CATS IN AMERICA. 



315 



is well known ; and so is the cattery of 

 Mrs. Ida M. Shirk, who has carried on 

 the business under the name of the Linden 

 Cattery. 



DISTRICT NO. 4. CANADIAN CATS. 



The two pioneers of the cat in Canada i.e. 

 the two who were most prominent as breeders 

 when I went to the first Canadian shows 

 were Mrs. Cumberland, of Port Hope, Ontario, 

 whose prefix or affix of " Demain " bespeaks her 

 early efforts. Even earlier than Mrs. Cum- 

 berland, the cats belonging to Mr. A. Burland, 

 an Englishman, attained prominence, and the 

 blood that he brought from England mostly 

 from Mr. A. A. Clarke is now diffused into 

 or among many of our best-known catteries. 



We had a dim suspicion in fact, more 

 than a dim suspicion that there was tucked 

 away in Canada more than one good cat ; and 

 so, being in Toronto, we made an exploration, 

 thanks to the help of Mrs. Ellis and Mr. Boyd. 



Our first visit was to the Pioneer Cattery, 

 where we found the ravages of gastritis had 

 been severely felt only the week before, and, of 

 course, some of the very best, including some 

 we had portrayed lately, had succumbed. The 

 most noted inmate was " Marie," a cat of 

 good type, very sound and in good condition, 

 with capital eyes of a good, rich orange she 

 should breed something good ; and we hope 

 we can say it without offending anyone 

 this cat, old as she is, is the peer of any 

 brown tabby put down in America last year, 

 and we only hope she will live to breed one 

 more good litter, which should be retained 

 to perpetuate the race. 



It was only a short walk to Mrs. Mallock's, 

 who is rejoicing in the possession of a very cute 

 young black male, capital in style, with a 

 lovely coat and colour, named " Furzo," bred 

 by Mr. Empey, of Montreal. 



After lunch we drove to see Miss Cox, who 

 has the same nice white male we saw there 

 six j'ears ago, and he has done yeoman service 

 in the meantime. " Cadi," a young brown 

 tabby male, is a year old, and a credit to any 

 cattery. Miss Cox is also the possessor of a 



nice white queen by " Fluff," who is respon- 

 sible for some of the good kittens. 



We next journeyed to the home of Mrs. 

 Bell, who has one queen and two very strong 

 kittens. Mrs. Bell, however, intends to 

 strengthen her cattery soon by the acquisition 

 of some good queens. 



Leaving Mr. and Mrs. Bell, we journeyed to 

 the ferry and went over to the Island, getting 

 a glimpse of the beauties of Toronto and 

 a fine view of the water front and the sub- 

 urban attractions. We landed at the house 

 of Mrs. McAdley, and were introduced to 

 the grandest lot of brown tabbies we ever 

 remember to have seen, outside, perhaps, 

 Mrs. Cutler's, which we should not like to 

 compare, not having seen them. We may 

 safely say that nothing so good was shown 

 last year as Mrs. McAdley's. At the head 

 of the list is " Prince," a grand old cat, 

 imported from Ireland seven years ago, and 

 there are few cats extant to-day, or ever 

 were, that can take his measure. His head 

 is magnificent, and he is short on the leg, 

 has plenty of bone, grand colour, no weak 

 colouring around the lips or chin, and, what 

 is more, he sires the right sort. " Paddy," 

 his daughter, is the peer of any brown tabby 

 queen we have seen in the ring for a long time, 

 and we saw nothing to beat her in England 

 two years ago. 



Mrs. Ellis has adopted the kittens, and 

 these will not pass out of Canada under 

 pretty stiff figures, and wherever they appear 

 in the show room they will have to be reckoned 

 with by the very best. 



We got back to our hotel at n p.m., after 

 a most enjoyable day among enthusiastic and 

 painstaking fanciers, and we had unfortunately 

 to leave out one house for lack of time. Another 

 cat enthusiast who has some good Romaldkirk 

 stock to sell viz. Miss Cottle journeyed 

 over from Kingston on purpose to have a 

 catty talk at the dog show. We feel sure 

 that the Canadian contingent will have to be 

 reckoned with in the future as breeders, and 

 in brown tabbies are a hard proposition. As 

 soon as they get hold of some better cats of 



