PRICK SIX. HUNTS, 
rz.no PER YEAlt.l 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877, by the Rural Publishing Company, in the office of tlm Librarian of Congress nt Wafliington.] 
beyond a guidance of liis hunting iustincts. 
A Setter or Pointer that is well broken to hunt, 
is well broken for every purpose of a house or 
out-door dog. lie may oasily bo taught to walk 
only in the paths, and the intelligence he dis¬ 
plays in distinguishing between respectable vis¬ 
itors and the various shades and grados of 
tramps and tholYM is really wonderful. 
But we are trespassing entirely too far upon 
our “valuable space.” 
Since it costs no more to keep a well bred, 
well-trained Setter or Pointer than the de¬ 
testable mongrels to which we have alluded, and 
since they are far more valuable for all home 
uses, as well as indesponsable auxiliaries iu one 
of tho noblest of sports whou rightly appreciat¬ 
ed—wo ask our friends to consider the propriety 
of ridding their grounds and houses of Lmll-dogs 
and tow-rows, and of adopting in their stead the 
handsome, faithful and intelligent Setter or 
Pointer. 
Our sketch, by Mu .Fohbks, whoso artistic fidel¬ 
ity in animal portraiture is widely known, is from 
life. A quail was tied and concealed — the dogs 
turnod out. The Pointor (Jerry) was the first to 
scent the bird and to make a stanch |>oint. The 
Setter (Topper) backed tho pointer and tho sketch 
is made while ho is in the act of moving forward 
just one step more. Both dogs are owned by one 
of the editors of the Kokal and descend from a 
line of ancestors favorably known iu this country 
and in England. 
progressive steps of an education arc jammed 
into a half-day's mingled terrors and delights. 
Tie is alternately beaten and caressed, and 
returns to his kennel so bewildered that it is hard 
for him to tell what it was all about. Thus, 
though his natural eagerness to hunt is intensi¬ 
fied by his first essay—ho (darts upon his second 
in a terror of apprehension, lest its experience is 
on tho eve of repetition. It is in this way that 
“blinking,” “uustanchnoss "and one or two 
ioss fatal faults aro not uufrequnntly contracted. 
A Setter or Pointor, if wo would have him tho 
companionable, obedient, faithful and servicea¬ 
ble animal of which ho Is oapable in a degree 
scarcely imagined by most people, must he 
sent to school at an early ago. His master must 
first engage his affection, that he may bo made 
to mind from love, as far as possible, and that ho 
may the more kindly accept his master’s first 
corrections. It is only very bad impulses or 
actions that aro to bo checked at all in a young 
dog. And those should bo corrocted with suf¬ 
ficient severity to eradicate them effectually. 
This iu the beginning is easy enough—though if 
unheeded, Buch misdemeanors soon “ differen¬ 
tiate” into fixed faults; then vigorous chas¬ 
tisement, though it may constrain him to obey in 
the presence of tho master, generally foHters a 
cunning, sly disposition. With gentle, firm 
treatment, he is after a while made to “ down 
charge," hie on, “retrieve ” etc., so that when 
put iJ^iho fiold little remains to be taught 
the temporary owner ; if ill, they aro mercilessly 
beaten. Fences are broken down, barns shot 
into ; tho country, in short, is theirs for tho 
time, and was, without a question, made expressly 
for that day’s hunt. Sometimes these arrogant 
follows shoot themselves. Then, of Course, we 
aro moved to tears. But tho sorrow is assuaged 
in a measure l>y (he reflection that there is less 
danger of their shooting anybody else. 
There are many who havo no liking for animal 
pets of any kind. Thero aro others so fond of 
them that, without rhyme or reason, they invest 
the most intolerable creatures with lovely attri¬ 
butes. Now, of all domesticated animals a moan 
dog is tho moanost. lie is worse than no dog. 
If a poodle, h« is an excruciating nuisance except 
to tho infatuatod owner. If a bull-dog, by which 
wo moan not the specific but the generic bull¬ 
dog— he is a perpetual annoyance to friends and 
neighbors. 
Of all dogs with which we have had any expe¬ 
rience, tho well-bred Setter and Pointer aro tho 
most submissive--that is, they yield most readily 
to judicious roaring or training. Tho obediouca 
of the mother to tho master’s command seems to 
impress itself upon tho pup, so that when 
“breaking” commences, the leBson is already 
half taught. 
One great mistake in breaking Setters and 
Pointers lies in their boing permitted to ruu wild 
until they aro old enough to be hunted over, and 
then everything is to be taught at once. The 
SETTERS AND POINTERS 
Thehe is as much difference between hunting 
what are known as “game birds” over a well-train¬ 
ed dog, and hunting them without such a dog, as 
there is between a walk by moonlight all by ono’s 
sel f and in tho company of a charming young lady. 
They—tho well-trained dog on the one hand, and 
the charming lady on tho other—invest either pas¬ 
time with a charm—an importance, a zest—an 
enchanted atmosphere shall we say ? without 
which cither would prove comparatively tame 
and matter-of fact, if not laborious. All will 
agree (we trust) as to the effect of a charming 
young lady upon tho atmosphere during a moon¬ 
light walk. Only a sportsman, however, who is 
gifted with a just, a high-minded senso of the 
sportsman’s art, it is an art), can appreciate the 
appropriateness of the simile as applied to a 
well-arranged and equipped hunting excursion as 
it may bo—as it sometimes is conducted. 
There is one class of sportsmen (!) of which we 
have ever stood in dread. It is those spasmod¬ 
ical counterfeits who periodically seize a gun, 
buy a few rounds of ammunition, borrow a dog, 
start off like a rocket and return like the stick, 
so to remain until tho recurrence of another 
spasm. If their dogs behave well, nc thai*;.* to 
