344 



(Photo: E. Lanitor, Baling.) 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



COLOUR BREEDING. 



/^>OLOUR breeding is a most fascinating 

 V_^ pursuit ; but, unfortunately, the average 

 cat fancier lacks the -patience to follow 

 it out to a satisfactory conclusion. 



There is no doubt that by judicious cross- 

 breeding new colours could be produced, and 

 I think that they will be produced in time. 

 I have seen a chocolate-brown cat and a yellow 

 cat with black stripes, and no doubt they will 

 appear again ; also chestnut-brown cats and 

 white cats striped with black may be bred. 



The point which I wish to discuss on this 

 occasion is not so much the experimental cross 

 as the cross which is desirable to improve 

 existing colours. I do not consider that a 

 white cat should be crossed with any other 

 colour. There is no advantage to be gained 

 in this case by crossing, as we already have 

 white cats good in bone, substance, head, 

 shape, etc., and no other colour of cat possesses 

 blue eyes. I do not for a moment suggest 



that good white cats have not been bred from 

 coloured parents, but this is unnecessary and 

 undesirable, because there is a risk of intro- 

 ducing coloured patches and smudges and 

 yellow or green eyes, and there is no correspond- 

 ing advantage to be gained. In the same way 

 I do not consider that it is a good thing to 

 breed from white cats with yellow or odd eyes. 

 Blue-eyed kittens have been bred from two 

 yellow-eyed parents, and frequently when one 

 parent has yellow or odd eyes the kittens are 

 all blue-eyed, but this can in no way be 

 depended upon. 



Black cats are a little more difficult to 

 handle than whites, because a white is neces- 

 sarily white, while there is sometimes a diver- 

 sity of opinion where a black is concerned. 

 The most important point to keep before us 

 in black-breeding is the colour of eyes. 

 Whatever we cross with we must be careful 

 that we do not lose the orange eyes, for they 



