[April 9, 1885. 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



209 



same time. Wlieu there are no large fish, there are no young 

 ones to be seen, the quantity of small fish is always In propor- 

 tion to the large ones. If the : spawn is not deposited, there, 

 where do the young come from, at this unseasonable time of 

 the year? 



I simply state the facts as I know them to be, and leave the 

 answer to those who claim that menhaden spawn only in the 

 fall, out at sea. A. 8. 



Brooklyn. N. Y. 



THE FIRST SHAD.— The first Hudson Elver shad of the 

 season was caught oil April 4 by William Wandoll, Stapleton, 

 Staten Island, and sent to Mr. E. G. Blackford, Fulton Market. 

 The tish was some twenty days late, although earlier than the 

 first shad of last year. The cold water has kept them back, 

 and when the temperature rises there will be a rush and a 

 short season. Our correspondent "Homo," writing from Pnila- 

 delphia, says the first Delaware River shad was taken on the 

 3d in Alloway's Creek, and weighed five pounds. 



Ihe Mmnel 



FIXTURES. 



BF.NCH SHOWS. 



April? to 10, 1885.— F1r?t Annual Dog Show N. E. Kennel Club, 

 Music Hall, Boston. J. A. Nickersoii, Secretary 15!) A Tremont street. 



April 21. 22 and 23.— Ai mial Dog Show of the St. Louis Gun Club. 

 W. A. Albright, Secretary, St Louis. Mo. 



April 28. 2!), 30 and May 1. Ninth Annual Dog- Show of the West- 

 mins'er Kennel Olub at Madison Square t! >rden. Entries close April 

 14. James Mortimer. Superintendent, 48 Broad street. New fork. 



May 5, 6. 7 and 8. 1885.— Second Annual Dog Show of the Cincin- 

 nati Sportsman's Glut). Cincinnati, u. W. A. Coster, Superintendent. 



May 13, 14 and 15.— Third Annual Dog Show of the Toronto Dog 

 Show Association. W. S. JacksoD, Secretary, Toronto. Ont. 



May 19, 20, 21 and 22.— Show of the Philadelphia Kennel Ulub. F. A. 

 Diffenderfer, Superintendent, Philadelphia, Pa. 



June 2, 3. 4 and 5. — First Annual Dotr Show ot the Illinois Kennel 



Oiub, John H. Nay lor. Secretary, 3.183 Archer avenue, Chicago, 111. 



. FIELD TRIALS . 



November.— Seventh Annual Field Trials of the Eastern Field 

 Trials Club, High Point. N. C. Entries for Derby close May 1. W. 

 A. Coster, Secretary, Flatbush, L. I. 



Dec. 7.- Seventh "Annual Field Trials of the National Field Trials 

 Club, Grand Junction. Tenn. Entries for Derby close April 1. B, M. 

 Stephenson, La Grange, Tenn., Secretary. 



A. K. R.-SPECIAL NOTICE. 



rpHE AMERICAN KENNEL REGISTER, for the registration of 

 -*- pedigrees, etc. (with prize lists of all shows and trials), is pub" 

 lished every month. Entries close on the 1st. Should be in early. 

 Entry blanks sent on receipt of stamped and addressed envelope. 

 Registration fee (50 cents) must accompany each entry. No entries 

 inserted unless paid in advance. Yearly subscription $1,50. Address 

 "American Kennel Register," P. O. Box 2«32, New York. Number 

 of entries already printed 2200. 



SPANIELS AT NEW HAVEN. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



It is refreshing to notice the steady progress made by 

 spaniel breeders during the last two or three years. It would 

 not have been an easy matter two or three years ago to have 

 named a brace of good looking cockers in this country. That 

 state of affairs no longer exists, and at the present time there 

 are not only many good looking specimens, but there arc two 

 or three that could hold their own in any company. In your 

 report of the Louisville show you said that Bonanza (one of 

 the prize winners) was not a good specimen. Mr. Fellows, 

 who owned the dog, objected to your critique, which was a 

 just one. and now the dog takes thie he. card, there being six 

 specimens ahead of him. May the pointers be improved to 

 the same extent. To Mr. Willey, of Salmon Falls, is due a 

 large share of credit for the marked improvement that has 

 taken place, and it is evident that unless something should 

 lead him from the track he is on, the black cocker of this 

 country will not only equal the best specimens that old Eng- 

 land can produce, but beat them. When I first met Mr. 

 Willey I told him that the most difficult defect to breed out is 

 in the* muzzle. It is here that many otherwise almost perfect 

 specimens are deficient, and Mi\ Willey now says that he can 

 breed fchem right everywhere else but not yet to his liking in 

 muzzle. To become a successful breeder of dogs in this 

 country a man must strike out on an independent course of 

 his own : this is just what Mr. Willey has done. He ignored 

 the ignorance and prejudice with which the columns of a 

 TV", -tern paper are pregnant, and bred to his own ideas. The 

 result of this we saw at New Haven, where the cockers made 

 the best collection ever seen in America. 



One of our dog papers abounds in ignorance to such an ex- 

 tent, and has so many little axes to grind, that nothing in its 

 columns can be said to be reliable unless it is the rehash from 

 foreign papers. The result is that the beginner "who is foolish 

 enough to read it gets his head tilled with a lot of flimsy ideas, 

 which he proceeds to cultivate, not entirely at his own ex- 



Eense, but at the cost of others interested in the breed of dog 

 e strives to improve, but which in reality he slaughters. Lei 

 me digress a moment to better illustrate my meaning. Mr. 

 Frank F. Dole entered a bull-terrier at toe New Haven show. 

 The gentleman has not had a very large experience either as 

 an exhibitor or breeder, but he is anxious to learn the points 

 which go to make up a tirst-class dog, with a view to improv- 

 ing bull-terriers in this coun try. His dog took premier honors, 

 and no doubt he looked into his Forest and Stream and other 

 papers to see what those who should know more about dogs 

 than himself had to say about his exhibit. A Western paper, 

 which never gives either a truthful description of a show or a 

 reliable report on the dogs, in commenting on Mr. Dole's dog, 

 said: "A remarkably handsome puppy, The Earl, was shown 

 and won in his class. He has a perfect "head and eye, is a little 

 light in body, but otherwise good. " Now, sir, fancy any per- 

 son (out of Ids swaddling clothes) penning such a critique. 

 The dog's faults are in head and tail, and his body, legs and 

 feet are. as good as they make them. His nose is not yet quite 

 black, he is not filled up sufficiently below the eyes, and he 

 carries his tail away up. These are his faults, and Mr. Dole 

 knows it. It is not probable, therefore, that he will go to 

 work to replace what is good by something faulty, or that he 

 will endeaver to perpetuate the dog's faults. Mr. Dole no 

 doubt arrived at the conclusion that he had forgotten more 

 than the paper whicU assumed to teach him ever knew, and 

 accordingly transferred the independent (?) journal to the 

 w. p. basket. 



In the same report you will find "Roy and Pete, two very 

 nice little dogs, were given respectively first and second in the 

 class for Blenheim spaniels." Roy and Pete may be "two 

 very nice little dogs," but the man "who says they are good 

 Blenheim spaniels knows less of the breed than the breed 

 knows of him. The world's canine renovator also said "two 

 nice little King Charles spaniels were shown of about equal 

 merit. First was given to Topsy and second to Piton." It 

 happened that these two "nice little King Charles spaniels" 

 were very inferior specimens, one of them being small in eye, 

 wanting in color and weak behind; the other small in eye, 

 short of ear, snipy, leggy and tucked up. The Chicago re- 

 porter should clip this critique out of Forest and Stream, 

 and apply it to the first King Charles spaniel he has to report 

 on; only let him be careful he does not get it down for an 

 Italian greyhound. If the Chicago paper cannot print a 

 decent report either by copying Forest and Stream or the 

 English papers, why don't it give up fairly and squarely and 



confjne the report to the prize list? The Forest and Stream 

 and the English papers give very reliable reports. The bluuder 

 is not made in copying from them, but in applying a descrip- 

 tion of a pug, for instance, or a mastiff, to a toy spaniel or au 

 Italian greyhound. 



Back to the spaniels, Only two Irishmen Were shown. Th 

 Chicago wiseacre said the first prize was withheld, and that 

 the specimens were "very ordinary." That is an easy way of 

 getting rid of waste paper. The owuers of the dogs knew by 

 the judge withholding the first prize that their dogs were 

 "ordinary," an. I so did the public. In order that the Western 

 reporter may be able to criticise these dogs the next ti me they 

 are shown, I will tell him why they are "ordinary." John 

 has a poor head, is too long in coat and not close enough in 

 curl. That is thie reason why he is "ordinary." Rocket has 

 a hopeless head, short, badly placed ears, white feet and lacks 

 Irish water spaniel character; hence is he "ordinary." 



in the class for Clumber spaniel dogs, John Halifax, placed 

 at the head of affairs, deserved the blue ribben. The Chicago 

 paper thought he had the best head in the class. If the re- 

 porter should ever see a good Clumber he would perhaps 

 cha age his opinion. John is snipy, and his ears are set on too 

 high ; lie is also light of bone, leggy and short of coat and 

 feather. Although John is not a good Clumber spaniel, he is 

 a nice dog. and was very well shown. Bateman came next. 

 He is too leggy, and short between the couplings. His color is 

 too darJE, and his coat was not looking so well as I have soon 

 it. Jockey T , commended, has a sour face, ears placed too high, 

 and is leggy and too wavy in coat. The class was properly 

 judged. Among the ladies Romp had an easy win. The Chi- 

 cago "barnacle" said she was a good fair bitch. Clumbers 

 omrht to be fair; very dark Jemon or orange color is objection- 

 able. No, sir, Romp is not a good specimen, so why mislead 

 her owner or tell him what he knows to be uutrue. The 

 bitch is leggy, light of bona (very serious defects in a Clum- 

 ber) carries her ears badly, and lacks character. Ursula, 

 placed second, is what an old fox-terrier friend would call 

 "monkey-faced;" she is light of bone, and although she has a 

 straight coat, there is not enough of it. 



In the champion class for field spaniels, over twenty-eight 

 pounds weight, the undefeated Benedict was alone iu his 

 glory. He was in splendid condition. His fault is in the 

 muzzle, which is too fine. Newton Abbot Lady had a narrow 

 squeak in the opeu class for dogs and bitches. Your Chicago 

 contemporary said "First went to a good all-round liver and 

 tan dog." I should like to see a few good all-round dogs; such 

 specimens I have found to be exceedingly rare. To begin 

 with, it is not quite clear how Newton Abbot Lady can be a 

 dog. Iu the second place I don't quite understand how a 

 bitch can be good all-round that is faulty in eye, muzzle, neck, 

 feet, mouth and length of barrel. The bitch has a Roman 

 nose, her eyes are not the proper color, her mouth is not level, 

 she is throaty, her feet are not thick enough through the pads, 

 and her body is a bit short. She is a broody looking bitch^ 

 with a nice straight coat, good legs and bone, and shows her 

 good breeding. The Chicago description of Newton Abbot 

 Lady is about on par with that of the mastiff -Hero II. He 

 was' once described as having a rather long fine tail. The 

 only inference to be drawn from this is that from a Chi- 

 cago point of view the mastiff should have a short tail. 

 Black Prince made a good fight for premier honors. He is 

 described in the Chicago parody as "another good one." 

 Good what? Good coat — that's it. Prince has a beautiful 

 dense black and glossy coat. He wa« a picture of health, 

 but should be shown with more flesh on his bones. He is at 

 all bitnes a trifle long on the legs, and this would not be so ap- 

 parent if he were shown heavier. His eyes are light and he is 

 weak in muzzle. With these faults he could not truthfully be 

 called "another good one." Just a fair specimen would be 

 nearer the mark. Young Bob, Kaffir, Zulu and Squaw aie 

 what I call "good ones," and even they are not like Newton 

 Abbot Lady, i. e., "good all round." Mr. Jacobs refused £100 for 

 Kaffir at the Birmingham show of 1880, but never claimed that 

 he was perfect, grand dog that he was. Bob. Jr., vhe., is in 

 my opinion an overrated dog, being much too short in the 

 back, cheeky, underhung, and showing too much day- 

 light under him. Gloss, vhe., was not well shown. 1 don't 

 like either his head or tail. I want a strong tail, carried low. 

 He is light Of bone and stands too high: ears good. Critic, 

 vhe, is short in head and light iu eye. His ears are rather 

 short and are not properly carried. His feet might be better 

 and his coat requires attention; in other respects he will do. 

 Beppo, vhe, was not in good condition. He is faulty in skull, 

 weak in muzzle and light of bone. Had he been a few pounds 

 heavier he would not have appeared so leggy. Bonanza, he, 

 is curly and short, has light eyes, and does not carry his ears 

 comme il faut. The class was well judged. 



A splendid class was the next one for cockers, clogs, liver or 

 black under 28 pounds weight. Obo II. was properly placed 

 at the head of the class. He is a handsome little dog' and has 

 demonstrated his ability to beget stock as good and even better 

 looking than himself. He stands on the best of feet, has good 

 legs, plenty of bone, aud a lot of substance (indispensable 

 requisites in a stud dog). His coat and the top part of his 

 head are good, and he is eveiy inch a cockei\ Like every 

 other dog, he has his faults, but none are very pronounced. 

 His eyes are a little light, and he might be improved from 

 them to the end of nose. His ears might hang better, he has 

 a spot of white on the chest, his tail is too thin, and his back 

 would be better an inch or so longer. I failed to find any- 

 thing else wrong with him. He is a good dog and the proper 

 stamp to breed to. Young Obo made a good second, and is a 

 nice little dog. Your Chicago contemporary does not think 

 him "quite as good in the front legs as Obo II.," but fails to 

 find him faulty at any other point. Wrong again. Young 

 Obo has capital front legs, lots of bone, and good feet, He is 

 faulty between the ears and below the eyes, has a thin tail, 

 and is a trifle underhung. Obo, Jr., vhe, another nice speci- 

 men, is faulty in muzzle^ and his coat requires care. Dandy 

 Zulu, he, has a fairly good head, but his ears are short and 

 badly placed. He carries his tail too gaily and is not of good 

 color. The class was well handled. 



The ladies made the best class that 1ms ever been seen iu 

 this country. Mr. TV illey was again to the front with Sliina, 

 a charming little daughter of Obo II. She is but 11 months 

 old. I should have given her the special for the best cocker 

 of all classes. She was shown in the best of conditiou, and 

 with the exception of being a little defective in muzzle, it is 

 not easy to find fault with her. Miss Obo II. was not exhibited 

 for competition. To me she appeared to be over the stipulated 

 weight. She is a nice bitch, a trifle leggy, and light of bone. 

 Mere coat and feather would improve her. In head she is 

 good, and being a rare bred one (Farrow's Obo — Farrow's 

 Nellie). She should throw something good-looking to Obo II. 

 Dinah W., vhe and reserve, is a niceish bitch. Three years, 

 or even two years ago, she could have won the highest honors 

 in this country, She is faulty in eyes, carriage of ears, length 

 of ears, and in stifles. Juno W , vhe , can be improved. She 

 is a bit snipy, leggy and light. Miss Nance, vhe, stands a 

 trifle high, is heavy in head and fault}' in muzzle; body and 

 coat very good. Rose Obo, he, is niontey-facod. Helen, win- 

 ner of second prize, though a nice bitch, does not improve. 

 She is growing all wrong behind, is not strong enough in the 

 arms, does not carry her ears very well, and is a bit snipy. 

 Black Meg, vhe, has a nice coat, plenty of bone and excellent 

 feet, but her head is hopeless and she is out at the elbows. 

 Darling, vhe, is not to my liking, being- of poor color, plain in 

 head, light in eyes, out at the elbows, and was not well shown. 



In the class for cockers of any other color, Sport, who took 

 first, must on all occasions make room for a good one. The 

 Chicago would-be dictator says: "Sport, a little high on the 

 legs, but otherwise good, won." The owner must have gone 

 off in hysterics when- he rea4 that report. A dog that is 

 "good aU over" with the exception of being a "little" high on 



the legs, would bo an acquisition to this or any other country. 

 They make dogs like that sometimes. Come Chicago, throw 

 tip the sponge aud furnish your readers with a prize list only. 

 People really cannot afford to pay even ten cents a week for 

 such clap-trap. Thn dog is faulty at the elbows, his ears arc 

 not well placed, and he is snipy and leggy. Marion, placed 

 second, is-weakin muzzle, iightof bone and out at the elbows. 

 1 failed to find a good looking puppy, but I am mindfid of the 

 fact that the judge extinguisher said one of them was "very 

 pretty" and another "splendid all-round.'' With so many 

 "splendid all round" specimens on view, no wonder New 

 Haven was a great show. Chas. II. Mason. 



New York, April G, 1835. 



NEW HAVEN NOTES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The dog show is over and the boys are glad, that is to say, 

 are glad that the worry is over; bub we still retain the pleas- 

 ure of having to put our hands quite deep into our pockets in 

 order to make up what was not put into our treasury by the 

 citizens of the City of Elms, in order to make us square with 

 the world. We five in a queer community. It takes a perfect 

 day, a complimentary ticket and a free coach to induce our 

 people to leave their firesides and patronize, a home enterprise; 

 but nevertheless, we will give them another cliunce next year, 

 and will try and have nature with us, as she gave us weather 

 that would make a Greeulander shiver this time. But we 

 must ■ uot "kick," as the dog men from all over the country 

 supported us in grand shape. 



Reports from the surrounding country indicate that we shall 

 have plenty of quail this year as well as partridge, but no 

 matter how many we breed there will be a hunter (not 

 shooter) to each bird. Our Legislature is made up of country- 

 men who will neither protect the birds nor have any mercy on 

 a man owning a dog. Our club have talked with many of 

 them, with a view of trying to either reduce the dog tax or to 

 protect those who do pay the now heavy tax, viz., §1.15 for a 

 dog and S6.15 for a bitch. In the way in which it now stands, 

 about one in a hundred, more or less, pay their dog tax. Last 

 year there were about 700 dogs registered in the town of New 

 Haven, of which one in sixteen was a bitch. At a small cal- 

 culation there are not less than 3,000 dogs here, so you see how 

 the law is enforced. It may seem funny on the face of it that 

 while we object to the price we still want to have the law en- 

 forced to tiie letter; but if the law were rigidly carried out and 

 all persons owning or harboring an unregistered dog "were 

 fined the full penalty, $7 and costs, there would not be so 

 many mongrels running- loose on our streets, and the standard 

 woifid be raised in proportion. 



If you do not register your dog, any one can take him froin 

 his kennel in broad daylight, aud in full sight of your famdy 

 or yourself, and you can do nothing unless you are big enough 

 to take the law into your own hands and run the risk of paying 

 a fine for assault and battery. Some time ago I had a bitch 

 stolen, but caught the thief. I had witnesses who saw him 

 take the dog— in fact, had a complete case; but the judge dis- 

 charged the thief on the ground that the dog was not prop- 

 erty on account of her not being registered. I could not sue 

 the man for trespass as he did not take her from my premises, 

 but from where I was keeping her for a time. 



As to just how anything not property can be taxed goes far 

 beyond my limited knowledge of law. The revenue from the, 

 dog tax is supposed to be used exclusively to pay damages to 

 the farmers having sheep killed by dogs' owned in the town; 

 but as a fine-tooth comb carefully used could not bring to 

 light more than a baker's dozen of sheep iu this whole town, it 

 seems hardly just to make the tax so heavy. 



As to the snaring of birds; there is a law against that, but 

 nine farmers out of ten keep a partridge fence the whole fall, 

 and if you destroy them you are prohioited from shooting on 

 their land. Nevertheless, the sportsmen kick over a great 

 many fences and snares each year. I know of several of our 

 lawmakers who snare birds and don't pay a dog tax; and are 

 not prosecuted, for the reason that one against the many 

 would have his trouble for his pains. I live in hope of seeing 

 the time when all of the Connecticut sportsmen will join hands 

 and "go for 'em," and then, with the aid of Forest and 

 Stream, I think we can do a great deal toward stopping the 

 wholesale "hanging" of birds and also straighten out the dog 



laws. ROSECROFT. 



New Haven, Conn., March 27. 



DISQUALIFICATION. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



For the first time I am compelled to find fault with Mr. E. 

 S. Porter's course in dog show matters. Perhaps I had better 

 say with his explanation of his course in the matter of the 

 Pierce disqualification, etc. 



When I saw the entry of Mr. Pierce in the New Haven cata- 

 logue, I said, "There those New Haven fellows have outdone 

 even themselves," and I am sorry to learn that the admission 

 of the entry was more of an oversight than a deliberate de- 

 fiance of the most outrageous of all the abortions, dignified as 

 the A. K. C. rules. However, we all know that Mr. Porter and 

 the N. H. K. C. have been actuated by good motives, and falling 

 short of perfection is not a very grievous sin. 



1 am delighted that Forest and Stream has taken the 

 position that I have ding-donged at, from the first appearance 

 of the Association rules, that it should not be possible for auy 

 one club to disqualify an exhibitor. But why not go furtner, 

 and maintain that any club, even after having adopted the 

 17th iniquity, is justified in refusing to exclude an exhibitor, 

 merely on the dictum of another club, when that dictum is 

 pronounced in a very suspicious way? It is surely a warrant- 

 able inference that the disqualification shall be for cause, and 

 substantiated to a reasouable degree. I ma'ntain that the 

 N. H. K. C. had a right to receive Mr. Pierce's entry, if the 

 Philadelphia K. C. did not satisfactorily support their action. 

 Do you mean to say that a member of the A. K. C. loses all 

 right to private judgment, and must surrender to any per- 

 formance in the disqualification line that another member 

 may choose to perpetrate? As to violating the A. K. C. rules, 

 New Haven had done that by omitting the "extra" silliness, 

 why not reject another of them as well? 



I ought to say that I have never seen or had anything to do 

 with Mr. Pierce, unless he was the gentleman who kindly in- 

 formed me that Giencho was an Irish setter at the State Fair 

 show last fall, wherat I hadn't courage left to repeat my 

 question as to what the name was ; so don't suppose I am 

 championing anybody when I attack a piece of iniquitous 

 tyranny. 



The fact is, the idea of the A. K. C. is all wrong; it is too 

 hide-bound, too narrow, too leveling. Its minute directory 

 rules as to private details of show management indicate its 

 petty lack of comprehension. I think the most elegantly 

 silly* piece of rot I have seen on this matter was in the Mirror, 

 where a correspondent gravely said, anent the Boston show, 

 that it was a member of the A. K. C, which was a congress 

 of clubs, which provided that no winnings should be recog- 

 nized except at shows of members, and therefore all the best 

 dogs of the country would be at Boston. Great snakes! Who 

 ever before even smelt such flapdoodle, let alone eating it? 



Just in this point let me say that the secretary of our Pitts- 

 burgh club has been so overwhelmed with inquiries as to 

 whether we were to have a show, that as a measure of econ- 

 omy of postal cards, the board of managers directed him to 

 send notices to the kennel papers that as we could not get a 

 hall we would not have a show. He was getting worn out 

 receiving and answering such inquiries. As Pittsburgh is not 

 an associated club (the Cincinnati meeting was too busy with 

 "proper construction" to act on its application) , this pressure 

 of inquiries indicates to me that exhibitors want to stretch 

 their lungs in breathing a little fresh air in an independent 



