C 0)1 corning Field Trials and Training 85 
for the sole purpose of going out and picking a 
rabbit now and then, will become a most enthusiastic 
field trial follower. As a matter of fact, it is this 
sport of field trials that has made the beagle as 
popular as be is today among sportsmen. The case 
is analogous to that of the pointer and the setter. 
Many a man states emphatically that be will have 
nothing to do with field trials, but nevertheless, when 
he buys a beagle he is not averse to proclaiming to 
his friends that his dog is a descendant of such- 
and-such a great winner, and that he has four or 
five or a dozen winners in his pedigree. It is ever 
thus; we hold the winner in veneration, whether 
we admit it or not. 
Another reason why nearly every beagle fancier 
can get into the field trial game is because the 
expense is very slight. Usually the trial takes place 
somewhere near home (there are clubs in every 
state); the cost of entering is nominal; and the 
training of the dogs may be done in the morning 
and evening, after business hours, if the owner hap¬ 
pens to be a professional, business or working man, 
and it is these classses who cater to beagles, for 
they are the busy man’s recreation. Perhaps it may 
be that the owner is unable to train his dogs him¬ 
self, but even in this case the cost of having them 
prepared for the trials is very small as compared 
with that of the pointer or setter. 
There is not so much to handling in field trials 
as the average beginner imagines. Once he attends 
a trial or two he will soon learn the general prin¬ 
ciples and, if he is observant, the finer points will 
also be acquired. 
