British Dogs at Work 



rank out-cross, but this is the sort of thing 

 not to be rushed into until you have 

 learned the A B C of the business. The 

 introduction of alien blood is not such a 

 terrible business as it sounds, for if you 

 resort to mathematics you will at once see 

 what a small proportion of the foreign 

 influence can be present in the third or 

 fourth generation, yet the good effects upon 

 the physique of the strain remain. By pre- 

 ference, for an out-cross I should select a 

 breed as nearly resembling in conformation, 

 colour, and texture of coat as possible my 

 own particular breed, and I should also let 

 the alien be a bitch, for the simple reason 

 that I believe the influence of the sire to 

 be greater than that of the dam. The late 

 Mr. James Howard of Bedford was not only 

 a horse-breeder of the first rank, but also 

 a very observant man, and the conclusions 

 he arrived at, and which were quoted 

 approvingly by the late Sir Everett Millais, 

 were that — 



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