BROWN TABBY PERSIANS. 



227 



' Fina ' would not leave the house. Their 

 rooms look out on the grass terrace, so they 

 can come in or out as they please till their 

 breakfast time, which is at about ten o'clock. 

 They are groomed every morning between 

 8 and 8.30 o'clock, winter and summer, 

 and always fed regularly. Their sleeping 

 houses, as in photo, are about four feet long, 

 lined round with oilcloth, so they can be 

 washed when necessary. In the winter the 

 bedding is hay, and in summer, shavings. The 

 houses are sufficiently long to allow for sanitary 

 boxes during the breeding time. I find Hall's 

 washable distemper very nice for the cattery 

 walls, and it looks so bright and fresh. The 

 floor-covering is linoleum." 



In America brown tabbies are beginning to 

 find favour, and several good specimens have 

 been exported. " Arlington Hercules," who 

 took first at Westminster in 1901, was shipped 

 to Mrs. Sarmiento and Mrs. Cutler, and I sent a 

 "Persimmon" kitten out by Mrs. Robert Locke 

 to Mrs. Clinton Locke, the president of the 

 Beresford Club. He was passed on to her 

 honorary secretary, and in Field and Fancy of 

 December, 1902, the following notice appears : 



" Miss Lucy Johnstone is the fortunate owner 

 of ' Persimmon Squirrel,' a son of the noted 

 brown tabby ' Persimmon,' who lately died. 

 Good brown tabbies are very scarce, and she 

 should congratulate herself on this possession, 

 as, according to all accounts, he is destined to 

 make a good hit." 



Another American lady, Mrs. Gotwalts, of 

 Pittsburg, wrote to me for a brownie, and 

 I sent her one bred by Mrs. Bignell, and 

 the cat has, I believe, had some good litters. 

 The most famous brown tabby, however, over 

 the herring pond was Mr. E. N. Barker's won- 

 derful " King Humbert." This cat arrived 

 in America in 1885, and made a considerable 

 stir in catty circles. Mr. Barker is said to 

 have refused a thousand dollars for him from 

 a New York millionaire. I remember when 

 Mr. Barker was over, acting as judge at the 

 Westminster Cat show, he sought, but did 

 not find anything to beat his noted brown 

 tabby now gone to its last home. Mr. Barker, 

 writing of this breed, says : 



"If I were asked suddenly why I admire 

 brown tabby Persians, the liking must 

 be partly attributed to face markings and 



BIKKDALE RUFFIE S " CATTERY. 



