3-24 



THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



SOME OF THE DIFFICULTIES IN AMERICA. 



Our English readers will, no doubt, wonder 

 at a good man}' things wo do in America ; 

 but, never having*had the experience of our 

 conditions, they would not be able to appre- 

 ciate what it is that keeps the fancy back. In 

 the first place, on this continent anything 

 except poultry shows and dog shows is an 

 unknown quantity, and many of those who 

 take up the cat fancy with enthusiasm are 

 perfectly innocent of any show experiences, 

 and have few to teach them ; so that until a 

 show or two has been held in a certain neigh- 

 bourhood our affairs are apt to be a little 

 mixed. For instance, the common idea of a 

 tortoiseshell cat is as often as not a heavily 

 marked tabby of the brown tabby persuasion, 

 or it may be an orange tabby, or it may be a 

 mixture of many colours. Until a show has 

 been held in a town, very few of the inhabitants 

 know whether they have good cats or not, and 

 they are as likely to bring the bad as the good. 

 The idea has prevailed to a large extent that 

 it is very expensive to get up shows, and so 

 the only opportunity made use of has been 

 when a poultry show is being held and the 

 promoters of this are asked for a little space, 

 which they may grant, as the cats are found 



to be very conducive to a gate ; but the draw- 

 back of this arrangement is that in most cases 

 the poultry people want to make as much 

 money as possible, and so keep the cats penned 

 for four or five days, which in many cases 

 means death to the cats. 



The cost of the hall being so great, and the 

 prize money being consequently kept down 

 to try to balance things, with the entry fees 

 also put away up, which, all added to the 

 travelling long distances and the added ex- 

 pense of hotel bills, makes the lot of the 

 American cat exhibitor not too rosy, and it is 

 something to wonder at that the fancy has 

 ever developed at all. 



Distance from place to place is another 

 factor, and when you read in England of the 

 New York and then the Chicago show the 

 week after, yon hardly realise that they are 

 1,000 miles apart, and that if living in New 

 York and you want to show in Chicago it may 

 cost you 20 in travelling expenses alone. 



Another thing show committees have to 

 face is the expense of the judge, and the 

 difficulty of finding suitable sires within 

 reasonable distance is one of the many draw- 

 backs with which American fanciers have to 

 contend. 



" THE BLESSED DAMO/.EI.. 

 OWNED AND BRED BY MRS. E. N. BARKER. 

 (Photo: Jo:. Hubner, Rutherford, NJ.) 



