392 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[bsOBMBKB lit, 1880. 



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J. C. HIGGINS' DASHING MONARCH. 



DASHING MONARCH. 



DASHING MONARCH is owned by Mr. John C. Hig- 

 gins, of Delaware City, Delaware, and is a powerful 

 yoUDg white and black setter dog. He was wlielped August 

 25, 1878, and wa.s bred by Mr. R. Llewelliii Purcell Llewel- 

 liu at Ormsby Hall Lincolrwhire, England His sire, Dash 

 II., was the most noted field trial winner in England. His 

 dam, Countess Moll, she being by the celebrated Dan out of 

 the equally celebrated Countess. Dashing Monarch thus 

 combines the blood of the greatest dogs yet produced. He 

 wa.s imported last November a year, and arrived here on De- 

 cember 5, 1879. In the field Monarch has just shomr what 

 stuff he is made of, as winner of second in the AU-aged 

 stakes, and he has before him a grand future lioth in the field 

 and on the bench. Con.sidering that he has had but two 

 BQOctlis work in his life, he is a most excellem, dog. The 

 picture of Monarch is a grand one, and we had the pleasure 

 of submitting it to Mr. Higgins, who regards it a " a speak- 

 ing likenes.s." 



Gladstone, the winner of first, is a son of Mr. Higgins' 

 Petrel, a noted champion Laveraok, so that, directly or indi- 

 rectly, both fii-st and second prizes in the AU-aged stakes fall 

 to the honor of Mr. Higgins' kennel. Besides other noted 

 dogs Mr. Higgins owns Fairy II., the last e.-cportation of Jlr. 

 Laverack to America. She is the dam of Mr. Snellenburg's 

 Thunder, a dog which has done exceedingly well at this 

 year's field trials at Lancaster, Pa. 



■«. . 



;liA,BTEKS FiELD Tkials.— We take great pleasure in pre- 

 eenting to our readers this week very excellent portraits of 

 two of the winners at the late Eastern Field Trial Meeting. 

 We have certainly spared neither trouble nor expense to give 

 correct likenesses, and in order to do this we secmel the best 

 artistic talent. The sketches were made by Mr. E. Forbes, 

 of this city, who has for years given his entire attention to 

 the illustration of live stock. Both of the pictures, therefore, 

 have been taken from the animals themselves, not from 

 photographs or paintmgs, and each dog was given a careful 

 Btand or sitting. 



By an unfortunate mischance the plate from which our 

 picture of Champion Gladstone, winner at Robins* Island 

 was to have been printed, was ruined just before going to 

 press. We are, therefore, obli.ued to wait until nest week 

 before giving a portrait of that, celebrated dog. 



In our next number, also, we will publush the portraits of 

 Mr. Max WenzeVs Chief and the Westminster Kennel Club's 

 Bensatiou. 



MovA SooriA. Kbknel Club.— The inaugural meeting of 

 Qiis association was held at Halifax, N. S., on December 1, 

 when a ConMitution and By-Laws were adopted. The cora- 

 mittec reported thst His Honor the Liour. Governor had con- 

 sented to t)Mome the patron of tlie club, and that His Y^ov- 

 »Mp thf Mavoi had siccepted the position of President. It 

 w,ftB decided to bold a dog show in the l*st week in Pobniary. 

 In our ne.xt issue we will give full particulars. 



Da. Wst. Jaevis mA Mr. Benj. F. Clark, retnmed last 

 ■week from McKenzie, Tenn., where they have been enjoying 

 fair quail shooting since the Vincennes trials. Noreen, Dr. 

 Jar vis* la-st importation, is said to be as gcxid as she looks, and 

 jook to her work most kindly. 



WHAT IS A COCKER ? 



COETLAND, N. Y,, Da<j. 5. 

 MitM- foreit and Stream: 

 As an admirer and breeder, on a small scale, of cockers, I 



am interested in the formation of a club and giving to breed- 

 ers an admitted standard of excellence, that all owners and 

 purchasers can then judge for themselves the merits of their 

 stock. 



As for jnyself, I would like to approach as near a sensible 

 standard by careful breeding, mating, etc., as is possible. If 

 I am not now upon the right track I will go back and take a 

 new start, as I have made a choice of this variety and feel at 

 a loss how to know the points to breed to that will make uiy 

 dogs desirable and give them the greatest advantage at a 

 bench show. It seems to me the cocker should be bred to a 

 standard that will not sacrifice him in any respects as a field 

 dog. Make the disqualifying weight of cockers such that 

 good, strong, eligible dogs in all other respects would not he 

 thrown out by being a tilfle over size. 



I wish to conform to the cocker size and weight in breed- 

 ing, but for an all-day's hunt in the thick cover and over 

 fallen timbers the small toy dogs will not fill the bill. Pardon 

 me if I am trespassing. I claim oidy to be an amateur, liut 

 being a lover of the cocker spaniel I have my ideal, like many 

 others. 



I only hope a standard will be made by a corps of men that 

 are both fearless and unselfish, not allowing their own or 

 friends' favorite strains of cockers to have an undue influence 

 upon them in making this standard. It seems to me that a fan- 

 way to begin this is for all breeders of experience and those 

 who have taken pains to make this variety a study to 

 furnish the committee a description of the cocker spaniel, as 

 they understand it to be, Mio, 



The articles which have appeared from time to lime in 

 voiu- paper have all got some good points, but the soundest 

 and best and most business like is from your Ann Arbor cor- 

 respondent " Senex;" his idea exactly covers the ea.se, and m 

 this way of selecting a comudtlee no one individual can feel 

 acgrieved, and I will cheerfully donate one dollar to defr.ay 

 expenses. I also like the suggestiou of '' Shamrock," Ohicngo, 

 III., with resoect to the S50 prize, and I willfreelly contribute 

 to such prize. But. "Shiunroek ;" in regard to weight Idon't 

 agree with vou. Pray what is a field or springer spaniel 

 if a dog weighing 40 lbs. is to be called a cocker? 1 have 

 seen cockers and field spaniels both on the bench and in the 

 field in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, and have seen 

 what they call a spaniel in Prance, but I have never yet seen 

 a field spaniel that weighed over 45 lbs. Just look at the 

 weio-ht of winning cockers at bench shows both in England 

 aud°America. I think vou will find them under 30 lbs. 

 McKoon admits and I concede that a cocker is to all intents 

 audpurposes a small field spaniel, but yet a cocker proper 

 has a far better coat, a brighter color, finer hair, more silky 

 in texture and a far handsomer head than the field or springer 

 spaniel. And I think it is generally understood by cocker 

 breeders that all those finer traits, such iis color, size, slripe, 

 eyes, ears, legs and general make up, come from the Kmg 

 Charles, so tliat properlv speaking a cocker is not a small 

 field spaniel, for aside from size the build of the two types 

 widely differ. Now, again, the weight question. I have 

 owned, bred and shot over spaniels for over twenty years, 

 and 1 have vet to see the .lop: at Pay 40 lbs. that can do any 



more work or any bcft ^ • -tt.'.llba., ,ill other things 



otpial, such as heaUb, : "'-th the single excep- 



tion of duck rctrieviii . l-ock and ndTcd grouse 



shooting in thickly iiKii ' ■ nr. guiiiller dog has a de- 



cided advantage. As .fur spt'fd tliey are all fast enough, and 

 are apt to be too much so, at least this is my experience. 

 And now, 31r. Editor, let ns have the committee proposed by 

 " Senex "■ elected, and I would suggest lo such committee 

 to take Stonehouge as their guide, and I for one will be more 

 than satisfied. Robkbt Wai,kbb. 



Franklin, A''. 7. 



In your issue of Dec. 3 you give quite a number of letters 

 on this subject, all of which refer to me more or less directly 

 and some of which call for an answer. Mr. McKoon has a 

 a good deal to say (as usual), and I would like to see exactly 

 what there is thai is to the purpose. 



Modern cockers have been "an established breed for be- 

 tween fifteen and twenty years," Established by whom ? — by 

 Mr. McKoon, I presume, who has a little way of denying 

 every dog the name of "modern cocker" unless bred by 

 himself. Well ! he is welcome to the name, for simply 

 " spaniel " will do me as well. 



" Would it not be absurd to restrict a cocker to a certain 

 weight, when they are belter to vary in size as they do at 

 present V" Now Mr. jVlcKoon isgetling off the track, for ex- 

 actly what we propose lo do is to let them vary in size more 

 than they do at present, for a.s it is, a dog of thirty pounds or 

 over stands no chance against one of twenty -four or twenty- 

 five. Is any pointer penalized for his size ? Do not pointers 

 weigh anywhere from thirty-five or even tJiirty pounds up to 

 seventy and eighty, and in one instsincc (if I am correctly in- 

 formed) KiO pounds? And are not pointers divided into 

 two classes, large and small ? 1 will venture to say that there 

 is no breed in which there is more latitude as to size than 

 pointers, and there is no breed that needs latitude as to size 

 more than the cocker, or field spaniel, for the very reason that 

 Mr. McKoon states, viz., that different parts of the country 

 need difi'erent sized dogs. 



What wo mean by its not being necessary for a man lo 

 own or breed cockers to be eligible for our club, is that many 

 admirers and judges of cockers do not happen to own speci- 

 mens, as is the case with "M, B.," though I hear that he in- 

 tends getting some, 



Becaiwo I'do not happen to own any setters is that any 

 reason that I shoidd be debarred from a cbib having their Im- 

 provement for an object, or that I shoidd not be a good judge 

 of the breed ? Things would come to a pretty pass if every 

 judge at a show should be obliged to own specimens of each 

 breed he undertakes to judge I 



j\Iany thanks to Mr, McKoon for his kind opinion of the 

 "highly respected and enthusiastic young man." My youth 

 does not prevent mc from knowing a little about dogs, for 

 " age does not always bring wisdom " — more's the pity. 



Now, in his next statement, " Such a club as this is in- 

 tended to work to the advantage of certain parties," I beg to 

 fiatlj' contradict him. With the exception of Mr. McKoon 

 (who know.H which aide his bread is buttered on too well) 

 t Very breeder, owner and exhibitor of cockers wiU reap equal 

 advantages in having competent judges, a clearer idea of 

 what is a cocker and better divided and larger prizes given 

 by the club. 



Mr, McKoon insinuates that my dogs are not cockers by 

 the following .sentence : "But his experience is very limited 

 in relation to cockers, and he has only bred a few spaniels of 

 any kind In the short time he has given any breed of spuniels 

 his atlention," The only cooker 1 have, 1 suppose, is Mad- 

 cap (black), by Dom out of Black Bess; Doin by McKoon's 

 Captain out of his Caper, Well 1 if Shell, Doctor, Cora, 

 Flirt II,, Black Bess, Beauty and others are not, cockers 1 

 am content to call Uiem simply spaniels, or, if you like, field 

 spaniels, but this I know, thst they fetch higher prices and 

 have won more prizes (those that have been exhibited), un- 

 der competent judges, than any one strain of spaniels in 

 America, 



Sir. MeK' on again insinuates that Cora got more than 

 her de.sc.'-ts nt tbc ln^l New York shaw. Asshe was an mide- 

 veloped iiupry, .pint one day too old for the puppy class (had 

 the show bceii licld on the original date), perhaps she did, 

 but the judge said she was worth the other thirteen bitches 

 put together, and there were two it not three of the McKoon 

 strain there. 



1 suppose that the onU' competent man to establish a 

 " competent rule "—who can reckon on the " oo-operation of 

 all cocker breeders In the L*. S ," the great "I am" of the 

 cocker world — is Mr. .McKoon himself. Perhaps so, but if 

 he does not choose to join onr club there is still a small 

 chance of its surviving, notwithstanding the overwhelming 

 obstacle of his opposition. I am sure " all cocker breeders 



