286 REARING, ETC, 



than upon its very opposite, and therefore barley-fed dogs will be 

 in better health, and consequently more fit to run while continuing 

 to eat what their stomachs are accustomed to, than when fed upon 

 mutton and biscuit, if given them without preparation. But I 

 have never known a really good dog reared in this way, though I 

 know two large kennels in which it is used for both young and 

 old, while out of training, with the most unfortunate results in 

 both cases. Many of their puppies have shown good shape, and 

 their skins have been as fine as satin, but their muscles were round 

 and soft, without full development, and there was no mischief 

 brewing in their eyes, nor were they looking as I like to see 

 greyhounds, ready to jump out of their skins on the slightest 

 provocation. My friend (one of the above) assured me that his 

 dogs were always in good health, and were so good-tempered that 

 his kennelman could easily manage thirty at one time out of doors. 

 ' Then,' said I, ' I would not give you thirty pence for the whole 

 lot, for either they are cowed by the whip, or there is nothing to 

 cow.' And so it turned out : they would gallop most elegantly in 

 their play, but when put in slips, as many ran from the hare as to 

 it, and those which did join in the course had no fire in their style 

 of running, so that he never got beyond the first tie in any stake 

 in which he was engaged. This was not the fault of the blood, 

 as no expense or pains had been spared in getting the best in 

 England. 



Buttermilk thickened with flour is another very similar article 

 of food, but it is something better, inasmuch as the buttermilk 

 contains a considerable quantity of the nutritive matter of the 



