332 
FRANK FORESTER’S FIELD SPORTS. 
to it. The Russians, on the contrary, being much closer 
rangers, quartering their ground steadily—heads and tails up— 
and possessing perfection of nose, in extreme heat, wet, or cold, 
enabled us to bag double the head of game that mine did. 
Nor did they lose one solitary wounded bird; whereas, with 
my own dogs, I lost six brace the first two days’ Partridge 
shooting, the most of them in standing corn. 
“ ‘ My old friend and patron, having met with a severe acci¬ 
dent while hunting, determined to go to Scotland for the next 
three years. Seeing that my dogs were well calculated for 
Grouse shooting, as they had been broken and shot to on the 
moors, and being aware of my anxiety to possess the breed of 
his Russians, he^ery kindly offered to exchange them for mine, 
with a promise I would preserve a brace of Russian puppies 
for him. Although I had refused fifty guineas for my brace, I' 
most gladly closed with his offer. Since then I have hunted 
them in company with several dogs of high character, but 
nothing that I have yet seen could equal them. If not taken 
out for six months, they are perfectly steady, which is a quality 
rarely to be met with. Every spoilsman must know, that the 
fewer dogs he can do his work with properly, the better; for 
if they are in condition, they cannot be too frequently hunted ; 
and their tempers, style of working, &c., become more familiar 
to him. On this the whole comfort of shooting depends. Upon 
these grounds I contend that, for all kinds of shooting therefore 
there is nothing equal to the Russian, or half-bred Russian Set¬ 
ter, in nose, sagacity, and every other qualification that a dog 
ought to possess. It may appear an exaggeration, but it is 
my opinion, in which I am supported by many of the first 
sportsmen in England, that there is not one keeper in fifty that 
knows how to manage and break a dog efficiently. It is a 
common practice for keepers to take their dogs out for an hour 
or two, twice or thrice a week, morning or evening, just before 
the commencement of the season—what would be thought of 
training a horse in that way, for a race over the flat, or a stee¬ 
ple-chase ! Hard and constant work is as necessary for a dog, 
