THE SPORTING SPANIEL 161 



equally if not more famous kennel belonging to Mr. T. Jacobs, 

 of Newton Abbot. 



It was Mr. Jacobs who, by judiciously mating his Sussex 

 sires Bachelor, Bachelor III., and others with these black-bred 

 bitches, established the strain which in his hands and in those 

 of his successors, Captain S. M. Thomas and Mr. Moses Wool- 

 land, carried all before it for many years, and is still easily at 

 the top of the tree, being the most sought for and highly prized 

 of all on account of its " quality." 



If Black Spaniels are not quite so popular at present as 

 they were some years ago, the fault lies with those breeders, 

 exhibitors, and judges (the latter being most to blame) who 

 encouraged the absurd craze for excessive length of body and 

 shortness of leg which not very long ago threatened to trans- 

 form the whole breed into a race of cripples, and to bring it 

 into contempt and derision among all practical men. No 

 breed or variety of dog has suffered more from the injudicious 

 fads and crazes of those showmen who are not sportsmen 

 also. At one time among a certain class of judges, length 

 and lowness was everything, and soundness, activity, 

 and symmetry simply did not count. As happens to 

 all absurd crazes of this kind when carried to exaggera- 

 tion, public opinion has proved too much for it, but not 

 before a great deal of harm has been done to a breed which 

 is certainly ornamental, and can be most useful as well. 

 Most of the prize-winners of the present day are sound, useful 

 dogs capable of work, and it is to be hoped that judges will 

 combine to keep them so. 



The coloured Field Spaniel has now almost invariably at the 

 principal shows special classes allotted to him, and does not 

 have to compete against his black brother, as used to be the 

 case in former years. 



The systematic attempt to breed Spaniels of various colours, 

 with a groundwork of white, does not date back much more 

 than a quarter of a century, and the greater part of the credit 

 for producing this variety may be given to three gentlemen, 



