THE SETTER. 188 



much altogether untried, so that not only will much time 

 be lost, but much game will be passed over. 



The man who shoots over dogs or a dog broken to 

 quarter and beat his ground truly, will get twice as many 

 shots on the same ground, and in the same time, with 

 another hunting animals which meander at their own 

 sweet will. 



If I must shoot over a dog unsteady at his points and 

 unsteady at his charge, but a good ranger and quarterer 

 of his ground, or over one as stanch as a rock, who ran 

 about after his own pleasure, and were shooting a match, 

 I would take the former, confident that I could make up 

 by the quantity of game found for the other defects. 



These are the points which the young shooter ought 

 to regard in choosing his dog, though, if he be wise, he will 

 take some experienced friend to counsel. 



Let him remember, that it costs no more to keep a 

 good dog than a bad one ; that a dog properly kept, hav- 

 ing been well bought at a proper age, lasts probably, apart 

 from accidents, five or six years, or more ; unless he be so 

 unhappy as to live in Newark, New Jersey, where the in- 

 habitants throw strychnine, the deadliest of all poisons, 

 broadcast, in the streets, without the interference, if not 

 by the direct encouragement, of the city government that 

 it is, therefore, the cheapest plan in the long run, to buy 

 a good dog ; and lastly, that there is no such thing as buy- 

 ing a good dog at a low price. 



A well-bred, well-looking, well-broke setter, or pointer 

 dog, has just as real a market value, apart from any fancy 

 price, which may go to any amount, as any merchandise in 



