EXHIBITING. 



a nice and a very nasty way for an exhibitor 

 to question a judge's award. To be attacked 

 suddenly with the query, " Why have you 

 not given ray cat a prize ? " is quite enough 

 to make a judge retire into his shell and refuse 

 any explanation ; but if asked to kindly give 

 a reason why a certain animal has failed to 

 win, and to explain why one specimen, appar- 

 ently a fine cat, should be lower than another, 

 I am sure any judge would gladly give the 

 inquirer the benefit of his larger experience 



specimens ; and if he has withheld others in 

 a poor and badly filled class then there is no 

 extra burden put on to the funds of the club. 

 A great deal should be left to the discretion 

 of the judge, and in the matter of special 

 prizes, if one is offered for, say, the best long- 

 haired white cat, and only one or two specimens 

 are on show, and these are neither of them 

 good types of tin's breed, then the judge should 

 be empowered to withhold the prize. Such 

 a course may be an unpopular one, but I am 



TYPE OF CAGE AT THE RICHMOND CAT SHOW. 

 {Photo : Cassell & Company, Limited.) 



and the reason for his awards. It is a mistake 

 for a judge to distribute the full complement 

 of prizes in a class when and where the /ex- 

 hibits are not possessing of sufficient merit. 

 A first prize cat should be a good specimen of 

 its kind, and it is much better to withhold this 

 award than to give it to a poor representative 

 of his breed. It also reflects discredit on a 

 ludge, for an exhibitor wishing to boast of 

 his honours may publish that his " Tommy 

 Atkins " took first under so-and-so, when 

 perhaps there were only two cats in the class. 

 It is quite legitimate for a judge to ask per- 

 mission of the show authorities to award an 

 extra prize in a large class with several fine 



sure it is the correct and fairest one, for it is 

 a farce to award first prize and specials to an 

 inferior animal just because he happens to be 

 without other competitors. Anyone who has 

 judged the large classes of blues and silvers 

 which now appear at our principal shows will 

 bear me out in my suggestion that such classes, 

 numbering perhaps thirty and more exhibits, 

 should be subdivided according to age. Such 

 an arrangement would be welcomed by judge 

 and exhibitor alike. At the Crystal Palace 

 Show in 1901 the blue kittens numbered 

 thirty-nine in the class, male and female, the 

 age limit being three to eight months. How 

 could a judge be expected to satisfactorily 



