BREEDS AND VARIETIES 19 



find a mate with deep amber eyes, and keep your green- 

 eyed puss away from Shows ! Blues may be considered a 

 fairly hardy breed of Persian, and they make lovely pets. 



Smokes are rather a neglected variety, and may be said 

 to be a mixture of the three self-coloured breeds black, 

 white and blue. A perfect Smoke is most difficult to breed, 

 and unfortunately for only a short time during the year do 

 they keep their good looks. When they shed their coats 

 Smokes are often transformed into bad Blacks, and this is 

 disappointing, and specially vexatious to the fanciers who 

 desire to exhibit their cats frequently. The points of the 

 Smokes have been keenly discussed in catty circles and 

 Specialist Clubs. Their coats should be dark cinder-colour, 

 shading to white with a light raff and ear-tufts ; eyes amber. 

 Of late years attempts have been made to cross Smokes 

 with Silvers and Blues, but I consider that Smokes should 

 only be mated with Smokes to keep the correct colour and 

 points. 



And now for the consideration of Silvers, commonly called 

 Chinchillas, otherwise named Shaded-silvers, and very often 

 labelled " Wrong Class " ! To novices in the Farley this may 

 sound a little mixed, so let me explain. TheSe beautiful 

 cats have been through stormy waters, so to speak. A 

 Specialist Society was started last year for this breed which 

 also included Silver Tabbies and Smokes. The Silvers were 

 subdivided into Self-silvers and Shaded-silvers. As, how- 

 ever, no Self-silver has yet been born or bred, there was 

 naturally a difficulty in filling any class set apart for these 

 particular specimens at the Shows. So the lightest Silvers 

 were considered eligible, and then came the difficulty for ex- 

 hibitor and judge to draw the line between the two varieties, 

 and to decide what degree of paleness constituted a Self- 

 silver (so-called) and what amount of dark markings would 

 relegate the specimen into the Shaded-silver class. Natur- 

 ally it became a Silver puzzle and a Silver muddle. Exhibitors 

 waxed wroth and judges became exasperated. Then the 

 term "Self-silver" was abandoned, but the endeavour to breed 

 a Silver without any shadings or marking is still the height 

 and ambition of many a fancier of this beautiful breed. 

 There is a great fascination about these Silver Persians, but 

 they have been so inbred of late years that great delicacy has 



