22 THE sportsman's vade mecum. 



time you most require her services, that is, April and Sep- 

 tember, spring snipe and grouse shooting, in consequence of 

 •which you must either sacrifice your pups or your sport 

 Now I am aware that in the States, for this reason, a bitch 

 is seldom kept. For my part, I do not object to them, for 

 from experience I can so regulate their failings as to prevent 

 their family cares from interfering with their hunting. The 

 knowledge of this enables me to have my pups when I want 

 them, to get the cover of a dog I fancy, when a strange one 

 comes my way also. The best time, then, to put the bitch 

 to the dog is early in January. By this means you have 

 your pups ready to wean by the middle of T^pril. They 

 have all summer to grow in, get strong, and large, and are 

 fit to break in October on snipe first, and then quail, finishing 

 off on snipe the following spring. After this litter, the bitch 

 probably comes into use again in the end of July or in 

 August. Young ones are not so fond of it as old ones, and, 

 consequently, for quail shooting, your bitch is all correct and 

 well behaved, so far as regards the dam. I look upon the 

 breeding of dogs from any except the best and most perfectly 

 formed of their species, as an act of great folly. There are 

 times when it must be done to keep up the breed, or to 

 acquire one ; for no one drafts his best bitches unless he is 

 an ass. For my part, I keep five or six constantly, and draft 

 yearly all my dog pups but two or three, say one pointer, 

 setter, and cocker. By this means I have the pick out of a 

 large number of well bred ones for myself, while the drafts 

 pay the expenses of keep and breaking. This is impossible 

 for every one to do, and they must pick up their dogs the 



