376 UPLAND SHOOTING. 



locate birds in thick weeds in our dry, scent-killing 

 atmosphere. 



We have not here the immense hares that dogs in 

 Continental Europe are required to retrieve, nor the 

 chance of a wounded roebuck to pull down, or a wild 

 boar to bring to bay, so we need no such great weight 

 or power as is required in France and in Grermany. 



Our dog must be as small and light as is consistent 

 with speed and endurance. We need a portable dog to 

 take in the buggy or on the cars, on trips to distant 

 hunting-grounds. Such gad-abouts as we Americans 

 can not afEord to be burdened with any surplus weight. 



My personal experience leads me to differ most posi- 

 tively from many good sportsmen and able writers regard- 

 ing the value of high breeding in dogs. ' ' Blood will 

 tell" is my doctrine. Since 1852, when I first began 

 acquaintance with field dogs, I have seen many a scrub 

 and mongrel who Avould work fairly well — some few, 

 indeed, that could be classed as very "killing" dogs — 

 but never one that could compare, even for pot-hunting, 

 let alone style, with blue-blood pointers or Llewellyn 

 setters of the field-trial kind. 



It has been my privilege, since the establishment of 

 trials, not only to see a good deal of the running, but to 

 work many of the winners in private, as well as to own 

 and train highly-bred puppies for my own use; and I 

 must say that the worst of all these was far better than 

 the best mongrel I have ever seen. I regard the merito- 

 rious scrub as a highly improbable possibility, whUe the 

 good blue-blood is an every-day occurrence. 



The great trouble with highly bred dogs is, that few 

 owners take the precaution to begin training by bringing 

 their dogs into complete and willing general obedience, 

 but put them on game too soon, and let them in an 

 uncontrolled state form a habit of yielding to excitement. 



