FOREST AND STREAM. 



169 



A Valuable Journal.— The Forest and Stream has 

 been the recipient of several compliments from exchanges 

 throughout the country for the thoroughness of its Creed- 

 moor reports, and the energy displayed in securing plates 

 showing the shooting of both teams in the international 

 rifle match. It is pleasant to receive these tributes, and to 

 be reminded so pleasantly, and in such varied forms, ot 

 the good work of this journal in elevating the noble pur- 

 suit of the chase and the pleasures of angling to Die high 

 standard which they should occupy, and proving thai ele- 

 gani pastimes are always the accompaniments of refined 

 and cultivated tastes. As it is the aim of the Forest 

 and Stream to extract the higher pastimes from any asso- 

 ciation with the low and coarse, with which they are often 

 identified, we feel pleased to learn that its work has been 

 recognized, and that it fills a journalistic niche to which 

 our most cultivated ladies and gentlemen can go for exhila- 

 rating mental food. It shall ever be the aim of this jour- 

 nal to cater only to the pure in sentiment, for to such 

 do we look for support and eucouragenienl, We shall try 

 to keep the lead in all topics appertaining to our sphere; 

 and to do this is easy to us, as we have as contributors the 

 leading naturalists of this country, and several eminent 

 men in Europe. 



As a work of reference on all current events in field lit- 

 erature, rifle practice, and kindred subjects, the Forest 

 and Stream will be found invaluable, as all such matters 

 are treated of in a concise yet comprehensive manner. 

 That this characteristic is appreciated is evident from the 

 large number of orders sent us for the issue containing the 

 Creedmoor matches. This interest in the welfare of the 

 journal, by the public, we shall try to reciprocate by mak- 

 ing it worthy of them and its own mission. 

 -*—•- 



Personal. — We received a visit this week from Messrs. 

 Dougal and Gillmore, two gentlemen well known in the 

 sporting wwld of England and America. The former is a 

 member of one of the most celebrated gun manufacturing 

 establishments in England, and his companion is the au- 

 thor of several highly interesting works on field sports in 

 the United States and Europe. Mr. Dougal returns to Lon- 

 don 'on the next steamer, and Captain Gillmore goes to 

 Dakota for a hunt. 



fgortitig <jj£ewB fijam ^Lbrond. 



THE AUTUMN FIELD TRIALS. 



BIT.] 



[PROM OUK SPECIAL ENGLISH CO] 



WE lave only had one trial in the field for pointers, 

 setters and retrievers "this Fall," and the one in 

 point took place in Lincolnshire on the estate of the Marquis 

 of Bristol. The rules used were a new code furnished by 

 the Kennel Club, and announce a new era in the sport. 

 For the information and criticir.m of American sportsmen 

 I give them at length, and I will pioceed to show how they 

 were applied last week: — 



1. The number of pomes to decide a trial shall not be less than twenty- 

 five; it may, however, be more than this number, but in this case the 



,. , i ,',!„.,■ n-ii] I,;. Sjii'.-ri:' li i b r- r nidi imii., of '.he "take n r i-"om :e I he 



twenty-five (or more) point? have been made, including the sood and had 

 points made bv both dog's, the doss shall be taken up, and the dog which 

 has the most "good points, or the fewest bad ones, after deducting his 

 bad or good points, as the case may be. wins. 



2. Every point at game to count four, a natural back two, and if drawn 

 to the other dog or dropped, one only. 



3 If a do«ru -he- right in to hi- game, he loses four; but if he finds it 

 first, points,' and then "rashes in, he gains nothing by the find, and loses 

 two for the flash. . , 



4. Adog seeing tie poin- ana refusing to back, loses two. and if he 



, 0: ■ . , . , V.,' .lil.ie 'Oil "' '! 1 I'iO'i'O- lie h 1 id 



do not rise, and six if be Hushes them. 



-, a doe too. dropping to gorge lose- one, bin t (!■ ".--. ton en he re. ,,e de- 

 tract from the merit of a find, and in the sunn way he van lose one for 

 not dropping to shot; but be does not lose one for each fault, providing 

 it is simply not dropping to wing or shot. If, however, he runs in the 

 moment the birds are on the wing or the goo is tire ;. lie lose- all the mer- 

 its of the find, one for not dropping, four for chasing, and is out of the 

 stake if he chases feather out of the field. Hares or rabbits to count the 

 same as feather, both as regards merits and faults, except in cases of 

 flushing, which are not noticed in cases of fur. 



6. Agun-shv dog. riming clean oil at lire discharge of the gun, to be 

 put ont of the' stake direct n. ; and if a dog blinks, to lose six for the first 

 fault, and is out of the stake if it is repeated. 



7 Every false point which the dog does not discover to be false, and 

 move on without direction from his master, shall count two demerit. 



8. Except in the case of false pointing and running up birds, every 

 number allotted as penalty shall be doubled on repetition of the fault, 

 and the last number given for that fault, shall, on every repetition of it, 

 be still further doubled. . 



9. "Whatever the dogs may do after the settled number of points are 

 obtained shall not count. . .... ' 



10 In case both dogs are found equal, the judges shall < unless the own- 

 ers come to some agreement to draw one of the dogs) select a further 

 number of points to be obtained by the two; the number selected to be 

 not less than ten. 



11 The result of the points only to affect each separate brace; and 

 when the stake has been gone through, the re-roetiv,: winners to run ofl 

 the ties according to their order on the card, and the winners of these 

 ties to be tried on until two winners only remain in, when they mnst be 

 tried to decide the actual stake, the beaten dog in t he final to be consid- 

 ered second. Or owners have the option of dividing prior to a final, 

 when the first and second money must be added together and equally di- 

 vided, 



The idea was — (the reader will readily gather) — to reduce 

 the whole system of judging pointers and setters in the 

 field to a sure and certain method of proving the best dog, 

 as scoring the points made in a game of billiards, and to 

 make the whole thing more like a coursing meeting. Under 

 the new regulations a judge was scarcely wanted at all, ex- 

 cept in cases of doubt, when be became a sort of arbitrator, 

 and throughout the meeting a piece of chalk and a board 

 would also, almost, have done ail the judging. Presumably, 

 this new arrangement was merely on trial, and whether suc- 

 cessful or not, the Kennel Club deserve the thanks of the 

 public for their originality and their obvious efforts to 

 benefit "the course"— the. only drawback being, that the 

 designer was the only one of the competitors who had been 

 able to try the rules as applied to his kennel; but this is ir- 

 respective of their merits or demerits. 



This mechanical method appeared to me when I first 

 heard the scheme, (and the Field reporter bears me out in 

 my opinion,) much in favor of a slow dog, who, cautious 

 and afraid of making mistakes, would be infinitely less 

 liable lo incur "points to the bad," and though really far 

 inferior to bis rash but faster rival, beat him out of time 

 on the "Fabitis Cunctator" principle. Slow dogs have only 

 to w r ait their time, avoid puttiug up game and win, and a 

 clever breaker having them under his control can assist 

 them very much by preventing their ranging wide in doubt- 

 ful cover and running risks. Again, there is no reward for 

 style, in my opinion one of the most essential qualifications 

 of a pointer or setter. To see a dog range freely and mer- 

 rily, with his head well up, lashing his stern, champing the 

 scent, going for the wind, working iu parallels independent 

 of his companion, and drawing up to his game grand and 

 picturesque, is to me more than half the pleasure of sport. 

 And I must have pace also, and this .is not allowed for. I 

 want my dog fast as the wind, with a galop like a thorough- 

 bred, and "stamina" that can keep him going all day long. 

 Another hole I can pick in the new code, is the absence of 

 penalties for disobedience of the breaker's orders. A dog 

 may disregard hand, voice and whistle with reckless im- 

 punity. A great deal of luck is admitted, too, that any 

 one can readily see, and though it is a step in the right 

 direction, yel, I prophesy that without a thorough revi- 

 sion, the new "articles of war" must inevitably "go to the 

 dogs." 



On the first day of the trials the meet was at Boughton, 

 near Sleaford, and at 11 o'clock the first brace of setters 

 were put down on a rough piece of fallow for the Lincoln- 

 shire stakes. They belonged to Mr. Purcell Llewellin, and 

 consisted of two red Irish dogs, Kile ami Samson. Work- 

 ing tolerably independently and well, they began by a false 

 point, which Kite backed; for this they deserved penalties, 

 but the judges did not like to begin too severely, and al- 

 lowed them to go scot free. Iu a stubble field Samson fol- 

 lowed a hare until stopped by hand, and Kite appeared to 

 be the best worker. They did not, however, turn out any- 

 thing very wonderful, and after making three false points 

 iu some "roots," one of which led the guns and judges a 

 field's length for nothing, they were taken up with a total 

 of sixteen uood marks and nine bad ones; or in other 

 words, a score of seven. Mr. Llewellin's Laura and Druid 

 were the next on the card; the former being a lemon and 

 while bitch, and the latter a handsome black and white 

 dog of the Laverack strain. Druid had previously taken 

 second prize at the Shrewsbury Spring Trials, but here he 

 seems to have run up birds, and though fast and stylish, 

 was guilty of a decided "blink," retiring with his kennel 

 companion with the curious score of three points to the 

 bad. At 1:40 Mr. Lloyd Price's celebrated pointer Drake, 

 purchased but lately of Mr. Garth, the eminent Queen's 

 Counsel, and Carch, started in a stubble field. They 

 ranged grandly and well, the old dog showing a good deal 

 of his wonderful turn of speed, which had served him so 

 well before. The new code of rules left such a quality un- 

 rewarded, and Carch behaving in like manner, excellently. 

 Later on they came rather to grief, Drake refusing to back, 

 and Carch putting up his game, but they left off, having 

 scored fifteen points to the good and ten to the bad, or a 

 total of five. Beau and Mallard, some more of Mr. Price's 

 dogs, did well amongst the hares, which were very numer- 

 ous and behaved steadily, but at the last point, which was 

 held by Beau, Mallard flushed the birds and spoilt an other- 

 wise good performance. They left off with eleven to the 

 good. 



The so justly notorious Ranger, belonging to the Rev. J. 

 Cummiug Macdona, and a bitch named Lucy, were then 

 thrown off, and the dog soon made what the Field reporter 

 styles the longest and best point of the day, going with his 

 old dash and vigor, but being hampered by his companion, 

 (who, it seems, was only half broken and chased and 

 fiusl uri I fur and feather,) he could not win the stakes and 

 the brace was soon drawn, giving place to Mr. Whitehouse's 

 beautiful lemon and white. Beau, a great winner of cups 

 and prizes at dogshows, and Doncaster, a puppy of some 

 eighteen months old. Had it not been for the unsteady 

 behavior of the latter they would probably have won. As 

 it, wits, Mr. Lloyd Price's Beau and Mallard took the cup 

 for the best brace, and £11, and Mr. Purcell Llewelliu's 

 Kite and Samson won the first prize money for the best 

 brace of setters. 



In the Sleaford puppy stakes there were only two com- 

 petitors, and Mr. Price's Queenie, a neat little bitch, beat 

 Mr. Llewellin's Sam, and won. There was then a total 

 stake of little entries, and after that the Kennel Club Cup 

 was contested for by several well known dogs. There 

 were several "heats," but 1 will only give the Concluding 

 oue, which is a fair sample of the way the new code 

 worked, and how it proved the ruin of one of the best 

 dogs ever seen in the field. Mr. Macdona's Ranger had 

 made a "dreadful example" of Druid, who had been con- 

 sidered about the best setter in Mr. Llewellin's kennel, and, 

 according to the rules, he had to fight it out with Mr. 

 Llewellin's Laura for the Cup. 



I take the words of the Fields as it may be said to be 

 prejudiced in favor of Ranger-.— "In a piece of seeds 

 Rauger made a false point, but a hare having been seen to 

 go away by the keeper, no penalty was awarded. Soon 

 afterwards, however, he incurred one for the same fault, 

 and the bitch stopping to hand and voice, (though not back- 

 ing,) got one to the good. A false poiul similar to Ranger's 

 first was made by the bitch and also Ircated iu the same 

 way. The score now stood: — Laura, five good; Rauger, 

 four good, two bad. Moving to some turnips Laura was 



kept very close in hand, but fortunately dropping on some 

 birds, got a four. During this performance Ranger made a 

 distant point, which turned out to be a Guinea fowl, and 

 for this not being game, he was allowed nothing, though 

 we ail know that the scent is exactly like that of the 

 pheasant. At the end ot this field Laura made an unmis- 

 takable false point, and the score was then added up as 

 follows, viz: — Laura, thirteen good, five bad; Rauger, four 

 good, four bad. Laura thus got the cup, though it is 

 absurd to suppose that anything more than luck gave it 

 her." More of this anon. Idstome, Jk. 



[From Our Special Correspondent]. 

 TENNESSE SPORTSMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



Memphis, Tenn., October 10, 1874. 

 Editor Fokest aisd Stream .- 



OX Thursday the grand field trial for the best setter 

 or pointer came off, the prize being an elegant silver 

 service, and was won by H. C. Pritchett's setter, Knight, 

 over nine competitors, the dogs being hunted in pairs and 

 awarded points as to their respective qtiulities in nose, pace 

 and style; breaking, pointing, style and staunchness; back- 

 ing, roading — 100 being the total standard. Messrs. J. "W. 

 Burton and J. H. Acken were the judges, and furnish the 

 following score-.— H. C. Pritchett's setter dog, Knight, 88; 

 Horsefall's Romp, 86; Wheatley's Guide, SofDew's Mack, 

 78; Wheatley's Addie, 72; Merriman's Rex, 67; Carroll's 

 Bang, 64; Stevens' Frank, 63; Frances' Dixie, 37, and his 

 other entry, 46. The dogs were matched by lot and one 

 brace hunted at a time by experienced gunners, the trial 

 lasting from morning until night, and more interest was 

 manifested in this trial ihnn was expected, as each of the 

 owners w r ere confident of adorning their table, after the 

 awards were made, with the very elegant silver service; 

 consequently only nine of them were disappointed. 



Several sweepstakes were shot during the day at the 

 grounds of the Association, Iu the first, a match at 21, 26 

 and 31 yards rise, South and Pearson tied, killing ten 

 straight birds each, leading Messrs. Watkins, Jones, John- 

 son, Green and Leland. In a match at three double birds 

 Mr. Sherman, of Wisconsin, carried off the pool, scoring 

 six and beating Messrs. Watkins, Johnson, Jones, South, 

 Given, Pearson, and Leland. In the third Mr. Harvey 

 McNeely, of Memphis, Tenn., who had not previously shot 

 over a trap vanquished at single birds Messrs. Leland, 

 Watkins, Jones, Johnson, Green, Bray, Allen, and Boyd; 

 and iu the next Mr. South was the victor in a field of eight 

 at single birds, the contestants "barring" Mr. Sherman. 



On Thursday night the State Association met at the 

 parlors of the Peabody Hotel, where, after some prelimi- 

 nary business had been gone through with, an election was 

 gone into for officers for the ensuing year with the follow- 

 ing result : — 



President, P. H. Bryson; 1st Vice-President, H. C. Prit- 

 chelt; 2d Vice-President, T. F. Perkins; Secretary and 

 Treasurer, W. A. Wheatley; and the Ex-Com. composed of 

 J. K. Hughes, J. W. Alley, J. H.Dew, W. E. Watkins, 

 and J. H. Acklen; and as honorary members, Hon. George 

 W. Polk, of Columbia, Tenn. ; Jas. Gordon, Pontotoc, Miss. ; 

 Colonel F. G. Skinner, of New York City; Luther 

 E. Shinn, of Chicago; Charles Hallock, of New York 

 City ; Wilbur F. Parker, West Meriden, Conn. ; H. L. 

 Smith, Memphis; Wilbur F. Johnson, Atlanta, Ga. ; and 

 Gen. W. H. Jackson, Franklin, Tenn. Subsequently 

 the thanks of the Convention were tendered the various 

 sporting papers for the interest shown, and Nashville was 

 selected as the point at which the next annual tournament 

 would be held, after which, and a vote of thanks to the re. 

 tiring officers, the Convention adjourned sine die. 



On Friday the attendance at the tournament exceeded 

 that of any other day, there being present fully 500 spec. 

 tators, enough to fill every inch of available space outside 

 the railing, as well as the elevated seats behind. The first 

 order of business was the contest for the Gold Badge, 

 worth, perhaps, $200, and open to all members of the State 

 Association. For this there were nineteen entries, the fol- 

 lowing being the score: — 



Prize— Gold Medal. Match, five doable birds, 18 yards rise. 



Mehi-'lS' 

 Acklen... 



Dew 



Douglass. 



. di li 1:1 n 10 



, 11 10 u 11 10 



. 11 11 11 11 01 



. 11 II 01 10 11 



. 11 11 0t n it 



. 00 11 00 



. 11 11 11 11 10 



. n n 10 ii in 



. 11 11 10 10 n 



mime. . Scon. Total 



Bowles 11 11 11 11 11 10 



Watkins 10 11 10 11 11 8 



Lis ihtirne 10 11 00 01 10 S 



jafhr ot n (U '0 n 7 



McNoeU' 11 10 10 00 11 6 



T -eland 1 1 II (III 11 10 1 



Walker 1111, 1(1 10 01 U 



•iletrinniu, ., II 10 11 11 11 ',1 



Mitchell 11 11 11 10 01 8 



t'ockrell 

 Perkins.... 

 Hayes 



In this nearly all of the best of our local gun talent par- 

 ticipated, and, as will be seen, some very good pigeou 

 popping was done. Mr. Wm, Bowles, Jr., the victor, is a 

 young cotton buyer of this city, and he did some tall 

 shooting to "got away" with, many of those "older 

 heads." 



Arter the conclusion at the badge match, Wednesday's 

 ties in seven were called to the score, with the following 

 results : 



Ties oa seven, three single birds, 36 and 31 yards. 



Hughes 111—3 1 0-1 1 Green 111—3 10 1-2 



MeNeelr 1 1 1—3 1 1—2 Walker 



Davis ." 10 Leland 



Pearson 1 |Hayes 1 1 0—2 



MeXeeiy and Green dividing the prize— §50. 



Wednesdays ties in sis, three single birds, So yards rise. 



Terry OIBowlofi Ill S 



Merriman 10 1 



Next in order came the class match for $175 — §100 to 

 first, §50 to second, and $25 to third— entrance $10, open 



