352 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Deokmbek 2, 1880. 



A. H. Moore, Philadelphia, liver and white pointer dog LaGny 

 (BanR-Jmio'), two and a half yooxB. 



A. H. Moore, Philadelphiaj red Irish sett«r dog Baleigh (Eloho- 

 Bo&e'l, two and a quarter veorn. 



A. H. Mmre, Philadelpliia, bine belton better bltoh Laas o' Gow- 

 rle (Pariri-lVavl \ tiiree vears. 



G. W. Hiissford. White PlainB. N. Y., white and black setter dog 

 Iron Dukr i ria^li -Flu-t:i, live ycjars. 



f. 'J'. I- 1 wicU, Conn., orange and white setter dog 



Groii... J ';iiriy Dale), two yearfi. 



EUui . -i: , ij..klyn, N. Y., lemon and white pointer dog 

 BuBh iJ ....iL J.ii.,, , lonv and ahalf yeaxH. 



<v. Talluuia, InowmTlle. B. !., black and wbit« ticked setter 

 bitehI«abeUn. 



H. W. LivintTBtone, Sew York City, white with liver ears setter 

 dog Ray I Pnde of the Border-Dimity), four and a half years. 



A. E. Goduflfroy, Guyraard, N. Y'., liver and white pointer dog 

 Croxteth (Bang-.Jane\ three years. 



H. D. Eipley, New Y'ork Citv, red setter dog Bpv, two and a half 

 years. 



The following was the result of the drawng : 



fllen against Dashing I^onaiTh. 



Iron Duke against Isabella. 



Kay against Spy. 



Croxteth against Trim. 



Lizzie Lee against Sensation. 



Lass o' Gowi-ie against Peep o' Day, 



Lord Dnfferin against Fred. 



Kttleigh agamst Bessie. 



Warwi'ls against St. Elmo. 



Buah against LaGuy. 



Smut against Belle. 



Gladstone against Nat. 



Maida agamst Grousedale, 



Aftou, a bye. 



Snow and rain are falling, and the trials are postponed for 

 the day. Our next issue will contain full parlicuJars of the 

 further running. 



Judges at the Eastern Field TBiALa.— Col. Jamea Gor- 

 don, Pontotoc County, Miss.: Dr. RawJings Youngs, Corinth, 

 Miss.; J. Von Lengerko, West Hoboken, N. J.: J. C. Mon- 

 roe, Brooklyn, N. T. Besides these gentlemen, L. H. Bil- 

 lings, U. S. N., audR. T. Hewitt, South Wethersfield, Conn., 

 were chosen by the committee, the former, however, resigned 

 from serving and the latter was prevented from putting in an 

 appearanee from illness. 



NATIONAL FIELD TRIALS. 



VisoENSEs, Ind., November 17. 



TEEE snow which commenced to fall last evening has con- 

 tinued all day until about four or five inches cover the 

 ground. It was therefore deemed expedient to call a meet- 

 ing this evening to determine on some course of action. The 

 expression of those present was to call the Derby stakes off, 

 and the judges were requested to make their awards based on 

 the heats that had been already run. Sanborn's Comit Noble 

 was declared first, Snellenburg's Dais)' Laverack second, and 

 the third money was divided equally between Bryson's Peep 

 o' Day, Snelleiiburg's May Laverack, Momitview Kennel 

 Club's' Count N.iiler and JIcDonald'a Bruce. As the total 

 amount of stalces amounted to .-SSTO, Count Noble won 84'1J5, 

 Daisy Laverack S200, and each .«liareof the four third money 

 winners was •*!!(). 2-1. Great satisfaction was expressed by 

 every one at tlie decision of the judges, and we thoroughly 

 endorse their awards. We greall}' regret, however, that the 

 trials have to be ended in this way, as we should liave liked 

 to have seen Mr. Snellenburg's pocket edition Dai.sy rim 

 against the famous Count. When she was down on Monday 

 she showed herself to be a rattling good one : and the ground 

 was much more difficult and *he day nothing like as good ft 

 one as fell to the fortime of 3Ir. Sanborn's crack. LTuder 

 equal conditions Daisy would make it hot for bim. Besides 

 this the little bitch was down several hours while Noble was 

 awarded Ms heat in something like twenty minutes. 



Before the meeting adjourned it was determined to retiu'n 

 the forfeit monej- in the brace stakes. 



ViNCENNE,s, Ind., November 18. 



A meeting was held at eleven this inoniiug, which was 

 largely attended by members of the National American Ken- 

 nel Cful), owners of contesting dogs and handlers. Tlie club 

 With great liberality voted to divide equally the .*riOO stakes 

 among the thirteen confirmed entries in the Free-for-All. 

 Mr. Riimsey's Belle having been withdrawn, each nomina- 

 tion received •'*38.4(i. It was then decided that as the judges 

 ■were of the opinion there was no possible chance of continu- 

 ing the trials on account of the storm, that the meeting be 

 brought to au end. The late afternoon trains carried away 

 those interested, antl the trials were a thing of the past. 



[By an unfortunate combination— Thanksgiving and the 

 Western snow storms— last week, the report above did not 

 reach us in time for our last issue, which was sent to press 

 earlier than usual j 



"COTJPLBS" ON FIELD TRIAL RULES. 



Edit'jr Forest and Sir mm : 



SOME time ago I ventured to send youu vi- Wi 



the most humble manner, aadwith !i ilin ii 



ignorance, that the Field Trial Rules as eliiVn ', . i. :■.;,' 



tional Field Trials Association and the Eastern Field Trials 

 Club were in some particulars defective. I made my sug- 

 gestions—far be it from me to call them criticisms— with fear 

 and trembling. 1 am not a member of any kennel club or asso- 

 ciation for the impovement of dogs, and am therefore presum- 

 ably less qualified to speak intelligently on such a topic than 

 the gentlemen who give more time and attention to such mat- 

 ters than I cjiu. I am simply oneof ibe great army of sports- 

 men: I own and breed .ioa-s thai I ooiisidei^ -ood, and having 

 hunted and shot in many of the Slates anrl Territories I have 

 formed opinions of my own on matters connected with dogs 

 and their working, to which, although they may be open to 

 criticism, I cling with a certain degree of tenacity. 



In my letler of August 30, I complained that the Field 

 Trial Bides a-i laid down by the organizations above men- 

 tioned were obscure and in many respects umutelligible, and 

 endeavored to point out that the blind language employed liy 

 the framers of the rules might give great opportumty for 

 cavil and wrangle on the part of disappointed owners. In 

 an able editorial which appeared in the same issue of Forest 

 A?n> Stubam which contained uiv letter you still fiuthcr em- 

 pha.<!ized these points, and m-^ced rleanie-^s i.f wording in the 

 framing of rules as a proiectiou t.. judges as well as lo ex- 

 hibitors. 



1 had hoped tliat your eaniest words might have called 

 /'ortli a reply frooi some one la authority explanatoiy o^ the- 



wret«hedly muddled language of the rules, or,.better still, 

 that they might have been revised by some one who was fa- 

 miliar with the handling of dogs, and at the same time had 

 some faint idea of how to write an intelligible sentence in 

 Eiigii-sh. Having been disappointed in ho'th these hopes T 

 cannot refrain from once more referring to the harm tluit may 

 result from the adoption of rules and direeti>)ns to judc'ea so 

 hopelessly inadequate to the necessities of the case. ' 



'The Peimsylvania Trials were rim under rules essentially 

 the same as those adopted by the N. A. F. T. C. and the E. 

 F. T. C, and with what re.sidt V So far as can be judged 

 from the publLshcd reports and from the accounts of those 

 who were present at Lancaster the meeting came very near 

 breaking up ui a row. The judging was more than once re- 

 versed, and general dissatisfaction was the result. The .sys- 

 tem of marking dogs as practiced in the past and to be prac- 

 ticed at coming trials this month is radically wrong, and un- 

 til changed will cause dissatisfaction and give rise to quarrels 

 and bad feeling to the end of the chapter. 



Field trials are young as yet in this country, and we are 

 still groping in the dark after a plain and common-sense 

 method of carrying them out. it is clear that up to the 

 present time we bave not hit upon any such nietliod, and 

 until we do so we cannot hope to have the contests success- 

 ful. I believe the present system to be a wrong one. I do 

 not think that judges should be fettered by being compelled 

 to make use of any system of marks, and the rules governing 

 them should be general rather than .specific. It is reasonable 

 to suppose that men chosen as judges will know their busi- 

 ness and vrill be fully qualiiied to decide as to whether a dog 

 does his work in good shape or not. Such men will not re'- 

 quire to be told what they must or must not do. Of course, 

 if judges are to be chosen who have no experience, who 

 need instruction as to what constitutes pointing, backing or 

 retrieving, )'0u must have very exact rules, but do you want 

 such men for judges in field trials? It is surely possible to 

 select each year for these important and onerous positions 

 men who shall command the confidence of the sportsmen of 

 the country at large, and in the hands of such men the judg- 

 ing may be left with safety. 



In view of the number of gunshy dogs that cumber the 

 kennels of our breeders, one amendment to the rules govern- 

 ing trials suggests itself to me as important. Every puppy 

 should have at least one gun fired over him or her dming the 

 running. At present, in the course of the heats, guns are 

 fired over perhaps half the puppies run; they should be 

 tired over every one. 



It is a matter of very great regret to mc, and no doubt to 

 all sportsmem, that the field trials run this season have all 

 been failures. No birds in Nebra-ska ; no bu-ds, bad we-ather 

 and dissatisfaction at the judging in Pennsylvania, and bad 

 weather at the National Trials, make up so far the soixy 

 record of this autumn's running. Will the Eastern Trials 

 prove a brilliant success, or, like the others, a hopeless 

 failure? The former I sincerely trust. 



No matter what the result, however, it is clear to my mind 

 that If these contests are to be successful in America, the 

 rules which govern them must be altered in many particu- 

 .ars. Great latitude of judgment should be given to the 

 judL'-es, and the few rules by^which they are to be governed 

 'must lie so clear and simple that there cannot be two con- 

 structions put upon them; they must be adapted to the 

 feeblest comprehension. 



Before advancine mj- own views further on this point I 

 prefer to wait to see if the matter will not be taken in hand 

 ■ ' some sportsman of greater experience than Cottpi.ks. 



^',,c York, Ntrt. 26, 1880. 



[Pre 



THE ENGLISH SETTER. 



1 Yei-o Shaw's " Book of the Dog." Bepublished by ;tlie 

 express purmiasion of the Author.] 



Amongst the most prominent setters of recent years the 

 name of Rap will always be conspicuous. We believe that 

 this dog was beaten in Ids day by JMr. Laverack's Prince, 

 but he is generally credited witJi having been tin' best dog 

 of his breed ever' seen in public. A gtntk-naui who knew 

 him well when in his primi: has kindly i;iveii us the follow- 

 ing description of this great EnLdish setter.— -' liap was a 

 black-while-and-taii do«-, ,vilh a most retiniMl head, and \rry 

 intelligent eves. His ears were beautifully i.lacod. and his 

 long neck was well set into his back. His ril.s were deep, 

 his "feet were good, and his legs as slrnight as gun -barrels : 

 his hind-quarters were powerful ; and last, but not least by 

 any means, he had a well-carried, well-proportioned stem. 

 His sinsle fault, if fault there could be found in Rap, was 

 that he was a trifle— just a trifle— high on his leg." 



Mr. William Lort's Shot (18(55) was another famous pure 

 Laverack, and c^\w brother to Sal, who was pronounced by 

 Mr. Richard Witbmgton to be the beat bitcli of the day. >[r. 

 Laverack however, who never saw either Shot or Sal, said 

 Walter was thp best setter he had ever seen ; thoy were by 

 Withington's Frank, out of Flash. Nor mu.st the merits of 

 Quince II.. Ranger's father, be overlooked, unlucky as this 

 grand dog was in his owners, for he never seemed to be 

 properly "appreciated by those who had him in their posse.=- 

 sion. Quince II. was" sold for a few shillings when worn 

 out, at Aldridtre's RepositoiT m 1878, for the public never 

 seemed to realize th.at veiw ranch of Ranger's excellence was 

 inherited from his hrave old sire. Count Wind'em, Countess 

 iloU, and Countess B.-ar are the bright particidar stars of Mr 

 Llewellin's kennel, and the first-namcil is a great, big. use- 

 ful lo-ikma: doir. :\Ir. ,lames Fletcher's blue-ticked dog Rock, 

 late Mr. S" E. Shirley's, has done a lot of wumiug, and Mr. 

 Loiff own l.roilif-i- lo him— .lock— is a successful she, having 

 fathered Belfast v.nA other cood ones. ^lilano, a black-tan- 

 and- while (very little tan-and-wliite i dog, .and Bandit, have 

 done mucdi to sustain the prestige of Mr. Bower's kennel, 

 and Mr. Short-hose's Novel has kept his name Avell before 

 the public. Another Endish setter who is, m our opinion, a 

 very trraud but unluckv dog, is Mr. .1. Robinson's Emperor 

 Fre'd": bis chief fault is a want <.t sprini; in his nbs, but 

 with this exception he is a setter all over. Mr. T. Bower.s. 

 in addid'jn lo Bandit, is the fortunate possessor of an excel- 

 lent bitch iu -Alaid of Plouor, who closely resembles the great 

 dof; in both color and formation. 



Having thus endeavored to trace out tbe history of the 

 Enelish setter from its earliest origm to the present day. and 

 havlutt drawn attention to many of tlie men who have done 

 best for it, and many of the dogs who have done inost to sup- 

 port the EugUsh setter's reputation, there leiuains for us tnit 

 very little more to say. Opinions on I be setter's merits must 

 always be re-occurring, when the large nnmber 'if sportsmen 

 ia taken into consideration r and even informer days, as we 

 have idready shown, it wa.s a debatable subject in sporting 

 ckcles as to which was the better dog in the field— the setter 



or the pointer. For our own part we should prefer the setter, 

 but a good dog, like a good horse, is good under any circum- 

 stances. Mr. William "Lort, in answer to a question, has 

 written us as follows ; " I am often asked which is the better 

 dog — the pointer or the setter. It is cUtlirult |o say. 1 ke",, 

 and use both, and the only disadvantage 1 see in t;iie pomter 

 i.s that on high storm-awe"pt hills he does sometimes, after a 

 protracted hmcli, shiver and shut up; but this is only on 

 exceptionally wet and cold days. The setter is undoubtedly 

 the best dog w-e have for grouse shooting, and this is beyond a 

 doubl the poetry of all shooting. 



'• Now, as to the points of the English setter, it is really 

 difficidt to give them in an understandable form — general ap- 

 pearance, or Unit enaimhli. goes for sei much. The head 

 ought to be long, and the e3-es, which should match or be in 

 keeping with the color or complexion of the dog, shoidd not 

 be too wide apart, or placed in loo deep a stop, or be sepa- 

 rated by too mueh of a gi-oove— all or any of these defects 

 spoil the expression, a most important point in a setter. The 

 ears should not he set on too high or be carried loo far from 

 the head. The front of the ear should not gape open so as 

 to show the inside of the ear. The ear should not be spaniel- 

 like and large. The neck should be long and well set baek 

 into the shoulders. The chest should lie deep and the ribs 

 carried well back toward the hips. N.B. Some loose-loined, 

 badly ribbed-up setters go a great pace, but they are usually 

 bad feeders ami not every-day workers. The "stem should 

 not be too long : ii should lie carried in a line with the back, 

 and be stniigllt and be ornamented with a little pendant 

 fringe. Nothing indicates mongrel blood in a setter more 

 than a defective stem. The forelegs should be straight, 

 strong and not too long ; the hind ones should be muscular 

 and well bent. The feet should be round, and well supplied 

 with hair between toes, not loo far apart. The coat is aiTected 

 by climate ; the most approved is devoid of curl. The best 

 colors are black and white, ticked, or lihie Beltons, lemon- 

 and-white and lemon-ticked. Laverack preferred the blue 

 Bel tons; he thought them rather hardier than dogs of other 

 colors." 



Having thus given the ideas of the leading living authority 

 upon setters it only remains for us to give a short description 

 of the principal points of the variety. They are as fol- 

 lows : — 



The head moderately long and not too heavy ; rather in- 

 clined to be narrow between the ears ; a dip below the eyes, 

 and with the muzzle rather uprising at the nose, 



The nose should be large and Uie nostrils spreading ; the 

 color black or dark liver, dependent upon the color of the 

 dog himself. 



The ears not too heavy, set on low, and lying close to the 

 head, not pricked up, and covered with a silky fringe. 



The eyes large, bright and intclli.gent ; nothing is so bad as 

 a ' ' pig-eyed " setter. 



The neck long, curved, sloping, and -well set on the shoul- 

 ders. 

 The shoidders very muscular and sloped. 

 The chest deep. 



The body.— Ribs ratherround, wide at the shoulders, well 

 ribbed up and muscular ; loins a little arched. 



The legs and feet.— Legs not too long, quite straight and 

 feathered down to the ground : feet well supplied with hair. 

 Ill hind legs the stifles must be well bent, and the hocks and 

 pasterns unusually strong. 



The stern or flag not too long and free from cmi, and car- 

 ried in a slight cuiwe : it should be well featlierc|i. 

 The coat is soft, silky and free from all curl. 

 The Color.— Lemon-and- white, blue-and-white, orange- 

 iind-white, black-and-white, white, black, and liver-andu 

 white. There are other colors, but they are seldom met with. 

 In general appearance the setler is a handsome, though del- 

 icate-looking dog, in many instances increasing this appeai"- 

 auce by a tendency ifi crouch and seem afraid. He, however, 

 ought til L'ive e^ideuces of stamina, and should have a cut- 

 and-come-agaui apptarauce in Spite of seeming delicate. 



The dog .selected for illustration in our colored plate is Mr. 

 lilacdona's Vtauger HI., a grandson of Old Ranger. This 

 doir's pediirree has already been given, and, as he hiis been 

 expatriated to t^ei-niany, "it would be unfair to criticise hi.? 

 performances upon tlie'bench. 



Tlie enan-avingB of Ranger and Novel tu'c, wo consider, tv.o 

 exeellentlikeuesses of the animals they represent. Range:. 

 also Mr. Macdona's, ha.s iilready been done justice lo above, 

 anil we ciiii ouiv add that he is as affectionate and obedient in 

 private Life as he is feared and formidable in the field, l^lr. 

 Shoilbose's Novel was bred by Mr. T. B Cockerton in 18T7. 

 and is by Blue Prince out of Flame, by Rail out of Countes. 

 Blue Prince II. by Blue Prince out of Cora. She has we 

 the foUo-wing prizes : Gateshead first and cup, Whitby flrsi. 

 Preston first, Kendid cup. Bishop Auckland cliampion, and 

 Birmingham second prize, 1879: first Crystal Palace, first 

 Dariington, 1880. 



STASDABD OV POISTS EOK .ICDGJNG ESGT.T8H SETTERS. 



Vnlue. 



Head lO 



Eyes and ears 5 



Shoidders and neck f) 



Body and chest 10 



Loins and stifles fi 



Legs and feet ■"' 



Coat and feather 5 



General appearance '> 



Total.. 



50 



INSTINCT OR REASON? 



LE'T me add one to the number of your "Current Dog 

 Stories." 



Ahnost every old sportsman of fifty yeai-s' experience has 

 owned in his time one or more dogs whose mental and moral 

 qualities were so irreat and distinct as to justify a doubt 

 whether the iimm of the animal does not differ from the soul 

 of man more m degree than in kind. Certainly T have had 

 several such, who have rewarded my affectionate and pain.s- 

 taking teaching by an active inteUigence which was a never- 

 failing soiu-ec of wonder and delight. One intndent in Hie 

 life of my last canine friend is recalled to mind by reading 

 your last mindier, and it may be worth the telling. 



Rieht years ago I picked up in Wisconsin a brown lialf- 

 bredl-etriever (setter and pointer; who,=« great strength and 

 ambition seemed lofll him for my heavy work of duck and 

 iioose shooting in Cah'fornia, where, lo swim it."! rapid and 

 Toy rivers with a goose in the mouth, more than ordinary 

 courage and muscle are reqiiii-ed. During a service of four 

 bright seasons, this dog saved me thoufiflnds of geese and 



