BEST AGE IN THE SIRE AND DAM. 



'J53 



TABLE II. 



From this table it results that four years is the best age for the 

 sire, and three for the dam ; and what is very remarkable, both 

 the dog and bitch seem suddenly to arrive at their best at each of 

 these ages, since in the dog the second year seems to be better 

 than the third, in which year only eight were begotten by their 

 sires, and in the second year of the bitch only seven of the whole 

 number were whelped ; after the third year in the dog, and the 

 second in the bitch, the numbers suddenly increase in the dog to 

 thirty and in the bitch to twenty-five, and then very gradually 

 fall off for three years in each, when the change is again sudden, 

 and then gradually falls off as before for three years, after which 

 a very limited number were produced. So that in round numbers 

 it would appear that, rejecting the first year of puppyhood, the 

 dog's productive age may be divided into three cycles of years of 

 three each, the first and last of which are comparatively bad and 

 the middle one only to be relied on. In the bitch very nearly the 

 same rule applies, but she seems to come to her best one year 

 earlier. 



