THE KING CHARLES SPANIELS. 
for profit, exhibition, or pleasure, when 
price is an object for consideration, is often 
better advised to purchase a healthy puppy 
from a breeder of repute rather than to 
MRS. RAYMOND MALLOCK'S 
RUBY CH. ASHTON MORE BARONET. 
BY SAILOR LAD—TOPSEY. 
be deluded with the notion that a good 
adult can be purchased for a few pounds, 
or to be carried away with the idea that 
a cheap, indifferently bred specimen will 
produce first-class stock. It takes years 
to breed out bad points, but good blood 
will tell. 
When you are purchasing a bitch with 
the intention of breeding, many inquiries 
should be made as to the stock from which 
she comes. This will influence the selection 
of the sire to whom she is to be mated, 
and he should excel in the points in which 
she is deficient. It is absolutely necessary 
to have perfectly healthy animals, and 
if the female be young, and small stock is 
desired, her mate should be several years 
her senior. A plain specimen of the right 
blood is quite likely to produce good re- 
sults to the breeder; for example, should 
there be two female puppies in a well-bred 
litter, one remarkable as promising to 
have all the requirements for a coming 
champion, the other large and plain, this 
latter should be selected for breeding pur- 
poses as, being stronger, she will make 
a better and more useful mother than her 
handsome sister, who should be kept for 
exhibition, or for sale at a remunerative 
price. 
The modern craze for small specimens 
439 
makes them quite unsuitable for pro- 
creation. A brood bitch should not be 
less than 9 Ib. in weight, and even heavier 
is preferable. A sire the same size will 
produce small and far more typical stock 
than one of 5 lb. or 6 lb., as the tendency 
is to degenerate, especially in head points ; 
but small size can be obtained by suitably 
selecting the parents. 
The early spring is the best season for 
breeding, as it gives the puppies a start 
of at least six months in which to grow 
and get strong before the cold weather sets 
in, although, of course, they can be bred 
at any time, but autumn and winter puppies 
are more troublesome to rear. It is always 
wise to administer occasionally, both to 
puppies and adults, a dose of worm medi- 
cine, so as to give no chance to internal 
parasites—the most troublesome ill with 
which the dog owner has to wrestle, causing 
even more mortality than the dreaded 
scourge of distemper. 
The rules of hygiene cannot be over- 
looked, as upon them hangs the success of 
the breeder ; plenty of fresh air, light, and 
sunshine are as necessary as food. Puppies 
of this breed are essentially delicate, and 
must be kept free from cold and draughts, but 
THE HON. MRS. LYTTON’S 
CH. THE SERAPH. 
they require liberty and freedom to develop 
and strengthen their limbs, otherwise they 
are liable to develop rickets. Their food 
should be of the best quality, and after 
the age of six months, nothing seems more 
suitable than stale brown bread, cut up 
