CREAM OK FAWN PERSIANS. 



207 



blue and orange, and you can generally rely on 

 getting some creams by crossing a tortoise- 

 shell, cream, orange, or blue tortoiseshell queen 

 with a blue sire. But, so far, reversing the mat- 

 ing, i.e. a blue queen with a cream or orange 

 sire, is not successful from the cream breeders' 

 point of view, though very good from that of 

 those breeders who want blues, as the kittens 

 generally excel in purity of colour. Cream 

 females are now fairly common, and so in a 

 few years there ought to be a well-established 

 strain of cream-bred creams ; but, as in all 

 other breeding for colour, people are apt to 

 get surprises for instance, one strain of cream 

 females mated to a cream sire invariably 

 produces whole litters of creams, while another 

 strain, more cream-bred than the first named, 

 mated to the same sire produces equal numbers 

 of creams and orange-and-creams. If people 

 wish to start breeding creams, and cannot 

 afford a cream female, it is a good plan to buy 

 a well-bred nondescript coloured female, either 

 blue-and-cream, tabby, tortoiseshell, or any- 

 thing that has cream or orange about it, and 

 if it is properly mated there are nearly sure 

 to be one or two creams : thus a cream strain 

 can be gradually built up. 



" There are several things to be remembered 



in trying to breed good creams. One point to 

 be aimed at is to keep the colour as level as pos- 

 sible, whether it be of a dark or light shade, and 

 to keep it pure, not tinged with blue or dull. 

 Among other faults to be bred out are the light 

 lip and chin, which are very common defects, and 

 the long head, which is still seen sometimes, 

 though creams have improved vastly in this 

 respect in the last few years. Creams have 

 been taken up greatly in America as well as 

 oranges, and there they seem to be formidable 

 rivals in -popularity to the silvers, which have 

 so far over here outdone them in that respect. 

 " One great point in favour of creams is their 

 hardiness, for they do not possess the delicate 

 constitutions which seem to belong to most of 

 the other very pale varieties of Persians. With 

 other coloured cats blues, silvers, etc. 

 creams make a splendid contrast, and with 

 oranges add greatly to the effect of a group. 

 They also cross well with several colours 

 blue, black, tortoiseshell, etc. for breeding ; 

 and many breeders think the result of the 

 growing fancy for these colours, i.e. cream and 

 orange for, though so different, they are hard 

 to deal with separately will be that they will 

 be better catered for at shows as to classes, and 

 more extensively bred than they are at present." 



MRS. F. WESTERN'S " MATTHEW OF THE 



DURHAMS." 

 (Photo: E. Yeoman, Barnard Castle.) 



