SILVER OR CHINCHILLA PERSIANS. 



155 



appearance of the cat to be very 

 pale 30 



2. Coat. Long and thick . . . . 20 



3. Texture of Coat. Fine and soft . . 10 



4. Tufts of hair inside and round the ears 



and between the toes . . . . 10 



5. Head. Broad and round; forehead 



wide, ears small and set low, nose 

 short . . . . . . 25 



6. Shape. Back level, not too short ; 



legs short, paws round ; brush 

 short, wide, and carried low . . 20 



7. Eyes. Large, luminous, and green 



in colour (if green mixed with 

 yellow, 5 points only allowed) . . 10 



4 



To breeders of silver Persian cats an article 

 by Mrs. Neild will be valuable and instructive. 

 Mrs. Neild has made, so to speak, a speciality 

 of silvers, and owns two noted silver studs 

 the " Absent-minded Beggar " and " Lord 

 Hampton." There are always some good sil- 

 ver queens, and very frequently some choice 

 kits, disporting themselves in the well-arranged 

 catteries at Hart Hill, Bowdon, where Mrs. 

 Neild has a kennel of Borzois and a cattery 

 of silvers. 



This is what Mrs. Neild says regard- 

 ing the breeding and rearing of silver 

 Persian cats : 



" Perhaps of the many varieties of 

 Persian cats and, indeed, they are 

 a goodly number as they now 

 appear on our show cata- 

 logues and schedules the sil- 

 vers may claim their owners to 

 be the most sporting of cat 

 breeders. Certainly, to breed 

 successfully it is essential that 

 one should possess the not too 

 common virtues of unlimited 

 patience and perseverance. 

 Also experience is necessary. 



"A common occurrence among even old 

 hands is to assign a kitten one of a new 

 litter under inspection, as being of ' little 

 good except as a pet ' ' to be sold at a small 

 sum to a good home,' and a few weeks later 

 discover this same kitten to be the pick of the 

 litter. In short, the old, old story of the 

 ugly duckling incessantly repeats itself in our 



catteries, certainly in those devoted to silver 

 cats. Therefore I suspect fanciers who have 

 succeeded (all honour to the few !) and those 

 who mean to succeed in breeding silver Persian 

 cats of possessing a larger stock of patience 

 and of having acquired a larger experience 

 than their brothers and sisters whose love 

 has turned towards the blue, black, or white 

 pussies. 



" With these last three one may be tolerably 

 sure always taking for granted some know- 

 ledge of fairly pure coat colour, and at a 

 very early age the best kittens of the litter 

 may be picked out those having greatest 

 breadth of skull, smallest ears, etc. But the 

 silver litters are a veritable surprise packet, 

 and remain so for an irritatingly long period. 

 Personally, I have found that those kittens 

 which, when born, have very pale almost 

 white unbarred faces and fore legs are ulti- 



" SILVER BLOSSOM'S " TWO BUDS. 



(Photo: Mr;. G. H. Walker.) 



mately those which grow palest. I take no 

 notice of the colour of the coat on the back, 

 sides, hind legs, or tail, even if striped, as 

 frequently happens, for all these markings 

 generally vanish if as I before said the face 

 and fore legs are unbarred. I must, however, 

 own to one kitten who was born jet black. 

 She was by Mrs. Champion's ' Lord Argent ' 



