278 FIELD SHOOTING. 



setter is trying to free himself from the burrs, 

 and at night, if they are not carefully picked 

 out of his coat by his master, he gets no rest, 

 and is nearly useless the next day. Sportsmen 

 who shoot over setters should always take care 

 that they are freed from burrs in the evening. 

 If they do not, their dogs will be miserable all 

 night, and not fit for use in the morning, •when 

 the prime of the sport is to be had. I have 

 had capital setters, and I must say that I have 

 had and seen pointers in the field which were 

 equally good, subject to the drawbacks I have 

 mentioned above in regard to each. 



Good dogs of both kinds have fine scenting 

 powers, and the setters, so far as my experience 

 goes, are as much under control as pointers when 

 worked by men who know their business. Set- 

 ters take to retrieving in water much better than 

 pointers, and on the whole, as I remarked before, 

 the setter is the best dog for our part of the 

 country. When the skin of the pointer is cut 

 by the prairie-grass and rough weeds, and the 

 tops of his toes are raw, he comes out in the 

 morning so stiff and sore that he is hardly able 

 to hobble along at first. ' The dog's ambition car- 

 ries him on, however, and he gets more limber 



