132 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 11. , 1892. 



The Moldovanskia Borzie is found principally in Bessara- 

 bia and Roumania, and is derived froin a cross of the Krim- 

 skie and Horty Borzie. This breed is short-haired and not 

 very swift, but is good for long distances, as it is able to run 

 seven to nine miles in a course without fatigue. It is used 

 principally in the steppes for long chases. In points it is 

 like the Krimskie Borzie, excepting that it is short-haired. 



The Gorskie Borzie is used in themouutains. The princi- 

 pal points of difference are long, narrow forehead and long, 

 rhin muzzle, giving it a very delicate and handsome appear- 

 ance; ears thin and long and hanging; Ions', straight neck; 

 legs straight, but comiug together almost near the feet, 

 which are like the Psovies;tail short., with a little feather: 

 coat smooth and silky; predominant color, black with tan 

 markings, or red with black markings; has remarkable speed 

 and strength for long distances, but not so long as the Cri- 

 mean dogs, and their "fling" is very characteristic. 



Tazyi Borzie (Turcoman or Persian) is very graceful and 

 remarkably proportionate in all points, though small sized: 

 bead long, both forehead and muzzle; deep dark eyes, long 

 triangular-shaped ears, graceful swanlike neck, loin well 

 tucked np, rather fiat-sided, straight back, tail long, tbin 

 and curled at the end, coat straight and silky in texture, 

 with feather on legs and tail; color bright red, with tips of 

 the hair black, and feathering is also black, though other 

 colors do not disqualify- that named is the predominant 

 one. The dog is very swift and very long-winded. 



The Hivinskie Borzie (Khiva) is larger than the Persian 

 hound, and more fleshy; ears large, heavy and pendant. 

 These dogs are not so swift as the Tazyi Borzie, but are 

 highly prized for their great stamina and staying powers. 

 In other points they resemble the Crimean dogs. 



The Kirgiskie Borzie are entirely confined to the steppes. 

 They are straight-backed, legs thick and coarse, head and 

 neck thick, tail rough, ears triangular and pendant, carried 

 close to the side of the head; hair rough aud thick on tail, 

 ears and legs; tail curves; predominant color is muddy, but 

 other colors are found. It is a dog that is not at all thought 

 of outside of its district. 



The Horty Borzie is the name given to all of the smooth- 

 coated European greyhounds, and was extensively used at 

 one time to cross with other Russian breeds. 



The Brondastye Borzie is the name given to the Crimean, 

 the mountain, the Persian, the Khiva and Kirghis dogs. 

 When crossed with the Russian sheepdog, the characteristic 

 of the hound body aud head formation they retain, but the 

 hair is like the sheepdog's- In color gray— light or dark— or 

 a mixture of red, black and white. These dogs are again sub- 

 divided into the Courlaud breed and the Clock breed. 



The Courlaud breed have long, coarse hair on head and 

 ears, but the Clock tribe have silky hair, long and hanging, 

 like an Angora goat, with a thick mustache on muzzle and 

 goatee on lower jaw. These dogs are very savage and not at 

 all favorites with the sportsmen, as they are not very swift or 

 strong. They are generally used when there are plenty of 

 wolves. 



This gives an idea of the different kinds of Borzie, and 

 shows at once that the dogs that are coming over here are 

 the Psovie; the old Gustopsovies being almost extinct, they 

 are called simply Psovie, or Psovie Borzie. The term Borzie 

 alone signifies s'imply the whole family of greyhounds used 

 for coursing, and cannot be used to designate any one breed. 

 A. E. Olawoskt, H. I. Russian M's Consul General. 



New York City, Feb. 1. 



CANADIAN KENNEL CLUB RULES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have just read the letter sent you by Mr. P. G. Keyes 

 and published in your issue of Jan. 88, Divested of its 

 verbiage, Mr. Keyes's communication is an attempted de- 

 fense of the absurd rules lately passed by the executive com- 

 mittee of the Canadian Kennel Club, to which [ (in common 

 with many other breeders and exhibitors) very strongly 

 object. It is worth mentioning in passing that Mr. Keyes 

 is tiimself an officer of the C. K. C, and for this reason, per- 

 haps, may consider himself bound to defend any action, 

 however injudicious, which emanates from the executive 

 committee of the club. 



. After carefully reading aud re-reading Mr, Keyes's com- 

 munication I am still unconverted, and still insist that the 

 rules refen-ed to are absurd and not by any means in the 

 best interests of Canadian breeders. Mr. Keyes very cleverly 

 draws a herring across the scent and endeavors to belittle 

 my objections by ridiculing me: but I submit that your 

 readers are in no way interested in reading Mr. Keyes's 

 opinion of me and his allusion to my "eccentricities," my 

 "lofty rhetoric," my "sublime logic" and the fact that I am 

 "the embodiment of all canine wisdom" has nothing what- 

 ever to do with the question at issue. Mr. Keyes has been 

 fair enough and manly enough to write his letter over his 

 own signature, for which I respect him, but let me suggest 

 to him the advisability of sticking to his text in the future 

 instead of leaving the field to take shots at outside game. 



I take the ground that it is both unfair and unwise to make 

 the championship honors won by a dog depend upon the 

 number of animals entered at a show. Tbere'might be some 

 shadow of an excuse for fixing a numerical standard for en- 

 tries in particular classes or breeds— although even this 

 would be difficult of attainment— but I have not yet heard, 

 nor 1 fancy shall I ever hear, any good reason advanced for 

 making a dog's winnings in bis own particular class de- 

 pend upon the number of other dogs of different breeds 

 which nappen to be exhibited in other classes at the same 

 time. 



A 500 dog show may contain a better lot of animals than a 

 show which has only 300 entries, but then again it may not. 

 And then agaiu it may happen that the fox-terrier or bull- 

 dog classes at the smaller show may be stronger, larger, and 

 better all the way through, than those found at the larger 

 one. This is not a quibble but a fact, and one which must 

 be apparent, I think, to any one who will give the matter 

 caretul thought. 



I agree with Mr. Keyes that the title of champion should 

 not be lightly won, and I would be glad to see the number 

 of wins to make a champion largely increased; but when I 

 am asked to agree to a rule which makes the honor depend 

 upon the total number of entries at a show, without any 

 reference whatever to the particular class in which the dog 

 is shown, 1 must emphatically object. 



As the rule which allows English prize-winners to be ex- 

 hibited under C. K. C. rules in the novice classes, I have 

 again to say, even at the risk of offending Mr. Keyes, that I 

 tbink it " idiotic " and wholly indefensible. 



1 find in the dictionary that a "novice" is described as a 

 "beginner," or "one who is new at any business," audit was 

 for just such dogs as were beginners, and new to the judg- 

 ing ring, that the novice classes were formed. Prior to the 

 passage of the new rule uo dog that had won a prize was 

 supposed to be entered in the novice class, and in this way 

 breeders had a. chance to show their young stock uo handi- 

 capped, and encouragement was lent them to try and pro- 

 duce first-class animals. Now, however, by the rule which 

 I characterized as "idiotic," but which Mr. Keyes attempts 

 to defend, all this is changed, and breeders are informed 

 that in future their young and untried dogs are at the 

 mercy of any well-known prize winner that may be im- 

 ported from across the water. If this is not "idiotic" what 

 is? The fact remains that a dog which has once won a 

 prize, is not, and never can "again be a novice, and no 

 amount of argument on the part of Mr. Keyes or any other 

 living man however clever, or however anxious to defend 

 an absurdity, can change it. 



Let us suppose a case, by way of illustration. Under the 



new rule I can send to Enuland and buy the famous rough- 

 coated collie champion Metchley Wonder, or the magnifi- 

 cent bulldog champion British Monarch, and then show 

 them here in the novice classes in the Canadian circuit as 

 untried dogs. If this is not absurd, what is it? 



Whether the A. K. C. and the C. K. C. should recognize 

 wins from the bench shows held in Great Britain under E. 

 K. C. rules is another matter, and one which it might pos- 

 sibly be well to consider in the near future. 



I may sav before closing, that my reference to Mr. Dono- 

 van, the efficient secretary of the C- K. C, was not made 

 from jealous motives, as Mr. Keyes, who is uo doubt in the 

 habit of judging others by himself, is generous enough to 

 insinuate, but I think that the gentleman* referred to occu- 

 pies a disastrous position in being the paid secretary of the 

 C. K. C. and therefore bound to second and carry out all the 

 rules of its executive cemmittee, and at the same time the 

 editor of the only dog paper published in Canada. Asa 

 supporter of the executive committee one day, Mr. Donovan 

 cannot very welt attack its methods the day after, and thus 

 the paper which should be a teacher, and whose columns 

 should be a breakwater between the breeder on the one side, 

 and all that is injurious to him on the other, is rendered 

 useless and comparatively valueless. 



I have to apologize for the length of this letter, but the 

 subject is an important one and this must be my excuse. 



A D. Stewart, President Hamilton K. C. 



Hamilton, Oni., Feb. 1. 



POINTS AND FLUSHES. 



T PBESENT the readers of Forest A> t d Stream some ex- 

 1, tracts from a private letter from the well-known trainer, 

 handler and writer Mr. A. J. Gleason, Alma, Kan., on the 

 subjects of a dog's field training, the qualities of a dog in 

 respect to hunting and field trials, and all these in relation 

 to the rules and to each other, and vice versa. 



There are some very good points taken in his argument, 

 but he does not go into detail sufficiently at length to make 

 all the parts clear to any person other than those fairly con- 

 versant on the subject. The pertinent extracts are as 

 follows: 



"The fact really is that not one man in one hundred, who 

 poses as a sportsman aud who pretends to know all worth 

 knowing about field dogs and their use, knows the first 

 principles of field shooting as it should be conducted. One 

 man and one dog can go afield and slaughter a bag of birds 

 without much system. Birds are what he is after, and if 

 successful he labors under the impression that he has en- 

 joyed an extraordinary good time. But when several men 

 aud dogs go afield, they generally do have one extraordinary 

 time, in the absence of a system strictly observed Irorn start 

 to finish. 



"Now, at a public competition, where two handlers, with 

 a dog each, and three judges, all engaged in the same pursuit, 

 they cannot perform the part allotted them in the absence, 

 of rules defining the requirements and duty of each oartici- 

 pant in the undertaking. 



"We all have our particular ideas and fancies of what 

 constitutes a field dog and the proper manner in which he 

 should be managed, but, in the absence of barrnouy of action 

 and an accepted standard of field excellence, an attempted 

 trial becomes a mob. The result of a field trial is the mere 

 preference of judges at the time acting, subject to reverse 

 the next day under another set of judges. 'This fact was 

 proved this season and has always been so. You know this 

 better than any one else, because you have seen more of such 

 work. 



"I do not accuse anyone of dishonesty or incompetency. 

 Such an act would be the height of foolishness. But I do 

 positively condemn a system, or want of system, that places 

 unbridled power in the hands of any individuals engaged 

 in the performance of a duty so important in its results as 

 field trials are to the sportsmen of this country. 



"Now, I am engaged in training dogs, and consequently 

 have to suffer to a certain extent for many of the foolish de- 

 cisions rendered heretofore. The dogs who have won be- 

 cause the judge said so and many times have exhibited 

 qualities undesirable in a dog intended for breeding pur- 

 oses, have, on the strength of their record, been extensively 

 red to; and consequently the market is flooded with a lot 

 of pedigreed curs with a field tria I record as long as your 

 arm. 



"My candid opinion is that the qualities most essential in 

 a field dog cannot be exhibited until that dog is trained for 

 the purpose for which he is intended; for this reason there 

 should be strict rules defining the term 'training,' aud no 

 dog should be eligible for a place until he is trained. Some 

 people think that some of the rank brutes, that are now 

 ranked as 'high class,' can be : broken aud still show the 

 brilliant work exhibited by bolters and chasers. Some of 

 them, perhaps, can be placed under control. Possibly so— 

 if so, make the trainers do it or keep them in their kennels. 

 Their disposition will not admit of it. As long as they can 

 have their own way they are 'brilliant,' but when they are 

 crossed they quit the game and become 'plug shooting 

 dogs.' 



"Now, I am an admirer of great speed, dash, style, and 

 every other desirable quality in a field dog, but I want all 

 of these qualities under coutrol; aud I am positive that field 

 trials are the proper places to prove that such qualities arc 

 under control. I believe that you and I fully agree on 

 technical terms in common use. I believe that pointing is 

 a voluntary act and backing identical to it. A dog that 

 drops on his belly in either act is not assuming a pointing 

 attitude. He drops all right, but what proof have we that 

 de drops at scent or sight, or through fear of being knocked 

 down with a club. 



"The same rule applies to steadiness. I believe the act 

 should result from previous training rather than a bat with 

 a club or a loud yell at every occurrence. In short, I believe 

 a field trial should be a place to exhibit the manner of hand- 

 ling trained dogs rather than the exhibition of dog train- 

 ing." 



There is no qu?stion but that better training should be in- 

 sisted upon at field trials; not that it should have any com- 

 petitive value, but that the dogs canuot exhibit properly 

 their abilities or compete in a fair manner without. 



It is also true that many dogs will work with greac dash 

 and earnestness while working to suit their own inciina- 

 tion, but, if under the- restraints necess ity in woikiPk: to 

 the gun they become indifferent or partially so and sink to 

 the very ordinary. Many of the dogs which apparently do 

 not "train on" in their second or later years are generally 

 of this kind. It is not that they do not train on so much as 

 that they- were never trained or not broken in their first 

 working year or were very imperfectly broken, and in their 

 second or later years, when the traiuing is more thorough, 

 the dog, being unable to indulge his hunting inclination 

 to his own selfish purposes, drops from the grade designated 

 by that much-abused and perverted term "high class" to 

 the level of the mediocre. 



By some inexplicable growth in field trial sentiment, a 

 dog with a lively set of legs, aud powers to gallop long 

 stretches here and there, is almost certain to be foisted on 

 the sporting public, if possible, as a high class dog. He 

 may be hard-headed, a blunderer on his birds, a self-hunter 

 in part, erratic in disposition or flighty in head, and with 

 poor judgmeut in his work and perfect disobedience; yet 

 all these parts apparently are ignored or lightly considered, 



A well-broken dog is hopelessly handicapped at a field 

 trial as conducted at present. The continuous blowing of 

 whistles and loud interminable orders will balk such dog 

 so constantly as to bewilder him or at least so mar his work 

 as to place him outside of any chances to win. 



There are' rules enough to amply cover all these points, 

 the endeavor should not be for more rules, where sufficient 

 exist already, but to endeavor to reform the manner of con- 

 ducting the trials. More consideration is sometimes paid to 

 the consideration of whether a man will run bis dog again 

 the year following, than to whether a dog should be cast out 

 on his inferiority sufficiently demonstrated, or to let him 

 remain in to encourage his owner. 



The time limit is simply a compromise of this kind. When 

 a dog is beaten or demonstrates his inferiority, or superiority, 

 the purposes of a field trial are accomplished, whether it is 

 done in five minutes or five hours, more or less; yet the stock 

 argument to sustain this unreasonable position is that an 

 owner who pays his entry fee is entitled in some vague man- 

 ner to more than the principles of the competition. In effect, 

 the owner has a title to a certain amount of time regardless 

 of the competition. This results in an incident peculiar to 

 field trials in this country, and one often witnessed; that is, 

 the judges sending the dogs here and there and around and 

 around aimlessly for the sole purpose of killing time till the 

 time limit governing the heat expires. 



The professional trainers feel that there is a great deal of 

 room for improvement in conducting field trials, aud there is 

 no doubt but what there is such room. 



I noticeMr. Tracy's comments on the impossibility of con- 

 ducting a four-hour race under the present system so as to 

 maintain auything like uniformity of work or conditions. 

 This is directly sustaining the position I took some weeks 

 ago, that to run a four-hour race on even terms, each series 

 of heats would have to be run all at the same time. A race 

 of this kind can not be run on any other basis without favor- 

 ing some and working a hardship to others. B. Waters. 



NOTES AND NOTIONS. 



I FANCIERS are strangely oblivious to a very important 

 fact as to breeding. "Properties" are rated at values 

 varying with the breed, "the fashion of the day and the 

 breeder's own private notions," but a vital consideration is 

 invariably overlooked in the questiou whether a certain de- 

 fect is congenital? The standard of some certain breed 

 stipulates dark eyes and bent hocks, yet breeders will breed 

 to animals notorious for transmitting both these defects 

 with great virulence. How self condemnatory such a course 



is. V- .■>■■', t>.j^.'. + ■■• t^'v 7S, . 



In an anatomical point of view, hardly any fault can be 

 greater than the shockingly straight hocks that are so char- 

 acteristic of the St. Bernards to-day, and to a rather less de- 

 gree of mastiffs, and no characteristic has stronger heredity. 

 In an artistic view, nothing can be more repulsive thau the 

 horrible- light eyes so common in mastiffs: many mastiffs 

 send a shudder down one's spiue when taking a face view of 

 them. Yet oddly enough, in both breeds color is a weighty 

 consideration. The color in a St. Bernard seems a deter- 

 mining consideration, and I cannot believe that a black and 

 whiteSt. Bernard could win a place in a show were he a 

 Plialimmon arisen from his honored grawe in all bodily 

 properties, aud a Dudley front in a mastiff is held a great 

 defect by a majority of fanciers. 



* * 



Then there are serious defects for show purposes that are 

 not at all congenial. Cowhocks are a somewhat common 

 defect in large breeds, yet authorities hold, and apparently 

 with abundant ground, that this defect is entirely a result 

 of rearing, proceeding from confinement and insufficient 

 exercise, and it is asserted with an air of great sincerity 

 that a, badly cow-hocked animal maybe brought to a proper 

 conformation by abundant exercise and care while imma- 

 ture. 



Breeders and fanciers always have been, and always will 

 be, more interested in the whirly gust of the hour than iu 

 permanent, solid improvement of the treed they fancy. 

 This seems unavoidable, by reason of the quick way begin- 

 ners constantly break out iuto fanciers, and the astonishing 

 rapidity with which they come to know more than the 

 fathers of the breed. I can count on the fingers of my two 

 hands the men in the fancy" to-day who were interested in 

 it seven or eight years since. "We came yesterday and rule 

 to-day" applies to many other domains than politics. 



The Onlookkk. 



HAMILTON KENNEL CLUB MEETING. 



THE second annual meeting of the Hamilton Keuuel Club 

 was held on Thursday evening, Feb. 4, in the Forester's 

 flail on James street. There was a large attepdance of 

 members, and the proceedings throughout were most har- 

 monious and enjoyable. Mr. A. D. Stewart was in the chair 

 as president of the club, and reviewed the Work done during 

 the year, paying high compliment to his brother officers, 

 who had labored unceasingly to bring the club to its present 

 state of usefulness. Mr, Stewart intimated that he intended 

 to resign his office as president, as he thought that honors 

 such as this should go round, and he knew that there were 

 many present from whom a capable and industrious chief 

 officer could be chosen. The treasurer's report showed that 

 there were 242 members in good standing on the club roll, 

 and a balance on hand to the credit of the club of $35, and 

 no debts outstanding. The report was adopted unanimously, 

 and a vote of thanks was then passed to the president and 

 officers for their efficient work during the year. 



It was decided to ask the new executive committee to de- 

 vise ways and means at an early date by which the guar 

 an tors who had subscribed ?T00 to pay off the loss accruing 

 from the late bench show might be paid off. 



It was decided to hold a bench show in September just 

 before the Toronto, fixture and the secretary was instructed 

 to claim the necessary dates without delay. It was also de- 

 cided to hold a one night local show during the month of 

 March, open to members of the club only. 



A motion to increase the annual membership fee from $1 

 to $2 was voted ou and carried. 



The rules lately passed by the executive committee of the 

 C. K. O.j relating to "champion" and "novice classes," were 

 discussed at length, and it was the unanimous opinion of 

 the meeting that a great mistake had been made and that 

 the rules referred to should be reconsidered, as they were in 

 no way beneficial to Canadian breeders or exhibitors. 



The 'secretary was instructed to write to the secretary of 

 the C. K. C. to this effect and to ask tor the. cooperation, of 

 other Canadian kennel clubs in the matter. 



The clecliou of officers resulted as follows: Patron, Win. 

 Hemlrie; Pres., Andrew Murdoch; First Vice- Pres., Dr. 

 Griffin; Second Vice-Pres., E. Tinsiey; Treas., (.'. W. Tin- 

 ling: SeeV, A. D. Stewart; Fin. Sec'y, II. P. Breay: Yet. 

 Surg., Dr. Mole. Committee, Johu Hackett, G. C. Hore, F. 

 R. Close, R. B. Harris and W. McDonald. 



BAITINGS. 



Edit(yr Forest, and Stream: 



May I inquire why you put rabbit, coursing, " barzoi " 

 coursing aud rat pitting on a level? (vide your page 85) I 

 never attended a displaj r of either pastime, but can see. 

 where some palliation can be pleaded for rat pitting, the 

 terrier has to light for his skin, as a rat in a corner can fight 

 like all possessed. Pray what is the palliation for either of 

 the other " sports "? Any kind of curs can catch aud kill a 

 coyote in a two acre field, and nretty much anything that, 

 wears hair can kill a rabbit. You puzzle me. W. Wade. 



Hulton, Pa. 



[The rat in a pit has less chance to escape than even the 

 coyote or the rabbit, and his death is only a matter of 

 pecouds.] 



