoot from a blind or a tank." His opinion is 

 widely representative, since for two generations 

 St. Louis has been the greatest duck-shooting 

 centre in the world, its wild fowl territory cover- 

 ing an area of lakes and " slews " along the Miss- 

 issippi and Missouri, beside which the Chesapeake 

 and its inlets are, with all their fine traditions, but 

 a small spot on the map. 



In the central West and down through Texas 

 most of the duck shooting is on still water — 

 marshes, small lakes, and sloughs. Ducks lie 

 where they fall. As the St. Louis amateur said, 

 it is less troublesome to gather the birds when 

 you are ready than to handle a retriever — per- 

 haps none too well trained, perhaps hard mouthed, 

 and certainly a wet nuisance ; not to be overnice 

 about a smell. 



My St. Louis friend added a supplementary 

 verdict to his dismissal of the two retrieving 

 breeds. " If I were going to use a retriever," he 

 said, " it would be an Irish setter. Our waters are 

 not rough and our autumns mild and dry. A 

 setter can stand the work, is far more intelligent 

 and tractable, and is a quail and chicken dog 

 beside." 



Ducking men are not sticklers for pedigree, and 

 many of them in the West prefer a cross-bred dog 

 to either its water-spaniel mother or setter sire. 



