COLOUR BREEDING. 



34! 



are most elusive, and we are, theretore, some- 

 what limited in our selection of suitable crosses. 

 A smoky or dirty black is an abomination, 

 and for this reason I consider that from the 

 point of view of the black cat all crosses with 

 blues, smokes, or silvers should be avoided ; 

 in any case a good silver would be impossible 

 because of its green eyes. A rusty black is 

 undesirable, but a rusty kitten usually makes 

 a better-coloured cat than a smoky one, though 

 there are notable exceptions to this rule. A 

 good orange-eyed tortoiseshell or red tabby, or 

 an orange, are all suitable mates for a black. 

 A curious thing I have noticed is that the best 

 blacks are bred from bright clear-coloured 

 cats, and that dull colours, such as smokes, 

 blues, and fawns, do not, as a rule, produce 

 good - coloured kittens. For this reason I 



colour I do not approve, because we have 

 many different blue strains, among which can 

 be found all the different points which are 

 desired. Comparisons are odious, but it I 

 refer to the Bath show of 1903 I can explain 

 what I mean. " Skellingthorpe Patrick " is 

 a beautiful cat in all points except eyes, 

 but " Don Carlos " and several other blue 

 males in the class had glorious orange eyes. 

 I have often heard that crossing a blue with 

 a white will produce very pale blue kit- 

 tens ; I have not found this to be so, and 

 it seems unlikely, for mate a black cat with 

 a white one as often as you like, and you may 

 wait a lifetime before they breed a blue kitten ; 

 therefore why should a dark blue and a white 

 produce a pale blue kitten ? Sometimes cross- 

 ing with a black is recommended " to get the 



" PATRICIA," HROWN TABBY. 

 BRED ny Miss FANNY EI.I.IS, TORONTO. 



should prefer blacks bred from an orange-eyed 

 silver tabby to those bred from a dark brown 

 tabby. On the whole, a brightly coloured 

 tortoiseshell will be found to throw the best 

 blacks. 



Of the crossing of blues with any other 



orange eyes," but it must be remarked that 

 the proportion of black cats with good orange 

 eyes is quite as low as that of blues. When 

 this cross is resorted to, let the black parent 

 be the male, as otherwise the kittens may very 

 likely all be black. 



