^^ TUFTS UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES I mil nil niiii 1111111111 III 3 9090 3 4 1 935 Webster Family Library ot Veterinary Medicine Cummings School ot v.^- -^.nn/ w-iicine at Tufts University 200 Westboro Road FORTY YEARS BEAGLING IN THE UNITED STATES FORTY YEARS BEAGLING IN THE UNITED STATES BY EUGENE LENTILHON MASTER OF THE AWIXA BEAGLES NEW YORK E. P. DUTTOlSr & COMPANY 681 Fifth Avenue If U^ Copyright, 1921, \/yr\i By E. P. Dutton & Company All Rights Reserved PBINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA To C. STALEY DOUB of Frederick, Maryland nn AUTHOR'S PREFACE HE reader of the following pages will find I that I can lay no claim to the authorship -■^ of much of the material in them. In fact, my chief aim in writing the book has been to pre- sent to the beaghng world a quantity of valuable and interesting material taken from the sporting papers of former days, now long out of print and which a few years more would have made entirely inaccessible. Here will be found presented the ideas of those who have gone before and who made beagling history in the United States, and a record of what changes were discussed, considered neces- sary or made for the benefit of the breed since General Rowett first imported his beagles from England. Moreover, I think I am justified in claiming that these opinions of the prominent beaglers and breeders are now brought together for the first time. My duty is then principally that of a chronicler — not to argue why certain men believed certain things, nor why events did or did not happen, or should or should not have happened, but simply to describe what the records are on the different matters concerning the beagle from 1884 to date. vii viii Author's Preface No history of the breed, whose origin is wrapped in mystery, is given, as that ground has been fully covered by previous authors both in England and in the United States. As to assembling discussions of standard, type, training, breed, speed, nose and bone under differ- ent chapters — ^this has been done as far as possible, but to do so in its entirety would be to lose the advantage of chronology. A debt of gratitude is due from me to Mr. C. Staley Doub, of Frederick, Maryland, through whose courtesy most of the articles were made available, and to whom this book is dedicated. Eugene Lentilhon, Master of the Awixa Beagles. Islip, N. Y. Octo'ber, 1921 CHAPTER ^^^ CONTENTS I. Ground Work 1 II. Training 20 III. Size 39 IV. Progeny 56 V. Brood Bitch and Puppies 74 VI. Speed Versus Nose 83 VII. Standard Versus Judge 119 VIII. Judging Field Trials 128 IX. Bone in the Beagle 139 X. Toy Beagles 154 XI. Weight in Beagles 161 XII. Field Trial Beagle Type 172 XIII. Teaching Young Hounds to Hunt . . . 198 XIV. Type 204 XV. Advice to a Beginner 213 XVI. Beagle Measurements 225 XVII. The Management of Stud Dogs . . . 253 XVIII. Packs 261 XIX. Some Bench Show Data 267 XX. Judges and Judging 274 XXI. Cost of Beagles 278 XXII. Kennel Hints and Remedies .... 280 ix FORTY YEARS BEAGLING IN THE UNITED STATES For some we loved, the loveliest and the best That from his Vintage rolling Time hath prest. Have drunJc their Cup a Round or two before. And one by one crept silently to rest. —The Rubaiyat. FORTY YEARS BEAGLING IN THE UNITED STATES CHAPTER I GKOUND WORK A LETTER appears in Forest and Stream, December 13th, 1883, from the pen of Mr. W. H. Ashburner, suggesting a standard for the formation of the original beagle club in the United States, in which he states, if beagle admirers want standards to accommodate certain kennels or packs, it can be done without the for- mation of a club, simply by adopting its own. He suggests that a committee be appointed to draft a standard. The earliest accounts of the formation of the first beagle club in the United States, known as the "American English Beagle Club," brought out much discussion as to the use of the word English. We find that the first beaglers to move for a beagle club were Messrs. Ashburner and Kreuger, of whom the former became the first president. Some correspondents, and evidently ardent beaglers. Forty Years Beagling wanted the word American omitted, others wanted the word English omitted, and the reasons given for the omission of the word American was that at that time the American beagle was a bench legged hound, which, it was claimed, should be severely let alone. Evidently a compromise was effected in the formation of the club, as both words were used, the word Enghsh being subsequently dropped. Later on the National Beagle Club was organ- ized and became the parent organization in the United States, which position it holds to this day. The first annual meeting of this club was held at the Quincy House, Boston, Massachusetts, on Eri- day, January 2nd, 1891, and the then president, Mr. O. W. Brooking, addressed the members as follows : "Gentlemen of the National Beagle Club, it should be at this, our first meeting, the occasion for a speech from the president of your club, but, gentlemen, the history of your club speaks for itself. On Fast Day, last April, seven gentlemen met at the press room of the New England Kennel Club Bench Show and started the nucleus of this club. We met again at the Quincy House on May 3rd and organized the club. I think I can safely say that this club has advanced farther in a given Ground Work period than any other club in America; and I will take this opportunity to thank you one and all for your industry, patience and true sportsmanship in supporting the club and your president, and I feel that the club and its objects are worthy of your best efforts. Several leading sporting journals stated that the field trials would be a failure, but we have proven them mistaken, for we held our trials and held them successfully. "We are the live Beagle Club of the world. We will encourage the breeding of thoroughbred bea- gles in every legitimate way and will not stop until the Field Trial and Bench Show Beagle is perfect. "In a recent letter I invited the old beagle club to join us and sincerely hope they will do so. This club was started because beagle men could not re- ceive support and encom-agement. We have given them both. Our next effort will be at bench shows, and our prizes will consist of something more tangi- ble than 75-cent dog collars. The history of the club is short, because it is young, and it is unneces- sary for me to go into detail, for you have read of our various movements through the kennel press to whom we extend our thanks for their uniform courtesy and support. In conclusion I would ex- tend a cordial invitation, not only to every owner of a beagle hound, but every rabbit hunter and Forty Years Beagling lover of the sport, to join us in keeping this club at the top where it belongs." Right at the outset of the game a writer from Delaware City, Pennsylvania, who signs the name of "Sedge" in the March 12th, 1885, issue of Forest and St7'eam, condemns the small or dwarf beagle, and a long discussion took place between George F. Reed, of Auburn, New York (who deplored the disappearance of game birds at that time) ; Mr. W. H. Ashburner of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who defends the small beagle; "Rusticus"; "Flat"; "Lillibulero" ; a Mr. Sloan; Mr. Kreuger, and even at that far back date O. W. R. proposes the health of the coming dog, the English beagle. An interesting account of a day's hunting with that patriarch of the game, Mr. Pottinger Dorsey, of New Market, Maryland, where sixteen out of seventeen rabbits started were killed by his pack, and in June of the previous year (1884) gives his ideas of what a hunting pack should be, as follows: "I prefer beagles of from thirteen to fourteen inches high and say from fifteen to twenty pounds weight. Dogs of this size can stand hard working, and have stronger notes, making a much more lively clash when in full pursuit of their game, and, moreover, dogs of this size can make the rabbit run when started and will not give him so much time Ground Work to back track and bother the dogs, even in heavy cover. I can't agree with some of my brother sportsmen when they say, 'the only way to use bea- gles is to shoot the rabbits in front of the little hound.' I moreover say any pack of beagles hav- ing their game always shot in front of them will spoil any pack of dogs it is practiced over, they will gradually lose their ambition and perseverance, and on a bad loss of trail will come in and give up. My mode of hunting is to let the dogs run down and catch some of the rabbits on every hunt, and sometimes hunt without a gun, and let the dogs chase and catch their game on fair footing. That gives the dog perseverance, and makes them press their game, looking for the sight chase and close of race. "There is little amusement in the chase if the rabbit is not made to run; that is the fun, when dogs and man are all excitement, and the rabbit is sighted from cover by the little hounds, and the rabbit gradually failing and the dogs well set to their work, and growing more eager at the close of the chase. What amusement can there be to only make a rabbit tip along in cover and at the first opportunity shoot it? That is to me tame sport, fit for pot-hunters. Dogs must be allowed to mouth their game, and do it by hard work, if you want Forty Years Beagling them to stick and work. I claim if a pack of bea- gles can't catch, on fair footing, a majority of rab- bits started, if the cover is not too dense and briary, so the dogs can't make a run at them, they are not properly handled, if well-bred beagles. Beagles are like setters, their instinctive qualities can be greatly improved by proper handling." "Dalg," in Forest and Stream, of February 10th, 1887, states that the reason beagles can not run hare successfully in Northern New England, is that fii'st, hares give very little scent; secondly, that they are hunted after a snowstorm, which in these latitudes are by no means damp storms; thirdly, the dogs barking jumps other hares, which will often cross, or follow along for a distance, the runway of the first hare jumped. Finally, a small dog w^ill sink nearly out of sight in the deep dry snow, of which we have so much on our mountains, and a large dog, in a light fall of snow will run altogether too fast. This authority would seem to be in error as the trials of the Northern Hare Club during the last few years have proven that beagles, both the thir- teen and fifteen inch size, can run the northern hare or snowshoe rabbit successfully, and it is an admit- ted fact that the snowshoe rabbit gives off more scent than the cotton-tail rabbit. Ground Work Then follow a series of discussions whether fox- hounds, beagles or their cross, or harriers are the best for hare work, while one contributor, "N. C," states that all hounds are thievish. *'H. H.," about this time writes an article on ''Beagles for Work and Show," and states that there is a difference between them, and a Mr. W. S. Clark in a way agrees with him. Then along comes "L. H. T." (mind the date), August 4th, 1887, and states that he has been breeding beagles for forty years, which places the origin of the beagle in the United States as far back as 1847. What type of beagle this could have been is enwrapped in mys- tery, as it was many, many years before General Rowett imported his beagles from England. "L. H. T." agrees with "H. H." on there being two types of beagles, one for the bench and another for the field, and states his reasons, which difference is still amicably discussed by the breeders of today. He also gives a quotation from Ossian, which "Coricon" gives in his work on British Dogs, as follows : There is a kind of dog of mighty fame For hunting; worthy of a fairer frarae^ By painted Britons brave in war they're bred, Are beagles called, and to the chase are led. Their bodies small, and of so mean a shape, You'd think them curs that under tables gape. 8 Forty Years Beagling So the Briton did not think much of the shape of the "merrie httle hounde" in those days, and then "H. H." goes on with his study of Coricon, Markham, and Stonehenge and traces the rehef from bondage and the development from the 9" to the 15" hounds. He states that he has frequently, as a breeder, found a difference of from 2" to 3" in one litter. The final paragraph is of more than passing interest as follows: "The exposure of the present condition of our bench show winners, as given in 'L.H.T.'s' article is most deplorable I confess, and should call forth a rigid inquiry as to field qualities of our present champions." Then along comes "Briar," in the American Field, he hails from Philadelphia, who says, "A cobby dog can get himself together in running much quicker than a long back dog," which indi- cates a difference of opinion. Then comes "Zim," in Forest and Stream, of September 1st, 1887, say- ing he has eleven of the little hounds, in a letter written from Springfield, Massachusetts, that he is a hunter and not a bench show man. Even at that, "Zim" had stayers at that time, for he speaks of a httle bitch as having been out running rabbits continuously for 36 hours, and this only two weeks before the little 121/2" bitch whelped, and he winds Ground Work up tliis article with the saying, "Show me a beagle that is only fit for the bench and not a hunter, pro- viding he has had the chance to make one, and I would not accept him as a gift and be under obliga- tion to keep him." Next comes an article on "Dependence on Pedi- grees," by "Hibernian," which says: "Pedigrees are very useful things in the doggy world. They enable breeders to get rid of a lot of stock that otherwise would be and ought to be consigned to the bucket in puppyhood. As a rule the novice's first purchase is a pedigree, the dog itself being a secondary consideration. After a while he gets wise, but at first the pedigree is the most essential part of the purchase." And then we read of another race run down at Mr. Pottinger Dorsey's home in Frederick County, Maryland, where Lee 2nd just missed catching the rabbit, but got his tail. (How^ many know that at one time this hound was owned by Harry T. Peters of the Windhole Kennels, of Islip, Long Island?) The pack consisted of Lee 2nd, Boston, Imported Chimer, Wanderer, Fancy, Annie Bell, Music, Fairy, Weenauman, and Blue Dick. Mr. Spencer Borden from Fall River, Massa- chusetts, says in the Rider and Driver of February 11th, 1899, that "Experience, with study, results 10 Forty Years Beagling in far more progress with good results, to such as review carefully the jDast, long days and even ages past, so with Bellamy I say to all young men, study past events. Look backward. It is impossible to see ahead, except a very short distance. And how many of the modern day beaglers follow such good advice?" Then again we learn of the origin and organiza- tion of the New England Beagle Club in the press- room of Mechanics Building (evidently in Boston) and the arrangements for their first set of field trials. Then we come to type, for in Forest and Stream of June 5th, 1890, "Hibernia" breaks into print with the statement that the American bred beagle is the nearest approach to a miniature foxhound that has yet been reached. The English Cham- pion, Ringwood, judging from the illustrations is simply a caricature of a bloodhound or a bad representation of one of your old-style Southern foxhounds. And as to color Mr. S. Reicnaf, in Forest and Stream of September, 1888, says the true color of the beagle is black, white and tan, and that the blue ticking comes from the old blue spotted harrier or a native small-eared foxhound. Therefore, he suggests that all who are trying to breed winning Ground Work 11 beagles should steer clear of pedigrees containing the names of Blue Belles, Blue Boys and Blue Caps. (This does not seem to have been followed out, for in many of our successful beagles of today we find the blood of Hiram Card's Blue Caps.) There is a photograph in the Stock Keeper of February 6th, 1892, which states below it that P^rank Forest is reputed to have been sold by the Forrest Beagle Kennels of Franklin, Pennsyl- vania, to Mr. W. S. Gates of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, on January 30th, 1891, for $1000,00, so this great hound did bring a great price even for those days or now. Then we find some good advice from Mr. George F. Beed, of Barton, Vermont, in the April 17th, 1893, issue of Forest and Stream, in which he says: "I do not claim to Imow it all, but will say that those intending to breed their bitches this year — don't breed to the first dog you come across just because he is called a beagle, and expect to raise prize winners." Mr. Kreuder in replying publicly to this remark says, a week later: "I will say that I believe that while beagles have been bred for many years, we are just now beginning to do it systematically, and in the next few years an entirely different dog will take the place of those now seen so much, and forsooth, thought much of. Mr. 12 Forty Years Beagling Kreuder was right, and so was Mr. Watson in his book written some time later, who attributed much of the help to men like Mr. J. L. Kernochan. And are we not still striving at something different on the bench?" A discussion followed in the columns of Forest and Stream, and the following note in the issue of August 11th, 1894, appeared as of more than pass- ing notice: "The argument as to whether our bea- gler men are breeding dogs that are good both for bench and field, is an interesting one, and the de- fenders of the pure article have come to the aid of their 'merrie houndes' in gallant order. But many men make many experiences, and the beagle men should not rest here, for the 'rabbit dog' hunters have fenced themselves round some pretty strong opinions, the outgrowth of practical experiments." A personal letter from a prominent field trial judge, probably discloses a widely spread feeling when he says; "I amused myself by writing a reply to Messrs. Ellis and Robinson, who have been at- tacking the beagles, and amused myself this morn- ing by tearing it up. What is the use of defending the beagle against an attack from a man who owned one, and condemned the whole breed, be- cause he frightened the pup in its youth and made it gunshy, or against a man who appears to hunt Ground Work 13 only for count? If he gets a lot of rabbits the dog is good, few rabbits, the dog is bad. He ought to get a ferret and a net and give up hunting with dogs altogether/' This note was brought about by a letter of Mr. F. B. Robinson's, who stated that you could take the majority of beagles and they did not amount to much, and "I can bring a great many proofs to that effect" is what he stated. "Agamak," from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, stated that he believed that too much stress was being laid on show points by most beagle breeders and that therefore the hound was becoming too light and weak. Then comes a corker from "Hibernia," in Forest and Stream, headed, "EngHsh vs. American Beagles." He begins in a good-natured way with the statement that he does not consider it fair for three Englishmen and one American to jump upon an Irishman because he stated what he thought was true about the beagles of England and America. For he states truthfully that when he wrote the article he intended to run away like the tramp who fired the bam and let the people put out the fire. Yet did they? No. Well, as he continues, "But as none of the Beagle Club will come to my rescue and stick up for theii* standard, i.e., a beagle is a 14 Forty Years Beagling miniature foxhound, I will give another installment of my little piece and drop the matter for good. [But was it so little?] For fear that your readers may suppose that all this discussion is either a masked battery loaded to kill somebody else's dog or else one of those harmless bombs that are con- tinually going off in the dog press to boom certain lots of beagles, I will state that I am not a member of a beagle club, never judged in the ring in my life and never used the reading columns of the dog papers to advertise \\ithout cost any dog I owned. "I have bred beagles since 1876, but have been one of those short-sighted fellows who insist upon a beagle doing field work, no matter how likely he was to make a sawdust hero. Notwithstanding all this, I have an admiration for the type that General Kowett brought over here, and I want to blow my little whistle in protest against the indiscriminate awarding of prizes to the foxhound or bloodhound types, which has been going on since the importa- tion of 'Bannerman.' Both cannot be correct, let the breeders decide which is preferred and decisions be given accordingly. 'Namquoit' is quoted as saying that the beagles he saw in England the preceding summer were miniature foxhounds. Furthermore, this chap states that 'Hibernia' calls (Enghsh) Ringwood's head a caricature of a bloodhound. Ground Work 15 Barring the long ears and slight throatiness, I con- sider it an excellent ideal of the American heagle. "I am aware that beagles of the type of Ring- wood have been winning in this country, but if the portrait published resembles in head an English foxhound, then I have never seen one either in the flesh or in black and white. If it does not resemble a foxhound, then the decisions given by the judges have been wrong according to the Beagle Club's standard, which is supposed to be modelled on the type of the Bowett beagles." Referring to one of the types of Bingwood, a hound called "Blue Bell 2nd," he states that Mr. Mayhew and he agree on one point, and that is that Blue Bell 2nd is not a miniature foxhound in head. The head being the key of the type to all hound breeds at least, consequently the little bitch can not be a Liliputian foxhound at all. Mr. Mayhew believes a beagle ought to be a miniature Southern hound (bloodhound). The beagle standard emphatically states that a beagle should be a miniature foxhound. ''And our judges give their decisions in favor of all three types (foxhound, harrier and blood- hound). And is this not true today?" "Hibernia" then suggests that it be left to bea- gledom to decide which is the correct type and that 16 Forty Years Beagling every beagler fill out the answers in the blank below and leave it to certain men to decide the question. BEAGLE PUZZLE What is the correct type of beagle, foxhound, bloodhound or harrier? Answer Name Addi^ess "But joking aside," he says, "it does not matter a picayune to me whether the type is bloodhound, harrier or foxhound, only set one standard, breed to it and judge it." Well, there is some ancient history for the boys, which seems to be the case today, for do not Messrs. Cowdin, Smith, Jones, Shallcross, and others disagi-ee, as to what is the real type? A writer named Loutre agrees that there were more than one type of beagles in exist- ence at that time. Ground Work 17 Then along comes a modest chap, who signs his name "Brush," and in the December 18th issue of Forest arid Stream touches on beagle training. He says after reading the account of the National trials, that he knows how often good dogs have been spoiled by ignorant men who did not know how to handle them. For, as he says, after ruining a hound by improper usage, they raise a great hue and cry against the breed and condemn the dog for faults for which the man is responsible. Then he asks the members of the National Beagle Club to tell or j^ublish their ideas on training dogs, for, he says, there is another fellow of a paler hue, who, when a rabbit appears, rushes after him, shouting and yell- ing like a broker in the stock exchange. Here is what Mr. Brown says about some beagle shows and the judging thereat as it appears to him in the Spring of 1891: "One learns much, one learns little. This thought comes to me tonight on perusing the awards at New York, Baltimore and Pittsburgh by three different judges. [Does not the same apply to field trials?] Can one tolerably conversant with the beagle adopt a standard from the ideas expressed in the awards that would be of any practical service to a breeder? It strikes me forcibly that in order to show to win, we must first ascertain who is to officiate, and make entries ac- 18 Forty Years Beagling cordingly. [Mr. Brown little thought that what was in his mind in 1891, still is in the minds of many in 1921.] My dogs may win hands down this week, and next week they are not in it. Is it pm-ely a matter of fancy or favoritism? "As now done, yom- dog beats mine this week, mine gives yours a go next week and so on through the entire circuit. At its termination, good, bad and indifferent have all won a blue ribbon." W.A.W., in the March 26th, 1891, issue of Forest and Stream, goes into the reasons for gun- shyness in dogs and says: "In case your puppy comes to you at several months of age, give him time to learn that you are his friend and guardian, and that your home is his home, then take your gun down in the garden and shoot a half dozen, or so, of cat birds, or go over in the orchard near by, from time to time and pop away at hairy woodpeckers. Very soon he will be out in the orchard enjoying the fun with you. Of course, all this is only neces- sary in the case of a timid puppy ; but every puppy should be made acquainted with the sound of fire- arms before he is taken afield. I am satisfied that the trouble with all the rules I have read for curing gunshyness is that there is too much form and ceremony in the whole proceeding. The puppy's attention is too closely drawn to all that it is doing; Ground Work 19 you take him at close quarters and cut off his re- treat, all of which is very demorahzing. Never intercept a dog's line of retreat to his place of refuge in time of alarm. We never hear of city dogs being afraid of city noises, and it is because they are left to themselves to settle the question of sound in their own way. You let a half-grown puppy go in the street and away from home, and ten to one the first loud noise he hears will send him back like a blue streak to his familiar quarters ; but in a Httle while he will be as bold as the bravest. At the same time it is my opinion that if there were less inbreeding there would be very much less of ffunshvness, though this is neither here nor there, for inbreeding is the fashion, and fashion rules all things great or small." "Breeding in and in is good for the blood, But it plays the devil with the flesh." — Byron, CHAPTER II TRAINING IN regard to beagle training, "Quester," of Boston, Massachusetts, takes up this question in Forrest and Stream, in May, 1891, and says partly: "Should a beagle stop at or give tongue at a hole when the quarry has run in? This is a question upon which I am greatly in doubt what to answer. If I should say that he should stop at the hole, someone will say, 'He is a ferret hunter,' but if no is the answer, another one says, 'How does he know when his dog has lost or holed?' Being too young to bear the load of responsibility, I leave the question open. "Should a beagle hunt like a setter or pointer, i.e., should he quarter his ground and hunt sys- tematically, or range indifferently, going at his own sweet will? I should say by all means the former, that is hunt like a pointer or setter. Does not a setter work to the best advantage by quarter- ing when game is sought? Is not game-finding the object of hunting with a beagle? Some say no, but that trailing is the primary object. Perhaps it 20 Training 21 is, but you must find the game before it is trailed, must you not? This is also an open question and one on which I would like to hear different opinions passed. "Let us hear from and a host of others, telling us kids 'how to train a beagle in the way he should go,' or else after we have adopted a plan of our own contrary to theirs, let them forever hold their peace and not grumble when they find the trials are run contrary to their ideas." "Student," from Hartford, Connecticut, and "S.P.M.," from Pt. Rowan, Ontario, take up the question of training, and the latter advocates the use of a horn, and says that he goes out for sport and that the pot-hunters laugh at him, as they can take a ferret and kill twice as many without a dog, for he loves to sit on a fence and listen to his hounds go into the brush, waiting for them to start a rabbit. Next comes "Uncas," in June, of the same peri- odical, and, referring to "Quester's" remarks about the training of beagles, as to whether they should be under control or not, remarks that reference is e\ddently made to the National Beagle Club trials of the preceding year, which calls for a beagle to be under control and therefore agrees with "Quester." In reference to this he likens his hounds to his house 22 Forty Years Beagling servants whom he says should always be under con- trol, and states that if you have no control over your hounds you might as well go hunting with a wild animal, for neither would be of any use to you. So he argues that he does not consider it a question of control, but does as to the amount of control that is desirable which seems to puzzle. "H.B.N.," of Cookstown, Canada, contributes an interesting article on his ideas of the above sub- ject, which appeals to me as rather interesting, so that I will quote it in full, as follows: " 'Quester asks the question, should a beagle be under control [when in the field] ? and adds, 'the field trials say yes and so do I.' Well, I will not say that 'Quester' and the field trials know anything about it, as that would be incultus, but I do say that I have yet to see a well-trained beagle while on the scent of a hare that any man can call off, yea, he might yell until he was voiceless and for all a good beagle would still be on the trail. I know of no other plan of getting a well-trained beagle off a trail than by heading him and catching him. With me this is just what takes some of the pleasure away in hunt- ing with beagles. I am often ready to start for home, but the little scamps are not, therefore I have to catch them and tie them up as caught, which often takes an hour or two. As I always drive to Training 23 covert, which is some distance away, I can not leave the dogs to find their own way home. 'Quester' writes that he is of the opinion that a beagle should hunt like a setter or pointer, that is, quarter his ground and hunt systematically. I am of the opinion that it is not possible to teach a beagle to hunt like a setter or pointer, and if it were possible to do so I fail to see of what advantage it would be. A good and well-trained beagle when taken to any place where hares frequent will, upon being re- leased, hunt up a fresh scent, start the game and hunt it until killed or follow the trail a reasonable time. My plan when training a pup is to take the young dog out when 7 or 8 months of age, not be- fore, with an old, very slow dog, the slower the bet- ter, for if the young dog should lose or miss the old one, he will hunt his trail, giving tongue like mad, and take no notice of the trail of the game. Never take a pup out with the pack, for if you do. ten to one, he will, when out, hunt and tongue the pad' instead of the game, and you will never break him of the habit. Of course, beagles from good hunting stock will break and train themselves, if taken out frequently where game is plentiful, but the best and easiest plan is, as I have stated above, to take the pup or puppies out with a slow old dog. And do not expect too much of a young beagle until he is 24 Forty Years Beagling full two years of age. A few beagles make good hunters when one year old, but the majority do not become first-class hunters mitil they have reached two or more years. I am glad to see by Forest and Stream that the dear little beagle is coming more into notice. Men wishing dogs to be under control when hunting hares and rabbits had better use spaniels." Then one of the stewards at the first set of field trials of the National Beagle Club, under the nom de plume of "Namquoit," says that while he never bred or trained a beagle but had been a hunter and had hunted over a few, he had had a good oppor- tunity to see what was wanted and what was not. "A beagle to win must certainly be under better control than were the ma j ority of those at the trials, and even the winners, I will wager, will be under better control at this year's trials. Suppose you go hunting in some new country and your train leaves at a certain hour. Ten minutes before the departure of the train you find your dog; he is hunting, but not on trail. You whistle, yoLU- dog looks up at you, gives his tail an extra swish and disappears into the bushes. Tableau — dog missed, train missed and a walk hom.e. Had he been prop- erly trained he would have come to heel and your wife would not have cried her eyes out thinking 1 I Training 25 you had blown the top of your head off. At the last trials, I had the distinct recollection seen by the handlers, dogs were called, one responded to the call and immediately picked up the trail. The other paid no attention to his owner and got left. I don't accuse anybody, both had an equal chance; I only state the circumstances as they occurred. In another instance, one owner yelled himself hoarse, and disconcerted the other man's dog but made no impression on his own. " 'Quester' asks, should a beagle hunt like a set- ter or pointer — i.e., quarter his ground and hunt systematically? I say certainly, but the beagle should show rabbit sense, the same as the setter shows bird sense — i.e., he should hunt the likely places fii^st. Some say no, that trailing is the primary object. I remember at the last trial, a little bitch, a sure trailer, striking a trial and pot- tering around until everybody got tired of watch- ing her. We all went on ahead, two or three other dogs ran around her but failed to find anything. They moved on and started and ran two or three rabbits before the bitch gave tongue. She finally found her rabbit, but the others by quartering and hunting over more ground had found three in the meantime. Which was the best dog?" A Mr. Bradley then comes along in the June 26 Forty Years Beagling 25th, 1891, issue of Forest and Stream with his say, which follows on the training question: "What is a perfectly trained beagle? Is he a dog that is under control, or is he a dog that disappears as soon as he enters the woods, and roams at his own sweet will here, there and everywhere? In my opinion, the perfect hunting beagle should follow at heel till ordered on ; he should hunt the thicket or swamp into which he is sent, and should come to his mas- ter's call at once unless on a hot track. One of the first beagles I ever owned I taught to 'come in,' 'charge,' and 'heel.' The little fellow obeyed well, and it is fact that I never owned or hunted with a beagle that gave as much sport as he did. If I saw a rabbit, Jip would come to my call ; if I wished to change my hunting ground, he would follow at heel; and many times I have made him charge, while I crawled down to a grass hole for a shot at black ducks. He was under good control unless he had a hot track, and then neither threats nor entreaties could make him leave it until the rabbit was started and holed. " 'Brockton,' in your issue of June 4th [1891], in speaking of such a beagle as I described, says, 'They would be useless, inasmuch as they are not built for long runs, and they would be so much under control that they would get tired hunting Training 27 and be looking for orders.' I can not follow his reasoning, and my experience does not justify this theory. Many a time Jip ran a fox or hare twelve or fifteen hours; he never was 'tired hunting' and never 'was looking for orders,' but if I gave the orders he obeyed. The comparative value of differ- ent methods of training can only be learned by matching dogs trained in different ways against each other. I hope 'Brockton' will go to the next N. B. C. field trials with two or three of his best dogs. He will have a hearty welcome, fair play and a good time, and may the best dog win. To those who have had Httle or no experience in training beagles, let me offer one word of advice — don't whip a young dog under any circumstances, and don't be easily discouraged. While it is true that some beagles will hunt when six months old, or even younger, yet there are many which will not run until they are fully developed. I remember a dog which finally became one of the best hunters I ever saw, which would not hunt or even notice a rabbit until he was almost two years old. This last winter I had in my pack a couple of pups from splendid hunting stock. I took them out week after week, and the only thing they hunted for was a sunny spot and a bed of dry leaves; they took absolutely no interest in the hunt and I was dis- 28 Forty Years Beagling couraged. But when the season was aknost over, they suddenly found what they were there for, and the way they hustled the rabbits from that time on was surprising and delightful. I hope to have one of them at the next field trials." "Uncas" then continues his advice on how to train a pup in the July 2nd [1891] issue of the same sporting paper as follows: "The pup in question being seven or eight months old is taken out and followed around slowly, about a rod behind, occasionally speaking an encouraging word to him, and endeavoring to hold him to his work, always remembering to keep him ahead of you. It is hardly possible he will run this rabbit very far be- fore he will get thrown, but if he runs it a hundred yards or even less, you have made a good beginning and one that will remain in your pup's memory several days at least. I don't think it advisable to make a puppy of this age do too much at first. Your time will not by any means be wasted if you do not run a rabbit at all the fii'st time or for the matter of that, for the first half dozen times you take your pup out with you, because he will be getting more and more accustomed to his surround- ings, and this means a great deal to any dog, espe- cially if he is inclined to be the least bit timid, as very many beagles are. I will now suppose you Training 29 have had your pup out several times and he has run a few rabbits, in his own way, in his own time, it is now that you step in again to your pup's ad- vantage and aid him. Cast him off from you — he should be made to follow at heel until he gets the word to leave, and where you only have one to at- tend to, this is comparatively easy, especially as you have taught him that you are master when he was young and never given him an opportunity to think otherwise. Let him search the favorable places and the unfavorable ones too, as he most likely will until he strikes a trail or starts his game. "Right here let me say that in rare instances a dog will run mute, or what is worse still, will not leave your side under any provocation. In the first place you can easily overcome this muteness, which by the way, is very rare indeed in a well-bred beagle, by running your puppy with an old dog — a good *tonguer.' In the second instance, if re- peatedly moving yourself every time your pup sits down and calling him to you does not cure him, I would recommend the following: apply internally through the left ear in one dose : Sig. Take Hazard FFG, 3I/2 drs., insert in a U. M. C. shell, place on this one cardboard and two pink-edge wads, then put in about two dozen buckshot and discharge at short range. It is my opinion it is the only remedy, 30 Forty Years Beagling and I will vouch for its effectiveness if used accord- ing to direction. "Having disposed of a mute dog and the habit- ually 'tired' dog, I will now return to the time when your pup starts game. As soon as you are sure he is on a trail, go to him and watch him. If he is pottering around and seems to be making no head- way, push him a little; tell him to go on; go out; etc., making him search new places, and here is where your control comes in. Send him in to the most likely places, and if he is accustomed to obey- ing you, he will go without hesitation, and as soon as you think he has worked a place long enough to have thoroughly covered it, call him to another and so on, until you get him on a good, straight trail. *'As soon as he has things straightened out drive him as fast as you can, keeping right behind him, which you can easily do with a puppy of this age, and make him run as fast as he can trail. This will be of special advantage to him when the rabbit makes a 'fling,' as you being so much higher up than the puppy, can see the most likely places to cast in and thus save much time at a period when it is valuable — when the trail is hot. Keep this mode of procedure up until your pup is too fast for you, then only endeavor to keep within hearing and be in at the 'flings,' as you can always be of I Training 31 advantage here whether with a puppy or an old dog. After this it is no longer work but pleasure. You have got your puppy to run tolerably well, and every time you take him out makes him better, and now you have only to teach him to 'mark the hole' and the use of the gun, etc. I have purposely refrained from referring to tlie gun before as I never bring it into play until the puppy is other- w^ise thoroughly trained, for the simple reason that I believe that a puppy can be thoroughly gun- broken in half a dozen lessons at the outside. To do this I load for a 12 gauge, a dozen shells with II4 drs. of powder and three wads, and when I get my puppy on a hot trail and running well, I dis- charge one barrel of my gun. The puppy should not be nearer than 40 or 50 yards at first, and should not see you when you fire — this last I believe to be very important. The puppy may stop and look up, and may quit altogether, but what is most likely of all, will continue with his work without making more than a momentary stop, if indeed he stops at all. Should he pay but little attention to the report, you can safely try him again, gradually coming nearer until he will stand a full charge in the open without flinching and when not on the trail. But remember to make haste slowly in this matter, as many otherwise valuable dogs have been 32 Forty Years Beagling ruined for all practical purposes by a little careless- ness in the beginning. "Now I come to the dog that, as soon as he hears the report of the gun, quits his work; and here you will see the value of keeping yourself concealed from him when you fire, for if he is frightened, the minute he quits his work, he will look for you, his master. If, on the other hand, he understands that this awful noise proceeds from you, he will be very apt to prefer your room to your company, and will not infrequently scud for home. I will suppose, however, that you have followed out my plan and the pup does not connect you in any way with the noise, then you should run to where he was driving, calling to him and endeavoring to excite him to run again. The chances are that you will succeed and get him to work again. Let him finish his hunting today without any more shooting, and on the fol- lowing day or the next day you take him out, re- peat, and you will soon accustom him to the light, then the full charges. I believe this plan would be equally effectiA^e on setters, and it is certainly much better than fish horns and tin pans. Your pup will now go out with you and drive his rabbit and let you shoot it ahead of him, if you wish, and will come to you when called, and not on the trail, and here is where I think some of your readers make I i Training 33 a mistake in expecting a dog to leave the scent. He should be taught to obey you at all times, excepting when on the trail; then, if you are wise, you will let him rule, or if you want him, catch him off. I believe it is next to impossible to make a good bea- gle leave the trail unless you are within a rod or so, and not then if the track is very fresh, and should you succeed in so doing, it would eventually spoil your dog for hunting purposes. At all other times he should obey you, and if taught, as I have de- scribed, he will obey. You might as well ask a setter or pointer to leave his point as to call a beagle off a 'hot foot.' "The best way I know to make a dog mark the hole, w^hich is quite an important point, when you come to consider, by this means you can tell ex- actly what has become of your quarry without, perhaps, a long tramp and a weary search for the dogs, is to get a rabbit or two every time you go out and make the dog stay and watch you. You can, of course, use a crowbar, but by far the best and easiest way is to use a ferret, muzzled. This is, I well know, against the law in some states, but it is about the only way to do if you wish to teach your dog, unless you use the crowbar, which attains the same end but is more laborious and within the law. I will suppose your dog has run bunny to earth, 34 Forty Years Beagling and by a little searching you have found the hole. Try to get your pupp}^ to dig it if you can, if not, tie him near and put in the ferret. As soon as you ferret is in untie your puppy and hold him facing the hole. In a minute out comes the rabbit almost in your face — unloose your dog as soon as bunny appears and you will see a lively chase until cover is reached. Now as soon as your ferret appears, catch him, slip him in your pocket and follow your dog. A few such experiences as these will teach your dog to stay at the hole, and by patting him on the flanks and egging him on you can usually get him to barking. Yom- dog is now well trained, and having got him perfected so far, you can add such little points as your style of hunting may sug- gest or necessitate. Several things you should bear in mind, i.e., that a dog to do good work alone must be the superior of a good pack dog, inasmuch as he must combine in one dog all the good qualities that are perhaps divided among several members of the pack, also that you should never allow a dog to get in the habit of thinking that perhaps you want him and perhaps you don't, therefore don't try to call a beagle, a hundred yards away off a hot scent, as the chances are very hkely he will not come, and you have lost just so much control over him every time you allow him to disobey you; in Training 35 other words, never issue a command to your dog you are not prepared to enforce. "Much more might be said on this subject of beagle training, as probably no two men use just the same method to gain their end, but as I have no wish to monopohze, I will withdi-aw and listen to what others may have to say." In July of the same year, Mr. George F. Reed, of Barton, Vermont, than whom in his day there was probably no greater, better or more enthusi- astic an authority on the subject of the beagle, has his say as to whether a beagle should be under con- trol or not, and in reply to "Quester's" inquiry as to whether a beagle should be under control or not, says : "He certainly should be. He should know his master's voice and come to him when spoken to, if he has not a rabbit started. When reaching the hunting grounds a beagle should be left to his own free will to hunt for his trail and follow it until his game is started or lost entirely. If not able to find a track in that piece of timber, he should swing in to you. Such a beagle will generally give you six days hunting in a week and not be jumping around your heels one half of the time waiting for orders. If the man is going to do the starting and the beagle the trailing only, at the field trials, why 36 Forty Years Beagling a beagle that is broken to charge, to heel and go on, will be a nice little dog for some hunters to have around until a better dog or the man starts a rabbit. "I have broken a great many beagles, and own today as good as the next man, or I think I do, but I do not own one that I can call from a hot trail and I don't want to own that kind, for they are apt to be no good, and my advice to beginners is this: Teach your dog all you are a mind to, but don't try to break a good w^orking beagle, one from hunting stock, to leave his hot trail when you speak to him. "My old Sldp, the dam of Frank Forrest and Tare and lots of other good ones, is well broken and will mind at most times, but it will take more than a brass band to make her leave a hot trail. "I break my beagles to do all the work, and not to expect any help from me whatever happens. I don't go out for that part of it, and if you own the right strain, you will not have to do anything only unloose the dogs when near the game and catch up your dogs or leave them running if you want to when done hunting. In answer to 'Namquoit,' when he asks which was the best dog, I say the iTttle'bitch that had the nose, head and sand to pick up her cold trail and start the game — the others were slashers. Training 37 "My ideas of a good beagle are these: He should be a good starter, for that is when the fun com- mences, a good steady driver, a fast barker and a stayer. With that kind of a dog, new beginner, don't give him all you can stuff into him for break- fast the day you are going to run him at the field trials, for, my word for it, you will get left if you do." Then comes Mr. C. S. Wixom, of Covert, New York, who says that he agrees with Mr. Reed, for he wants no beagle called from a good warm trail, nor does he want one who expects him to follow close on his heels to help him out should bunny be a bit cunning and turn short corners. He says: "If I must start the quarry, I may as well shoot at him when he starts, as I would a game bird. I take my beagles to some place where I have some likelihood of finding rabbits, turn them loose and let them do all the hunting. If I see the rabbit and shoot and miss, I whoop to the dogs and put them on where I last saw the game. I always do this to teach them to come to the gun. But I don't teach them to charge, quarter, heel, and drop to shot, etc., I hunt with beagles for pleasure, and I can assure you it would be no pleasure for me if I had to do all the hunting, starting, and give orders to from six to twelve beagles all at one time — no. 38 Forty Years Beagling it would be too much like work, and I was born tired. "I expect to show up at the field trials to be held at Nanuet in November, and in all probability my dogs will get pegged back simply because they are not under control, and perhaps because there are better hunters. Still, like Mr. Reed, I think I have as good beagles as the next man. "In one of your contemporaries some party tells us that, in training his beagles, he 'rushes to start- ing point and follows right on trail, close to their heels, etc' Xow, that's all very well, but if he can follow 'close on the heels' of my hunting pack for two hours, or one hour, he can make more money as a pedestrian in six months than he can out of dogs in twenty years." So it would seem that in those days of the early Nineties the beaglers had their various ideas of how to train and hunt beagles as they varied in their ideas of the interpretations of the beagle standard which was adopted by the parent organization, for from what follows on this subject the minds of those days were more or less the minds of today, except as to size. CHAPTER III SIZE IT would seem that Mr. F. C. Phoebus, of Bernardsville, New Jersey, started matters by suggesting that the size of the beagle as described as not to exceed 15 inches should be raised an inch to sixteen inches. "Bradley," in Forest and Stream of May, 1892, takes up the cudgels in behalf of the standard as follows: Saying that, as he remembers it, "Mr. Phoebus's argument was that choice beagle pups when they come to maturity, sometimes exceed 15" in height, but rarely, if ever, go over 16". Mr. Phoebus is correct, when he says beagles rarely go over 16" at the shoulder. But why are they no larger ? Merely because they are bred from beagles which conform to the present standard. Let us, however, suppose, for a moment that the standard has been raised to 16", and we have succeeded in breeding some typical beagles which just scrape under the new measure — they are perfect and we decide to match them. Let us ask any breeder if a few of these pups will not be as liable to exceed our 39 40 Forty Years Beagling new standards as our present beagles are to exceed the existing standard ? And then, will not the same argument which is now used apply just as forcibly to a further increase in the limit of size? I believe it will, and once started we shall keep on till, after a time, it will be difficult to distinguish a large beagle from a small foxhound, and there will be no distinct dividing line between the two breeds. *'Mr. Phoebus further argues that because the limit of the small class has been increased from 12 to 13 inches, that of the large should be increased in proportion. I can not agree with him. When the subject of the field trials came before the Na- tional Beagle Club, owners of small dogs asked a class for their favorites. The field trial committee thought it was not fair to run a dog only a trifle over 12 inches in height against a 15-inch dog. The little fellow would have no chance to win, for he could not keep up with his large opponent. After careful consideration it was thought fair to make two classes — one for beagles 13 inches and under, and one for those 15 inches and under. This was done to bring dogs which were nearly the same size in the same class. Then, that the bench show classes might correspond with field trial classes, the change was made on the bench. "I have great regard for the opinion of my friend Size 41 Mr. Phoebus, but I can see nothing inconsistent in keeping the standai'd where it is and at the same time giving the small class an additional inch. In making this change, not one beagle has been made eligible to competition which was ineligible before ; the smaller dog has merely been taken from the large class, where he could not win, and put in a class where he has a fair chance with those of his own size. We must have an arbitrary limit of height, and in my opinion the framers of the pres- ent standard did well to place it where it is. Let us keep it there. Increasing the size of our favorite will not increase his desire or his ability to kill his game or make him more typical. Let him remain *the merrie little beagle.' " Next comes Mr. W. H. Ashburner, of Yeadon, Delaware, who says: "In regard to a letter from Mr. F. C. Phoebus under date of April 7th, 1892, to the National Beagle Club, asking them to change the height of beagles from 15 to 16 inches, I would say from the tone of his letter he desires the change asked for by him to allow some beagles he owns or is interested in, at present over height, to come un- der the standard. I, as a member of the Beagle Club, am opposed to any such change in height to accommodate any one owner or class of beagles. "The standard was framed by a gentleman who 42 Forty Years Beagling has had a great deal more experience than ever Mr. Phoebus has, notwithstanding his eighteen years' experience. Dr. L. H. Twadell, a gentleman loiown to all beagle owners, the chairman of the committee appointed to draft a standard, with his forty years' experience, is with the other two mem- bers, X. Elmore and the late General Rowett, fully competent to give us a proper standard and height than an individual. In all due respect to Mr. Phoebus's ideas, I am opposed to any change he proposes as to a scale of points or height. If we commence to alter the standard there is no telling when or where it will end. As a member of the club and one who is interested in beagles, I am against changes to the standard." Mr. A. C. Kreuger, of Wrightsville, Pennsyl- vania, joins the critics regarding the changes of the standard and says: "In the discussion of the pro- posed change of the standard height of the English beagle, you may add my name to the list of those who emphatically oppose such a measure. "The National Beagle Club can feel proud of its record so far, but should it tamper with the standard that has done the breed so much good since its adoption, I predict that the harmony which now evidently prevails in its ranks will be marred. "There is no necessity for enumerating reasons Size 43 for the opposition to such a change. No logical reasons have been given — and never will — why such a change should be made. My acquaintance and experience with the beagle fraternity at large is of considerable scope, and as I let them file by me mentally I fail to see but two (Mr. Phoebus one of them) who would favor such a change. Should the N. B. C. have any intention of attempting such a change — but I give that body credit in believing that such a possibility does not exist — then let us have their best reason for so doing, and I am con- fident that our little favorites will find defenders of their cause in plenty. "As for myself, the standard to which I endeavor to breed will never exceed fifteen inches, rather less if any change must be made, and that for basket beagles not over twelve inches. They do the work I require of them to my entire satisfaction, and any additional size would only impair the quality of the work. Just as every other breeder, I have bred some oversized specimens and some as good as any man has produced. They have, with the other ex- treme, been classed as weeds. Let every breeder seek to breed to fit the standard and not endeavor to have the standard changed to fit his breeding. "If larger dogs are desired and required for work which does not suit our favorites, then let harriers 44 Forty Years Beagling and foxhounds perform it. That's what they are for. As to a change of the point scale of the stand- ard, a few minor changes may be of benefit, but I would just as vigorously oppose a reduction of the points given to head qualities in the present standard. There is where you find the character and quality of every breed and most particularly so in the little beagle. "The wonder of it all to me is that the letter of one man, with no logic whatever advanced, should bring about a discussion." In reply to an inquiry from Forest and Stream about the subject of changing the standard, Mr. F. Kimball, of Brockton, Massachusetts, says that while he is the owner of one or two oversized beagles he does not advocate any change, and further states that if you breed still larger, in a few years some- one else will want a new standard to benefit some other oversized dog. "Mr. Phoebus comes back, saying that while he may present things more forcibly than elegantly, he has never been affected by that peculiar and terrible disease known as big head, and bases his arguments for the increase from 15" to 16" on the fact that the smaller class of hounds was increased from 12 to 13 inches. And he further states that he is not talking for the Somerset Beagles, as there Size 45 are but three over 15 inches in that kennel and should the standard be raised to 16 inches none of them would appear on the bench. And he names them as follows: Mist, 15^", by Goodwin, ex Rattler; Ecstacy, 151/2", by a son of Tony Weller, and Lady, I514", by Little Duke. And Mr. Phoe- bus further suggests the possibility of a beagle trust whose object is to keep down the supply, as well as to retard the advancement of the fitting of the dog for the conditions which the nature of the grounds of this country requires, as compared with pack hunting in the older countries. "He continues in regard to field trials when he states, 'I have known one man to say there are too many classes at field trials.' In reviewing the re- port of those trials he should have said: *There are too many entries.' Why does the gentleman say, *If we commence to alter the standard,' etc., when the change has already taken place? Simply this: Dogs which could not win in the 15" class are now prominent winners in the 13" class, since that was changed from 12 inches. Now there are dogs in- eligible to the larger class by reason of % to % inch, that if this change was made, would come in and make us all weep. The fact that this class is kept at 15 inches is an injustice to many owners. "As to the progeny of the large dogs exceeding 46 Forty Years Beagling a new standard, I'll say no! There is a limit at which an increase of size will and does stop, and when that hmit is reached we have a uniformity in conformation which can not or never has been secured by breeding from dwarfs and culls. Can the foxhound be made or grown large by breeding from the largest? The same applies to the blood- hound. Select any foxhound or bloodhound which has been from some cause stunted. Should it be a female it will produce back to the original size of its kind, or if a male, its progeny will conform in size to its breed. "I have bred 14%-inch beagle dogs to 15^-inch beagle bitches and in no instance has the produce of any of them exceeded an average of the sire and dam, not once, but many times. On the other hand, I have bred 13 to 13l/2-inch dogs to like bitches and seven-tenths of the produce exceeded either sire or dam. Possibly I could have prevented it by stinting food, etc., in puppyhood, but that is cruelty to animals and against principle. Let us take one instance and we can find many. Damper, owned by Mr. Crane, of Dorset, England, was 9 inches high, his son Barrister was a 10-inch dog, whose son Marchboy was 11 inches; another remove and we have Bannerman, 11% inches; still another re- move brings Boyal Kreuger, 12% inches, while Size 47 Ralph W., by Royal Kreuger, was disqualified at New York for being over 15 inches. I'll guarantee that Ralph W.'s progeny did not follow the course of his predecessors and add another inch to their stature. The limit of the breed had been reached in him, as an individual, and would remain approxi- mating his measurement. "There are scores of this kind that do not appear at the shows for the same reason. They are purely bred beagles in every sense of the word; all gen- erally field dogs of high order and fit to ornament the beagle ring at any kennel club show. It is such dogs that I want to see have the privilege of com- peting for the prizes both on the bench and at the field trials, and I am not alone by any manner of means in this matter. It has been talked of by many, and no doubt would have been discussed at the meeting of the Beagle Club at Boston during the show, but as I happened to be unable to attend said meeting, and sent a letter hastily written, bear- ing on the subject, it was deemed that the embody- ing of that letter in the report would be sufiicient to introduce it to the general members of the club." Next comes Mr. William Edwards of East Moriches, Long Island, who thinks that "Phoebus" has put his suggestions in good shape, yet while 48 Forty Years Beagling agreeing with him, thinks that there must have been some merit in his suggestion for the proposed change, else the National Beagle Club would not have ordered the letter printed. He says : "I want to tell Mr. Kreuger that men's opinions undergo changes. ^Vhile I have gone from the little fellows in beagles to the larger class, he has dropped from the upper to the lower class, and I doubt if among his little ones he can find one that equals his Racer, by Rally ex Lill. I esteemed him the superior to his Cameron's Racket in everything aside from head. These were both sizable dogs, and if I am not mistaken, Racer was slightly over the present standard, yet he was a dog of great substance, being muscular and competent to drive all day; but today Mr. Kreuger would have to call him a 'weed.' I know that 15-inch dogs properly mated to like bitches produce like themselves, but 12 and 13-inch pairs often produce much larger than their kind. "Should the standard be raised an inch? Yes. Why? Because there seems to be and is a certain height to which these dogs grow, and the very best of them, both for looks and work, are from 14% to I5I/2 inches, with the preference for quality in favor of the larger ones. Then if such is the case why should the club keep these dogs out of events Size 49 when they are competent to do better work and more of it, than such as are admitted to these events on account of the present fixed measurement? "You cannot obhterate the type by any rule of measurement; a beagle differs from a harrier as much as a foxhound differs from a bloodhound, and size has nothing to do with it. Why are neither of the others required to be so high or so low? Some dogs are classed by weight, why not these? "I am sure much could be added to the apprecia- tion of beagles if they were bred truly in accordance with natural laws, and not 'pinched' and starved to have a pretty head and no substance. My dogs are all 15 and 15^/2 hiches, and I know they are good ones, and can sicken the field trial and bench show winners in a five-days' himt. These dogs are not registered, but they trace their ancestral lines back to the old Rowetts. If this proposition goes through I shall show them, if not I shall not change them for smaller. They are full-blooded beagles bred for work in the field, nourished and pushed when young for bone and muscle, as all young stock should be to assure proper strength and develop- ment when matui^ed. There is but one thing that surprises me in this discussion, and I have followed it closely, and that is, that a man of Mr. Kreuger's former standing and prestige as a beagle man 50 Forty Years Beagling should disapprove of the efforts for the advance- ment and improvement of this breed of dogs, to say nothing of offering rabbit dogs for from $5.00 to $8.00, when it is well Imown that a beagle can not be raised to be a qualified hunter for less than $20.00." H. Gardner Nichols of Cambridge, Massachu- setts, follows with his reasons for not wanting to change the standard, claiming inadequate reasons have been advanced for such a change, yet admits that twenty-five years before this time the beagles were larger and had been bred down to the present standard of size, and is glad to see that the majority of beaglers do not favor such a change as has been suggested. Mr. W. S. Clark favors the change and takes up the cudgels in defense of Phoebus, stating that he knows that Mr. Phoebus' s arguments were not ad- vanced to favor his own hounds. Then Mr. F. W. Chapman, of Melrose, Massachusetts, gets in the game with his arguments in favor of not changing the standard and refers to an 18-inch beagle he knew of which was a dog by a son of General Row- ett's Old Lee, out of a half sister of Frank Forest, and refers to beagles in England which run from 16 to 19 inches. "Bradley" then hunts up the growth of the Size 51 hounds which Mr. Phoebus had referred to and finds that this hound was at that time 17l/^ inches, sired one htter out of a 14-inch bitch, that all the litter except one had died and that the sole survivor at eight months of age had attained a height of 161/2 inches when he was killed by a railroad train. And then comes a letter from Mr. L. H. Twad- ell of West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, dated June 30th, 1892, which gives the history of the formation of the standard. "As my name has frequently appeared of late in the discussion of the height question in the beagle standard, I feel that a state- ment of some of the reasons for a rigid limit might be proper just at this time. "When the Beagle Club was first contemplated, W. H. Ashburner called on me to confer as to its feasibility. We decided that it was first of all necessary to enlist the cooperation of the few beagle breeders then in the country, and I will here re- mark, 'en passant,' that to Mr. Ashburner the beagle men of today must award the credit of hav- ing greatly assisted in giving the breed its present prominence. There was a lot of correspondence done, and with sportsmen living wide apart and details innumerable necessary to the organization of the club, all of which he painstakingly worked out. 52 Forty Years Beagling "In the conference above spoken of it was deemed imperative to have a standard of excellence, General Rowett, N. Elmore and myself were ap- pointed to draft it. General Rowett was just at that time very much occupied with his horse inter- ests, and asked me to formulate a scale of points and submit for revision if required. Mr. Elmore acquiesced, and I proceeded with the work. When finished it met with the entire approval of my col- leagues; no change whatever being suggested by either gentlemen, so whatever mistake we have made 'on our heads be it.' "And now the reason for fixing the limit at 15 inches. In the old days anything a httle smaller than a foxhound was by courtesy called a beagle; if a pure-bred beagle dog was accessible he was crossed on small foxhound bitches, and if at all pre- potent the produce showed enough beagle character barring size, to pass muster and satisfy their own- ers. The result of this shpshod, ignorant method was that the country was filled with mongrel non- descripts posing as beagles; witness our earlier bench shows. It was to strike at the root of this evil and rescue the breed from utter extinction that I decided to draw the line rigidly fixed in the stand- ard, knowing that the little thoroughbred could not be bred from the big mongrel, and that those who Size 53 wanted the true beagle would hark back to the pure source to get him. "I will not go into an extended argument. The subject has been ably and thoroughly handled by Messrs. Chapman, Ashbui-ner and 'Bradley' and others, and little is left to say. The claims of the advocates of the larger dog — ^that he is more endur- ing — should, however, be answered. "I grant that if a mixed pack, i.e., one say of 16-inch and 12- or 13-inch dogs are run together, the small dogs will be at a disadvantage, for the reason that the larger dogs, from their greater speed and stride keep the little ones on the keen jump to stay with them. This being above their rating gait, of course exhausts and tires them in a protracted hunt. The remedy is simply to assort the pack to as nearly one size as possible and weed out the overgrown dogs. Thus selected the small dogs will be found to afford the best sport and prove the most kilhng pack, giving many more chances to the gun, as the rabbit stays longer above ground than if rushed at foxhound speed by beagles of nearly foxhound size. "In conclusion I must thank the Forest and Stream in the name of the beagle fraternity; it has fostered our interests as no other sportsman's paper in the country had, giving us a medium to ventilate 54 Forty Years Beagling our pet theories and hobbies relative to the breed, and a chance to interchange ideas, which must prove educators even to the 'man who knows it all.' " At this time Mr. Wm. H. Childs in taking up the question of the change in the standard in the Fanciers Journal, says that aside from the little prospect of changing from 15 to 16 inches, in which he is pleased, that the judges and breeders have lost sight of the fact that the length of back and loin is not adhered to as called for in the standard. Then comes Mr. Zimmer under the nom de plume of D. E. B. O'Nair in the Fancier s Jour- nal, and advocates two different standards, one for the bench show beagle and one for the field trial beagle. There is no date attached to this chp- ping, but its importance from such an authority warrants saying that the next article is dated March 16th, 1893. Mr. Bradford S. Turpin in the same sporting paper among other things says: "The statement in Mr. Phoebus's letter which particularly inter- ested me was the rapid increase in size from Damper 10 inches, to Ralph W. And referring to the eight-months' old puppy who went to 16% inches at this age, and which was growing fast at the time he was killed, asks what could be a better Size 55 argument to prove that beagles can easily be bred to the size of foxhounds, than the increase in height from Damper to this eight-months' old 16l/^-inch pup? CHAPTER IV PROGENY WITH the question at this time arising about the breeding of different size hounds and the effect of dam and sire upon their progeny, it seems appropriate to insert the wonderfully interesting article by Mr. Everett Millais upon the influence of a previous sire, written at the request of the editor of the Fancier's Jour- nal for the holiday number, as follows: "In the fall of last year you did me the honor of asking me to contribute an article to your then forthcoming Christmas number, and while at the time I was unable to accede to your wishes, which on a future occasion I trust to comply with, I was sufficiently aware of an article which was about to appear in your number to interest me highly in it. "I had been informed by a friend in America that an article was about to appear on the question of the influence of a previous sire, and hearing who 56 Progeny 57 the author was, and feeling that it might help him to support his views if he had the latest scientific views on the subject before him, I took the liberty of penning him the article which appeared in my name under that of Mr. Wade's. "Now, far be it from me to claim for myself the honor of having brought into the world the theory which I advanced in that communication as the answer to the oft-asked question, how do you ac- count for the phenomenon? Who put forward the theory, or how it first started, I am unable to say, but I found on talking the matter over with some of our most noted physiologists and biologists that the theory I put forward was not only the general belief as to the cause of the phenomenon but in their opinion the only possible answer to the question. "It will therefore be seen that the theory among scientific men is a general one, and where I have added to it is to be found in the views I express when I observe that the modification to be found in the produce of a subsequent sire is generally in that portion of the animal frame which is derived from the epiblast. I admit, howe\^r, that it is also to be noted in the other portions of the blastoderm. "Following the publication of your Christmas number, on the 2nd of January, there appeared in your columns a reply to it from the pen of Dr. 58 Forty Years Beagling Mills, of Montreal, but not being in possession of your numbers I was unable at the time to reply to him except on two points which struck me when I glanced over his letter. "These will be found in your issue of February 6th (1893), accordingly I need not again refer to them, except to say that in my letter I promised to reply to Dr. Mills, and I would ask you, sir, now that your issues from Christmas to date are at hand, to do me the courtesy of accepting this communica- tion as my promised reply. "Let us for a moment forget that there is any such thing as influence of a previous sire, which we will admit. Let us examine the influence of a previous sire on his own offspring. In doing so would it not be advisable to take two animals of the same family, strain or variety, since the likeness of the produce to the sire or dam might be argued on the ground of selection, heredity or atavism. Here, however, I might remark that should we do so, and could we take haphazard 100 puppies of any breed, the great majority would have a greater resemblance to the sire than to the dam. "Let us, however, take a collie and a pointer bitch, two different breeds, and compare the prog- eny, first with the dam, and then with the sire. It requires but a momentary glance if we were Progeny 59 asked to look at these puppies to see at once that they are mongrels, for they bear the bar sinister on their backs, as it were. "I would ask Dr. Mills, or any competent judge of type, where this bar sinister is to be seen, even in puppies of a day old? We would not see it in the structure, we could not if we were to examine the internal organs see anything different from pure-bred puppies of a similar age, but we would see it in the coat, in that portion known as the skin and its appendages, in that portion of the frame which is derived from the epiblast. "If we were to see them in adult age their bas- tardy would be still more apparent, and I again would ask Dr. Mills which parent they would most resemble. If we take the dam, they would be found with a thick coat, semi-prick ears, and if the sire were wall-eyed it would not unlikely be seen in them, too. As to figure, they would more resemble the wild dog than the pointer. If we compare them with the sire, there would be no hesitation in at once coming to the conclusion that they may take more after him than the dam. What does this teach us? Nothing more than what careful breed- ers and physiologists have remarked for years in all varieties of life, viz., 'from the male parent is main- ly derived the external structure, configuration and 60 Forty Years Beagling outward characteristics.' — James Howard on the Physiology of Horse Breeding, 1878. *'Dr. Mills will think, I allow, that this corre- sponds to the epiblast, consequently we may say that as a general rule the type of animal is derived from that part of the blastoderm, and it is the epi- blast over which the male parent has the greater influence. Now let us go a step further and assume that the pointer bitch at her next heat is carefully guarded from forming another mesalliance and in due time has a litter to a pure-bred pointer. Let us also assume that two puppies in the litter show the influence of the previous sire, and that the rest resemble the putative male parent, i.e., the pointer. "Where do those two, which under normal cir- cumstances should have been born typical pointers, show that they were under the influence of the previous sire? Is it not in the coat, and in a less degree in the structure, speaking from an ana- tomical point of view? I think it will be allowed that it is so, and furthermore, that the variation from pointer type to that of collie consists in the re-occurrence of a physiological phenomenon which I have already noted, viz., that from the male par- ent is derived the external structure, etc., etc. Now with this fact in our minds, it is absolutely impos- Progeny 61 sible that the putative sire (the pointer) could have in reality been the sire which influenced his progeny to approach collie type. In other words, that it was the collie who fertilizes the epiblastic portion of the ova from which these two puppies sprang. "It is, however, apparent that the pointer was the sire of the rest of the litter, and this being the case the question is, how can we account for this extraordinary and unlooked for occurrence? It is to this point I would draw the attention of your readers, and particularly Dr. Mills, for while I, as I understand these matters, point out that it is due to an abnormal condition of the bitch which allows spermatozoa of the previous sire to enter immature ova into the ovary and particularly fertilize these ova, which require a second fertiliza- tion when mature to cause complete fertilization. Dr. Mills, on his part scouts such a hypothesis, and argues that it is due to an abnormal condition of the bitch, brought about by metabolism during the placental connection of her previous litter whilst in utero. In other words. Dr. Mills denies the possibility of the first sire having anything to do with the produce of the second, or that the first can in any way fertilize ova which will become mature at a second heat, and gives it as his opinion that we must look for the causa causans of this singular 62 Forty Years Beagling phenomenon, in what is nothing more or less than direct infection of the hitch thi'ough the agency of a third party, viz., the produce of her liaison with the cohie dog. "That this is llie difference hetween Dr. Mills and myself is evidenced hy his letter of February 27, for while he admits the view I exi)resse{l on the Gth of February, viz., that the phenomenon is hardly common, whicli amoimts to a statement that it is abnormal, mid be iubiiits tlie fact it is possible for the ova of one breed of rab})it to be taken from the real dam and incu])ated by another without any change of type. He further remarks: 'About the only point on which Mr. Millais and myself may possibly really differ is this: It is possible for the foetal connection to l)e maintained without the mother being affected by the foetal blood and meta- bolism. As I understand these relations I am bound to answer no, and if this be correct then the dam may in consequence influence the future off- spring.' It will thus be seen what Dr. Mills' exact views are, and in placing them again before your readers may I, with all due deference to Dr. Mills, point out that if it were possible for the foetal con- nection to be maintained without the mother being affected by the foetal blood and metabolism, which Dr. Mills most explicitly explains he cannot be- Progeny 63 lieve, then every bitch in this world, accordin g to Dr. iNIills, which had once formed an alhance with a dog of differing breed, would show the influence of this mesalliance in her future litters, and instead of being an uncommon occurrence we should look upon a bitch that did not conform to Dr. Mills' view as abnormal. In other words, in his letter of February 27 Dr. iMills shows that I am right in saying that the occurrence is uncommon, and in the same letter says that in according to how he under- stands foetal connection and metabolism, it must be very common. "In what light can we accept Dr. ^Mills' state- ments when we take into consideration the fact that Mr. Wade can only get one or two cases of influ- ence in bitches which have formed mesalliances, and a very large number which have not, a number which I could personally add to. In brief. Dr. Mills allows the fact that influence is due to an ab- normal condition of the bitch. I allow that it is due to the same cause, whilst we have further direct proof from Mr. Wade that the phenomenon is the rare occurrence, and not the rule, i.e., that it is abnormal. Thus while we all agree that abnormal- ity is at the root of the phenomenon, we disagree. Dr. Mills and I, hopelessly as to the cause of a bitch becoming abnormal, I putting it down to a 64 Forty Years Beagling natural defect, Dr. Mills to what amounts to in- fection. "Having now, I trust, clearly paved the way for an examination of Dr. Mills' evidence for his side of the question, and my own, I propose to go more deeply into the matter. Let us take Dr. Mills first. The hypothesis on which Dr. Mills combats my views is that during the placental connection of the foetus, begot by mesalliance, the mother becomes affected by the foetal blood and metabolism. Your readers are all aware what is meant by foetal blood, but to some the word metabolism may prove a stumbhng block. I shall therefore explain it, as in what I am about to say, it will have occasionally to be used. "Dr. Mills explains the word as 'cell life,' which hardly in my opinion gives its English synonym, and which hardly explains itself; for we find that metabolism is of two kinds, viz., anabolism and katabolism, or a building up and a breaking down, thus the cell life which goes on during foetal life, is principally of an anabolic nature. In youth it is also anabolic with some katabolism, at puberty it is pretty evenly balanced and in old age it becomes katabolic. Let us therefore take the metabolism which goes on in the non-pregnant female at pu- berty. Cell Hfe is dependent on food, just as the Progeny 65 complex mass of cells known as a living creature is, and it would be advisable to observe what food consists of, how it reaches cell life and other matters of interest. Food is of two kinds, viz., what we call food in the common acceptance of the word, and air. The former going down the alimentary- tract, the latter the respiratory. In case of the former, it passes through various mechanical and digestive processes until it reaches the lesser intes- tines, where the bulk of it is absorbed, part of which is thrown directly into the blood, and part into the same medium after passing through the liver. What is not absorbed during the passage through the body is thrown out at the vent. "In the case of air, it passes to the lungs, where it enters fine blood vessels and is carried at once by the red corpuscles of the blood to its destination. Thus we find that the blood is the medium of con- veyance of nutrition to the cells of the body whereby anabolism is affected. The same medium, how- ever, acts as dustman to the body, for we find that it carries away the debris of cell life brought about by anabohc changes, to the kidneys and the skin where they are expelled from the body. This being the case, the metabolism which goes on in the non- pregnant female is obviously limited to the renewal of cells and the carting away of broken down ones. 66 Forty Years Beagling "Now let us take the metabolism of the foetus. The foetus in its earliest stage is one single cell which was a product of the ovarian tissue in which starts life on its own account as a separate organiza- tion, directly it is fertilized by coalescence with the male cell the spermatozoon is generally said to take place in the fallopian tube or uterus (that is under normal conditions). This fertilization, however, may take place in the ovary, and it immediately descends the fallopian tube to the uterus' commenc- ing its anabolism at the expense of its own contents. This becomes quickly used up, and it has then to search for more food, and it affects its object by throwing out a root which passes into the sinuses in the uterine wall. "I need not here describe the placental connec- tion, for Dr. Mills has already done so. Suffice it for me to state that the foetus elaborates its own blood supply and its own organism at the expense of the food it abstracts from its dam. I may, how- ever, point out that its blood stream is essentially different from that of the dam, the two never be- coming coalesced. During its uterine hfe, the foetus grows at a very rapid rate, its metabolism being of an anabolic nature, thus as far as food in the common acceptation of the word, there is Progeny 67 scarcely a vestige of katabolism, all going to build up the rapidly growing creature. "With regard to air, however, the fresh supply is taken up by the root, from the same source as the food, and as it is used up it nmst be returned, con- sequently the katabolism which takes place in foetal cell life is gauged by the return of COj. This is the metabolism which goes on in the foetus. Xow let us take the metabolism in the pregnant female. She has naturally the same duties to perform as she had as regards herself when she was non-pregnant, and in addition she has to convey away through her blood to her lungs the CO2 of the foetus. What debris, too, of cell life from the foetus that is passed to her blood, she would naturally excrete by her kidneys. Consequently the whole difference as far as metabolism is concerned in the pregnant female is that she has to submit to doing double duty, i.e., allow her foetus to absorb its food from her, and convey away what it rejects. "Xow as this is the metabolism which goes on in the non-pregnant female, in the foetus, and the pregnant female, I would ask Dr. !Mills to say what the exact metabolic change is that occurs in the female, and what it is that she receives from the foetus that causes this change. Dr. INIills does not intend us to believe, so I understand his views, that 68 Forty Years Beagling something which the foetus passes to its dam in a previous pregnancy causes a metabolic change in its power of assimilating food, but rather that the something causes a variation in the nature of its cells, which cells, when in a second pregnancy, cause a variation in the type of one or more of her forthcoming offspring. In one of his letters Dr. Mills instances the varying disposition of cells by showing that while some dogs die under distemper, others appear immune to the disease though living with their moribund brothers and sisters. I would in no wise contradict Dr. Mills on this point, at t]^ same time Dr. Mills will be the first to allow that in this case the variation in the cells is a physiolog- ical differentiation in the power of the cells to with- stand a microbic product of a toxic nature, and that immunity is not arrived at by variation in form. "Again, if we take a well-known disease which does cause variation and effects in the offspring to that of the parents, we have one at hand in syphilis. In this disease, it is perfectly possible, and not an infrequent occurrence, that while a man is suffi- ciently recovered as to be incapable of infecting his wife while non-pregnant, he can do so through her foetus when she does become pregnant. The result of this is that the foetus, which was the agent of infection, while itself being born blind, deaf, mute, Progeny 69 idiotic, or with some other deficiency in its structure, renders its mother Hable to further bearing children of this character. Here we have an instance of malformation and defect, the result of a toxic prod- uct of an infecting agent of a bacterial nature, but Dr. Mills, I am certain, will not go so far as to assert that the variation of the parents amounts to variation in type ; that is to say. Dr. Mills will not assert that the infecting agent will affect the mother so seriously as to cause her, a European, to give birth to a negro or a child of Tartar type. "If it were possible for the foetus of the first sire to infect the system of the dam so as to cause her to reproduce at a future pregnancy to another sire, animals of the first sire's type, the variation must be accounted for by some agent which causes varia- tion in the ova of the dam long before her access to the second sire, and this being the case, it is evi- dent that it is the ovary that is at fault. But we have to remember that it is the male that gives type to the offspring, and the type in the phenomenon being that of the previous sire and not the putative parent, we can only come to the conclusion that the first sire in some way has a finger in the pie, or accept the hitherto unmentioned and impossible doctrine that the unborn foetus of the second sire is sired by the foetus of the first. 70 Forty Years Beagling "This is what Dr. Mills' argument amounts to, for by no influence can we account for variation in type, either by foetal connection or metabolism ; further, it is only by the male element of a certain type that the same type, or a variation towards it, can be brought about. If an instance in point is required to illustrate Dr. Mills' view, it would be as follows, my argument being that what applies to one form of life applies to all, viz., that when the impregnated ovum leaves the ovary it is a separate being, and the sole difference between the mam- malian and fowl being that the former had to exist for a limited space as a parasite. "If wx take the fowl, it is the same as the vege- table, namely, it is sent into the world with a food supply, which the mammalian being without is obliged to look for in a special manner. This being the case. Dr. Mills' argument can be thus illus- trated: A laborer takes some green cabbage seed, which has a supply of food sufficient to keep it alive until it reaches what equals the uterus, mother earth. Here it at once puts forth a root, the um- bilical cord, and from the earth draws its food supply. In due time it appears above the earth, it is born. It then puts forth fresh roots. In other words, it is at first suckled and gi^adually comes to maturity. The following spring, the laborer sows Progeny 71 red cabbage and to his surprise finds not only red cabbage but some green. His argument is that the green cabbage of the previous year influenced the ground and caused it the following year to produce green cabbage as well as red, and he bases his argu- ment on the fact that it is impossible for the green cabbage to have fertilized the ground with green cabbage seed for he ate every green cabbage before it came to seed. "It does not strike him that this phenomenon might be the outcome of some seeds lying dormant through abnormal circumstances, such as delayed vitality or that he placed them too deep in the ground. But if he asked any practical gardener, he would at once be informed that it is not an un- common thing for seeds to lie dormant for a year, and if he were a man of an inquii'ing nature, he would learn before long that in the making of rail- ways a flora appeared in certain spots which was never known to exist in the memory of man. I ask Dr. Mills if he can deny such a statement as this, and if it is not a fact that, in the sudden and abnormal appearance of such flora as I allude to, we have not the answer to the question, what is the cause of the phenomenon? Undoubtedly we have, for in it we see an instance of the power of a fer- tilized ovum to lie dormant for vears under abnor- 72 Forty Years Beagling mal circumstances, and if this can take place in the vegetable Idngdom why not in the animal? "Dr. Mills may argue that there is this differ- ence: Mr. Millais contends that it requires a second fertilization to cause an already fertilized ovum to produce a foetus. Dr. Mills would be right in calhng attention to such a difference, and the reason I contend that in the case of the mam- malian dormant o^oim a second fertilization is re- quired is this : If a second were not required then we could see the strange anomaly of a bitch at her second and even third and fourth heat, and as long as such dormant but fertilized ova remain in her ovary, becoming pregnant without previous copula- tion with the second, third and fourth putative sires of offsprings which were begot by the first, a con- dition which exists in some of the fowls. "If her ova were fertilized and lay dormant and she did not conceive at a second heat without the attention of a second male, the influence of a previ- ous sire would at once be palpable to the most ignorant man, but as a second fertilization is re- quired, it is owing to this fact that men cannot grasp the phenomenon in its true light, and it is further owing to this fact that the produce so affected do not show quite so much personal re- semblance to the first sire as they otherwise would. Progeny 73 "Which of the two theories, I would ask, is the more probable, that of influence through affection by foetal blood and metabohsm, or that which is in accordance with the rules of nature? Undoubtedly the latter, for the former is supported by no rules or evidence and the latter by, if not direct, such a mass of circumstantial and that drawn from anal- ogy, that it is more than a hypothesis ; it is a chain with a missing link." This article by Mr. Millais would seem not only to give the average beagler an insight into the realms of breeding, but show him what the bitch undergoes in her nature wliile in season and its possible effects upon her ability in the field at such a time. CHAPTER V BROOD, BITCH AND PUPPIES NEXT comes an instructive article on the care of a mother and her puppies, by- Gordon Staples, the English expert, who appeals to the amateur breeder, when he says: "In what I have now to say on the proper management of mother and puppies, I desire to appeal to the amateur breeder of dogs, and shall feel quite contented if it simply commends itself to those who have bred dogs for many years. The latter, indeed, might be able to give me a wrinkle or two, or exchange wrinkles with me. Indeed, it is a well-known fact that where every two or three dog-breeders are gathered together, there is sure to be much kindly conversation and the exchange of hints, valuable and practical, and all tending to the same end, the improvement of the breed of our mutual friend. "Now, s]3eaking from long experience, strength- ened by the smattering of science and common- sense I happen to possess, I believe if one wishes to have a healthful litter of puppies he must turn his 74 Brood, Bitch and Puppies 75 attention to the bitch he means to breed from long before the sestrum, or period, comes on. He who expects to get good puppies from a mother who herself is not in the pink of health, and in pure blood, will get left. He'll have to take a bottom seat, and the htter, instead of bringing him comfort and happiness, will only plunge him into a sea of worry and disappointment. "Bitches come in season twice a year, but it is not advisable to breed from one more than once in the twelve months. After a visit to the dog, the mother will carry her progeny about 63 or 64 days. We cannot reckon the time exactly. Much de- pends on her health and strength, and even mental idiosyncrasy. The best time for the visit is early spring, as the puppies have then all the long sum- mer before them to romp and get strong in. "Now, the amateur may take my word for it, or that of any one else who knows, but there is no earthly use in breeding from a bitch who is not well up in points. This is true, at all events, if yoT.' desire to sell a portion of your stock, and who does not? Granting that dog breeding is the grandest fad or fancy in the world, I maintain no one should lose by his fancy. Nor need he, if he goes the right way to work. On the other hand, if you are breed- ing for some particular purpose, and care nothing 76 Forty Years Beagling about show points, you can follow your own bent. Show points, it must be admitted, are not every- thing. For example, one man may live in a rough bit of country, way up in Yorks, or in the wilds of Scotland, and have a strain of Workman Terriers, not one of which would even be commended in the show ring, or receive a word of praise from a re- porter. Yet these dogs may suit him to the ground or in under the ground, and he might laugh at you if you offered him a prize winner, beautiful to look at, but only a kind of carpet knight, who would clap his tail between his legs if he saw either brock [badger] or otter. "Another may possess a strain of good High- land workaday Collies, which he would not ex- change for the best benchers ever shown, or a strain of old English Bobtails, that on the road or moor nothing could beat. Well, we have to confess there is a deal in strain, and it isn't always the bonniest hen lays the largest egg, "I must suppose now that the amateur is pos- sessed of a good bitch — for example's sake, we'll say a St. Bernard. She is of the best pedigi^ee. She is young, say two years of age, tall, with plenty of bone and muscle, and coat, good straight legs, good feet, not spread out like a frog's, good loins and hips, and broad chest, and a tail which is car- Brood, Bitch and Puppies 77 ried fairly well. Now there is no bitch which ever I have seen perfect in all points. Before you choose a sire, therefore, try to see him, or a good photo- graph of him, and make sure he is strong in the points your bitch lacks. Perhaps your St. Bernard is a bit long in head, or sheep-doggy. This is an ugly fault, but may be corrected by judicious choice of sire. A worse fault, because more difficult to correct, would be want of size and massiveness. On the other hand, I would not hesitate to breed from a bitch who was accidentally bandy-legged, if good in all other points. Never breed, however from a bitch that is flat ribbed and a bad doer. There is some diathesis in her that the best of sires cannot correct. "To have a good litter of puppies, then, a bitch must not only possess blood free from all taint of disease, but she must be strong and in good con- dition about the time of aestrum, or heat. If you have in any way neglected her, or if, through cir- cumstances over which you have probably had no control, she has fallen off a bit, begin to get her in form three months before the time of her coming on. It will pay you to do so. Some slight swelhng will give you the first signal of her coming in season. Then in a day or two, there will be blood. This may continue for ten days. Some breeders 78 Forty Years Beagling wait till it is over before sending her on the visit. Perhaps this is the better plan. I won't go further, because I believe about the seventh day, and while there is still bleeding, is the best time and surest, especially if your bitch has a longish journey to make. It would be as well if you could go with your favorite, instead of sending her. Anyhow, most, if not all, good breeders are not only gentle- men, but lovers of dogs, and will take the greatest care of the bitch. "One service, if supervised by an experienced kennel-man, would be sufficient. It is better, how- ever, to make assurance doubly sure, with an inter- val of twenty-four hours. A whole day's complete rest; without exercise, should be given before the bitch starts on her return journey. When the bitch comes back, make much of her. She will be as glad to see you as if she had never expected to meet you again here below. And love like this is not to be despised. "Well, now, for the next two months the bitch must require every attention. For safety's sake she should be kept away from her old canine friends for about a week. She must not, however, be de- nied exercise, and throughout all the time she is carrying her puppies she must have plenty of exer- cise and fresh air. But it must not be of too bolster- Brood, Bitch and Puppies 79 ous a character, and I would not permit a bitch in whelp to play with a dog of her own size too much. A collision between her and a hesLvy companion might be very serious indeed. Feed her now on a gradually increasing scale of diet. Give oatmeal, well-mashed greens, Spratt's biscuits and gravy, with a little meat; also large bones to gnaw. Plenty of milk will do good. "The nearer her time she gets, the more she will need to eat. Feed her three times a day or even four times. If you give her biscuit, let them be steeped and well mashed. On the feeding of the bitch during this time will depend the size and helpfulness of the coming litter. You might give her cod-liver oil, but it leads to deception, for it will fatten without giving strength and toughness of muscular tissue. It is important the bitch should not ail dui'ing this time. If she is too much con- fined, she will get livery and the foetus formation will deteriorate. Castor oil, with a little of the liquid extract of cascara sagrada, might do good now and then. Half an ounce of oil, warmed with two teaspoonfuls of the cascara, would be enough for a very large dog. In keeping the bitch up in health, strength and form you must try to hit the happy medium, for you must not heat the blood. "It is important the skin should be kept clean, 80 Forty Years Beagling and you might wash once a fortnight for the first month or six weeks, but not after. Only a most abundant bed of oat straw should be given, and the comb and hair-brush plied every day. As the time draws near, the bitch may show some symptoms of restlessness. She is looking for a comfortable berth to lie down in. In this you must assist her, and if the place she seems to choose meets all the requirements of the case, it won't do to gainsay her. "In about a month's time you may begin to look for some signs that the visit was a success. It is difficult to explain what these signs are to a novice. But, say five weeks have passed and there is not much show, you may cause this to appear by put- ting your hand under the dog's body, and lifting this gently upwards, because there is always a certain amount of drooping. Secondly, the teats begin to swell very gradually, especially in the primipar, or first-litter bitch. Indeed a primipar may have a very little flow of milk for a day or two after the pups are born. This need not cause anxiety, the milk will come in abundance in good time. Thirdly, there is a difference in the bitch, mentally considered. She becomes more affec- tionate, more sedate, more motherly, though now and then the exuberance of youth bursts all bounds, Brood, Bitch and Puppies 81 and she becomes as gay as a lark. But she, as a rule views her increasing size and the swelling of her teats in a very serious way indeed, and seems to ask you what is the matter, and if nothing can be done. In fact she is quite a study during the last fortnight. "If a valuable bitch, she must be watched all night, as she may need assistance. If your trench- man is a good fellow, he won't object to having his hammock near her for a night or two. There is no reason why he should not sleep, for if she wants help she will come and nudge him. She must have plenty of clean water in the room, and milk or broth, or both, for the strength must be kept up. The danger now to be apprehended is overlaying, and if there are many puppies, and it is a first litter, this is very great, for usually the mother is awkward, and a stroke of her paw might kill a tender thing. A St. Bernard may lay her big head on a puppy and press the life out of it. "Perhaps, therefore, the safest plan is to have a basket lined with flannel, and a piece of flannel to put over the puppies. Each is taken away, and placed in this after the mother has seen it, till all are born. Sometimes there are one or two very late. You may go away, assuring yourself all is over, and that your bitch has a litter of only five, and 82 Forty Years Beagling come back in the morning to find seven all sucking away like as many leeches, and the mother looking so proud and pleased she wouldn't change places with a princess royal." CHAPTER VI SPEED VERSUS NOSE DISCUSSIONS of type, breeding, etc., having been dwelt upon for a period of some years, the ever-ready discussion of the difference between speed and nose, voice, etc., cropped up in the early Nineties and was as much a thorn in the sides of the pros and cons, of those days as it is in the modern beagler of today, if what follows is any criterion. A gentleman who signs himself "Comedy," and who lived at Maiden, Massachusetts, gives a lot of interesting information and enters into many dis- cussions. In referring to a previous correspondent, he replies in Forest and Stream of October, 1894, by saying: "I did not think of again writing on this matter, but the letter of your correspondent in a late issue sets me going again. He concludes his letter with the hope that he will hear more from his friends. Setting aside that hope, some other parts of his letter would probably have brought me out. "He challenges his friends who do not believe he 84 Forty Years Beagling knows what a good dog is, to look up his record and see about his handling as many beagles and other dogs as any one in the State; and then he goes on to tell us the beagles (?) he has owned and handled are the 'short, bow-legged, long-bodied beagles/ Shade of Sirius! What kind of a beagle is that? Had the gentleman owned a French or German name it might have been excusable, but for one with a good Anglo-Saxon name to refer to a beagle as 'bow-legged and long-bodied,' it takes the fish biscuit. I read the letter aloud to my neighbor last evening, and as we went, lantern in hand, to close the kennel gate between us and the pack, none of which measure 28 inches, from tip of nose to root of tail, I thought I heard him quote Shakespeare's 'Oberon' — 'Ho, ho, ho!' and say, 'Bow-legged, long-bodied' beagle. Once in a while, unfortu- nately, such a dog creeps mto the field trials; but if our friend had followed the results of last year's awards he would have found such a dog, although winning a fii^st, was duly disqualified as not being a typical beagle. That there are poor beagles and useless beagles no one at all acquainted with the breed will deny; that some are gunshy is well known, the latter as 'Agamak' says, being among the best of workers, yet it does not follow that such a fault is transmitted to the progeny, neither does Speed Versus Nose 85 it follow that all the puppies from those that are not gunshy will be like their parents in that respect. I have in mind now the product of two bitches, one gunshy and one not ; the former never raised a gun- shy puppy (and her puppies have been used in the field) ; the latter produced both, and that from the same dog, yet the gunshy dog was a thorough work- man. As a breeder remarked to me the other day, 'Everything depends on getting your puppies into good hands.' If one has a reputation to make it is better to dispose of the young stock to a practical field man for a less amount than to the uninitiated for a higher price, for the practical man will cer- tainly give the pup the necessary chance. Such a one wrote me only a few days ago, asking at the same time after the welfare of a pup of his breed- ing; this same man at one time owned Fitzhugh Lee, showing that practical men do use show beagles. "Your correspondent tells us that he has a bea- gle and that he thinks it will make a good hound; if he has now a 'sure enough' beagle I hope it turns out well, and if he handles it gently and gives it a good chance, there is a strong probability that he will have a highly satisfactory hound. If he thinks it as good as someone else's, there are three or four annual field trials for beagles provided for the pur- 86 Forty Years Beagling pose of proving quality, where I believe all hounds get a fair chance to be seen and heard. "And now I come to the last but one paragraph, where your correspondent thinks it a bitter pill to swallow when one goes out only to hear the hounds. I feel like the gentleman who wrote 'what's the use'; perhaps your correspondent will tell me why a true huntsman tries to match the tones of his hounds, if it isn't to hear their music? AVhy does the bard of Avon say 'match'd on mouths like bells' ? I always supposed it was the music of their voices that the foxhound, the harrier and the beagle had been cultivated for, as much as for their scent and rabbit hunting. In my estimation not less than fom- dogs are necessary for a satisfactory run; they need to be selected something like this: a treble, a high tenor, a second tenor, and a deep tone or baritone; then if they pack with equal nose and speed, why the music and the echoes are worth losing a few hours' sleep to hsten to. Perhaps, to properly appreciate such music, one has to be educated thereto. Fortunately, as a boy, I had opportunities of hearing such packs of foxhounds as the Earl of Coventry's, the Berkeley and the Ledbury, on days that their meets were in the neighborhood. Every veer of the wind was studied, every sound listened to — but perhaps I had better Speed Versus Nose 87 not diverge from the beagle subject; knowing that I never could own enough foxhounds to make a pack, I thought I might some time own some of his diminutive relatives, and I think I have laid a foundation. I Imow it is a long way round, Mr. Editor, to breed a satisfactory hunting and musical pack, but then there is the pleasure of it and of knowing each individual's peculiarity and breeding thoroughly, and the stimulus of overcoming the many obstacles to be met with. "I used to like taking a gun to shoot rabbits where they were thick, but it is nearly a year since I had a shotgun in hand, and, with one exception, nearly ten years since I shot a rabbit. I know my friends and acquaintances often laugh at me about getting nothing, but I laugh back. Last time I got a cold, and had to stay indoors two or three days, then they say, 'What do you go in the woods nights for?' I answer, 'To hear the dogs run.' 'Well,' they say, 'you can't see that the dogs hunt,' but I reply that it is to hear the dogs' voices, that musical dis- cord that the bard of Avon writes of. "That brings me to those beagle meets. I am a little selfish in making the suggestion, I want to hear the combined music of a number of hounds such as we have here ; some of the stock will furnish the treble, we may get the short tenor and counter 88 Forty Years Beagling tenor from the Forest stock, probably for long notes of a very mellow cadence we can find some of old Ringwood's near descendants, while perhaps the Lee and Wolf Tone blood will furnish us with deeper tones. The more I think over this subject, the better I think of it. I am pleased to see that 'Colombia' favors the idea even if he thinks the meets should be three times a week; probably I agree with him and it is not unlikely that I shall go more than once a week, but if the once-a-week works well, it will be little trouble to broach the subject of more frequent meets. "Acting on your suggestion, I have no objection to act as 'whipper-in,' in fact, I shall be glad to hear from any local or other beagle men on the subject. A postal addressed to 'Comedy,' Maiden, Massa- chusetts, will reach me all right and be duly an- swered. I may say, that so far as two or three of us are concerned, the meets are an established fact, and I have received considerable encouragement from others. I hope those who wish to associate for the purpose of running their hounds will be of the kind that care for the sport more than for the rabbits. "Had it not been for the drought, I should proba- bly be writing this letter from camp, as my neighbor and self had so arranged, taking the hounds and staying over Labor Day, but I think it would be Speed Versus Nose 89 almost useless to expect much of a run this dry weather. Hoping to hear further from the fellow beagle men both through your columns and the mail." Then Mr. G. A. Bockstaff, in December of the same year, opens up on the question of speed versus nose, that old familiar argument which we hear dis- cussed more than ever today, so that in harking back to what the field-trial men thought of this question, a quarter of a century ago, should be of more than passing interest to the present-day fol- lower of the trials. He states that about a year previous he had started a discussion on the speed of beagles in field trials in another journal, and "while I was not snowed under by any means, the beagle men of the West were not enthusiastic by any means for my style of beagle. I now want to carry my lance into the camp of the Eastern men, and should like you to spare me space to do it. My contention is that too much weight is put on speed and too little on the fine powers of scent — nose. This latter power is about the only great difference between a hound and a cur dog. The object of beagle breeders that are aiming for field trial winners seems to be to get speed at all hazards. Get nose if they can, but at any rate they must get speed. It is rather amusing to go to a bench 90 Forty Years Beagling show and see the fine little fellows that walk off with the blue ribbons, and then go to a field trial and see the gaunt, long-legged terrier-looking dogs, that come to compete for field honors, and what is more, the hound voice is missing in at least half of them — they yap like rat-dogs. But that cuts no figure; the point is to win and it takes speed to do it. It is, however, a fact that fine bench-shov/ dogs come to the trials and sometimes win in spite of the handicap of hound form. If the beagle is to be developed for use in the field and beauty of form, oui' field trials will not bring about the desired result. "Great speed in a beagle is not at all necessary to make him a pleasant dog to take on a rabbit chase ; in fact it is a drawback if you are out to kill a big bag of game. What gives me pleasure in my beagles is to have them sure on the trail with speed enough not to be 'pottering' or laggards, with fine hound form and musical voices. To be sure, I don't own many such because the country does not afford many. Now, I should like to ask the judges of the National trials at Hempstead at what point in the scale of field trial virtues in a beagle they drop speed and credit nose, and at what point they drop nose and credit speed? "I would take, for example, my own dog. Royal Speed Versus Nose 91 Rover, at the Hempstead trials. (Now Messieurs the Judges, don't think I am kicking, for I am not. I simply want to know how you decide on the win- ner, as I think it will help to prove my point that we are on the wrong track.) Rover was sent East more as an object lesson than with any hope of win- ning money or renown. If I convince a few beagle men that I am right, the money was well spent. In the first series. Rover defeated Nell R., and from all reports did it easil3% and she won the derby. He must have possessed considerable speed to do that. The only other dog he had a chance to run against was Buckshot, the winner of the All-Age Stake, and after that heat, it was decided that Rover had the best nose, but that Buckshot was too fast for him. With speed enough to beat the Derby winner and a better nose than the All- Age winner, Rover was dropped out of the class and five dogs placed over him. Now it looks to me as though my point was proven, that speed is about all that is wanted. When a dog with good speed and good nose is thrown out for a dog with more speed and less nose, I say the system of judging is wrong — in my opinion. "However, the judges may put a new light on the matter, if they care to answer my question. !^ had about made up my mind not to bring up this 92 Forty Years Beagling question again, but I see that Mr. Fellows and Mr. Muss-Arnolt are after the foxhound standard, and so I took courage from them." Then Mr. H. L. Kreuder of Nanuet, New York, gets back at Mr. Buckstaff as follows: "In your valuable paper [Forest and Stream, December 24th, 1894] of the 15th instant, I read an article written by Mr. G. A. Buckstaff on the relative meriting qualities of speed and nose in beagles. "I regret that I cannot admit being entirely car- ried away with Mr. B.'s argument. He says the aim among breeders who desire field-trial winners is to 'get speed at all hazards and get nose if you can,' and this is not the kind of a dog to get rabbits with. "Now, to substantiate his argument, Mr. B. says he sent his dog Royal Rover to the National Beagle Club trials this fall as an object lesson. He says that in the first series Rover defeated Nell R., and from all reports did it easily, and she won the derby. He must have possessed considerable speed to do that. Right here I want to call Mr. B.'s attention to his first mistake. The judges were working on the spotting system and as a positive fact, I know the}'- did not make the mistake of announcing win- ners of heats, or in any way give their opinions as to the respective merits or demerits of any dog Speed Versus Nose 93 previous to their final awards. Mr. B. errs in read- ing the opinion of some 'would-be reporter' in tak- ing it for granted that the reporter's opinion is also that of the judges. "To further prove my assertion, I will again quote from Mr. B.'s letter, in which he says that 'the only other dog he (Royal Rover) had a chance to run against was Buckshot, the winner of the All-Age Stake, and after a hot heat it was decided that Rover had the best nose, but Buckshot was too fast for him.' Now, in justice to the judges, Messrs. Turpin and Lewis, does Mr. B. believe that they rendered this decision, and if so, in the sense and with the meaning that his letter implies? ''With speed enough to beat the Derby winner, a better nose than the All- Age winner, he says his dog was dropped out of the class. Now, this smacks strongly of a 'kick,' and I don't believe he means to be a kicker. I also believe his motive in writing his letter is honest. "Now, the Derby class of the National Beagle Club's 1894 trials had three starters; and his dog, we will admit, beat the winner, does that follow that he should defeat twelve other starters in the All-Age Stake? Mr. Buckstaff assumes that his dog had speed enough to beat the Derby winner and he takes it for granted that his dog had a better 94 Forty Years Beagling nose than the All-Age winner, probably because some 'reporter' said so, and his deduction is that his dog was not properly placed by the judges. Does Mr. B. believe that speed credit is misplaced when one dog is in the lead and going right along accurately on the trail, as proven by the slower dog with the better nose following exactly the same course, but considerably in the rear and with much noise and ado? Mr. B. says we get speed and sacrifice nose. I say that a dog who has speed must have nose and a terrifically sensitive one to carry the scent deposited by the fleeing rabbit ahead of the speedy dog or he could not adhere to the trail as closely as the five dogs did that were placed ahead of his dog at Hempstead last month by honest judges. "That letter implies, in a general way, that great- er credit is, or was, given to the speedy dog, or otherwise considered holding to the trail a very inferior, secondary matter; in other words, a dog who slashes and dashes around through the brush, making much noise, with the rabbit behind him. Now, which would he prefer, a pack that will start game and in a leisui-ely way (but holding the trail accurately) bring the game to his gun in say, forty, fifty or sixty minutes, without having increased the throb of his pulse one single beat (normal 80), or a Speed Versus Nose 95 pack that will start game and in an eager, pushing, crowding, bustling way (but holding the trail ac- curately) bring the game to the gun in five, ten or fifteen minutes, with pulse beating from 150 to 200, your cap on the back of your head or the ground, every nerve strained, your hand a-clutching the gun, your eyes bursting from the sockets in your endeavors to catch a glimpse and a shot at the thoroughly alarmed rabbit going for dear life 50 feet ahead of your speedy pack with 'speedy' noses? Whew ! I had to stop here for a moment, as I had mentally followed this pack, and was in about the condition 'Canada Gray' must have been in when he called a halt for water at Oxford. "Now, I contend that this hue and cry about speed without nose is all 'poppycock,' and as a mat- ter of fact, it is really a physical impossibility. I, for one, will boldly say that I want the dog with speed and nose, and I believe that 95% of those who use beagles are in the same mind. Let us wait and see what others have to say." Mr. Bradford S. Turpin, one of the judges, gives his opinion of Mr. Buckstaff's letter as follows: "I have just read Mr. Buckstaff's letter entitled 'Shall it be Speed or Nose?' In reply let me say, that it shall be neither one nor the other, but a com- bination of both. Speed and nose, those are qual- 96 Forty Years Beagling ities for which the great majority of beagle men are searching, and in my opinion rightly. Mr. Buckstaff says, 'If the beagle is to be developed for use in the field and beauty of form, our field trials will bring about the desired result,' and im- plies that the 'gaunt, long-legged, terrier-looking dogs,' of which he has previously spoken, are the ones which w4n the majority of prizes in our trials. That is the subject on which I desire to say some- thing later — provided no one else gets ahead of me — but in this note I merely wish to reply, as far as I can, to the questions which he puts to the judges at the last National Beagle Club trials at Hempstead, of whom I had the pleasure to be one. "He says, 'Now, I should like to ask the judges ... at what point in the scale of field trial virtues in a beagle they drop nose and credit speed?' In reply let me say that the moment a beagle outruns his nose, goes so fast that he cannot carry the trail, that instant speed is dropped and nose credited. There is no point at wliich nose is dropped and speed credited, for a beagle without a nose is no beagle at all, whereas a beagle without speed may be a fairly good hound. A good example of a hound that outran his nose at these trials was Millard. I doubt if there was a faster beagle on the grounds, but he did not or could not use his Speed Versus Nose 97 nose — consequently his speed was no advantage to him. He did not even make the second series, though according to 'Buckstaff's' reasoning he ought to have been among the winners. Mr. Buck- staff in his endeavor to prove that 'speed is about all that is wanted,' says: 'In the first series Rover defeated Nell R., and from all reports did it easily, and she won the Derby. He must have possessed considerable speed to do that. The only other dog he had a chance to run against was Buckshot, the winner of the All-Age Stake; and after a hot race it was decided Rover had the best nose, but that Buckshot was too fast for him. With speed enough to beat the Derby winner and a better nose than the All- Age winner. Rover was dropped out of the class and five dogs placed over him.' "If all this is correct, no wonder Mr. Buckstaff 'wants to know how you decided on the winner.' Let us look at it. Royal Rover did not defeat Nell R. easily. On the contrary, it was a very close thing between them in a race which was run at a time when Nell R. v/as tired out — she was only a Derby dog remember — on her long, hard run in the swamp on the previous day. Had Nell shown her true speed in this race — which she did show later in her Derby race — Rover would not have been placed in the second series. 98 Forty Years Beagling "Now for the Royal Rover-Buckshot race. Who 'decided' that Rover had the best nose of the brace? That was not the opinion of the judges, and no one else had any right to make any decision and no one else did make any. The facts of the case are that Buckshot showed fully as good nose and fully as good hunting sense as Rover, and far greater speed. But his speed was not so great that he outran his nose. In the race he led most of the time, picked out the majority of the turns, and taking into con- sideration all the desirable qualities that go to make up the hunting beagle, was an easy winner. "Mr. Buckstaff's statements which he makes as facts, and on which he relies to prove his case, are not facts at all, and any argument based on them necessarily falls to the ground and is unworthy of consideration. I have not the pleasure of Mr. Buckstaff's acquaintance, but nevertheless I hop^ he will accept my congratulations on his election to the State Legislature and my earnest hope that his speeches and arguments in that body may rest on facts and not on imagination." Mr. George F. Reed, of Barton, Vermont, goes a little more fully into the question of this race, in particular regarding speed and nose, and says: "I have read Forest and Stream for a long term of vears, and I have not taken much of your valuable Speed Versus Nose 99 space in a controversy with the beagle men, but in an issue of your paper of December 15th, in a com- munication of Mr. Buckstaff' s in 'Shall it be Speed or Nose?' he struck me in a tender spot when he says according to all reports, his Royal Rover beat my Nell R., and did it easily. Now, I wish to say to Mr. Buckstaff, that the reports say no such thing, and further that Royal Rover can not beat Nell R. for speed, nose or any other hunting quality, for fun or for money. 'Bradley,' in his report to Forest and Stream, says : 'Rover fairly outworked Nell, as she acted as though she was tired.' This I admit in part. They ran the day before over two hours together. No part of the heat was satis- factorily seen by the judges and the dogs were ordered up. The next morning they were put down again and a few minutes afterwards IVIr. Chapman kicked out a rabbit. Rover was put on the trail immediately, and the rabbit at once left the brush and went into a mowed field and took nearly a straight line for a garden. Nell at the time the rabbit was started was a number of rods away from Rover and did not know that he had a rabbit running, until I called her out of the brush. She then had to make up some twenty rods before she could get in with Rover and, I think, did not get ahead of him. The rabbit was soon lost in the 100 Forty Years Beagling garden. What dog found the trail, drove the rab- bit into the rails and marked him, and was ordered to be caught by the judges as she was trying to work into the rails after her game ? are the questions that I wish to ask Mr. Buckstaff, and I venture to say that if he will take the trouble to inform him- self he will find that it was Nell R., and also, that the rabbit might have been in the garden now for all Rover did toward driving him out. Was there anything about that heat upon which Mr. Buck- staff can claim that Rover beat Nell R. so easily? "When notice was given out of the dogs that were to be left in for the second series I was satis- fied to find that Nell had been left out. I well knew that she could not get into the money, for I had not seen anything done by her or Rover that would entitle them to run again. Nell being only a little over one year old, and having to run in the Derby the next day, had a chance to rest up, and, I think, her heat with Lucy in the Derby was the fastest and truest heat of the entire trials, and if Rover had run against her that day, it would have been 'poor Rover.' "Now in the heat between Buckshot and Rover, Mr. Buckstaff says : * After a hot heat, it was de- cided that Rover had the best nose, but Buckshot was too fast for him.' Not any, please, Mr. Buck- Speed Versus Nose 101 staff, such decision was given out by the judges, for the facts of the case are that Rover never led Buckshot, except for some few rods when he was fii-st put on the rabbit. In the report of Forest and Stream, written by Mr. Turpin, one of the judges, and he came very near having seen all the work done by the dogs that was possible for him to see, he says: 'Worked into a grass field. Both began to trail, Buck in advance until Buck started the rabbit.' Whose nose did this piece of work I would like to ask Mr. Buckstaff? I think the judges, handlers and spectators will all remember that drive up to the hedgerow. The next rabbit was soon lost after being started by Rover. The next work done was on a trail found by Buckshot and I called Judge Lewis's attention to the dog and told him to let him work and he would start the rabbit, and he did so. Report in Forest and Stream says: 'Buckshot leading the way and catching most of the turns.' I would hke to ask Mr. Buckstaff if he can see anything in that heat that any judge should say that Rover had the best nose. I guess not. I do not own Buckshot today, but the beagle that has got a better nose than he has does not spell his name Royal Rover. Buck- shot beat Royal Rover at both Oxford and Hemp- stead under four different judges. If Royal Rover 102 Forty Years Beagling was sent East as an object lesson for the benefit of the Eastern beagle men, I think he was a failure. If Mr. Buckstaff had sent such a dog as Dime, Buck, Nell, or Lucy we should have something that was able to win, with nose and speed combined.' "In regard to the judges' decision, any one who has ever attended a trial where Messrs. Lewis and Turpin have been judges will see how close they try to keep up and how careful they are to place the dogs right, will never kick if his dogs do not get in the money. "About a year ago Mr. Buckstaff had an article on speed against nose and wished to hear from the beagle men. I will answer him now. I want a beagle that is fast, and the faster the better, with nose equal to his speed, and that on a loss will swing and swing at the top of his speed until he strikes the trail again; built to stand as many day's hard work as I wish to hunt, a good barker, good starter and a stayer. This is the kind of beagle I have been trying to breed for the last fifteen years. I have not been going down the beagle ladder, but climbing up and trying to make the dogs that beat mine climb, and when those dogs get through a trial against my dogs they will not leave that field saying that they have beaten them ^easily.' If Mr. Buckstaff had not used the word 'easily,' I don't Speed Versus Nose 103 think I should have answered his article, but I could not quite stand that. In regard to those long- legged, quaint, terrier-looking beagles, will say they must nearly all have been West, as I did not see any at the New England or National Beagle Club trials. I have yet to learn why a fast, true- running beagle is a handicap for a hunting beagle ; I am sure on our large rabbit they are the kind we must have. It is no sport for me to shoot a rabbit sitting still or just crawling along in front of a slow beagle, simply because the dog has not nose and speed to drive him into a run. Did any beagle- man ever see a fast, true-running beagle that did not have a good nose? Thanking you for the space this letter will take, I will step down, but not out, for I have a few beagles to run next fall, just to keep the judges from catching cold." Then comes Mr. John Bateman who tells amus- ing anecdotes about the noses of his hounds as follows: "I like to read your paper, the views of others regarding beagles and their hunting qual- ities. In regard to the letter of Mr. Buckstaff on speed and nose in which he says that nose is the desirable quality in the beagle for this game. I have hunted a great deal after cotton-tails with beagles, in fact, have been thanked by farmers for hunting them where they were a pest (but that 104 Forty Years Beagling time is now past). If you hunt with a very fast dog and put up an old rabbit, where there is not much cover, away he goes, driven by your fast dog. With the slower dog, and of good nose, the rabbit will hide and dodge around, and in all probability you will soon have him. In proof I will relate what I saw on a hunt. jMy dog had been running a rabbit, but the dog was a long distance off, and still work- ing out the trail. I saw the rabbit squat, so I watched his actions. He cleaned his head with his f orepaws, then he cleaned and brushed his whiskers with his forelegs, all the while sitting on his haunches. But as the dog came nearer he squatted low and soon started. He seemed to be playing hide and seek. I did not shoot that rabbit. "Now, in regard to nose, one time I had my bea- gles taken five miles through a strange district, in a wagon to the hunting grounds. In hunting we lost one dog in the woods, and when ready to go home found another dog was missing. One dog arrived home about 3 P.M., the other about 8 P.M. Their only chance to find home was bj^ the smell of the horses' hoofs. Another example — I had taken my dogs to an Illinois village; they had never been there before, were fresh and wanted a hunt. After hunting all day, about dark I heard them giving tongue in a large field of tall weeds, and the}' drove Speed Versus Nose 105 four rabbits past me. I shot two, although it was too dark to shoot properly, but the dogs would not come in. I was about three miles from home and was afraid I would lose my dogs, but concluded to give them a test. I had rubber boots on, and following the path from the other field into the main road, I walked the three miles in the center of the road to my lodgings. I was much concerned about my dogs, but about 9 P.M. I heard a whim- per at the door and opening it found one of my beagles. Shortly after, I heard another whimper and the other beagle was on the doorstep. Do you wonder that the hunter loves his hounds — what but good nose would have brought those dogs home?" Then comes Mr. J. F. Stoddard, of Georgetown, New York, who insists that speed and nose are not the only requisites for a hound to have, and says: "Having read the opinion of our various beagle friends on speed versus nose, I would like to give my opinion if you deem what I shall say of suffi- cient interest to the many readers of your valuable paper. "I claim speed and nose constitute only a small portion of the necessary requirements of a good beagle. He may have both, and of the very best, and still be as useless for rabbit-hunting as a collie. A good beagle must be bred and broken to the 106 Forty Years Beagling work; must have an inherent love of the chase; must be sagacious (better known as level-headed) ; must have persistence to follow the trail when at a loss, staying till he works it out, running only as fast as his intelhgence tells him by his scenting powers he is right, following true and steady, giv- ing deep, melodious tongue. "Scent and intelligence must be paramount, otherwise he will overrun the track, pick up his loss indifferently and without courage or persistence, quit. He is not requii^ed to catch the game for this very reason, the beagle is used for rabbit-hunting and the standard for height has been wisely placed at 15 inches. Small, true, slow-running dogs are better for rabbit hunting for the reason that as a rabbit runs in a circle, the slower he is run the less he is scared and the smaller he makes his circle; thus the slow, true-running dog brings the game more quickly to the gun, for it stands to reason the larger the circle the less chance the hunter has of shooting. "Now, if a fast-running dog is preferable, why use beagles, and if you do use beagles, why not 18-inch beagles, as they can outrun their smaller companions and certainly would be the better rab- bit-dog of the two, all else being equal, providing speed is required? Now, no hound is worth hunt- Speed Versus Nose 107 ing who is a quitter or cannot last the hunt out if ended in one daj^ He ought certainly to last as long as a man, and my experience with both beagles and foxhounds is that no hound can stand it to run all day who runs faster than his strength will hold out. Therefore a steady, true-running dog is much preferable to one whose speed is run out before the hunt is half over. Give me a true, sure trailer, a sticker and a laster, one who works his ground not madly and frantically, but carefully, eagerly, ju- diciously and persistently ; who goes to work as soon as the brush is reached and holds his own till the hunters are ready to go home, be it one hour or ten. And day in and week out I kill more rabbits with him than the fastest-running dog that ever lived." Then comes "Rural," of Wakefield, Massachu- setts, who although evidently not as experienced as some of his predecessors in the speed versus nose hngo has his say in these words: "It is with great pleasure that I read articles in your paper from the pens of experienced beagle men. While not as ex- perienced in beagle work as some of your contrib- utors, I believe (as a result of my observations) that breeders need to strive for courage, hunt, nose, and staying powers, more than for speed in beagles for practical work. I like a dog that has ambition, is not timid, when cast off, will get to work at once, 108 Forty Years Beagling going at a good clip, and having the nose to back up his 'hustle,' not having to depend upon a slow dog to work out the trail. "Speed is desirable, but we should not be carried away with the speed craze that we neglect the more necessary qualities of hunting and nose. A hus- tling man does not amount to much without a level head, and a hustling dog doesn't suit a practical hunter unless the dog has keen scent. Too many beagles of long pedigrees and of bench-show stock, and some of field-trial fame, have to be coaxed to *hunt 'em up,' when the hunting ground is reached. Let breeders aim to produce dogs with the eager- ness to hunt that spaniels have. "Mr. Kreuder, in Forest and Stream of Decem- ber 22nd (1894), says: 'Speed without nose is all poppycock and is a physical impossibility.' I can not agree with him, for I have seen beagles hustle a rabbit fast and true for quite a distance, but when the scent became weaker, on less favorable ground, where it required a good nose to carry the trail, these dogs were at a loss until my dog (Ringwood- Flute M. stock), nearly as fast but with a better nose, worked out the trail for them. Now these dogs had speed surely, but were without the proper nose for such speed, so that I claim that speed with- out a good nose is a physical impossibility, and in Speed Versus Nose 109 too many cases a sad fact. Jean Valjean cannot be a dog of this sort, or he would not have rightly beaten Buckshot at Oxford. Jean must have the proper nose for his legs. "I once knew of a half-breed and Gordon setter that drove foxes very fast and that would take foxes from any hound in this vicinity, but as his nose was not as fast as his legs, he would get a check, and after the hounds straightened it out for him, he would outrun them again. Now, which style of beagle is the best and gives the most satis- faction when hunted alone, the sprinter without the right nose, or the steady-driving, keen-scented dog? I like Mr. Stoddard's letter, published some time ago, but do not like a dog with a 'farm-horse' jog. I believe in the hustling, level-headed, sure-scented, staying, road-horse style of beagle." And Mr. Buckstaff comes back in rebuttal in a sportsmanlike manner, chaffing his critics and apologizing for some of his interpretations and use of words, ending a lively discussion from his home in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in January, 1895, with: "When I wrote you in regard to speed and nose in beagles, it was after reading the reports of the National trials in two great sporting journals and several lesser ones, and I gathered the data for my letter from them. It now looks as if the saying of 110 Forty Years Beagling an old lady I once knew is true, that 'the news- papers is a passel of lies.' We gullible, simple- minded Westerners believe all we see in the papers, and I had begun to think it was a mere oversight that Royal Rover did not get a better place in the National trials. But it seems now as though it was the decision of deliberate, cool, judicial minds work- ing under the 'spotting system,' which I take for granted is responsible for Rover being dropped after his heat with Buckshot. But as I said in my letter, the judges might put a new light on the matter if they chose to answer my question; so my object has been accomphshed, and I have learned how judges decide at a field trial. But I am in no wise convinced that the system is right. 'Out of the mouths of judges ye shall hear wisdom.' Let us hear some of Mr. Turpin's remarks: 'Buckshot showed fully as good nose, fully as good hunting sense, as Rover, and far greater speed. ... In the race he led most of the time, and picked out v. great majority of the turns.' What business had Rover to be in the lead at any time of a dog with 'far greater speed and fully as good a nose?' What was Buckshot doing when this dog Rover, with fully as good a nose as Buckshot, but so lacking in speed that he dropped out after the heat, was lead- ing him? Speed Versus Nose 111 ''Picking up the turns I understand is the turn on the track where the rabbit turns or picks up the trail, if the dog runs by the turn. Now, what busi- ness had Rover to pick up even a small part of these turns? Was Buckshot so far behind that Rover picked up the turn before Buckshot arrived, or was Buckshot ahead, and Rover came up and picked up the turns before Buckshot could? It's all a mys- tery how Rover could at any time be either in the lead or pick up losses first. Now, I don't mean to insinuate or intimate that judges did not decide these races as fairly as they possibly could, for I have seen several heats between very fast dogs and dogs somewhat slower and know how hard it is to suit all views of the case. If it ever were my mis- fortune to be a judge at a trial I should have the Vindsplitter' run alone for a while, and see what kind of a show he would make. I think many of our beagle men and some of oui^ judges would be sur- prised at the difference he would show in work done that way as compared with work done in a race with a slower dog. Before the game is afoot he has not the time or ability to take an old trail and work the rabbit up. He has got to go bird-dog fashion and jump his rabbit, and when he overruns he has not the help of the slower dog to aid him pick it up. He becomes 'foxey,' when hunting with a 112 Forty Years Beagling slower dog, takes one trail away from him by speed, and watches him on the turns. "I have just such a hound, and I know from experience that any beagle judge that I know of would give him the decision over Rover. If nothing happens, I shall send him to the Eastern trials next year, and hope this description of him will not prejudice the judges against him. "I don't blame Mr. Kreuder for buying Buck- shot and all the fast dogs he can find, if he never had a beagle worthy the man that could not keep within fifteen or twenty minutes of the best beagle livinpr on a rabbit trail. I never had the misfortune to see such a dog myself. We don't breed such beagles in the West. I have one regret in regard to the National trials that Buckshot and Frank Forest did not run a heat together. It would have been interesting to have witnessed the result. An- other word, and I wdll close. Mr. Clark judged the Northwestern trials on the same lines that the Na- tional trials were judged, I should think, and now I have no doubt more Western men are of my opinion that the system is wrong. In conclusion, please allow me to withdraw the offensive word 'easily' from my version of the way in which Rover beat Nell R. If he beat her at all, that is enough. But the excuse made that she was tired from a heat Speed Versus Nose 113 run the day before is rather a hard one on the bitch. Yet ]Mr. Reed says he breeds for staying quahties and bottom. Send a bitch West, Mr. Reed, and I will breed her to a dog that won't get tired out in a day or a week either, and won't charge you a cent." And then Mr. H. L. Kreuder, President of the National Beagle Club of America, comes out with his ideas of what men enter beagles in bench shows and field trials for when he states in Forest and Stream, of May 18th, 1895, that "At bench shows an exhibitor has one of tvro objects in view when making his entries. It is either to win the prizes or dispose of the dog. At field trials but one motive prompts one in making entries, and that is to win." Xow it would seem that ]\Ir. J. F. Stoddard, of George tov/n, Xew York, was not anything but a lazy hunter, if his remarks which follow anent his ideas of hunting with the beagle, as written by him in Jmie, 1895, are any criterion of his enthusiasm for the merry httle hound. For he says: "Since writing for your interesting paper two or three months ago, beagle items have seemed scarce, so perhaps it would not be intruding to again venture an opinion or two concerning working beagles. Xow in regard to a hunter, a broken beagle, give me one that I can take to the brush, sit down on a 114 Forty Years Beagling log, and the dog knows enough to start and follow a rabbit and stick to it without my following him up to keep him going. "I am too lazy to run behind the hound in order to have the hound run the rabbit. This applies to a broken dog, not a puppy, as a young dog is apt to be timid, and must have the assurance of the master's presence, or a broken dog to run with. I call no beagle a good hunter that does not go to work as soon as freed from restraint, if it is to run nothing more than a mouse; for if he has the requisite propensities he will not follow, a perfect picture of docility, at your heel and wait for you to start the rabbit. Just one hour of such work as that, considering my excitable disposition, would retire him to his kennel or his grave forever. "Now, allowing we have a worker, we patiently await, after reaching the brush, the starting of a rabbit. His presence is soon known by the silver- tongued voice of the hound. Then if his scent is not at fault and he has hunting sense and a level head to guide him. Bunny must soon be on foot for parts unknown. Two to one he makes one or two turns to get his bearings, and to throw off the hound if possible, which, finding impossible, he flies to the farthest end of the brush, and there makes turn after turn while you are working and puffing to get Speed Versus Nose 115 up to the hunt. But stop a moment! If the dog is a true, strong-scented, resolute hunter, and can follow without fault, the rabbit will probably soon be back near his starting point, so you might as well stay where you are and listen to the music. If the dog is a quitter, or his nose is at fault, or he is un- able to run a double circle, you had surely better stand still and save your strength, as the dog will soon come and the hunt be up. "Oh, by the way, somebody spoke of speed. Well, if the dog isn't a sticker or hasn't the best of scent, the faster he runs the sooner he'll be back to you without the rabbit. Allowing he is a sticker, and has the best of scent, combined with a good deal of intelligence, he will not run faster than, by his sense of smell, he knows he is right. "Give me a strong, resolute, active, intelligent, sure-scented dog, who loves the chase and runs steady and true, and sticks till the hunt is over. I have no objection to the speed of any beagle under 15 inches, provided none of the above named requi- sites are sacrificed to obtain it. As any animal will redouble his efforts to escape the more scared he becomes, it stands to reason it will get as far from the danger as possible. So the rabbit will make larger circles ahead of a fast, sure dog than a slower one." 116 Forty Years Beagling Mr. Pottinger Dorsey, in an opinion written in the American Stock-Keeper, gives as his belief that when a rabbit is run stiff to death by beagles that "They die of spasmodic cramp from overexertion of their muscles, or from an overtaxed heart." Mr. Dorsey evidently had some trouble with some or rather one of his beagles at a certain field trial. The hound's name was Fade, and Mr. Kreuder in a previous issue of the American Stock-Keeper had referred to this hound as a mongrel, who had been purchased from a toll-gate keeper's son, whom the dog had followed in his search for a home. So Mr. Dorsey gets back at the President of the National Beagle Club in the following letter: "I read the article appearing in your last issue, written by Mr. Kreuder, and w^as disgusted at the manner in which he spoke of my dog, Pade, stating I bought him from the toll-gate keeper's son, whom the dog had followed in his search for a home. "Now, Mr. Kreuder, you well knew the assertion was false when you made it. You know this dog was bred by Mr. Charles Shotta, and sold by him to Mr. Jones, and I bought him from Mr. Jones. I want Mr. K. to plainly understand the word of the above gentleman will be accepted as truth as soon as any statement he can make as to Pade being a beagle; he was accepted by the field-trial com- Speed Versus Nose 117 mittee as a beagle, allowed to fill and money paid in. Then the word was given to go, and he was judged as winner of first in 13-inch class. "Then the dog was too much beagle for Mr. Kreuder, and he took on himself to run the club and succeeded in disqualifying the dog, keeping the winnings and entrance money also. Of course, everyone acquainted with the circumstances, knows the whole thing was illegal, as the dog was accepted, run and won. I should have sued and recovered by law. "How much Mr. K. would have enjoyed having some of Fade's 'lightning' in Frank Forest last fall, when he made that famous champion heat! From what I can learn from parties witnessing the so-called heat, Frank would not have overtaken the rabbit if it had been riding on the back of a dry- land terrapin. The fact is the prize should have been withheld for lack of merit. "I thought field trials were held to ascertain when merit existed. Frank Forest did not win absolute in the field and his championship was made a present to him. A dog to win a champion stake should at least make a good driving chase, not pot- ter around a little while and be ordered up and pronounced a field-trial champion, which gives room for a lot of rot in advertisement, which is mis- 118 Forty Years Beagling leading to the public. Mr. Kreuder, if you have not satisfied your revenge for Fade whaling your dogs so completely, make up another story and get satisfaction." CHAPTER VII STANDARD VERSUS JUDGE NEXT an argument on "Standard or Judge" is started by "Comedy," brought about by letters of Dr. Mills and Mr. Zimmer ("Debonair") which appeared in the American Stock-Keeper at this time (October, 1895), in which this authority backs up the two former gentlemen and argues that their letters are well taken and very much to the point and goes on to say: "So long as the matters rested with the terrier men, so long was I satisfied to let it rest, but now that it is touched on ye by the hound' I feel that I should hke to say a word or two. Our Gloversville friend is right when he remarks that *Some men who have judged this breed [beagle], in times past could do some thinking to advantage.' For we scarcely ever see the prizes awarded to dogs of the same type. At some shows we see the first go to a long-bodied dog which favors the Basset or Dachshund shape, and the second to a dog that is perhaps good in body but whose head is anything but that of a beagle and with ears and eyes like a terrier ; truly, 'how long since the beagle must have a terrier eye?' 119 120 Forty Years Beagling "I, too, am in favor of a cobby body, and I think all men that are looking for staying qualities are of the same taste. Of course, I can't overlook the fact that we get more dog if we get a longer body, and I am inclined to think that such a type is less likely to throw oversized hounds, but is it not more creditable to breed one or two good typical beagles than a lot of long, low hounds that put their growth in length? "The question of head is rather hard to put on paper, but with all due respect to the different owners of the dogs mentioned and to the ones un- mentioned, some perhaps I cannot refer to because I have never seen them, but the type that I con- sider right and to be most sought for are such as are to be seen on such dogs as imported Lonely, bitch, and Bowman, dog, and in small dogs I very much admire the head of Laick's 'Roy.' I only mention these hounds to describe what I consider a proper head for a beagle besides which they are good in bone, coat and body. Koyal Kreuger, I have heard much of, but somehow have always missed seeing him and I am only acquainted with the owner of one of the dogs mentioned, so that I have no interest in writing of them. "While writing, I have before me some measure- ments which I have taken which I find useful as a Standard Versus Judge 121 criterion, if I have occasion to put the tape measure over any dog that takes my eye. I find that the head of a dog about 15 inches high averages about 7y2 inches long, and girth of head double that or very nearly. Some of the Enghsh dogs do not grow much over 13 inches, girth of head, but the cheeky, throaty hounds, whose voices are usually deeper have more head girth; girth of muzzle from 7 to 7% inches ; a good pair of ears set on, low measured, naturally on, and a head will go from 17 to 17% inches, such a dog will have deep flews and consid- erable dewlap ; the eyes I prefer large as described by the standard, also I prefer them wide apart, so that the front edges of the ears are very little farther apart than the outside corners of the eyes, this latter marks the beagle characteristic strongly. "For neck, I prefer a fair length, but not enough to make the body long, as I consider it almost im- possible to get a long neck without more length of body than I care for, as I find that from the tip of the nose to set-on of tail in the dogs I look upon as beagles in body, measure about 28 inches to a 15-inch dog and some less. I know of one 13-inch bitch that measures but 24 inches, and to bear out the staying qualities statement, she has run a fox track over 24 hours right away. I think most of the measmxments quoted here for a 15-inch dog 122 Forty Years Beagling would be about in line with the standard as laid down by the Beagle Club, and it is by such a stand- ard that all beagle men should insist on having their hounds judged, and if as 'Debonair' says, such standard does not meet the views of the representa- tive beagle men, but I, for one, am not in favor of any change, for I consider it has been the aim of most breeders to breed to that standard and any radical change therein would be an injustice to them. "If it is to please the views of those who have a dog or two that does not conform pretty nearly to the standard, it would be a still greater injustice to those who have spent both time and money to produce a typical beagle. "No, let us breed to the standard as laid down and insist on having judges go by the standard, and if we see they do not, why I am sure our friend the American Stock-Keeper will gladly welcome any honest criticism that is made in good faith, such as I have intended this to be. "There is one thing more I want to refer to, and that is exhibitors who try to catch the eye or ear of a judge, either before the class goes into the ring, or at the time they go in, sometimes by posting the judge by saying, 'this is my dog Charter, by Scav- enger Colombine, he took first and special at P. Standard Versus Judge 123 last year.' Or, when the class is called there is a blue or red ribbon on the dog's collar. Is this right? is this fair to the exhibitor who, through some engagement, is unable to be present to handle, perhaps, his one or two dogs he has carefully bred, and for whom the rich breeder has no more respect than I have for some 'trundle tail' type? Is it for the good of any breed that judges will allow them- selves to be so biased or that exhibitors will so dis- honor themselves?" And *'Chicasaw" at about the same time has this to say in the same magazine on "Standard or Indi- vidual Opinions": "I think I will elect to write my little say on this subject under the above caption as I think it more definitely defines the chasm which seems to divide the ideas that some of our judges appear to have and the standard which they should uphold. I would like to know how many judges study the standard intelligently, which means care- fully, and then seek to fit the dogs to them? Do they not gather their conceptions of what a good dog should be from the winners they find on the benches? "There are few men who can define the standard properly. Your Gloversville friend refers to cob- biness in a beagle. I am not a beagle man, further than I like to see the little hounds and hear their 124 Forty Years Beagling cry, still a dog of the cobby build of Ch. Royal Kreuger, Ch. Lonely, Bowman and but one or two more I could mention, catches my eye for the eternal fitness of things, very much quicker than would Molly, Ch. Twintwo, or Wixom's Dorcas, I think her name is, which are long backed, if I remember rightly. There never will be a consensus of opinion upon different values in a standard. *A' judges St. Bernards; he must have type, ex- treme quality, markings and all that go to make a good St. Bernard head, and if a dog is able to round the ring without falling over, he'll get the prize, sure, provided he has the requisite head properties. Next show^ comes along 'B,' a judge who believes head properties, markings, type, etc., easy enough to breed, sound legs and active move- ment are the sine qua nmis he must look out for, and if he does not take care 'B' will do more harm than good, however requisite it is that these partic- ular dogs should have better 'understandings.' "Standards scale the value of points, and their numbers show their relative value, but how many judges are there in America today, that if tackled in the ring, could give tables of point values cor- rectly or even approximately of the majority of the breeds they handle? Still, this should be, in my estimation, for the basis of a true judge's capabil- Standard Versus Judge 125 ities. In my idea, a true judge is one who, mindful of the standard, weighs each point in its proper relation to the whole. A woman may have beauti- ful eyes, but if she has a flat nose and a humpback, she does not appeal to one as a handsome woman. It is not from the super-excellence of any one point that breeders evolve perfection. It is rather from the selection of animals that, not superlatively good in one point, are good all round. How often do you hear some judge, when questioned as to his decisions, on say a fox-terrier, to make it easy, and it is pointed out to him how large the dog's ears are, how full in eye, and short in muzzle it is, exclaim, 'Ah! but I couldn't get away from his beautiful front!' Do forelegs and shoulders constitute the alpha and omega of a fox-terrier? Not much! Give me the dog that, as a whole, comes nearer to the ideal set forth by the standard. Can Major Taylor tell us what standard he has had in his mind when placing some of the field-trial dogs high up in the scale of honor at dog shows? He had formed ideas of his own. Type was one thing, and seeming ability to gallop, which any setter, not deformed, should be able to do, was another, and 'another' got the verdict. "^\^at are we to think of a judge who gives three money prizes to three dogs, each different in its 126 Forty Years Beagling general make-up? To be kind, I should say that the judge did not know what he did want, and that while recognizing the value of certain points, he recognized them individually, and not as he should do collectively. One could scribble on this track till the end of your valuable paper, but I really do believe that some of our judges should be taught a realization of the importance of the duties they assume, and the power they have to make or mar a breed. Perhaps some judges may ask me what I would do with a class of dogs, none of which really came up to standard requirements, but were not bad enough to turn out of the ring. Beyond admitting that sometimes judges are misunder- stood when they face such a troublous condition, I will excuse myself." Then Mr. Pottinger Dorsey of New Market, Maryland, opens the 1896 season in the American Stock-Keeper on the damage done the beagle breed due to the bench-show craze in the following words : "Re the marked improvement of the beagle of to- day in 'Beagle Gossip,' published in your issue of January 4th, I think this subject may be reviewed from two standpoints. From the one from which I view it the beagles of today (as a rule) are just recovering from the great injury they have re- ceived from the bench-show craze. I forewarned Standard Versus Judge 127 breeders not to turn a deaf ear to running qualities in order to get that which was so attractive, direct descendants of champion bench-show winners, and, if possible get a lot of first prizes placed to the credit of their dog to enable him to make a suc- cessful stud dog, when the chances are the dog was no more use to a man in the chase than a pug dog. What could be expected from such a line of breed- ing when a majority of dogs used in stud were perfectly useless in the field? If a dog is a good looker and runner also, so much the better, but it matters not how well-formed a dog is; if he is a loafer never allow him to transmit those qualities. Now, for my part, I am glad to breed to say, such beagles as old Music, Glory, Mars, Diana, Zode, Vesper, Mary, Juliet, Starter, and others that have joined the majority and will always stand as bright lights in the beagle world. Diana, I presume, was the best beagle ever raised in Maryland, at any rate she was the best one I ever saw in the chase. I am glad the people are awaking to the idea that they must breed their dogs for that which they were intended, a dog for the chase. Breed to dogs of merit, and continue it for a while and those who are most disgusted with the breed will become ardent admirers of the gamey sport-giving beagle." nr CHAPTER VIII JUDGING FIELD TRIALS HIS ever-interesting topic, and the reasons I of the why and wherefore of the then sys- tem of adjudicating winners, as called for by the National Beagle Club Rules, caused as much discussion then, a quarter of a century ago, as it is today in a prominent sporting joui-nal of the day, where there are some advocates of the point- scoring system as there was in those days, though I am sm^e that the present-day critics, who want the rules changed to a point-scoring system, knew nothing of the then efforts to have the rules changed, which met with little favor and were thi^own in the discard. Mr. H. L. Kreuder opened the argument, saying: "We have now had beagle field trials for five or six successive years and such practical results toward the advancement and bet- terment of the breed as is Hable to accrue from such work, should have manifested itself by this time in a tangible form. Has it? A mild 'yes' and em- phatic 'no' would be suitable answers. Having used and put to a practical test such ideas as have 128 Judging Field Trials 129 been advanced heretofore, I think the time has come when new theories should be introduced to practical working methods, to acquire the purpose of a specialty club, i.e., advancement of the breed. "As bench shows are now conducted, a useless dog for all purposes may become a prominent champion. The same principle applying to field trials, inasmuch as the most wretched specimen in form may acquire high honors there, and how does either one advance the breed in the broad sense of the term? "With a view to overcoming what is now a radical wealviiess (from this standpoint), I propose in- troducing at the next quarterly meeting of the National Beagle Club, a scoring system for reduc- ing each dog's field and bench qualities to an aver- age, thereby establishing and recording each dog's actual merit in both forms, winners, losers and all. Under such a system each entry at trials w^ill be first scored for its actual bench-show merit by a practical judge of such form, then the dog to pass into the hands of judges for field-trial quality form and each dog scored at termination of heat. Those scoring above a certain average (for field work) to pass into 2nd series, the same to apply for 3rd series, with a higher average. The winners of each class to be those scoring the highest combined aver- 130 Forty Years Beagling age of both field and bench qualities and awards to be rendered by the field-trial committee. "Under this system, each owner to receive a certificate of the dog's work and form, and, unless radical defects may be discovered in my calcula- tions, the most practical results can thus be obtained in advancing a breed by a specialty club. This, of course, is a somewhat brief synopsis of a radical change and is a subject-matter for reflection and discussion, to be eventually reduced to a satisfactory working system. "I bring this matter out at this time for two reasons. First, to draw from the many members and breeders, and others, a liberal exchange of views through the ever-available and obliging press and secondly, to give other beagle clubs than the National sufficient time to consider, act or adopt the scoring system if found advisable." The two cards, one for show and the other for field qualities, appear in the sporting press of the day, a replica of which is herewith appended. Judging Field Trials 131 JUDGE'S SCORING CARD FOR SHOW QUALITY Name of Dog Judges shall credit dogs with the maximum as per standard if warranted, or fractional parts thereof, according to their judgment of merit. Standard Awarded Head— Typical skull 5 Typical ears 15 Typical eyes 5 Typical muzzle 10 Body — Typical neck 5 Typical shoulders and chest .... 10 Typical back and loins 15 Typical spring ribs 5 Running Gear — Forelegs and feet. . 10 Hips, thighs, hind legs 10 Coat and Stern — Coat 5 Tail 5 100 / hereby certify that I have carefully scored the Beagle and hereby award points according to above standard, 1896. Judge of Bench Show Form. 132 Forty Years Beagling CARD FOR FIELD QUALITIES Name of Dog Judges shall credit dogs with maximum, as per standard, if warranted, or fractional parts thereof according to their judgment of merit. j^ competition with 12 3 4 6 6 Natural and eager disposition to Imnt 5 Running action, which should be free, easy and without ap- parent labor 5 Obedience when not trailing started game, hunting likely covers thoroughly and speed- ily 10 Trailing and starting game 10 Taking trail first after game is started, other than by dog, chances being equal 5 Speediest work in carrying trail. . 10 Truest work in carrying trail ... 15 Marking game under cover 5 Best ranging at a loss 5 Best hound voice 10 Best endurance 10 Other creditable worlj; not spe- cially credited 10 Field trial Total Average Bench show score Grand average We hereby certify that we have carefully scored the Beagle and award points according to above standard. Judge of Field Trials. The Beagle having been awarded points for field trial form, the said Beagle is hereby awarded a grand average of points for combined merit and prize in class Stakes at National Beagle Club's sixth annual field trial held at * , 1896. Chairman Field Trial Committee. Judging Field Trials 133 Mr. H. V. Jamieson, of Melrose, Massachusetts, opens the argument in reply to Mr. Kreuder's ideas of the point system with: "The scoring of beagles systematically as to their actual worth in points, standard form and field merits being both consid- ered in the final results obtained. The system is a most praiseworthy one if the millennium is Avith us at last, and we are about to realize perfection. I, for one, would gladly see this system adopted if such is the case. But what is expected to be ob- tained from the deduction of the two sets of com- petent judges? Evidently not any useful results, but simply a certificate of merit that will say a dog w^as awarded the first prize because it was the best- formed dog and showed the best hunting sense com- bined at that stated time. But we may not have a dog's true worth even then. There may have been better fielders and poorer-formed dogs, or vice versa, among the other prize winners, and we have therefore given the prize certificate to a dog of mediocrity and not of perfection in either de- partment of its supposed usefulness to the breed as a progenitor. We can never look back on that dog as a type in any case; it simply was the con- necting link between field merit and 'standard form.' "Let me illustrate my point by figures: Sup- 134 Forty Years Beagling pose 3 points represent perfection in either show or field merit; 2 points represent mediocrity; 1 point merit only. Xow, 'A' is Mr. King's dog, and 'B' is mine. The judging of the two beagles results as follows: 'A' scores 3 points for form and 1 point for field merit; total, 4 points. 'B' scores 1 point for form and 3 points for field merit; total, ■i points. Which wins.^ "Another thing: very few beagles could be cor- rectly scored in standard form if they were at the same time in field condition or fitted to run at beagle trials. Does not condition count a good deaH Why, I have known a judge considering condition to be of so much value as to give a bitch nothing, although he acknowledged her the best one in the class, but must consider her out of it as she was not in condition. What if judges hke that should distribute the percentages at the show pomts entertainment? "I repeat then, what benefit is this diploma to the owner ? And if no good to him, is it of any use to anyone else? It tells the owner of the dog absolutely nothing of that at which he is aiming that he did not know before. And are breeders to be benefited in any way if perfection were never reached in both scorings? Xo better idea would be obtained than now in regard to a beagle's best Judging Field Trials 135 quality. Let the dog shows have their duties as well as the field trials theirs. "To enhance the advancement of the breed, let a specialty club offer a trophy, to be competed for at every show% for the best beagle with a field trial record, considering both in judging; the one that wins it the most times during the year to retain the trophy with the attending honors. The discriminat- ing of shows generally results in the richer ones having still more added to their premium lists, and the poorer ones are ignored. "To mix two such widely separate qualifications as standard form and field excellence would only complicate the matter more, and I can hardly see the benefits to be derived. The more plainly each qualification is set forth the better results w^ill necessarily follow\" And along comes "Comedy" with his ideas. He says Mr. Kreuder's letter is very much to the point "otherwise we could use any kind of a cur for just simply rabbit hunting. If wx are going to hunt rabbits with beagles let us breed as near the stand- ard as we can, using our most typical dogs to breed from, but, at the same time bearing in mind that the beagle is a hunting dog, and not alone breed for hunting traits, but give the little fellows a chance to learn how to do their work. Of course, 136 Forty Years Beagling if we can find a dog that is a good typical specimen, with lots of courage and hunt in him, that should be the dog we should use in preference to any other, unless, for some very good reason. ''Personally, I am inclined to the belief that nearly all beagles will hunt to a great degree if only given the chance, but the trouble is that many of om- puppies never get a show until they are past the time when they ought to be doing good work, and have got in the lazy habit of hanging around. Then again, so many puppies are subject to all the ills that dogs are heir to that they are fully grown up before they ever 'get a smell' at any game. The growing demand for puppies and the scarcity of good ones tempt a breeder to try and raise some during the winter months, and unless he is partic- ularly well favored with climate, and has the best of accommodations, he does more harm than good, for if the bitch is young she loses the season's hunt- ing and perhaps all the puppies as well. "I think your correspondent is on the right track; let us have type by all means, in fact a beagle, and I would make a suggestion that in measuring dogs, when drawing for the trials, that aU dogs be thrown out of competition whose length, from tip of nose to root of tail is more than double their height at shoulder, or those whose front legs are very crooked Judging Field Trials 137 or in any other way, when they do not fairly re- semble the type laid down by the standard. If it is not practical to exclude the crooked-legged dogs, it certainly should be practical to exclude the long- bodied ones. "I do not quite exactly agree with the value of the figures given by Mr. Kreuder, but the points taken, in my estimation, are good. Under this scoring arrangement, the best-balanced dog would get placed or at least make a good showing, while the good hunter, if of good type, would be up near- est the money. In the 'judge's scoring-card for show quality,' I would value skull as high as ears, also shoulders and chest equal to back and loins, and give the other five points to coat, dense and hard. "In the *card for field qualities,' I would add to the number of points for 'natui-al and eager dis- position to hunt,' making them at least ten, and count five for 'obedience,' etc. Perhaps when we have succeeded in getting our beagles as nervy as fox terriers, we can afford to teach them obedience more thoroughly. I am glad to see Mr. Kreuder values true working qualities and good hound voice, while endurance should certainly be credited with fully as high a percentage as ten. "I hope there are more of your readers who will 138 Forty Years Beagling give us their views on this matter, and that it will have the good effect of reducing several types, now known as beagles, to the one which is in accordance with the accepted type." CHAPTER IX BONE IN THE BEAGLE THE question of the amount of bone that a typical beagle should have, and which is another of those mooted questions which has its partisans, is brought to the surface by Mr. Zimmer, of Gloversville, in the Spring of 1896, under the nom de plume of D. E. B. O'Nair. Mr. George F. Reed, of Barton, Vermont, in criticising this question of bone, opens in the American Stock- Keeper in April, 1896, by referring to Mr. Zim- mer's article in the previous issue as one of the best things he has ever read on the beagle in this paper. He further says that he "don't know this writer, never saw him, never have even written him in my long term of years in breeding beagles, but — shake ! No bone! You are right. "This great cry about bone is all a piece of non- sense to a certain degree. I have become ac- quainted with some of these 'bone dogs' and 'bone men' and they are both alike — no great thing in a hot drive. A beagle can have so much bone he is practically no good for a sportsman's dog. ^^^lat 139 140 Forty Years Beagling good can you get out of these great bone dogs for a six week's steady hunting? There are a few bitches, and very few, that will profit by being bred to that class of dog. I want a beagle built in pro- portion all around, a good practical all-day dog, one that can be hunted hard the season through, and then, with a little let-up, be able to go on the bench, and make a fair showing with a good body, coat and brush, good legs and feet, and all in proportion to his size. "Most of the boys have heard my ideas of breed- ing; I have followed one line, and only one in breeding, no grasshopper blood in me. For in- stance, remember old Skip, Mr. Editor, dam of Frank Forest; next oldest of hers I own is Haida, a better bitch than Skip, barring head; Nell R., out of Haida is next in age, and then comes Mag out of Nell, and thought by many at Boston better than her dam ; the youngest ever shown is Kate out of Haida, winner in puppy class. Please don't call this free advertising, but here are a lot of practical beagles, good in the field as the record shows, and bench winners, too, and they are not all bone either. "As I look back over the field trials, I don't see any of these bone beagles staying in the second series. For instance, recall Jean Val Jean, Buck- shot, Wanderer, Triumph, Spot, Nell, Baronet, Bone in the Beagle 141 Venus 2nd, and others I can mention, these were beagles, rabbit drivers and pushers from beginning to end; they had bone enough and plenty of muscle to go with it. I think I know whom D. E. B. O'lNTair refers to, and what dogs he has in his mind, but of this I will say nothing. When he strikes a field trial his cry will not be for bone, but for speed and nose, O'Nair, and he never will get it out of *all bone' either. "In looking over the American Stock-Keeper this morning I read 'Comedy's' piece, and I see he is not one of these 'all bone' fellows either. Now, O'Nair, there are not so many of them in the East which run that way as you might think, but what there are talk loud and often, but they tire easily when a good practical breeder gets a drive at them. But what took the cake was this : I was talking in Boston about breeding better voices to some of the beagles, and one party says : 'Beed, you will have to do it by breeding to one of those English dogs that has lots of bone.' Well, I didn't faint, but I went out of the hall and got a sandwich, and won- dered how a beagle with a leg hke a Mastiff could get a clear tenor voice like Quabog Belle or Jack Bannerman by breeding to him. This more bone racket may catch a few 'greenies' but it will have no weight with a practical breeder, or the sports- 142 Forty Years Beagling man that loves his little beagle for the pleasure derived from the chase. "Give me the beagle that stands on a good straight pair of legs, just bone enough to carry his body, and I will warrant when his season of hunting is over, he will not be over on his knees like a broken down horse." Then along comes Mr. C. O. Smith of Woon- socket, Rhode Island, who says he has had both kinds, and finds the dogs with good fair cobby body and good bone, not too large or too small, are the best hunters for an all-day hunt. And now comes "Hector" in a humorous vein, taking a fall out of the bone men when he says: "Hark! What causes all this racket I hear? Is it a pack of beagle after a 'bone?' No, I think not. They do not appear to be very hungry for 'bones.' I guess it is a pack of beagle men on the track, and they are on the right track, too, and propose to stick to it. They don't stop to pick up 'bones.' What good voices they have ; how they harmonize. They are the correct type, too. There must be a large pack of them. Yes, the woods are full of them. I am on the same track, boys. My voice is not as good as some of the others, but it is strong and distinct. No big, logy, slow-poke beagle for me. Bone in the Beagle 143 "The kind of beagle I like, is one that has lots of guns in him; active and 'sandy' enough to kill a woodchuck nearly as large as himself; one that is able and willing to hunt all day through as deep snow as I care to wade myself. These quahfica- tions in a good, fairly well marked, show specimen, with bone in proportion to his size, I consider much more valuable than surplus bone. This is the style of beagle that sportsmen like, and the men that breed this style can always find a market for them at good prices." Mr. F. L. Styne of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after reading the above letters agrees with the writers and further states that his idea of a beagle is that he wants reasonable bone, but wants it in proportion to size and make, and anything more than that is unsightly and wrong. He continues: "While at the Philadelphia show, one of these 'bone' men said to me that I should breed a bitch I had there to his dog and get more bone. I smiled but didn't bite. No lumber or cart horse type for me. I think some of our judges are losing their heads; I noticed, all around the circuit this year, and in nearly every instance, that type was sacri- ficed for that craze, heavy bone. I know some are head over heels after it; but they can have it for me; give me the straight-leg, cobby beagle, with 144 Forty Years Beagling bone in proportion, and I will guarantee you he will be the most active and speediest, and always ready for a chase. "A beagle with so much lumber in heavy bone, is only a burden unto itself, and can't go at all. I hope some day to see such men as Zimmer and Wixom handing out the ribbons; they are men of good sound beagle sense. I would advise brother breeders to keep their bitches thin in flesh and not breed small bitches to big dogs, or you will pay the penalty for it." Now, what brought about all this discussion on *'bone" was the original article by Mr. Zimmer, who stated that "there are many of our dogs of this breed which need more bone, no breeder will deny. That there are others, and plenty of them, too, which have all the bone they need and all that is necessary to stand an all-day chase, and six days of a week, and all that is required to cause them to look well furnished and symmetrical, none, with 'common sense,' will deny. However, for a year or more, the cry has been started by a few — a few who, for reasons, are interested in bone — that all our American-bred beagles lack bone. They have never failed to call attention to this point, of whoever was interested in this breed and I half believe they have made one half the number Bone in the Beagle 145 believe it; at any rate, it begins to look that way, and if it keeps up another year, the beagle with the largest bone, regardless of the fact the judge must hold his head down and gently, yet firmly press his hand on his shoulder, in order to have him come in the 15-inch class, will win first, and all specials, with some judges, and the awards be considered correct by a share of the breeders. "Like a flock of sheep, get one started in any direction or over any obstacle and away they go, all of them. Get the eye and mind of breeders on any one fashionable quality and it is all half of them can see. They are now looking for bone, and legs which are not perfectly straight, bodies which are too long; heads which are not exactly right, will be glanced at and overlooked — if the dog has bone. In a short time it will be some other hobby that some other enterprising breeder or speculator will start and again we are off like chaff before the wind. There is one consolation, it is only chaff and other light substances that are blown away by every breeze; the wheat waits and is gathered by a stronger hand, and the breeder who stays and breeds good all-round, practical hounds — those with good or fair coats, legs, feet, heads, chests, and loins, from 11 to 15 inches, but with bone enough to correspond with size of dog, enough to carry him 146 Forty Years Beagling all day and every day — are sure to win a reputa- tion among sportsmen, if they do or do not win on the bench." Now comes Mr. "Joe" Lewis, of Moodus, Con- necticut, in a letter to the American Field, in which he enters in a discussion with Mr. Reed, including challenges, etc., which were never, so far as can be found out, accepted by Mr. Lewis. "Having read the different articles on this sub- ject (Bone in Beagles), I take the liberty to write you a few lines on the matter and give a few facts on the subject; also, a partial review of the several beagle trials, as it would appear from several of the articles that the winners were mostly of the light-boned type. It seems that the record made by my kennel of beagles at the different shows this year has created a good deal of jealousy, and sev- eral of the beagle men who have failed to beat me on the show bench are now doing their best to injure me by saying my beagles are not the right tj^pe and are not the kind that make good field dogs, and will never be seen at the field trials. Let them have a little patience. I shall enter beagles at the field trials, and time w^ill tell whether they are good or not. "I cannot see why Mr. Reed should crow so much over his field trial record, as, while his dogs have Bone in the Beagle 147 done good work in the field, they have also done a lot of poor work, as the record shows, and what kind of a showing did they make against such dogs as Baronet, Triumph and Lady Novice? "If I remember correctly, the majority of win- ners at the different beagle trials have been dogs of good bone. Take such dogs as Lee 2nd, Jean Val Jean, Louis Fitz Lee, Baronet, Glory, Spark R., Snyder, Buckskin, and others, that I cannot call to mind at present ; these were nearly all as hea^y boned dogs as Ringleader, and in some cases heavier, and still the cry goes up that a good boned hound cannot do good field work. "In regard to Ringleader, I believe him to be a good-proportioned and well-balanced dog, and he can stand any amount of hard work; and I think the practical judges of the breed believe him to be a dog of the right type, as he has never been beaten except by his dam, Lonely, and everyone that has followed up the dog shows knows very well he has been shown at every show of any importance; also he is getting good stock, and I shall be very much surprised if his stock do not make good fielders. "I have not the time to hunt my beagles to any extent, but I am doing everything in my power to place them in good hands w^here they will get a chance to show what they can do. I believe I am on 148 Forty Years Beagling the right track, and to the few breeders who are trying to cry down my stock I will make the fol- lowing proposition: Beginning at the Providence show I will show Ringleader against any dog they own, and Lonely against any bitch they own; or I will show the pair against any brace they own; or I will show a team of four against any four they own. I will show two, four, or six puppies, whelped August 10, 1895, sired by Ringleader, against the same number sliced by any stud dog they own. If the Providence show, to be held in September next, will not be convenient, I will make the same offer at any of the large Spring shows, New York, Chi- cago, or Boston preferred. This is a good chance to see what bone will do, as from my experience in breeding dogs it is much easier to lose it than to gain it in my breed. "Probably everyone with long hunting experi- ence has seen good rabbit-dogs with very little true beagle character, as there are many mongrels that you can break to hunt rabbits that can beat many of the field trial winners. If the type and quality of the beagle are to be kept up, it cannot be done by breeding to a dog simply because it has won in the field, as you can lose more in formation and quality in two years than you can get back in ten. As Bone in the Beagle 149 proof of this, look at the type of English setters that is shown at the present time. "In regard to voice, I should think it ought to be known that a large, strong dog would have a better hound voice, than a light weedy one. Jack Bannerman and Quoboag Belle were both good boned large ones, I beheve. From what I have seen at the beagle trials the large ones nearly always have the best voices. Stormy, a large coarse one, won the special for best voice on two occasions ; and Don, another big one, won it once. In conclusion I will say that I fii'mly believe that I am breeding the proper way to produce good worldng beagles of the proper type, that can make a good record on the show bench and in the field, and when I am beaten by any of the men that are trying to run down my dogs I will acknowledge it, but not be- fore. In the above challenge I will back my dogs for any reasonable amount, to be agreed upon later." Then Mr. George F. Reed gets back at Mr. Lewis in two sporting papers with the following pithy letter; "In your issue of July 11th, I read Mr. Joseph Lewis' piece in regard to bone in beagles. Now I will say to Mr. Lewis that in the articles written by myself and others I do not think his kennel was mentioned, but as he has brought 150 Forty Years Beagling up my name, with your permission, I will take up some of your valuable space in answering a few things Mr. Lewis calls facts, that are not facts by any means. For no one has claimed that the light- boned, weedy type has been the winner at our late beagle trials. As to the 'fact' of such hounds as Lee 2nd, Jean Yal Jean, Baronet, Spark R. and Buckshot being as heavy-boned or heavier than Ringleader, I say decidedly 'no.' I own Spark and Buckshot, and know what I am talking about, and I will ask the owners of Lee 2nd, Jean Val Jean, Baronet and other beagles mentioned by Mr. Lewis to let us hear from them in regard to this fact. "Now, Mr. Editor, I do not believe in these paper fights, but I am not used to taking any bluff, and as Mr. Lewis throws out a little challenge, I will accept it and be glad to do so; and I will meet his dogs at the New York and Boston shows. As none of Harker's puppies are over two months old today I can not show them at Providence. In exchange I will make Mr. Lewis a challenge and put up a forfeit, and I hope he will accept one and all of the following propositions — I will run Harker against Ringleader for $50.00 a side; Nell R. against Lonely for the same; Harker and Nell R. as a brace against Ringleader and Lonely for the same; to run at the National Beagle Club's trials Bone in the Beagle 151 to be held next fall, and under the judges elected for those trials. Also, I will run them under the score-card system for both show and field qualities, as proposed by Mr. Kreuder at the late New York show. And I will run at the National Beagle trials a puppy sired by Harker, against one sired by Ringleader; also a brace of puppies sired by the above mentioned dogs; for $25.00 a side each trial, under the judges selected by the National Beagle Club for 1897. We are both members of this club, so I hope these terms will be satisfactory to Mr. Lewis, and that I shall have the pleasure of his acceptance of my challenge as I accept his. "As to another 'fact,' Mr. Lewis says my kennel did a lot of poor work, as the record shows, and asks what kind of showing they made against Baronet, Triumph and Lady Novice. Where did he buy the paper, in which he read, my kennel did a lot of poor work? Here are the facts, and I refer you to the judges: Spark B. was second to Baronet (first) for special ; Nell R. was third in open class to Tri- umph (first) ; Spot R. was second to Lady Novice (first). A fair record, not poor. And when his beagles have won as many first, second and third prizes, also two champion stakes, as mine have, I think his 'crow' will be heard from North to South, and East to West. 152 Forty Years Beagling "As to being jealous of any one's wins over mine in the past year, I will say I have not got any of that blood in my veins. When I am beaten in the field or at shows I always am one of the first to holloa for the other fellow's dog, and do not throw my arms over the fence and sulk and abuse the judge because he did not place my dog first. At New York I won first with Harker, and second with Nell R.; at Boston first with Harker, first with Nell R., and third with Mag R., in open classes, and first with Kate R. in puppy class. No need of my being jealous. "In regard to voice, Mr. Lewis says he thinks it ought to be known that a large, strong dog would have a better voice than a light, weedy one. Well, we are not talking about weedy ones. But why, be- cause a dog is a great, coarse dog should he have the best hound voice? Also, why at some church the base or tenor singer weighs two hundred pounds, and stands six feet, while at the church on the next street the base or tenor singer weighs one hundred and twenty-five pounds, and stands five feet six inches? I*^^^ "I do not pose as an authority on mongrel hunt- ing rabbits, and I do not believe there ever was a mongrel that can beat our first-class beagle trial dogs. If I thought so I would go out of the busi- Bone in the Beagle 153 ness and go to raising mongrels, for three-fifths of the people want good hunters. If the hunting in- stinct in the beagle is to be kept up it cannot be done by breeding to a dog simply because he has been shoved around from show to show, for the reason you can lose more hunting instinct by breed- ing to such a dog than you can get back in a life time. I am not referring to Mr. Lewis' kennel. One cannot get any too good hunters by breeding to the best field dog living, and by hunting the bitches when in whelp. I shall be pleased to read articles from Messrs. Dorsey, Wixom, Kreuder and other prominent breeders telling us how to get good hound voices and workers in the field for a season of hard work." And Mr. E. C. Cook closes the argument with: "Why don't all lovers of the beagle use him for what he was bred— the field, to hunt? In reading your issue of the 11th [American Stock-Keeper] I see a breeder of beagles would like to show his beagles on the bench and see what bone will do. Now I would like to know what a beagle does on the bench that requires bone? "If the writer will say that he will run his dogs against all comers for one day to three or six, he will find lots of men with small-boned dogs ready and anxious to make him look lonely." CHAPTER X TOY BEAGLES AN interesting argument on toy beagles is started in the fall of 1896 by Mr. J. Otis Fellows of Hornellsville, New York, when he says "I wish to remark, as I have often done be- fore, that an excess of bone in beagles, or any other dog, is rot, that is, bone out of proportion to the dog. If you must have big hounds to hunt little rabbits with, call them by the right name, harriers or foxhounds, and don't use a big 16-inch dog, which weighs 35 pounds or more, and call it a beagle. I know a lot of dogs that win under certain judges which, if allowed to stand natural are from 16 to 17 inches at shoulder, and they get there under the standard by holding their muzzles on to the floor. Beagle used to mean small, now it means that the larger you get them the more you can win. " 'Nibs' is the dog you refer to, and I will give $10.00 to any beagle in America that can get 10 rods ahead of her in five hours running, and I think she is under 10 inches. She can run just as long as any of the imported foxhounds, and run a hare just 154 Toy Beagles 155 as stiff as anything in Maryland. I know three little beagles, 9, 91/2 and 101/2 inch that are just the very best hounds for foxes in that section, they do not catch foxes as they would have us believe all the Southern hounds do, but all the same their owner shot 43 red foxes ahead of them last season. "What's the use of any talk about reviving pocket beagles, when Wixom can sell you any quantity of them under 10 inches, but it is no use to show them. They think they are only toys, but you know better, as you have seen them at work. "What has 'thick rocky cover' got to do with it, and how can it be 'too much for their strength' ? A 9-inch beagle can go where bunny can, and I know he is much stronger." Next comes Mr. H. B. Tallman, of Green, Rhode Island, in favor of the larger beagle, when he says : "Mr. Fellows writes as though he believed that toy beagles were as fast and enduring workers as the large ones, and says that the talk about rough, rocky country is all nonsense. I don't see why their size — or lack of size — should prevent their being fast or enduring, in a country that is favorable to the work of small dogs, but does he really think that dogs under 12 inches can follow rabbits thi'oughout a day's hunt in a country composed principally of thick swamp, brush heaps, blackberry vines, and 156 Forty Years Beagling rock}% bushy pastures, and keep them going pretty surely and steadily at as good a rate of speed as dogs from 13 to 15 inches? "Mr. Fellows has probably had more experience with small beagles than I have, still, I have had some and my experience has given me a contrary opinion. He says they can go anywhere bunny can, but I don't think that is necessary, and a fast driving good dog is not apt to attempt to do it, ex- cept at times when he misses the track, when he can go through a brush heap or clump of thick bushes in a way which would be impossible to a little dog. Besides hunting with a little dog, because he can go 'anywhere that bunny can' would be too much like using a ferret which some of us consider unsports- manlike. Beagles have been bred up to 15 inches in height for several years, but if Mr. Fellows ob- jects to such huge dogs being called a beagle — 'which means small' — we can call them something else without any detriment to any of their good qualities, and if the little dogs cannot get justice done them in the show ring, why not have a class for toy beagles and have them judged by a toy man, with a score card? Mr. E. O. Cornforth then adds his say to the ar- gument, for he was evidently an owner and breeder of them if we judge his letter which follows in the Toy Beagles 157 American Stock Keeper, "In all my experience with beagles of 12 inches and under, I have found them to be superior in the field, as a rule, than the 14 and 15 inch dogs. I have owned several 11 inch bitches that would work with, and do their part in a pack with 14 and 15 inch beagles, and start more rabbits than the larger ones. They can go under brush and briars where bunny hides, and where the larger dogs cannot work, and they will endure as much, and drive as long as the larger ones. "Take a pack of under 12 inch beagles, and they will drive slower and the quarry will stay on top of the ground longer, and not rush for a hole or stone wall as they will do with a pack of 14 and 15 inch beagles. Many people think that beagles 12 inches and under are of no use in the field. This is not so, as many can testify. I think we are breeding beagles too large. Some have proposed raising the standard to 16 inches; better put it down to 14 inches instead. I should like to see a class in the field trials as well as on the bench for 11 inches and under. Until there is such a class no notice will be taken of them in the show ring. A 13 inch beagle, bred right, is large enough to hunt anything that a beagle is supposed to hunt." Then follows a story of a hunt hy that veteran and patriarch of the game, Frank A. Bond of Jes- 158 Forty Years Beagling sups, Maryland, which would seem to prove that the small beagle was a hunting hound. In what follows regarding the series of chases one will notice that Mr. Bond alludes to the rabbit as a hare, though it would seem that it must have been the cotton-tail which was the object of the chase. In part Mr. Bond says: "I have been told there are many owners of beagles and old rabbit- hunters that do not believe a pack of medium-sized beagles can, as a rule, run down and kill a full grown rabbit. They will admit that once in a good while, with luck, one may be caught, but twice in a while never! If any such unbelievers could have been with me last Thursday and Friday they would have been forever convinced of their error. "I paid a visit to my old Confederate friend and comrade. Judge David Griffith, of Montgomery County, and in company with his son, and their neighbor, Mr. Bradley Macgi'uder, hunted four or five hours a day for a couple of days. We had fifteen beagles, several belonging to each of us, and by no means carefully selected as a killing pack, as three of them were puppies under eight months old, and old Rose will be fifteen years this Febru- ary. The fastest pair we had out were Flight and Flirt, and both of these are under twelve inches in height, as indeed, were quite one half of the pack. Toy Beagles 159 With two exceptions all these hounds were under two years and this was their first season's hunting. These rabbits were found and killed in heavy tim- bered land, where a hurricane in September, 1895, had blown over and broken off nearly one third of the largest trees, at that time in full foliage and still retaining their dead leaves. This w^ould appear to form a cover and protection that would make it impossible that rabbits should be killed by beagles, and yet wx did kill ten consecutively, with never one lost, and without so much as a stone being throw^n to help the hounds. "January hares are very strong runners and very smart, and they tried every trick and wile known to the species, but it was no use, the unerring nose of these little Maryland beagles, coupled with their pluck and staying qualities, would invariably wear out 'Br'er Rabbit' and he would be compelled to surrender. There is a possible chance one fellow would have saved his bacon had I not seen him. He ran aromid the outer edges of this wood some dis- tance, then at a right angle through a rail fence several hundi-ed yards in the fallen timber and hid. When the pack had all passed beyond him, he tipped back to the fence and jumped upon a broad rail and laid flat. In a few minutes the hounds came back and looked everywhere for him, but as 160 Forty Years Beagling he was above the ground, it is very possible they would not have found him, but it so happened that I was sitting on the fence quite near and had been a witness of the whole maneuvre. I am not quite sure it was quite fair in me, and, moreover, I am not sure this rabbit had any right to go climbing fences — it not being considered a part of the game — but be that as it may, I didn't do a thing but go there and make him get down, and in a very few minutes he was fairly killed." CHAPTER XI AVEIGHT IN BEAGLES ANOTHER subject that is dwelt upon about this time, late in 1896 and in the early part of 1897 is the amount that a beagle should weigh, and if the opinions of some of the experts of those days publicly printed are any criterion, there was a difference of opinion on this subject also. Mr. Edmund Orgill, of "The Cedars," Bond, Tennessee, opens the argument in Turf, Field and Farm in reply to an inquiry by the editor, who said : "Some beagle fanciers who own large and coarse specimens avow that dogs whose weight is in the neighborhood of 20 pounds are useless for working purposes, while others who own the smaller sort are just as emphatic in their opinion that the owners of the big ones do not know what they are talking about. Then there are the breeders of big Cocker Spaniels, ever ready to condemn the little dogs which are much more difficult to breed than the heavy and coarse, or the leggy and weedy big ones. If beagles weighing 20 to 23 pounds can do good strong work, the senseless condemnation of the 20 161 162 Forty Years Beagling to 23 pound cockers as parlor dogs' is buried for all time and only the owners of the 'wrong 'uns' will regret its timely disappearance. With a view to having for publication the opinions of beagle fanciers on this question of weight we sent out a number of letters, and the answers received, which we give this week, certainly do not bear out the opinions of the advocates of the heavy sort. We ask especial attention to the opinion of Mr. Ed- mund Orgill, probably the oldest and most experi- enced breeder in the country, and a gentleman whose opinion on either pointers or beagles is eagerly sought after. Mr. Orgill has always owned one of the most level packs, and his dogs have for many years been celebrated for their splendid work- ing qualities." Mr. Orgill's letter follows : "The smallest beagle I ever owned was about 10 inches; he was the runt of a litter, and being out of a favorite bitch I kept him. He worked well and kept up with the pack, and their size was about 13 inches, and weight from 14 to 16 pounds. Tliis was my favorite size. My idea of a nice pack is uniformity. I hunted from five to seven couples, never carried a gun, but usu- ally killed from two to seven every day I hunted, and that was within two to four and a half hours. The beagle men in the North have told me that they Weight in Beagles 163 never would kill the rabbits unless they had a gun. Here our fields are large and we have no swamps, consequently, if we have a good scent we generally kill, unless cotton-tail when closely pressed takes shelter in some hollow log or tree." And here is Mr. George W. Rogers' statement from New York: "What constitutes the best working beagle in the field as to size and weight, I beheve, and it has been my experience in handling this breed of hounds that the best beagle is about 13 inches in height, weighing about 15 pounds, rather cobby in form, with good strong limbs. At all the field trials I have attended, the beagle of this de- scription has invariably been the winner. Of the smaller sized beagle, I can say that one of the best working beagles in the field was Nibs, owned by Mr. C. S. Wixom. This little fellow stood about 9 inches high and weighed about 11 pounds. He was the most enthusiastic worker I ever saw. I have seen him hunt with a pack, all much larger in size ; he was the truest in holding the scent, always pick- ing up the trail when the other larger dogs were at a loss. When the quarry was driven to earth. Nibs would follow, and in consequence would have to be dug out. Next comes Mr. H. L. Kreuder, of Nanuet, New York, stating that in his opinion "for a prevailing 164 Forty Years Beagling average of 14 inches a beagle should not exceed 15 or 16 pounds in weight. The same dog would weigh 20 pounds in ordinary show condition. I have small ones between 10 and 12 inches, weight from 8 to 10 pounds, and they run with a small or slow pack for half a day, but such as these cannot run all day or keep in with an average 14 inch pack that range well, bark quick and close, and drive to a strong finish. Most of these small beagles when used in a pack are depended upon to make the starts from close covers, but cannot keep the pace after the driving has begun." Then Mr. C. O. Smith of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, has his say in the matter when he shoots the weight up from 18 to 22 pounds as being the best for work in the field. He goes on to say that he has some 14-inch beagles, none over 13^/^ inches high and not over 22 pounds, and they can hunt on the roughest of ground all day. "I killed 22 rabbits with a pair of my beagles in eight hours — Drum- mer Boy, weight 22 pounds, and Woonsocket Girl, weight 17 pounds. I would be pleased to show any of my dogs in the field at any time on gray rabbits or white hares, and the latch string hangs out at my house, for any one that likes the little beagle." And Mr. E. E. Truitt of New Bethlehem, Penn- sylvania, adds another couple of pounds, when he Weight in Beagles 165 remarks that "In my opinion the most desirable weight for a working beagle is 24 pounds, when in good working condition. I also have a little 12 pound beagle that will stay in the field as long as the larger ones and do fairly good work, but in our rough, hilly country, where game is scarce, he does not cover ground fast enough." And Mr. George F. Reed of Barton, Vermont, says: "I prefer a beagle from 14 to l^^/o inches in height that will weigh from 21 to 24 pounds. This I wish to be understood is in working condition. As regards the light weights, the smallest beagle I ever owned that was A No. 1 in the field for all day and for a full season of hard work was my little bitch Ch. Spot R., winning her title at National Beagle Club field trials in 1895. She stood 12^4 inches and weighed 14 pounds." Here is what Mr. George Laick of Tarrytown, New York, has to say on the subject: "I consider the most desirable weight for a working beagle (14 to 15 inches in height) to be from 21 to 25 pounds when in good flesh. Beagles under 13 inches are good workers on bare ground and I have owned some good ones. The smallest one that I ever owned was a little bitch weighing about 12 pounds. She was Imported Laick's Rattler and she could do good work every day in the week, but such 166 Forty Years Beagling beagles as her size are scarce for every-day workers." And Mr. F. B. Zimmer of Gloversville, New York, considers a beagle of from 18 to 25 pounds of about correct weight, or, perhaps I should have said those of that size or weight have always proved themselves the best for the work I ask of them, which is hunting our Northern hare (Lepus Amer- icanus) and which requires a strong little hound, and one with endurance to successfully hunt him, for, as you well know, he never will take to earth and often a wily old buck is started and must be driven for hours before he is shot. I presume, brother sportsmen, who hunt only the gray or ground rab- bit, can find smaller and lighter beagles that can do their work satisfactorily. The smallest or lightest beagle I ever owned or saw that could stand any kind of hunting all day and six days in the week, days that often last until after nightfall, was 12 inches at shoulder and weighed in working condi- tion 18 pounds." And Mr. H. B. Tallman of Cranston, Rhode Island, says that he never paid much attention to the weight of beagles, having gone altogether by height measm-ement, and proportions and symme- try. However he further says "A 13 inch dog can do as much work, and do it as fast, and last as long Weight in Beagles 167 as a 15 inch dog, if he is built right ; and for my own fancy I Hke them best from 13 to 14 inches. Dogs mider 13 inches that I would call well made for workers, are scarce, and when I have found them I have also found that if they were willing, they were able to do more work and do it easier than the others in their class, though w^hen run with larger dogs they were generally at a disadvantage. "Blossom, the winner of 13 inch all age class, and Ida, novice, winner of 13 inch derby, should be bench show winners, and both did hard work in hunting and driving at Oxford, but they are not big enough to hold their own with winners in the 15 inch classes. They are as good little ones as I know of, but I don't know any more about their size than that they were in the small class, but a guess would place them at about 12 inches. Mr. Fiske would give you their exact measurements and weights." Mr. F. W. Chapman of Ellsworth, Maine, refers to the hundreds of beagles he has owned and hunted and striking an average, says he should say that "in a well-proportioned dog of 13 or 14 inches of height, 22 to 27 pounds would be about right. I have a list of some dozens of my best workers for some six or seven years back, in which I have kept measurement of height, chest, weight, ears, etc., and have arrived 168 Forty Years Beagling at the above conclusion from a careful analysis of that. As to what is the lowest weight in a dog capa- ble of doing good work and lots of it, will say 12 pounds in weight, 11 inches in height. I had one that weighed 9^ pounds and stood 10^2 inches, but did not consider him good for over half a day of hard driving in rough cover, although he would run all day by himself at a fair gate. The 11 inch, 12 pound dog could and can follow any 13 inch dog I ever saw in any cover and will get over a wall by climbing sooner than a 15 inch one. Mr. George Reed had, or has, a little bitch in Spotty, or Spot R., that is as good a worker and as hard a worker as any 15 inch dog I ever saw, and there are others." Mr. W. S. Clark of Linden, Massachusetts, stated that the best beagles he had ever seen run and keep it up all day, weighed from 17 to 20 pounds. He had seen a very few little ones that weighed from 10 to 12 pounds that were good all day workers, but they were very scarce. He said that the best little one that he ever saw was Spot R., and that Royal Kreuger was as pretty a worker as he ever saw, for a short time, as he could not stay. These letters naturally brought out some critic- ism and Mr. C. S. Wixom was the first to take any exception, claiming that Mr. Clark in his letter was Weight in Beagles 169 hurting the reputation of Royal Kreuger by his statement that this hound could not stay. Mr. Wixom states that Royal Ki-euger has hunted with his pack for five years and never showed the symp- tons alluded to, nor was he gunshy as gossip had it. Mr. Clark was one of the judges at the National Beagle Club trials held at Nanuet, New York, in 1891 and had seen this hound run under him as judge. In closing Mr. Wixom states, "It was the treatment that my dogs received at the '91 trials from this man Clark that entirely disgusted me with field trials and I have never entered at any trials since. I could say much more regarding these same trials, but I have already taken too much of your valuable space. However, I could not let the ab- solutely false statement pass without saying a few words regarding the matter." Then along comes "Canada Gray" with some caustic remarks about some men's knowledge of the beagle in the following words. "The gi^eat trouble with some of the beagle breeders is that they do not know what working condition is. For myself I never saw a good little dog beat a good big dog. The Turf, Field and Farm brought up a good sub- ject and much could be written on it. I have al- ways been in favor of the 14 or 14% inch beagle, for my hunting is the northern hare, but the dog I 170 Forty Years Beagling will send to the trials must weigh from one to two pounds less than when conditioned for a season's hunting. Field trial heats are short and speed and nose are two necessary requisites. A fast dog is nearly always a good starter." Who was the owner of the first beagle in Mary- land? We find it in a letter from Mr. C. Staley Doub of Frederick, Maryland, to Mr. George R. Reed, stating the fact that Senator George R. Peters of Rockville was the man. Mr. Doub fur- ther states that Lucy V., the dam of Dorsey's Diana bred by the Senator, was the beagle of her day in Maryland and that she was a 14 inch beagle weigh- ing 21 pounds. Mr. Doub goes on further and says that to Captain Assheton we owe the original intro- duction of the blue-ticked stock. Any one who breeds beagles must have noticed that the color is generally accompanied by over-size and lack of ear- age. My theory is that the blue ticking comes from the old blue spotted harrier or our native small- eared foxhound, and that when puppies inherit the color they also inherit the size and short ears of this line of their ancestors. I want to breed to dogs that are broken and have led their packs in the field and that have dams and grand dams that are fielders. Regarding size, I want a dog from 14 to I4I/2 inches, for in my experience I never saw a good Weight in Beagles 171 little dog beat a good big one. Regarding shape, I want a dog built on racy lines, not cobby." Then a bit further along in Turf, Field and Farm we find the sequel of Mr. Wixom's statement that his hound. Royal Kreuger, was not a quitter. Mr. Clark made inquiry from several gentlemen who saw the two heats between Clyde and the Wixom hound, and it develops upon inquiry from the handler of Clyde, Mr. A. Parry, and from Mr. W. H. Ashburner that Royal Kreuger had quit in the second heat, sat on a stone wall and watched Clyde drive. And now we find in a private letter (the name of the author not being allowed to be reproduced) which says: "A dog of courage will run better on three legs than a coward with five legs, whether heavy or light boned." CHAPTER XII FIELD TRIAL BEAGLE TYPE ALONG in 1898 we find Mr. Hiram Card, of Elora, Ontario, Canada, coming into the limelight, regarding the Rowett hounds; Bannerman, and the effect of the latter on the breed as a sire. He starts with a letter written to Mr. J. M. Pulley, which is taken up by Mr. James MacAleer and several others, the latter being the originator of the celebrated Tippecanoe strain of to-day, which was started from the "Dan" Sum- mers hounds which Mr. MacAleer bought. "In regard to Blue Jacket's coarse head and long body, they might have come from his sire Bannerman, who was very hberally provided in these respects. Jack B. probably inherited them from his dam, Kate, who was an inbred Victor. I never saw old Victor, but his stock, as far as I know them, are of the long coarse type. The Blue Caps are also fixed, a little fixed, a little the same way, but to a less degree. Both strains are hunters, first, last, and all the time. The Victor has the most dash and 172 Field Trial Beagle Type 173 speed, but for ability to, as you put it, 'hark for- ward,' I have never seen anything to equal the Blue Caps. Both strains came from Ashbui'nam. Captain Assheton, who imported them, lived in Canada, some 35 to 40 years ago; but at that time kept foxhounds. He imported the beagles after re- moving to Virginia. "There were no bench shows in those days. The first show beagles in this country were the Rowetts, and for character and quality I have never seen anything since to equal them. They were field dogs as well — true, sweet voiced, and dead game. But the craze for them caused too much inter-breeding, and the so-called Rowetts of to-day are mostly in- ferior stuff. The American B. C. standard was built to fit the Bowett type, and if it had been ad- hered to, we would have a better class of hunting beagles now ; but on the advent of Bannerman the craze went over to the roly-poly type, and now we are being threatened with half a dozen more. *'The Bannerman blood will shorten up the body of any strain that it is mixed with, and also the head and neck; it is also all right in hunting the rabbits you have in your locality, but up here the white hare is the game, and so far as I have tried them, the Bannermans can't stay the trip. Jack B., the sire of Blue Jacket, was a good 'one-day' 174 Forty Years Beagling dog, but take him on a 'two-day' trip and he wasn't in it on the second day, while the Blue Caps would have to be pulled out with a lead. Mr. Kreuder afterwards ran Jack at the National and New Eng- land trials, but he won nothing except the special for novice. I had a dozen Blue Cap bred ones at the time that could beat him, both in voice and hunt- ing. I sold most of his get South. I have one dog, a litter brother to Blue Jacket, that is good. Elora Blue Belle, the dam of Blue Jacket, was a 12 inch dark blue ticked bitch, very cobby built, with lots of character and quality, which came from the Rowett blood in her dam. I started to make a champion of her but got up against a game that made me sick. She was a grand breeder, but has now gone where good dogs go. I was going to give you the history of her dam and grand dam, but find I am using up all my time without saying anything about Crowner. Unfortunately I never saw that dog. I saw his dam, Betty, at Detroit show in 1887, a few days before she whelped him. She was a typical Bowett and way ahead of her class, but was turned down for being in whelp. Just why that is considered a fault, I never could find out. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a bitch in that state, and, why not judge her, too? I have Betty's record somewhere but cannot lay my hand on it just now. Field Trial Beagle Type 175 I remember she had the glorious color which is the badge of all the Rowett tribe. Crowner went into the hands of Dan O'Shea, who, in the early days of bench shows, won everything in sight between To- ronto and New Orleans. Dan was disqualified when he bought Crowner, and the dog was never shown much, and I have no recollection of what he won. He was a show dog, or O'Shea would have no use for him. Dan knows all about beagles, but don't care to teach any one else. Crowner must be out of it now, as he was w^helped, June, 1887. The dog Chimer I never saw, nor any of his get. I have had grandsons and granddaughters, all fairly good, but hard to say where their good or bad points came from. "I hear a good bit of the Hempstead Beagles (J. L. Kernochan, master), but have never seen any of them. I don't like the foxhound type of head; a beagle should have a head of his own. How- ever, new blood is needed, and we will find out in time. I would not breed from a beagle that mopes ; a beagle should always be jolly and merry. I was holding a brother to Flash, an excellent hunter, but he got kicked by a horse and rendered useless, and Old Drum is laid out with paralysis, so I am through selling until I see how my young stock turns out. I am not trying to breed the field trial 176 Forty Years Beagling kind. I want a dog to take a trail and follow it steadily, English style. Field trials are develop- ing a lanky, light-boned hound, all nose and legs. The handlers kick up the hare, the dogs are put on and charge after it like whippets. When it doubles, they are helped to find the trail again, and when the rabbit goes to earth, which it soon does, the judge gives the prize to the dog that ran the fastest. Such a hound is of no use here, except in South-western Ontario. And then Ringleader and Sailor both win on the bench under the same judge. It's all very funny." Mr. MacAleer replies to Mr. Card's slur upon field trials hurting the beagle breed in the following letter a short time later: "Now while it is very evi- dent that Mr. Card knows a whole lot about beagles, I cannot fully agree with him in regard to field trials injuring the little hound. I may be making a very broad statement, but I cannot help it, when I claim field trials have done more in the last four or five years in advancing the true beagle or working beagle, than bench shows have ever done; and the only beagle that should be allowed to live is the worldng beagle. If we want a house pet why not take a sweet little, watery-eyed pug, or some other breed created especially for that purpose. "Mr. Card says 'I am not trying to breed the field Field Trial Beagle Type 177 trial kind ; I want a dog to take a trail, and follow it, steadily: 'English style.' "Does Mr. Card estimate that the winners at our recent trials cannot take a trail and follow it stead- ily? He says 'Field trials are developing a lanky, light-boned hound, all nose and legs; the handlers kick up the hare, etc. ;' I wonder at what trials did Mr. Card see this class of dog win, or did he ever see a field trial run? I must admit that I have never attended any of the Eastern trials, but I have run up against the winners of those trials twice at the Central Trials, and must say I found them pretty much the same kind of dogs I would take with me were I going for a day's sport afield, or to fill a bag with rabbits. "By the way, I find field trial winners make very satisfactory shooting dogs, and if Mr. Card will at- tend the National or Central Trials next fall, I think we can show him a kind of beagle that he is evidently not familiar with ; one that is not only able to take a trail and follow it steadily, but can catch a turn once in a while, and kick up a rabbit occa- sionally, while brushing around. "I have heard some lamenting the loss of that soft pleading eye, so desirous in the show beagle. I have seen this eye, have had it turned on me when the poor little owner crouched trembling at my feet, 178 Forty Years Beagling pleading with me not to fire that horrid gun ; again, then, have I seen that soft pleading glance. Again, when the game took refuge in a thicket of briars and thorn brush, that soft pleading eye would say plain as could be, 'Oh ! do go in and drive out that nasty rabbit for me, I can't go through those horrid briars.' I tell you those eyes make a very pretty and dramatic effect, but I don't want too many of them in a beagle. I would rather have a little snap and fire in my dog's eye." Then along comes Mr. H. L. Kreuder with some interesting facts about the Rowett hounds brought out by the Card and MacAleer letters, in which h^ says: "Mr. Card says field trials are not im- proving or advancing the breed, because they have a tendency to promote speed and quality, and lose in softness of eye and that tender affection for which so many beagles are admired. The new is, however, but a continuation of the old and in keep- ing with all matters, modernized by men who devote themselves industriously and intelligently to the art of improvement. The true bred beagle was first introduced into this country about 1875, and I be- lieve by General Rowett of Carlinville. In judg- ing from the present dogs now performing in our trials, and seen at our bench show^s, his dogs must have been 'gold, and all gold,' to have withstood Field Trial Beagle Type 179 all the breeding, and yet today be clearly traceable as of the 'Rowett' strain. General Rowett's orig- inal importations were Sam, Dolly, Major, Warrior and some others less well loiown or remembered. From this original blood eminated Lee, Rosey, Rambler, Rall}^, Countess, Venus, Diana, and many other good and tried veterans now gone. "Some few years later in the early eighties, Mr. N. Elmore, of Granby, Connecticut, imported Ringwood and Countess, who was by Bismarck ex Gayless. Mr. Colin Cameron of Brickville, Penn- sylvania, and Captain William Assheton of Rock Springs, Virginia, becoming interested, brought out Racket, by Rally ex Louise, she by Lee ex Rosey, also Rally by the original Sam ex Dolly. "Mr. Pottinger Dorsey of Newmarket, Mary- land, maintained the original 'Rowett' blood, up to his recent death, and probably is credited with breeding more real good beagles than any other man in this country, both for work and beauty. The list of beagles bred are too numerous to mention, but principally among them were, Fitz-Hugh Lee, Jupiter, Lee 2nd, Potomac, Storm Cloud, Wander- er, Emiline, Venus and many others. These dogs have now nearly all passed away [1898], yet at the present time at our field trials, as well as bench shows, there will be found many of the pui'e Rowett 180 Forty Years Beagling blood still in the front. Of more recent years, many new importations have again come into this country, coming direct from the same original forest to be linked and woven after years of separation. What the futm-e will do as the result, time alone will tell." And now comes "Comedy" in defense of Mr. Card, with: "The remarks of Mr. MacAleer lead me to think he interpreted Mr. Card's letter to favor the toy beagle with all his faults, yet a care- ful perusal of it shows that everything points the other way. As I do not know Mr. MacAleer, or his beagles nor have I ever seen one of his breeding or any record of their field performances, I cannot criticise them favorably or otherwise. Of beagles bred by Mr. Card I have seen a number, and would like to see more. So far as having the softness that your correspondence deprecates so much, I would say that they are the farthest removed therefrom, of any beagle of my acquaintance, and Mr. Mac- Aleer will see on second perusal that Mr. Card de- precates the goggle-eyed kind, but he is right re- garding the beagle having a head of his own, for although we need much attention being given to such properties as feet, legs, coat, etc., some atten- tion should surely be given to beagle expression, and it is in these directions that the Elora dogs are Field Trial Beagle Type 181 strong. But their specialty seems to be in their in- chnation to hunt, and that in a business-like manner from the moment they are slipped until they are again coupled, the hunting being of the kind termed *heady,' not an inch of ground being left untried, unless a trail is sooner struck, in which latter case it is followed at a good rate of speed to a start and with an unusually rattling drive; to use the ex- pression of a recent writer, they work like spaniels, quarter like pointers, drive like greyhounds and have voices that wake the melodious echoes, and al- though Mr. Card is not breeding the field-trial kind, the object that called out the letter by you was to buy a dog for field-trial purposes from him. "That the field trials have lost us much and gained us some is patent to all; that inbreeding may have done worse is also probable, but to go away from the standard as laid down and say the Rowett stock is incorrect in type, is more than any breeder of experience would dare to successfully argue and carry in practice, however much he might wish to run a beagle for five or six minutes at a time for the sake of the dollars or the rabbits. "Although I doubt if Mr. Card shoots over his beagles, I have yet to hear of a gunshy dog or bitch from his kennels, and it may be owing to the fact that there are no 'negro' hunters in the neighbor- 182 Forty Years Beagling hood of his hunting grounds. If Mr. MacAleer would hke to find out the kind of beagle Mr. Card breeds, let him try one of them in a fight against a bull terrier, as a man of my acquaintance had to kill his beagle on account of his pugnacit}^ Now, as neither Mr. Card nor the writer has any of this stock for sale, and as both breed for their own amusement first, and for the market last, it is left with you readers to judge as to what interest the writer has in replying to the uncalled-for remarks of Mr. MacAleer. That the writer is responsible for the publication of Mr. Card's letter is the excuse for replying to Mr. MacAleer. Further, that it is unlikely he will again favor the New England, Cen- tral or National Club's trials with his presence and experience of thirty or forty years as a beagle breeder, which is regrettable. "He is, I understand, contemporary with the men who introduced the beagle to this country, and hav- ing tried all the blood that is of any repute on this side of the pond, as well as some that was directly imported, I should be inclined to think that some weight should be given his opinions. Besides all this, he has maintained the breed in its traditional use as a hound for pastime, not pot-hunting, pre- ferring to destroy impromising specimens witli crooked legs, long backs, disinclination to hunt, etc., Field Trial Beagle Type 183 to placing them on the market to perpetuate their disabilities, as is often done. "To use Mr. Card's expression he is *not a dog man, but a plain old farmer,' who takes his pleasui'e in a rural way, and I should imagine from what I have learned, shows more of the science of breeding for pure sport and the love of it than many better advertised men. "I know nearly all the strains of pure beagles that have been introduced into this country, as well as some others, and I have yet to find the equal of the Elora beagles as all-round fielders that can drive in the style of an English hound on his native heath, six days a week on white hares, or 5000 hours a year on cotton-tails." Mr. Card follows up the controversy in another letter to the American Stock-Keeper in which he said: "As I am only indirectly responsible for starting the discussion of the beagle question in your columns, I would, perhaps, show wisdom by keeping out of it, but there is one point which ought to be settled. I noted carefully in your remarks on the head question, and, while I am aware there is no one better qualified than yourself to give an opinion, I think my reasons for differing with you as to be worth stating. That we see so many dif- ferent types of head, and hear so many different 184 Forty Years Beagling opinions about them, seems to me to be due to the fact that the standard is a little hazy. "When bench shows were started in this country 'Stonehenge' was the authority by whose standards all breeds were judged. AJl that 'Stonehenge' said about beagles was : 'like the foxhound but with head and ears more like the bloodhound.' This de- scription did not fit the Rowett head, so the Eng- lish-American Beagle Club made a standard of their own. "They started in by giving the beagle a full, dark eye and pleading expression, and ended by saying he should be a miniature foxhound. Here was au- thority for three distinct types, and soon we had another that won without authority. Now which is right? "The bloodhound head has never been much in evidence in this country and does not seem to have found favor anywhere. I do not think that the heavy muzzle and stern expression of the foxhound look right on a small hound like the beagle, and I do not see any use for it, as they are not expected to break up their game. The old Rowetts all had long, light, clean-cut heads, dark eyes and innocent ex- pression; but no snappier or gamer hounds ever lived. Came into the ring on their toes; flag up; seized the first dog they could reach and fought like Field Trial Beagle Type 185 terriers. Their descendants will do it yet, if bred right. "The trouble with the full eye is that it has been exaggerated. Breeders who thought they couldn't get too much of a good thing, bulged out the eyes, until skull and jaw both got out of shape. If a beagle refuses to face briars when he carries eyes that you could hang your hat on, or tackle a bull terrier, when he has a jaw too short to eat his dinner, I commend his discretion. The trouble with my beagles has always been a lack of discre- tion, not the other part of valor. However, I am not trying to set up a standard of my own. Let the matter be discussed till the Beagle Club settles it in some shape. We want only one type of head and we want it good. "I see Mr. Kreuder states that I said field trials are not improving the beagle because they are not promoting quality. He must have read my letter carelessly as he is too old a hand to call long legs and body quality. I also note a few other mistakes which it might be as well to correct. Major was not one of the Bowett dogs; he was first used by Mr. Dorsey; Countess, Venus and Diana were also some of Mr. Dorsey's original stock. Champion Lee being the first Bowett used by that gentleman. "Captain Assheton imported several beagles that 186 Forty Years Beagling exerted an influence on our present-day stock. From one paii- — Rattler and Ladybird — was bred Victor, one of the greatest sires of field stock ever seen in this country. From another imported pair — Blue Cap and Blue Bell — the Captain bred the Blue Cap that came to Canada, and as the Blue Caps are still noted as a hunting strain I will de- scribe him. He lacked the finely chiseled head of the Rowetts, and his ears were short and thick ; and as he carried them a little up when in action, he appeared broader, flatter in skull. He was longer in body than the Rowetts, and not straight in front. The short ears re-appeared in a great many of his descendants ; the long body less frequently and the crooked legs very rarely. In eye and expression he was more like the foxhound, but lacked the heavy muzzle of that type. "After coming to Canada, his services were con- fined to his owner's kennel, so his descendants are not so numerous as Victor's. He sired a few bench winners, but hare-hunting was his owner's hobby and it is mostly through hunters that his stock is known. In a thirty-five year's experience with rab- bit hounds I never met another dog possessing that indefinable quality which, for want of a better name we define hunting sense, nor did I ever see his equal for scent. For voice, courage and endurance he Field Trial Beagle Type 187 was way above the average, consequently as a field dog, either for sport or meat, he was a star per- former. "Dodge's Champion Rattler, a brother to Cham- pion Lee, was a Rowett dog that left his mark on the pedigrees of nmnerous bench and field beagles of the present day, but the best known bench dogs of early times were in the kennel of Dan O'Shea. The pedigree of his little bitch. Champion Music, seems to be a mystery, but in type she was Rowett pure and simple. I saw her both on the bench and in the kennel. From this bitch and the Rowett dog. Rover, O'Shea bred his Champion Rattler, Cham- pion Music 2nd, and Champion Mischief, and with this team and their descendants won about every- thing he tried for, which was nearly all that was hung up between '82 and '88. Dan's dogs were all so nearly alike that it was said two names fit the whole pack. Certain it is that he exhibited them in- discriminately in champion, open and puppy classes and was never detected but once. Mr. O'Shea knew a good thing when he had it, and Champion Rattler 3rd was about the only one of note that left his kennel. "Among the early importers of beagles was Mr. George Featherstone, of Paris, Ontario, who brought over a dog and two bitches which he pro- 188 Forty Years Beagling- cured from the Darlington show in 1877. A few of their progeny were exhibited here but were downed by the Rowetts. Mr. Featherstone valued them highly for hunting and seldom parted with one. I had a pair from him and mention them to illustrate the head question. The dog was a min- iature English foxhound, head and all. The bitch had the bloodhound head to a demonstration: peak, wrinkle, haw, flew, and all. Both had very wide nostrils. This strain were 'heady' hunters, but ap- pear to have lacked the sterhng qualities necessary to hand down their names to posterity. *'The most cowardly beagle I ever saw was a sourfaced duffer with a foxhound head, and he was so gunshy, that if caught out in a thunderstorm, he would try to climb a tree. Whether the Banner- man type of head is right or not, there is no dis- counting their courage. "As I learn from your news column that he (Mr. MacAleer) has traded his field-trial winner for a field dog, 'even up,' it is useless to say anything about that part of the subject, as example is stronger than precept. The advice as to the dis- posal of gunshy beagles and his opinion of type lead me to believe that the only kind of beagle with which he is much acquainted is the negro rabbit dog. English beagles have been bred for ages to Field Trial Beagle Type 189 hunt without the gun, and the majority of them view it with alarm on fii'st acquaintance, but soon become accustomed to it, being totally unlike setters or spaniels. The latter breeds are bred to the gun, and when one of them is gunshy he has it sure, and treatment that will cure any beagle would ruin the bird dog. Any beginner who kills a gunshy beagle is doing an injustice to the dog and lighting his own pipe with good money. "My thanks are due to 'Comedy' for his able de- fence of me, but as he admits, he has only himself to blame for the trouble. He is a stranger to me, one letter each way being the only correspondence we ever had, and I never had the pleasure of meet- ing him or selling him a dog." Mr. MacAleer replies, referring to his letter stating that the only part of Mr. Card's letter he took exception to was where he expressed his opin- ion that field trials were developing a light-boned, lanky hound, all legs, etc. "Any one can make an assertion, but sometimes we have to resort to facts and figures, to prove the truth of it. If Mr. Card or 'Comedy' can point out to me one beagle that has been placed at our recent field trials, as being lanky and light boned, all legs and nose, I would be pleased to know which one it is. Perhaps 'Comedy' will say he never made this 190 Forty Years Beagling assertion, but it amounts to just the same thing when Mr. Card does so and 'Comedy' says, my re- marks to the contrary were entirely uncalled for. "Pilot won first in All Age, and Championship at the National Trials in 1896. This is proof that he is of the field-trial kind, or the kind field trials are developing. Does Mr. Card call him a lanky, light- boned whippet, and does 'Comedy' think Mr. Card has just hit the nail on the head in doing so? Your correspondent may be a breeder of many years standing and know a great deal about the different strains of beagles, but I must say 'there are others' ; probably as well-known as any among them are Mr. G. F. Reed and 'Dan' Summers (died June, 1920). "I suppose those men feel now as if they had nothing more to live for when such an old breeder tells them they have spent their dollars and years in breeding up a pack of long-legged whippets that can run a hare only by sight and fit Mr. Card's conception of a field trial— "The handlers kick up the hare, the dogs are put on, and charge after it like whippets. When it doubles they are helped to find the trail again, and when the rabbit goes to earth ... the judge gives the prize to the dog that ran the fastest.' "I, for one, think that our field trials have been Field Trial Beagle Type 191 judged by practical beagle men; men who have the advancement of the beagle at heart, and to have such an eminent breeder as Mr. Card make the statement in regard to their judgment, is, to say the least, a little hard on them. I am not trying to advocate or deprecate any particular strain of beagles, for my own pack is composed of several different strains, and while they are neither lanky nor light-boned, they have speed and endurance enough to run a rabbit stiff. "Perhaps 'Comedy' would like to see a brace of Pennsylvania beagles run a rabbit stiff ! In regard to the Elora beagle engaging a fighting bull terrier in a deadly combat for half an hour, I have only this to say: if I owned a fighting bull terrier that couldn't kill a beagle in half an hour, I would kill the bull terrier and keep the beagle." A contributor who signs himself "Beagle" says that these controversies are a good thing for the breed and that more of the old breeders ought to be heard, then we would soon learn which is the right type of beagle. Referring to Mr. MacAleer's letters he suggests that "if Mr. MacAleer had asked Mr. Card and 'Comedy' how many beagles they had seen winning in field trials, with nice head and square muzzles it would have been more to the point. I have been to a good many field trials but 192 Forty Years Beagling have seen but few beagles with nice heads and square muzzles." With all this controversy in mind as to type, it is interesting to read in a letter from G. M. Whar- ton, of East Islip, New York (1898), that while we all know the Masters of Harriers and Beagles have no standard in England, of either Harrier or Beagle he quotes the standard of the Beagle Club of England as of August 1st, 1895, and states that they had adopted the following: SCALE OF POINTS Head 20 Legs and feet 25 Ears 10 Stern 5 Eyes 5 Coat 10 Body 15 Expression 5 Hindquarters 10 Total 109 (Evidently a misprint.) Our present standard gives: Head— Body- Skull 5 Neck 5 Ears 15 Shoulders and chest 10 Muzzle, jaws and Back and loins . . 15 lips 5 Ribs 5 Eyes 10 Coat and Stern — Running gear — Tail 5 Forelegs and feet. 10 Coat 5 Hips, thighs, H.legs 10 Total 100 Field Trial Beagle Type 193 Using the above as a foundation, a committee of well-known beagle-men, members of the National Beagle Club of America, is now at work on a new standard, which will be shortly offered to breeders in this country. The new or present standard of the National Beagle Club was accepted in 1899, at the February meeting of the club held at Madison Square Garden. Commenting on the discussion between Messrs. Card, MacAleer and "Comedj^" a New England breeder who uses the nom de plume of "Student," remarks that "If there were not another show to take place for five years, nor another trial run in the same length of time, it is the writer's opinion we would find at the end of that time just as good and better sj^ecimens for the bench shows, and just as true and steady hunters afield as exist today, anywhere. "That there is a class of men so fond of these little hounds that they would breed them irrespect- ive of 'show' or 'trial' inducements and that it would be done with intelligent interpretation of a beagle standard as understood by this class from long experience and knowledge of beagles, seems to have been shown by some of the many articles that have appeared on this subject. 194 Forty Years Beagling "So is this matter of beagle form and hunting characteristics, one of individual ideas, or do these underlie all personal opinions that rule, which pre- vails for the good of all? "There are some that would have a little compact 12-inch hound of true and steady traihng and mod- erate 'running' ability; theirs must be a hound of 14I/2 inches, with considerable daylight under him, and one that would push his quarry straight and fast, even at the cost of a few temporary losses and without the following of every twist and turn that ought to characterize the 'trailing' quality of every beagle. Others again would not own a 10- or 12- inch hound as a gift, because he would not cover territory enough for them or push the game fast enough to get it under cover where a ferret could be used. And, there are those that would have nothing but 11- or 10-inch hounds; but any one of these wishes or desu^es is not for the good of all. "It is well there should be some leeway in the size of beagles, for in this topographically-varied New England of ours, we have use for all sizes according to the game and territory upon which it may be hunted. Still, it would seem we ought to be able to agree upon some definite form or type, to rule the same in all sizes, and let the speed be determined bv the size of the hound; not, as the Field Trial Beagle Type 195 writer heard a gentleman remark at the New York Show (1898) : 'I run my hounds according to speed, not size.' "It is true, dogs like men possess different and varying temperaments, and some beagles there always will be that will develop greater speed than their mate of equal size; but that is the exception, not the rule, and there is no reason why fifteen or twenty couple of 10, 12 or 15 -inch beagles can not be bred that will work, trail and pack well to- gether, but with very little difference in their pace. "The writer has among his beagles a small 12- inch bitch, cobby and well put together, of pure Rowett strain, that will run a perfect streak and out-foot all his other hounds. It is safe to assume that breeding this bitch with a well-built dog of like tendencj^, and continuing in such breeding would develop a cobby, but remarkably fast strain of hounds. But, is this desirable? Would it not be better to take some careful-working, moderate- running, true-trailing, full and musical-voiced spec- imens and breed them, thoughtfully and with good judgment, seeking to develop all these finer quali- ties and characteristics which it would be utterly impossible to get in a much more rapid hound? "It seems reasonable to assume that a dog, slash- ing right and left, keyed up to the highest possible 196 Forty Years Beagling notch, and by reason of his breeding unable to un- derstand the excitement of the hunt, making a rush here and there upon scenting game, and pushing at the top of his speed when he has his game 'straight- ened out,' can not give such an exhibition of all the nicer and finer qualities that a more moderate worker can, that goes systematically about his busi- ness upon first scenting a track, laying out his work with as much precision and care as a prudent man in the conduct of his business. "The writer has watched hounds when they first found signs of a track. Their tails gave the first evidence of the find ; working slowly along, a turn, perhaps was made; a little more excitement, and then the scent was lost. Again the starting point was tried, a repetition of the former operation, and then they swung in a circle, finding the track further on; and so, step by step they worked closer and closer to the game, scarce a whimper escaping them until the rabbit, which was espied carefully jump- ing onto a rock was 'jumped' by the foremost hound, and then there was music. "In conclusion I would say there are portions of New England in which 15-inch beagles may furnish better sport on white rabbits or hares than 11 or 12-inch hounds, but I maintain, for the pur- pose of using beagles to shoot over them, there are Field Trial Beagle Type 197 portions of New England, where a pack of 11 -inch hounds is amply large for our common gray rabbit, and will furnish glorious sport indeed. "When in our field trials that point is reached, where all the nicer qualities are considered and the dogs are displaced that do not possess them and yet do not manage to 'get there' first by superior running when the game is finally on the 'run,' then thej^ will prove of immense good to the beagle world, and not until then." CHAPTER XIII TEACHING YOUNG HOUNDS TO HUNT THIS interesting and instructive article is from the pen of "Comedy," and should be a warning to those who do not always break their hounds by patience and kindness. "In a hunting country where everybody is more or less interested in hunting, the headline of this article is used very frequently; it is not always apphed to the preparing of the young hounds for their duties afield, but is used on almost any occa- sion where a youngster of any kind is getting a new experience; it is applied sarcastically occasionally to the older individual when his calculations are upset. "The education of the young hound or beagle is not alone in teaching him to hunt, that ofttimes is not nearly as hard as teaching him what not to hunt. There are many things that the inexperienced bea- gle is Hable to run riot on, and there is nothing so good as a season's farm experience among all kinds of domestic and farm animals, towards giving the youngster a good education, and it usually speaks 198 Teaching Young Hounds to Hunt 199 well for the individual if he is reported to be clever with all the live stock including the feathered stuff. He will also in this way learn the necessary lessons regarding skunks, as it is a very common thing to have a lot of young dogs run on the trail of a skunk when returning in the evening. Should the house beagle be among them it would be aw^kward, or if a friend be along the experience may not be such as he will care to repeat and so a good disciple may be spoiled in the making ; or again on the return home the effects of a contact may raise a skunk in the neighborhood and amongst the neighbors if you have any. "I have found that sheep are a great temptation to one or tv/o green puppies and sometimes a per- sistent one will lead other dogs into mischief when they have been without the necessary work for some time. This rioting seems to be a failing more particularly amongst strains that are shorter eared and clean in throat and free from dewlap; such indications probably point to ancestry that have a strain of foreign blood in them (is other than hound in some form), as it is recognized that both spaniel and terrier blood have been used with the idea of gaining certain properties in a short, unscientific way. "The fewer youngsters are taken out at a time 200 Forty Years Beagling the better, and it is a good plan to be sure that game will be started whenever a backward specimen is to be taken out If game is scarce a bagged speci- men should be used and when rabbits are the game, this is easy enough, but when foxes are the question it is less convenient. In referring it to be easy in the case of rabbits, it may be borne in mind that often a. tame specimen can be used several times with puppies, as the rabbit soon learns how to fool a dog and I have seen an over-eager puppy, when running in full view to be completely fooled, by the rabbit just squatting and the dog jump clean over it as a stump. A tame rabbit can be used in close time without danger of incurring any penalty un- der the law. "It is not a good plan to keep youngsters in the woods long at a time, particularly if they show little or no inclination to hunt, as not infrequently happens. Perseverance, patience, time and oppor- tunity will make almost all dogs hunt if their health is good, and if a hound at ten months old is not doing some work, suspect that he is sick and act accordingly. Allowance may be made for puppies bred from stock that has been for other than field purposes for one or more generations; sometimes feeding has much to do with the quality of life a puppy has, and whilst I do not believe in a meat Teaching Young Hounds to Hunt 201 feed for dogs much under a year old, yet I have no patience with those who advocate a strict meal on biscuit diet for a working dog. It may be and is excellent for dogs intended solely for show pur- poses and for dogs that are inclined to put on fat. This brings me to the question, what is condition? Working condition, show condition, to me all one, the dog is in show condition under the conditions of which he best does his work, and it is here that the biped is learning a lesson in hunting, quite as much as the quadruped, and until he knows every one of his dogs individually he can rest assured that he is not getting the best results from them. Some hounds, like some men, useless for good, hard work when carrying a lot of flesh, but in the case of hounds it appears to me that a hound that has to be starved to hunt is a very undesirable one. I do not want one that hunts to live, but prefer the one that lives to hunt. A meat dog, a nigger dog, or a hound that you can see to read a newspaper tlii^ough are opprobrious terms to apply to a well-bred dog, yet there are times and specimens which such terms fit to a T. "The owner of a dog should be the judge as to what constitutes condition, and he should pride himself when showing his dog or dogs, to do so in that condition which experience teaches is the one 202 Forty Years Beagling under which his dogs do their best work. If he takes sufficient pride in his pack they will eventually be alike in looks, type and condition and it is in learning this lesson that he will have learned with his hounds how to make a successful quest either on field or bench, for it ought to be the evenly matched team on the bench, quality being near equal, that the first award should go and to the most even working, thorough and in unison pack that should influence judges in making their de- cisions afield. "In further referring to condition, a hound may be moderately fleshed, good in coat and free from any skin trouble, and yet be in such rank condition that he feels hke a jelly-fish to the touch. "Again, a specimen may appear as though he had been on a fox trail for a week without a feed, yet to the touch there won't be enough flesh to find the condition of the muscle; yet another may look fat and incapable of work, yet on putting the hand on the loins, forearms and ham, the muscle will feel as springy as a piece of rubber. The first two will perhaps have had from half an hour to one hour's attention three or four days a week. The last will have had from two to six hours hard running daily with a liberal meat feeding and be ready to go ten hours' work any time. Teaching Young Hounds to Hunt 203 "A three or four days' show will give the two former a biscuit belly, i.e., they will be distended from the extra feeding. The latter will probably have eaten more or less biscuit, but will have missed his accustomed meat feed and will weigh less at the end of the show than before. Comments on which is the more fit for work intended are unnecessary." We find that in 1898 Mr. James L. Kernochan, the owner of the Hempstead Beagles, held a puppy show for beagles which were walked by people in that neighborhood, a custom that prevails in Eng- land, but which did not meet with continued suc- cess, though there were some twenty-nine entries, so the show was not repeated. The next innovation in the American Beagle world w^as the purchase by the National Beagle Club of a home and field trial grounds, between Leesburgh and Aldie, Virginia, consisting of some 600 acres of wonderful rolling country. A bench show is held during the fortnight of the trials, gen- erally on a Sunday, to which the countryside is invited and entertained at luncheon. The judges for the field trials and bench show are different gentlemen. CHAPTER XIV TYPE y^LONG in the summer of 1899, type dis- AA cussion arises again in the Stock Keeper, through a contribution from a correspon- dent who signs himself "Subscriber," who starts out by saying that "he is glad to see the question as to what is the true type in beagles and particu- larly the subject of voice and earage, is awakening so much interest. I disagree with those who think our beagles are not improving in type. For in- stance, at the trials of the National Beagle Club, at Hillsdale, New Jersey, last year, a most decided improvement could be noticed over three or four years ago. Many of the hounds then would have made a creditable showing in the ring. 'Comedy's' warning, however, as to voice and shortness of ear, should be heeded. Instead of the clear bell-like voice being the rule, it is the exception; and those hounds having it, like Somerset, Willard R., etc., can be counted on the fingers. Both these hounds have good long ears." 204 Type 205 Then D. E. B. O'Nair harks in with a compli- ment to the editor of this paper for his note of timely warning and advice regarding type in bea- gles, and continues with: "I have 'said my say' in different papers for the past three or four years, but will say here again, I really have been scared or worried many times, to see and hear of breeders sending their bitches to dogs that managed in some way to win prizes on the bench, that were not perfectly straight in front, by any means, and who for their height at shoulder, were long enough to make one and one-half dogs of the correct type, and whose head and expression (the latter one of the sweetest qualities as far as outward appearances go that a well-bred, typical beagle has) were almost like what I imagine a dog would possess, were he a cross between a foxhound and a bloodhound. Again, dogs that are somewhat 'up on legs' with more length to body than our American Beagle Standard really calls for, as a rule, have more speed than one of the correct sort, and if at the trials, on the gray or ground rabbit (cottontail), such an one is at the end of the race ( the hole or wall ) first, and he generally is, he of course is given credit for it, and perhaps wins over one of the correct type, who was just as true a trailer, just as brainy a worker, and if put down on white hare (Lepus 206 Forty Years Beagling Americanus) for an all-day or half -day race, could prove to judges and spectators that he had more 'sand' and true hound qualities than the 'sprinter' who won over him in a fifteen or twenty-five minute race. "As a result of this a breeder buys the winner of the fifteen minute race to use in his kennel as a stud dog. He 'blows his horn' (nobody blames him for doing so) through his ad., and planty of others send bitches to this dog to be bred, only a few who know their business and know a 'good thing' when they see it, breed to the dog that was defeated and as a consequence there are far more pups sired of the sort that are 'up in the air,' 'long' and 'fast,' all of which are qualities that a real beagle is supposed to possess. All this has led me to conclude many times, that those breeders who have a good trade, who have good dogs, and who stay or keep their dogs in their kennels, away from shows and away from the trials, and who breed for Standard quahties, and who have the satisfaction of every year seeing some they had bred, come nearer to it, are about as well blessed as any of them. "They are the ones that may be the means of yet preserving the true type of beagles after this craze for speed has died out, and when men who know Type 207 what a typical beagle really is are engaged to judge the breed, and who have as much 'nerve' as the dogs they are judging and dare hand the blue ribbon to the man with the best dog, regardless of the fact that the dog is American-bred, and a new one to showgoers, and that some of his competitors are millionaires, with imported dogs at the other end of the chain that have won over on the other side. "I honestly think that we have as good beagles here as are bred in England, and also think we have American judges who do know what true type is and dare place the ribbons accordingly." Then along comes a timely article in the Amer- ican Field on voice which says : "There is one point which beagle breeders overlook and to which they might well pay more attention. They breed for bench qualities and endurance, nose, speed and hunting sense, as they should, but how many of them take voice into consideration? Yet much enjoyment of the hunt depends on the cry of the hounds. Tradition says that the beagle has the sweetest tongue of any of the hound family, but a spectator at any of our field trials is almost ready to believe that tradition has made more or less a mistake. To be sure, a musical voice is often heard, but there are altogether too many squealers and screamers. If Shakespeare had attended a trial 208 Forty Years Beagling and heard a couple of such flyers in full cry, screech- ing like fox-terriers after a neighbor's cat, he proba- bly would not have written of 'voices matched like bells.' He would have said something very differ- ent. Yet there are enough beagles blessed with the characteristic voice of the breed to make us wish there were more. These sportsmen who have at- tended the trials and heard the sweet voices of hounds such as Millard, Cry Baby, Royal Kreuger, Ava W., and a score of others whose names will occur to any beagle fancier, will agree that there was vastly more pleasui^e in listening to their driv- ing than there was in hearing the shrieks and screams of their sharp -voice rivals. For many the cry of the beagle makes the hunt. They care nothing for the game, and take little interest in watching the patient, careful work of the pack puzzling out a difficult trail. They take their hounds afield for the music alone. Others care much more for the game and little for the tonguing, but even they will agree that a sweet hound voice is better than a harsh or squeaky one. If in the future the beagle breeders will pay as much attention to general hunting qualities as they have in the past, and much more attention than they have done to voice, they will take a long step in making their hounds what they ought to be — the most musical of Type 209 the hound family, with voices as clear and as sweet as a chime of bells." In the following June (1900), "Comedy" starts another interesting discussion by bringing out the comparison of "Speed vs. Shoulder." He says: "We have certainly reached a place where I think we have speed enough, and those that hunt the cottontail by daylight complain all the time that they do 'not' want a dog or dogs that will push a rabbit hard, as he will run to burrow with a moder- ately slow beagle quite quick enough for the best results, and unless one is looking for the rabbit more than the sport, he will get more or less dis- gusted either with the breed of rabbits or beagles. "In connection with speed, I think it time to notice the performances of certain men who want to breed our beagles on the line of a pointer or setter, with the points for speed developed to such an extent that everything else is of a secondary con- sideration. This is particularly true of shoulder formation — 'a beautiful, clean shoulder' seeming to some to be the sum and substance of the whole beagle formation. Personally, I do not want a setter formation of shoulder, and if it is accompa- nied by only a fair nose and more or less moderate ears, there will be little use for the specimen, unless under exceptional scenting conditions. 210 Forty Years Beagling "I am speaking of field dogs, and the field dog should be a show dog, every and all the time. No breeder should attempt one or the other, but both, field properties first, then correct conformation to perform their duties. A very lean shouldered dog will be very apt to run over the turns when the rabbit is at top speed, and unless the nose and trail- ing abilities are good, the chances of getting another good run from that same rabbit, at that time, will be rather slim. "I do think, where beagles are used in packs of six to ten, or even more, that a leader may be a little lighter put up, but to go and breed a lot of clean-shouldered, setter type dogs, and call them beagles is an injustice to the famous old breed. And our American standard, was it not made to fit the Rowett type of dog? and did any one ever see a beagle of strong Rowett type that was formed like a setter? most of them are what our setter men call thick in shoulders, but they have the disposition to hunt, and hunt all day, and stay till the night is far advanced or perhaps into the next day, and whilst they can, and are being improved in earage and head substance, I doubt if the disposition to hunt when once entered to game will ever be beaten by any strain or type. "Of course, individual specimens are better or Type 211 worse, but as a strain they are hunters, maybe with a little riotous tendency, which, if we are to believe old writers, is an ancient trait of the beagle, as was the harking back of the old stock. The legs, feet and coat are good generally, as is the stern carriage and body, whilst no one asks for better combination of colors. As an improvement the Rowett's head and ears can stand it, and if we must clean up the shoulders do not let us go too far, we are not whip- pet racing or running field trials on quail or Eng- lish hares. *'What we want is a dog that will keep his nose, not to the ground alone but right on the trail, from start to finish without cutting, sheering, or running over, and with a voice as clear as ever we can pro- duce and as much of it as the dog can use in volume, but no one that tongues on the slightest provoca- tion, irrespective of whether the trail is fifteen minutes or fifteen hours old. "Once again, I do not think the running of a rabbit all of hunting with beagles, as much as I abhor a potterer, neither do I think a small hound- colored dog is always the best beagle, because he has a clean shoulder — not that I want a wooden, stiff shoulder as that is an abomination. It may be that it is in this fad for clean shoulders that we have obtained some of the abominably long bodies 212 Forty Years Beagling to be seen quite often, if so, then the cry for clean shoulders has done much harm, not so much in using the blood as in awarding prizes to dogs that have been aggravated cases of long barrels. Of course, if the standard should be materially altered to suit such cases, which I sincerely hope it will not, then I should be reluctantly compelled to bow to de- cisions, but as long as it stands as at present, long bodies must continue to receive my disapproval." G CHAPTER XV ADVICE TO A BEGINNER M. W. writes under the above caption an article in the summer of 1900, which brings out an interesting discussion. In this connection it might be of interest to say that at this time Mr. Wharton bought out the late James L. Kernochan's hounds, known as the Hempstead Beagles. "Every one has been in this benighted state at one time or another, but I wish to address myself particularly to the one who wants to buy a good beagle and does not know how to set about it. Let him not be in a hurry, but start subscribing, say to , in order to familiarize himself with the names of the principal beagle breeders and their hounds. "Then, if possible, attend the annual trials of the National or New England [at that time there were not as many field trials being held as there are to- day] Beagle Clubs and learn what sort of hound wins in the field. He will see from fifty to sixty beagles and all at theii' best. Their owners will 213 214 Forty Years Beagling gladly make him welcome, and if he is a quiet, un- assmiiing chap, anxious for mformation, will be only too happy to impaii: such as they themselves have gathered. They are practical sportsmen, each and every one. and do not confine themselves to theorizing in the papers, but run their hounds, and show them too, when the time comes. "The beginner will not have to wait for these shows and by going to that at Xew York, Boston or Philadelphia, ^ill see some of the best known beagles in this comitry. Some of these he may recognize as having been at the trials and will be surprised to find, contrary to general opinion, that after all there is very little difference in the type of the best bench and working hounds. "Pay no attention to the man who has nothing favorable to say about the judge or the homids exhibited, and who remarks in a casual way 'that if he"d taken the trouble and entered so-and-so, he could have easily won first prize. If the begimier has profited by his visit to the trials and has fol- lowed the awards he will begin to feel confident as to what he wants and will make the necessary busi- ness arrangements with tlie man he knows has the right kind of hounds; whether the latter cares to sell or not is another tiling. Do not try to beat him d^^^"!': * o much; if his hounds are good they are Advice to a Beginner 215 worth the money, and many a beginner has paid out the latter without getting the former." Then along comes "C. F. H." with some pithy references to previous articles and asks M. W. F." some pertinent questions relative to his advice to beginners, as he suggests that the ''beginner" and perhaps a few who would not class themselves as such, can stand considerable enlightenment. He is frank in admitting that he is befogged on some points, though a breeder for some six years, and is sure that there are others who share his feeling of uncertainty and who would very much like to have a few questions settled. *'To begin with, what is the proper type of dog for the field • And is the proper field dog a winner on the bencli : Be the former question we have 'Zim's' remarks in the course of which, as I remem- ber, he says that the clean shouldered, racily built dog is not always the fastest afield, but often plays second to his more stocky companion, who is his superior in head work, although nothing near his equal in speed when not on a trail. "Of course, we can all see that and have often noted it in the field, but give the clean-built dog equal working qualities to the hea\y one and where is the comparison- Speed seems to be the chief object to be attained and that being the case, why 216 Forty Years Beagling is not the dog built for it the proper type to breed for? In other words a miniature foxhound? As I understand it, the beagle standard calls for fox- hound type. If this is wrong as some men seem to think and as the winning type of show beagle seems to indicate, then the sooner the standard is changed to fit present conditions, the better. How is the 'beginner' to know where he is at? "In G. M. W.'s 'Advice to a Beginner,' I note that the said 'beginner' will find, contrary to gen- eral opinion, that there is very little difference in the type of the best bench and working hounds.' Without wishing to dispute G. M. W., I would like to have him name a few of the bench champions who are also champions in the field. "I have never heard but one dog who enjoyed the double honor, and he was, as I remember, not by any means of the type that is winning on the bench today. I confess that I have never seen many of the field winners, but I am told by one who has been a many time attendant at the trials that the best dogs he saw run were the foxhound type. And why should they not be? For the work for which he is intended, is not the foxhound the ideal type? And his work being so similar, why should not the beagle be what the foxhound is? Is it pos- sible that the long, heavy-bodied dogs, with their Advice to a Beginner 217 heavy coat, heavy and often crooked legs, that are winning on the bench, are superior in any way to the foxhound type of beagle? If so, I cannot see it. Of what advantage is an extremely heavy coat? To keep out the weather, I am told. But does it do it? It may take a little longer to wet through than does a shorter coat, but when it does get wet it is, to my mind, just so much more sogginess to lug around, and the heavy bone! Where is the advantage in it? Has the dog possessing it more endurance than the dog with what would appear to be about enough? I don't believe he has. On the contrary, I believe he is carrying just so much useless material. "Now, as to the change in the type of beagle that is winning on the bench. As near as I can make out it is simply a case of appointing judges who favor that type. A large proportion of the earlier importations, I understand, were drafts from English packs, and were purchased at one pound sterling per couple. Doubtless this accounts for so much 'breeding unknown' for it is quite reasonable to suppose that no very extensive pedigree would be thrown in with a two dollar and a half dog. It naturally seems odd to the 'beginner' that dogs dis- carded by our English cousins, dumped for a song are good enough to win over here. I may be mis- informed on this point but doubt very much if I 218 Forty Years Beagling am, as my information came pretty straight. At any rate I recall very few who were ever heard of in England. I see that Mr. Peters has imported some champions and it strikes me that if we are to breed for the English type, these dogs as showing what is winning on the other side will do a vast amount of good. "I hardly expect to see them look like some of the last Boston Show winners. I refer particularly to the one who was winner of three or four firsts. His front legs were so bowed that it would hardly be exaggerating to call him deformed. How a dog of this kind can win, and good, well-formed dogs be passed (as they often have been) simply because they were 'fat,' surpasses the understanding of at least this 'beginner.' "Another thing that has often struck me as being odd is that judges allow so much 'handling' in the ring. It is really often ludicrous to see a beagle lifted up by the chin, then the tail, ears, ditto, etc., etc., too numerous to mention. I see that in a recent issue, one of your correspondents noted an absence of this sort of thing at Enghsh shows. If we are following their tj^pe of dog, let us follow their methods of showing him. If this dog won't 'show,' leave him at home. To my mind the judge is the one to 'handle,' and I hope to some day see Advice to a Beginner 219 one officiating whose first instructions to those en- tering the ring will be 'hands off your dogs, gentle- men.' " "G. M. F." then comes back with some retorts com'teous in trying to make some of the points clear that jDuzzled "C. F. H." in regard to the proper type of beagle that would not only win on the bench but in the field trials, by saying: "If one had a hound which exactly filled the requirements of the present standard of the National Beagle Club of America, can any unprejudiced person say that such a hound w^ould not be fitted to w^in at our field trials and at our shows? He might not, it is true, win at either, but the point I make is this: w^ould he not be best fitted to do so? "The gentlemen on the committee who formed the standard had the ideal beagle in mind, and it explained to the best of their ability what they con- sidered the requirements to be. They sum up as follows: 'General appearance a miniature fox- hound (meaning our English foxhound, not an American), solid and big for his inches, with the wear-and-tear look of the dog that can last in the chase and follow his quarry to the death.' So much for the standard, which could not be expected to and never has pleased those who for years had been breeding an entirely different type of dog. 220 Forty Years Beagling *'But to continue, 'C. F. H.' asks me to name a few double champions. I never claimed that there were such, old champion Frank Forest being, I believe, the only one who has ever held the double title. He was a fine type of hound and could, if alive and at his best, compete today on even terms with the best of our imported hounds, for the reason that he would not differ from them in general ap- pearance. However, among tho^e English-bred hounds who, while as not yet champions, have made a creditable showing on the bench and in the field may be mentioned. Imp. Ch. Truman; Imp. Leader 3rd; Imp. Florist; Imp. Tyrant; Prompter; Bellman; Fearless; Lucy L.; Nimrod; Orator; Parsons; and Wharton's Champion. "Further on in his article 'C. F. H.' speaks of the 'long heavy-bodied dogs, with their heavy coats, heavy and often crooked legs, that are winning on the bench.' This is puzzling, I confess, to the average beagle man. How is it that they win? They do indeed win, but not at New York, Boston, or Philadelphia, where generally one of the men on the official list of judges and a member of the National Beagle Club officiates. Does 'C. F. H.' mean to say that either Mr. Purinton, Mr. Apple- ton or Mr. Post favors hounds like the above? Not a bit of it. Advice to a Beginner 221 "Finally, when in the ring I would certainly advise turning all the entries loose (i.e., without even a collar), and then judge them, but although I have attended a good many shows, I never yet saw a 'beagle lifted up by the tail,' etc., etc. Nor do I believe that one with poor ears, lips, etc., could be made to win by simply pulling them down into place. If I am mistaken, then 'C. F. H.' has solved a great problem in the art of breeding a prize winner." *'C. F. H." comes back m rebuttal and closes the argument with: "I am glad to note 'G. M. W.'s' answers to some of my questions, but hope that others will let us have their views and that as a result we will eventually get matters in such shape that it will be clearly understood just what type of beagle is wanted for both bench and field. That is what I am after and nothing else. "I can quite readily agree with 'G. M. W.' that if one had a perfect beagle as described by the standard he ought to win on the bench, but I am not alone in the opinion that dogs that are winning are not the type the standard calls for. From what I learn, however, the best of the field winners have been nearer that type. If, when 'G. M. W.' in his original article advised the beginner that he would find little difference between the bench and field 222 Forty Years Beagling winners, he intended to convey the impression that if one has a perfect hound he ought to win in both, then I stand corrected, but hardly think I am open to censure for not so understanding. I hardly ex- pected that 'G. M. W.' could name numerous 'double champions,' but if, as he said, there was very little difference in the type of bench and field winners, why should not they exist more plenti- fully? The fact that he can only name one would seem to indicate that there is a difference. "Now, as to Ch. Frank Forest. Before accept- ing 'G. M. W.'s' statement that if alive he would not differ materially from the imported hounds, I would like to see his measurements in comparison with theirs. Besides measurements it would also be well not to forget expression; what has become of that? "It was not my intention to mention the names of dogs or judges as it is certainly not my wish to laud or run down either. However, I will say that one of the dogs mentioned is the one I referred to as being bow-legged, and he fitted my description, not only in my opinion, but in that of others at the Boston show, who have handled beagles I dare say quite as long as 'G. M. W.' and I combined. So you see they do win in Boston, and New York and Philadelphia shows I pass. I saw neither show, Advice to a Beginner 223 and unless I am mistaken, 'G. M. W.' did not see Boston, which I regret. As I have not the pleasure of Messrs. Root and Purinton's acquaintance, I can only guess at what type they favor. Mr. Appleton I have met and saw him judge at Boston. He certainly favors the English type, and why should he not? I would willingly show a dog against one of Mr. Appleton's allowing him to do the judging, and would feel sure that if he thought my dog was the better he would place it fii'st. But that is not the point. The beagle is for field work. Then why, when he is put upon the bench, should he not be judged upon his build for that work? True there are exceptions to all rules and the dog that is built for speed and endurance may possess either. Nevertheless, as these qualities are not tested in the show room, appearances can only be considered and the most worlananlike looking dog to my mind should win. "If the English type hounds that are winning on the bench are built for either speed or endurance they certainly don't look it. They strike me as being too heavy for either. Now as to the handling of dogs in the ring. Had 'G. M. W.' been at the last Boston show he would have seen every one of the moves I mentioned, indulged in. I am at a loss, however, to understand why 'G. M. W.' should 224 Forty Years Beagling think I had solved the problem of breeding a win- ner, for I believe I characterized such proceed- ings as ludicrous. What the handlers themselves thought, 'G. M. W.' can possibly judge better than I, for most of the pulling, etc., was worked on the English-type dogs. "As to loosening the dogs in the ring, I think the suggestion a good one, provided, of course, the class is not too large, in which event I would sug- gest loosening the last four remaining. I am sorry that 'G. M. W.' thought it necessary to wax sar- castic in his reply to me and must apologize for doing likewise. As I have said, my only desire is to find out where we are at, for it seems to me that the craze for English dogs is leading to mistakes that will only have to be corrected later and may prove harder than at present imagined." CHAPTER XVI BEAGLE MEASUREMENTS IN May, 1901, there appeared in the American Stock-Keeper a comment on the results at the Boston show, which evolved into a series of communications on not only measurements but again on type. Mr. C. F. Haven opens the discus- sion, referring to the comment on one of his hounds which was criticized as "clean enough but a bit long over all." He wrote the editor and asked him for the proper measui-ements and as they were not forthcoming continues with: "As you have not given them I assume that my question is one on which there is no authority. At any rate I have failed to find any, but I hoped that you, with your wide experience in matters doggy, would be able to furnish me with the information desired. I have kept beagles for the past eight or nine years, have attended quite a number of shows, tried hard to find out what the proper type is, but in vain. "No two judges seem to have the same idea, and, in fact, the same judge seems to have different ideas at different times. There is a standard laid down 225 226 Forty Years Beagling which is by many considered conflicting, and which apparently cuts httle figure with judges when plac- ing theii' awards. At one show I questioned a judge as to the number of points allotted to the dif- ferent parts of the dog and he had to go to his pocket to find out. Another party asked the same judge the same question and he started to name the points without consulting the pocket aforesaid. The result was that when he had gotten about half through with the dog he had three points left. "It had seemed to me that whatever dogs struck the judge's fancy did the winning, without regard to what they would score under the standard. With one judge it would be coat, another head, another legs and feet, etc., etc. A dog with a very snipey nose, for instance, no matter how good in other points, is in disfavor at once, with nine bea- glers out of ten, and is, if shown, generally out of it, and yet muzzle only counts five points in the standard. Then there is another clause in the standard which says a beagle shall be a miniature foxhound, heavy and sohd for his inches. Now, how can he be both? And is English or American foxhound meant? "I have always contended that whatever type is best suited for field work should win on bench, but except in rare cases they do not do it. The scarcity Beagle Measurements 227 of double champions seems to prove it. It is pretty generally contended that bench and field type are the same, but if this is so, why are classes made at our shows for winners of field events? At the recent Boston show there was such a class, and I was told that the decision would be rendered on the merits of the dogs as fielders as evidenced by their looks. Then I was told later that this class was to be judged for 'show type.' I wanted to find out if the judge considered a difference existed, and I offered a special for 'best field type bitch.' If no difference was recognized. Bangle should have won it, she being winner of Winners class. Sufiice it to say, she didn't. In offering this special I was ac- cused of laying a 'trap.' It was not my intention of doing anything of the kind, I simply wanted information, if I could get it. "I have said that the scarcity of double cham- pions seemed to indicate a difference between bench and field type. While this is so, I must not be misunderstood as meaning that I think field-trial champions are of necessity the proper dogs to win on bench. Field-trial championships have been too easy to win, and the endurance which is a most essential point in the beagle, is not tested in win- ning a championship. Again, speed seems to form a most important part at field-trial competitions, 228 Forty Years Beagling and for that reason one must enter his fastest dogs, which can lead or appear to lead most of the time without regard to how they do it. The steady, careful worker, who often helps his more flashy opponent over the hard places, cuts no figure. For my own part, I could never see why a very fast dog was an advantage, particularly if in his haste, as is often the case, he ran over the track 30 to 50 feet before finding out that he was wrong. However, if a combination of speed and endurance is wanted, so be it. Let the immature foxhound part of the standard remain and 'cut out' the heavy solid for his inches part." Next comes Mr. C. O. Smith, a real veteran in the game, who had been a breeder since 1865, and backs up Mr. Haven's deductions with some re- marks and measurements of his hounds, as follows ; *'I think Mr. Haven knows what he is talking about on the subject when he says there are no two judges who have the same opinion as to field and bench dogs, and it is time, as he says, to have a standard to fit one type or the other. I have had beagles as long as most of the beagle cranks, for the first one was when I returned from the war in 1865. I bought her at New York from a sailor who brought her from England. She was a small white, black and tan, and as I look back she was of the same Beagle Measurements 229 type as Mrs. Giles brought over and several she has sent to me — what I call beagles, not foxhounds. "I took a tape this morning and measured sev- eral of my dogs bred by different breeders, and will give some particulars of them. Little Jack, '95, bred by F. D. Lord of England, 11 inches at shoulder, body 19 inches, from tip of nose to root of tail, chest 18% inches, weight 13 pounds. Brownie, bred by W. Deane, U. S. A., 12^4 inches high at shoulder, length of body 20 inches, chest 24 inches, weight 16 pounds. Little Dick, 12 inches at shoulder, body 20 inches, chest 22l/^ inches, weight 16 pounds. I could write about several others in my kennels and of others, but, as all beagle men know, I want all my beagles small and do not keep any higher than 13 inches. The small dogs are what I want, those that are bred from small stock, not small dogs bred from large ones. The latter are, as my friend Gibbs said, when at my house, 'wasters,' and as you know, Mr. Editor, the first dog I ever sent to a dog show you judged him at the Rhode Island State Fair and he won, and he was a beagle of the best blood — the old Rowett strain. I call my measurements about right for the small dog." Mr. Haven then comes back and says that the measurements of his Luke, which he criticized as 230 Forty Years Beagling being too long, was found upon measurement to be 31 inches from tip of nose to root of tail, and that the judge had, as many others, been fooled by his appearance. The judge replies that he was not fooled but that in comparison, because anything else would not do on that occasion. A writer named "Huul" then comes along and assails some breeders, some importers of English beagles and some men who were trying to adopt the drag hunt, and some of the writers harked in to him, all of whom were trying to improve the type at that time, saying: "It would seem as if the beaglers who had been cold trailing on the scent of trouble for some time, are getting closer to the game, for signs are not wanting of a revolutionary spirit in favor of the true little beagle hound in dis- tinction to the little Peterborough foxhound-beagle. Looking back over the experience of many years, I find in a show like Boston and New York that very much of the old beagle character has been lost, due in a measure to the 'riding element' in the bea- glers' community, if I may use this term to dis- tinguish a new element which has, through the in- fluence of position and dollars, completely changed the beagle from a soft, engaging mild animal with a beautiful mellow, deep-throated note of most pleasing volume, whose blend on the damp, dewy Beagle Measurements 231 atmosphere of an early fall morning was a deep entrancing draught of the elixir of life, to a hard, keen terrier hound. "Many of these gentlemen in the game have been led away by reading about cleanness of eye and feet and hound body, and 'built like a foxhound,' until they conceived the idea that the men who loved a beagle because it was a little hound 'all its own,' were old fogies, who, all combined had not the up- to-date green-grass experience of a sure-enough hunter with his 'tops' in the stirrups. "No greater curse to beagle type in America was ever invented than the drag. It develops and en- courages a speedy hound and a class of followers who have not the patience nor the innate love of hound sport to fully appreciate the intricate work- ing out of a delicate line in a thick bit of cover or open brake, where puss has made a fling. "If one likes to ride to hounds let him essay the manly sport of following the foxhound and harrier, hounds that can carry him along and over a country that will try the steel that is in him. But the beagle is a foot hound and as such, while possessing char- acteristics which are recognized as hound proper- ties, also demands certain formation and traits which bring him into closer touch with man. The clean limbed, clean throated, clean shouldered, hard 232 Forty Years Beagling voiced beagle that is being evolved from ignorance and Peterborough, is as different to the true beagle as the ring of the old Liberty Bell today is to what it was before it cracked. Some of the beagles of today that run at the field trials are neither fish, flesh, fowl nor even good red herring, as the old country saying goes. They are neither hound nor beagle, but terrier hounds. I know it is heresy to write this, but what does all the short yapping and squealing denote? It means that in trying to make the beagle a foxhound, we make it into something that is foreign to both. "The beaglers rave over Bangle. Why? Because she is hound built; because she embodies in her small make-up the presumed points of a foxhound. But even the very men who are bringing about this change from the old sweet type, say she is dog- faced, lacks the softness of her sex, not quite beagle, etc., etc. They do this because not having room to find fault with her anatomy, they fall back on the one 'something' they realize they have lost or are losing— beagle type and expression. No greater folly, or rather wrong to the true beagle was ever perpetrated than the incorporation of the words 'a miniature foxhound' in the standard. They were inserted by beaglers who did not realize their full significance, and what has this blind leading the Beagle Measurements 233 blind led to? A lot of nondescript looking little hounds with long and short bodies, short ears, clean throats, and small terrier eyes and their concomi- tant — metallic voices. "Like a miniature foxhound did not mean that breeders were to blindly follow the foxhound type to the utter extinction of the lovable eye ; the deep flew; the 'music bag'; or suspicion of dewlap, the silken textured, folding lengthy ear, that associates with the deep mellow contraltos or the trebles of limpid sweetness ; of expression that beams through deep brown eyes that speak love, intelligence and sweetness of disposition. But rather does it refer merely to those details of anatomy which every well-made hound must possess to stand the work it is called upon to do, the short back, strong loin, hound coat that sheds the morning dew, the sloping shoulder, the round sohd bone, cat feet, hard pads, and hound pluck. No beagle loses in expression by the possession of these good and serviceable anatomical features. Neither does it mean that we must have 'rounded' beagles, or that the slight dome of skull must be flattened out, thus losing, in conjunction with the low-set, dehcate ear, that exquisite refinement of skull formation to be seen in beagles which still retain the old Rowett blood and the Elmores. 234 Forty Years Beagling "It does not mean the speed of the foxhound, for the beagle is a foot hound, therefore if you produce a hound that a good healthy man in fair condition cannot keep in sight on foot, you are producing a beagle that is a miniature 'harrier,' nowadays a term for anything that isn't a real sure- enough foxhound. "I lay the present inconsistencies of the breed to the clamor for speed for which the field trials are responsible. Field trials are good and necessary, perhaps, but there is no getting around the fact that while they have not changed the rabbit they have changed the face of the beagle. The bugaboo of the goggle eye and domed skull, extremes and degeneracies of good old beagle attributes, has scared breeders too far in the other direction. Let us hark back a bit and preserve some more beagle character before it is lost to us forever." D. E. B. O'Nair harks in immediately and backs "Huul" up in great shape when he says: "If ever there was a beagle or a beagler on the right trail, and on the trail that for the last few years but very few beagle breeders have persistently and stubbornly followed, it is yom* correspondent *Huul.' It certainly is time for one so able as he to lead the pack on the correct trail. I have gone on record as one trying to do what he could, but Beagle Measurements 235 being unable to express myself so plainly and for- cibly as he, created but little impression. I agree with him on every point on which he writes, but think I can see one more reason than that of the cry for speed alone that is accountable for the loss of true beagle type. It was the wail for 'bone' that was started a few years back, and the ink used by our press and critics, leading the inexperienced to believe it could only be obtained through English dogs. There seems to be a magic charm, to a cer- tain class, hovering around anything that is im- ported, they seem never to stop to think that a scrub can be imported as well as a thing of value, and that some of the beagles that have been im- ported are scrubs. "No man who loves the true beagle, and knows true beagle type and character, will contradict this. I could mention specimens I have seen on the bench decorated with blue ribbons, that were only beagles in body; but they had 'bone' and good coats, nice feet, legs and brush, but forgive us, if we ever call a dog with such head, eyes, muzzle, face and ears, a beagle. Yes! but he was imported, and has 'bone' and won over others that as all-round beagles could smother him, and for these very rea- sons, because imported, the fact that he won and the reporters or supposed critics, said he had 'lots of 236 Forty Years Beagling bone' and was a good representative of 'the dogs hover 'ome/ the young, inexperienced, haphazard breeder sends his bitch half way across the United States to breed to him, and some we know are kick- ing themselves for doing it. "I can make all the bone necessary, in fact, as much as any of the English dogs imported ever had, by feeding proper food, and have living proof of this assertion. Let us therefore do away with those heads that, taken from the ear forward, are the shape of a triangle, with perfectly flat faces, covered with wrinkles, small terrier eyes, sharp pointed muzzle, no flews, ears short and thick and set high on the head, and give us a beagle with a beagle head and expression as well as body and bone of the sort of many I could mention of days gone by, sired by such dogs as Dorsey's old Lee, Fitz- hugh Lee, Royal Kreuger, etc., and then we will have beagles, that, judged as beagles should be, could beat the world on the bench or in the field, when put to the real work of a beagle." Mr. C. O. Smith comes back with the remark that "I could tell of some of our oldest beagle men who have taken up breeding big dogs to keep in the fashion" and advocates the use of the small hound. A short editorial in the American Stock Keeper of May 25th, 1901, says that, "If we had fewer Beagle Measurements 237 paper judges and more practical men in the ring who would hew to the line, the beagle type would soon be settled." A letter from a Virginian, and evidently a stu- dent of hunting and field trials then appears in re- gard to different kinds of hunting country, being perhaps responsible for the different types of beagles. This writer signs himself, "Norfolk" and says: *'The recent articles in regard to beagle type are both important and interesting to the lovers of this valuable breed. It seems that in these discus- sions which have been agitated before now, some im- portant facts are overlooked and these facts are responsible both for the wide difference in type and frequently in the conflicting opinion of judges. The matters referred to are the kind of country to be hunted and the kind of hunting desired. "From my experience and the reports of the field trials it would seem the short-eared, clean-throated, racy built dog, somewhat on the order of a heavily built fox-terrier, is faster than the long-eared, throaty animal. In an open country where the game is to be run down and caught, or where drag hunting is followed, this racy fox-terrier type will be used and a judge selected from such a section and accustomed to that style of hunting, will be in- clined to favor the racy dog which has proven the 238 Forty Years Beagling most satisfactory in his experience. Where the undergrowth is thick and driving is necessarily slow and difficult and coursing dogs would not drive to the gun satisfactorily, as then the question is not how fast, but how true, under such conditions, it seems the throaty, bloodhound type is the best, if a large bag is desired. "In dense undergrowth the dogs cannot be fol- lowed or assisted when they overrun the trail, and nose, judgment and a level head, are absolutely necessary if the game is to be driven out to the gun. Here also much of the pleasure of the hunt is from the music of the pack and this still further recom- mends the long-eared throaty dog to the hunter of such a section of country. The beagle has probably gained more friends in the last ten years than any other sporting dog, and his attractive and useful quahties are only beginning to be appreciated, therefore the confusion in regard to type is a tem- porary misfortune that should be remedied as soon as possible. "With such men prominently interested in the breed as Appleton, Fiske, Geo. F. Heed, C. Sta- ley Doub, Tallman and others of like qualifications, there is no reason why a type of dog should not be produced that will clearly prove its superiority in all sections and under all conditions, and the writer Beagle Measurements 239 has no doubt but that this will be evolved from the two extreme types mentioned." Mr. H. B. Tallman of Providence, Rhode Island, has his say in reference to type and judges in commenting on Mr. Haven's stand in the matter, opening his remarks with a quotation from Mr. Haven as follows: " 'I have kept beagles for eight or nine years, have attended quite a number of shows and tried hard to find out what beagle type is, but in vain.' 'No two judges seem to have the same ideas and, in fact, the same judge seems to have different ideas at different times.' And again, that he has 'the variations in the awards of judges, and the diversity of opinions expressed by beagle men to prove that something is wrong somewhere.' Such variation and diversity are wrong. If he has been interested in beagles for eight or nine years, that is for a longer period than some of the judges and other beagle men have been. "The variations in awards and diversity of opin- ion prove that some of them have not yet found out what beagle type is, and that it is wrong for him to try and find out from their awards and opinions. Let him then form his own opinion of beagle type from a study of the standard and deference to the opinions of the men who have had more experience 240 Forty Years Beagling than himself, and who his own judgment tells him have been profited by their experience. "If then he will keep his ideal in mind and breed consistently to it, he will be doing more than most beagle breeders are doing. Many breeders care more to breed for sale and to make the public and, if possible, the judges think that certain dogs of their breeding are right, than to try to keep breed- ing what they really think is right, which accounts for much of 'the diversity of opinion expressed by beagle men.' "How many of the dogs which have been most prominent as winners in the last few years would, if shown in a lot together, show evidence of having been bred to any one type? Take Ringleader, Pri- mate, Rubino 2nd, Laughter, Blitz, Harker, Pil- grim, Dan D., and what two of them could be said to be of the same type, and at the same time possess a good combination of the points which should be looked for in a beagle fitted for a combination of show quality and field work? Any one of them might be a good field dog if he possessed the neces- sary courage, nose, etc., but granting they all pos- sess these last-named necessary qualities, what two of them possess the same type and like points of conformation throughout, which fit them for ease of motion and consequently active and enduring Beagle Measurements 241 work? Two of them, and, according to my judg- ment, only two of them, do, and if one of these fails in the requisites of a good field dog, this failure must be attributed to other points than those of type or conformation. "Mr. Haven and others should not let consider- ations of ability for field work influence his ideas of beagle type. 'Good field dogs run in all shapes,' but if dogs of good beagle type are bred, they will be as well fitted as any for the best quality of field work. If they are not, it will be because they lack qualities which are outside of any consideration of beagle type." Canada's veteran, Hiram Card, of Elora, On- tario, then comes to the pack with his bark on measurements, w^hich is very interesting. He says: "I see that Mr. Haven wished to boil out the beagle question, and as the mess is already cooking I will put my stick in the pot, just to be accommodating. I have just measured my best show dog and my best field dog and as I have the record of some measure- ments of the same dogs, taken at different times, I will give you some figures, merely to show how the old thing works. "In the first place, it is difficult to measure a dog twice alike. I took the show dog first and measured him five times before I got two results to agree. 242 Forty Years Beagling After I got him to stand still I struck the same trouble in another place. Standing in natural posi- tion, head up, with tape strapped on his back, head and muzzle, he measured nearly three feet from nose to root of tail. With the tape alongside be- tween the same points he didn't go much over a foot, so I got help and put him in a straight line as nearly as we could. In this way he gave over the back, with tape, 28 inches, with lumber rule 26 inches. Alongside, with either tape or rule 24 inches. Measured in sections, muzzle, skull, neck, and body he figured up 27 inches. With stern up he showed an inch less than with stern down. The field dog gave a similar class of results. How should they be measured anyway? "Before comparing the measurements of the two dogs, I should, perhaps, explain why I consider them representative of their type. The dog has been shown once, at Toronto, fall show, profes- sional judge, entered in two classes; one first and one second prize. Fate was winner with Talisman reserve, so you can spot the type that was in it. The bitch has no public record, but has been as well tried as any beagle I know of. Has hunted three of the species of hare that inhabit America, not to mention the red fox and an odd prairie wolf. She has been lost, strayed, stolen, lent, and hired and Beagle Measurements 243 hunted with every breed known in Canada. So far as I Imow she has generally been near the front of the procession and never met the hound that could lose her or quit her. Turned loose in the Summer with a crack fox-hound, she put him out of business in six weeks, and had a fresh one going, two weeks after, and it never phazed her; she has stood eight seasons of it and is sound today [1901]. This is what I call a field beagle, though field, wood, swamp or prairie are all the same to her. She has never been shown. Too long-bodied, light-boned and short-coated for the bench; all the judges who have seen her have agreed on this. The dog never had much chance to hunt and did not improve the few opportunities offered him. "Now for comparative measurements. Both dogs gave 14 inches at shoulder. In sections the dog gave: muzzle 2%, skull 6^, neck 4, body 14-27 inches. Bitch, muzzle 1%, skull 5^, neck 4, body 15-26 inches. Girth of chest: dog 21, bitch 22 inches. Forearm : dog 4%, bitch 4^4 inches. *'It is said figures won't he, but looking back over the note book I find different proportions recorded. A year ago the dog was fat and stood close to 15 inches high. Last fall when he went to the show he was 141/2- Today he is thin and marks but 14 inches. The bitch does not get so fat as some beagles 244 Forty Years Beagling I have, but today she is the fattest I ever saw her. I have 5 measurements taken of her at different times and all say 13I/2 inches except one and that 13. Today she is 14 inches. Length varies very little, neither does girth of forearm, but gii^th or chest does. This explains why the bitch beats the dog an inch in chest. He has measured 25 inches and she has been down to 20. The big-boned dog beats the light-boned bitch but a ^ of an inch in forearm because he has hunted but little and stands straight and true in front. "The bitch has developed bunches of muscle on the outside of her legs where they do the most good, consequently measures well and looks crooked: one difference between the bench type and field type. Another is the long body and short head, other differences that can't be measured are shown by these dogs. The bitch has the old-time, soft, dark, full eye and sweet expression; the dog has the sour face of the English foxhound. Bitch's coat is short; dog's is rough and long and thin. The dog is clean in throat and shoulder and barks on trail. The bitch has lots of throat and loose skin and rolls out her voice long and clear. "This throat and shoulder business is largely a matter of condition. This bitch loses a lot of hers when hunting and also loses some of her music with it. Beagle Measurements 245 "I have no use for the 'sturdy little hound' that we hear so much about to-day. He can't lug his big bone and mop coat through the cedar swamp to suit me worth a cent. I am not giving you theory, but sad experience. Personally I have no use for the rule of thumb in judging dogs, but contribute the figm-es to keep the pot boiling." Mr. John Caswell, Master of the Round Plain beagles, of Prides Crossing, Massachusetts, then has something to say on the measurement question, and begins by asking if there has ever been a perfect hound bred? "One may be bred for Maryland; another for Long Island, and yet another for Northern New York and Vermont. There are dif- ferent requirements for each place. "The careful worker must give way to more flashy type, with forward drive, when hunted on white hares, while the small hounds cannot last with the 15 inch ones at the same game. Now, if each master breeds for the requirements of his country, I fail to see how any absolute rule of measurements can be laid down. Every prize won in the ring is won by comparison; the best hound in the ring at the time of judging should be first. Should the judge fancy one type more than another he natur- ally leans to that type. "The measurements of some of the best hounds 246 Forty Years Beagling we have are not, as Mr. Haven claims they should be, i.e., twice the height at shoulder equals length from tip of nose to root of tail. "The standard has been severely criticised for calling for a miniature foxhound. Surely every- body wants straight legs with plenty of bone, well- sprung ribs and short coupled loins, stern carried well up, etc., but please remember that the standard calls for a mild and gentle expression. Mr. Whar- ton, I notice, calls. Imp. Pilgrim one of our model hounds. I wonder how many of our breeders and judges would go for this type? Very few, I ven- ture to think. "Again, the riding contingent of beagles has been very severely criticised for using the drag. I won't say that anise will or will not spoil a hound's nose, but I think a dead rabbit or rabbit litter will not. I recently visited one of our most successful beagle men both on the bench and in the field, and saw several hounds tried out against some field trial winners, and I assure you the 'draggers' did not suffer severely by comparison. "Mr. Wharton speaks of uniformity of type; that is the one thing that counts in a pack. I should place the requirements of a pack — fii'st, similarity of type; second, levelness as regards size; third, equality of speed. Any breeder who can show a Beagle Measurements 247 pack of seven couple, well up to the requirements of his country in all three of these particulars, is in- deed lucky. Another thing that has hurt the beagle very much is allowing a good hound to serve a poor bitch. I know it means stud fees, but if a man owns a really good bitch he would willingly pay more for a good dog. "Also, the showing of puppies has, I am sure, lost us many, how many, no one can tell, ripping good hounds. Thus far the beagle breeders have been breeding, with few exceptions, dogs for the bench, and have shown young and old, large and small, in order to win on the bench ; if a bench win- ner was good in the field so much the better, he was used in stud anj^way. The result is that nearly every breeder has, until lately, gone for the individ- ual and not for the strain of blood. As soon as more attention is paid to similarity of type, size, and speed, then, and not until then, will we be able to equal the English packs." The West then takes up, through Dr. Arthur H. Cohn, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the question "fox- hound type in the beagle," and seems puzzled as to what type to breed for, when he says in the Amer- ican Stock Keeper of June, 1901, that "It seems to me that we are at present at a loss what type to breed for. As some say one judge prefers one, an- 248 Forty Years Beagling other some other type. My idea is to compel judges to judge according to the standard and not by what he or she prefers. If the old standard is not satis- factory, let the beagle clubs or fanciers come to- gether and draw up a new standard which will suit the majority of breeders. "This kicking about too much foxhound or some other type has been going on for some time, and it is about time we came to some conclusion. Per- sonally I am opposed to the foxhound type and prefer the beagle with a pleading expression, etc. It seems to me we shall be in the same dilemma as the breeders of the English setters are in at the present time if this construing or misconstruing of the standard (if I may so call it) keeps on. What we want is a standard which represents the ideas of the majority of breeders and see to it that we get judges according to said standard and not what they like best for type of beagle. It is in the power of beagle fanciers to let the dog show representa- tives know that if the judge is not acceptable they will not show under such person, and if entries are withheld because incompetent men were to judge, bench show committees will come to their senses and see to it in the future that acceptable persons are appointed to act as judges thereafter." Mr. H. Henry Higginson, of South Lincoln, Beagle Measurements 249 Massachusetts, in the summer of 1901, comes out in an article in Turf, Field and Farm and makes a comparison of the English and American hounds and their to him apparent difference in type. He starts with the claim that "we owe a debt to our English cousins for the introduction of good blood into America during the past few years. Of course, he goes on to say, all beagles are descended from imported stock, but in 1896, when Mr. Kernochan made his first large importation, there has devel- oped a distinct American type which is still, I am sorry to say, very much in existence today. Grad- ually we have learned that the protruding eye, too pronounced stop, long body, and bad front are faults which we cannot afford to keep. There are two very distinct types of beagle in this country, each has its supporters, and each its merits. To the first class belong such hounds as Imp. Florist, Imp. Furrier, Imp. Ch. Fiddler, Imp. Ch. Tru- man, Imp. Pilgrim, Ch. Primate, Challenger, Par- son, etc.; and such bitches as Imp. Ch. Bangle, Imp. Ch. Oronsay Matron, Imp. Prudence, Fur- rier's Careful, Imp. Welcome, Tragedj^ and others of hke stamp. The second class includes Ch. Blitz, Millard R., Reed's Dan D., Ch. Robino, and Fashion; and such bitches as Ch. Lucy L., Reed's May R., and others of her stamp. Even these lat- 250 Forty Years Beagling ter dogs have a strong tinge of the English blood in them. Many there are who deny the fact that the English blood is good, claiming that the ears are too short, the eye not pleading enough, etc. It is true of some of the ears but not of most. Who can deny the length of ear in Ch. Bangle, Ch. Matron, Ch. Fiddler, Ch. Truman, or Florist? Who can say of any of these five dogs that their eye is not pleading? It is not a 'pop-eye,' certainly; but it has all the depth and sweetness that a hound's eye should have. "And what dog is there that is American bred that can boast the clean look of its English cousins? Look at the bone of the English dogs, their strong, short-coupled backs, great quarters and sterns, and then compare them with the long-bodied get of some of the American hounds. Again, where can we find such muzzles as in the two best beagles in America — Ch. Bangle and Ch. Matron? 'How about Dan D?' I hear some one say: 'Didn't he win over Bangle at New York?' True, he did, and many people, including the writer, thought the judge made a mistake. It is hard to find a fault in Bangle, or in Matron in her best days. Let us com- pare them with two typical American-bred dogs, Ch. Lucy L. and Dan D. The American hounds have fairly good fronts. The English hounds' Beagle Measurements 251 fronts are perfect. The English dogs score again in the matter of feet, and still again in hindquar- ters. The coats on the two American dogs are bet- ter, and also they have far better brushes. But this latter fault is made up by the short, well-set-on sterns of the English hounds. Then we come to the heads, and now the English hounds stand out far beyond the American ones. All four dogs have good ear age, but the two English ones have far the better muzzles, and far less prominent eyes than the two others. Finally the American dogs look soft and sloppy, in marked contrast to the workmanlike look of the English dogs. Dan D. I call weak in the muzzle. One well-known American breeder, a man who bred beagles before I was able to walk, says that Dan D. is perfect — 'a typical American hound.' Many people think with him, but many against him. "My final argument in favor of the English hounds is the results of the bench shows. Compare the stud record of Ch. Frank Forrest and Ch. Harker with that of two English hounds. Florist and Furrier. The former hounds may have pro- duced the field trial winners ; I know they have, but who can show such a record in the stud as these two hounds have made? Among Florist's get are Fore- man, Willing, Fury, etc., and among Furrier's are 252 Forty Years Beagling Parson, Destiny, and going a generation lower, Ch. Primate. Take the bench show winners of to-day, the champions Bangle, Oronsay, Matron, Primate, Fiddler, Trmiian and Robino 2nd, the latter half Enghsh blood. What pack can to-day win over the team of homids shown by the Windholme Kennels? What pack could win over the Hempstead beagles when they were in their prime ? In fact what Amer- ican pack has ever won? When I say American- bred I mean American blood. Champion Primate, for example, I call English-bred, for, although bred in this country, he is of the most direct English par- entage. I am an American and shall always be, but I think there are some things which our Eng- lish cousins across the pond do better than we do; and among others they produce better hounds, both beagles and foxhounds. I remember some years ago, Mr. Kernochan had a little correspondence in one of the papers with a believer in the 'pop-eyed' beagle, who claimed that Mr. Kernochan and the English hounds had done little good to beagles in America. I think time has proved him wrong. There are very few hounds winning on the bench today w^ho have not in their veins a very strong tinge of Enghsh blood, and most of them clean bred." CHAPTER XVII THE MANAGEMENT OF STUD DOGS IN an old American Field appears the above headline, and as we see so many champion beagles advertised at stud to-day, no matter whether the hound is a good producer or not, it oc- curred to me that possibly a reproduction of this article would help some of our new breeders. "Suppose that you are fortunate enough to be the possessor of an excellent dog, of some particular breed to which you have a fancy. Perhaps he has taken many prizes and is dubbed champion. Re- member, however, it is not everyone who can aspire to the honor of possessing a champion; for honor it undoubtedly is, especially if it be a dog that the owner has both bred and reared. If you are deter- mined to be at the top of the tree in any breed — I do not care which, whether pointer, setter, or scotch, or skye, or St. Bernard or mastiff — you must make that particular breed a study and a specialty. You must study the points and characteristics of that breed as recognized by the best sportsmen and judges, in the field, in the house, and on the show 253 254 Forty Years Beagling bench; and you must never so far forget yourself as to swear by any particular dog. The dog is not living who may not or might not be beaten. "Almost any judge will tell you the flaws and defects of your dog. But do not heed what any single judge may tell you, until it has been substan- tiated by the opinions of others. You can thus be certain about what you are doing, and by breeding judiciously you will be able in a few generations to get rid of the objectionable points. Do not be disheartened and do not forget that there is room for dozens of champion dogs in all breeds, and that there is money to be made on all of them. But your reward is not merely a pecuniary one, for you have the satisfaction of knowing you are improving the breed of this country's dogs. ''Take the hypothesis then, that you are in the possession of a dog which you can, without the fear of contradiction, dub champion — one whose name is very nearly at the top of the poll. I shall take it for granted too, that in placing that dog at stud you are actuated, as much as by anything else, by a sincere desire to improve the breed to which you^- doQ^ belongs. Then it is only fair and reasonable that you should be remunerated for your trouble and pains. But beware of being too sanguine o^ too eager. Your dog has gotten a good name, he The Management of Stud Dogs 255 is well known to the press and the fancy, and you will receive many solicitations for his use. Do not make youi' fee too high. State nothing in your ad- vertisement in the slightest way exaggerated or in- correct, and rather be under than over the mark in estimating the merits of your own dog. Mention in the advertisement the honors he has taken, and when and where, the champions he has beaten, and also the terms required for his services. "The amount of fee charged for the services, in stud, of a champion dog depends a good deal upon the breed and the number of honors he has gained. "It is a good plan, if you can manage it, to have two dogs of the same breed on stud at the same time, at different fees, according to honors and quality, so that the party who comes to you for blood may choose his own dog at his own price. If you have valuable dogs at stud, never neglect to have stud cards. These are generally very orna- mental, and made to fold like a portfolio, and have a good photograph of the dog on one side, and on the other a printed list of the prizes he has won. They are sold at sixpence, one shilling or are given gratis. "It is a very common thing to see in the stud columns of our sportsman's papers such an adver- tisement as the following: 'The champion dog 256 Forty Years Beagling So-and-So will serve a limited number of approved bitches, etc' If you have a champion to advertise at stud, do not follow such an example. Limit the number of bitches by all means, but in all honesty keep out that word 'approved,' for if you have a $25.00 check in your hand, and the bitch is there waiting, I don't think you will be over-fastidious about her points or quality. You will not be over- eager, I believe, to return the bitch forthwith or the check either. "People, however, will tell you that if you let your dog serve bitches who are not altogether up to the mark, the puppies are bound to be bad, and a discredit to their sire — spoil his name in fact. I don't believe it, and as to the puppies being bad, at all events they would be worse if the bitch had been served by an inferior dog; besides you must remember that the puppies take more after the sire than the dam. '^'^ "As soon as word is brought to you that the bitch has arrived at your kennel, go and examine her, and if you think that time will permit, give her the first night to rest and recover from the fatigue of the j ourney . At any rate let her have food and water, and a good hour's rest, as well as a run in the yard. The best time to turn the dog in is in the morning, after the bitch has had a breakfast and a run in the The Management of Stud Dogs 257 yard, or at night, when all is quiet. Leave matters very much to nature, only be there yourself to watch. Beware of getting your dog exhausted from the unwillingness of the bitch. You can tell in about ten minutes whether the engagement is likely to take place that night ; if you see there is no chance, kennel up at once. "Some people will tell you that neither during cohabitation nor soon after must you permit the bitch to drink water. This is simply nonsense. I always have water handy, and dog or bitch may drink as much as it cares to, and I have never seen any evil results follow. Never put your stud dog more than once to the bitch, unless specially re- quested to do so by the owner ; then by all means do so, but let twenty-four hours, or even more inter- vene between times. "When it is all over, let the bitch be kenneled at once upon clean dry straw. "Never on any consideration lower yourself or yom- dog by accepting the promise of a puppy or puppies as a fee, unless it is a very particular friend indeed. The rule is, in business of this nature, that the fee shall be sent on the same day as the bitch, and this rule should be strictly adhered to. To save accident, bitches should always be sent in a crate, and it is usual to keep them until entirely out of season. 258 Forty Years Beagling "If you possess a champion dog, take my advice, do not be tempted to stud him too much, or you may kill the goose who lays eggs of gold. One bitch a week is about as much as any dog can do, to have good stock and retain his constitution. Feed your dog very well when at stud, and give him occasion- ally a light iron tonic, the phosphate of iron is as good as anything else. If he begins to get thin, stop his studding and give him a month's rest, tonics and cod-liver oil. It is not the actual studding, per- haps, that reduces him in flesh, but dogs are the most sensitive of all animals, and very often fret and worry, and refuse food during the time of the bitch's visit, and sometimes for days thereafter. "If a bitch misses to a dog, the fault may be the dog's, or it may be hers. The dog at the time of the visit may have been a little out of sorts. At all events, the custom in a case of this sort is, that the bitch shall come free to the dog when next in sea- son. "A good champion dog of a fashionable breed is very valuable property. If, however, you pos- sess valuable dogs, always try to have yourself the very best bitches of the same breed that you can procure. You will find it a very profitable invest- ment, for you will have no difficulty in selling the offspring at a remunerative price." The Management of Stud Dogs 259 ocoooooo oooooooooooooooo OOOOCOOoOOOOOO c o o c o o p^ o o o »-'5 lo o o o o o o o o o c O O O O r-1 iri i^ lo LO ic O (M (N CO o Q H CO P^ Q D H CO >^ ^ ^ I ^' ;^ c3 ^ ^ ^ fl( -r'f^ ►r^^^^^ =« c3c«^=^Oa; ^ ^^£> p .^ CO tH O 6>sO 03 « ^ !>^ ^ fl Xi ■^ rH c CO pq 1 S -T-! m crt Ph «i W •*"] S 1— 1 ^ rt<:o OOOOGOCOCiCiC^CiCiOiOiCi'^<^OC'-l>-tr-l^r-i(M COCOOOCOoOOOOOOOCOOOCOOO^CCQi^Ci,^!^, <^05C^ 260 Forty Years Beagling Frank Forest and Charmion Ben were the only two double champions, bench and field, the latter winning five of his field trial championship points as a 13 inch hound. Ringleader, the Windholme, Imported Stoke Place Sapper and Wheatley Tru- ant were bench show champions. Uncle Sam was a field trial champion as was Hemp field's Little Dandy. Many of these hounds were under 13 inches, among them being Bannerman III/2 inches, Hempfield's Little Dandy 12 inches, and Alibi Billy. Reference has been made by some of the authorities quoted as to early measurements, mak- ing it possible that some of the earlier hounds pressed the 15 inch mark. The dates given were taken from old stud cards and are in consequence not the dates of whelping. Many of the above hounds claimed different owner- ship in the course of the careers, and in consequence as the hound grew older his stud fee was reduced. As to the markings of these dogs they were of many different colors, from markings in Colonel Lee, that made him look almost like a coach dog, to lemon and white, and finally to the black blankets of the present day, which are so popular. CHAPTER XVIII PACKS PACKS ! What a misnomer to the ardent bea- gler in the United States, who knows nothing of the Enghsh system of running and sup- porting a pack of beagles, of which there are some thirty odd packs at present hunting in England, most of which are supported by popular subscrip- tion. Xo field trials for beagles are held in Eng- land, but bench shows are held, and bi-weekly hunts are held and the animal of the chase is the hare and not the so-called American cony or cottontail rab- bit. The first pack ever hunted in the United States was imported by the grandfather of Mr. Louis A. Thebaud, of Morristown, New Jersey, about fift}^ years ago and was hunted in the vicinity of Orange, New Jersey, as Mr. Thebaud has told me. Were they beagles or bassets? Mr. The- baud's recollection of hunting, as a boy, with his grandfather, were vague as to the type of hound used; but the fact is indelibly impressed on his memory that he did hunt rabbits with his grand- father, who had imported a pack of small hounds 261 262 Forty Years Beagling from Bordeaux, France, from which place the family had originally come. The only two packs which have been hunted in this country, as subscription packs, were the Pied- mont, under the guidance of Mr. Joseph Thomas at Middleburg, Virginia, who sold most of them to the Fanhall beagles in 1918, and a pack at Mount Kisco, New York, started by Messrs. Harold Minot and Page, just previous to the World War, which killed their effort. Before going into the details of American packs and their masters, I will not dwell on the cost of, and how to maintain and run a pack, which is so admirably described in the "Trinity Foot Beagles." But I will say that due to the lack of knowledge, independence of spirit, or cost, there are no men in the United States who know how to care for and maintain a pack com- pared with the Englishmen who have handled some of our foremost American packs, like Arthur Lit- tle of the Wheatley; Joseph Powel of the Wolver; John Dickinson of the Somerset; and Harry Wat- son of Stoke Place fame, the breeder of Stoke Place Sapper, first of the Belray, next of the Fair- field and now of the White Oaks. Many of our most enthusiastic beaglers run a two-couple pack at the various field trials where pack competitions are held, and of necessity must Packs 263 be credited with being pack men, or men like Mr. C. Staley Doub of Frederick, Maryland, who has maintained a four-couple pack of bitches for many, many years. In order to maintain a pack of from eight couples up requires the breeding, raising and training of upwards of fifty puppies yearly. The English system is to *'put them out at walk," or lend them to farmers to raise, if this phrase can be so inter- preted ; and they are returned in Derby year to be broken to the pack. Mr. J. L. Kernochan, of the Hempstead Beagles is the only American who ever attempted to introduce this system in the United States. Unfortunately he died before the system could be given a fair trial in his part of the country. The National Beagle Club was the first to intro- duce pack competitions at their trials. These were held at Nanuet, New York, in 1892. Such compe- titions were eventually worked from holding two- couple pack stakes to the two, fom% and eight couple pack competitions, which are now the fea- ture of their annual trials. Pack competitions are judged differently from individual or brace stakes. In these there is no real competition, each pack being judged by its own individual work; and a large latitude is allowed from the keen-nosed leader of the pack, to those 264 Forty Years Beagling hounds who fan out on the flanks of an eight-couple pack. To see a good close working pack find and drive to a kill, is indeed a privilege for any beagler to watch. An eight-couple pack is usually worked in the field by the master and two whips on foot ; and while in competition the two-couple packs are allowed a whip besides the master, one is seldom used. Only once have I seen an eight-couple pack hunted from horseback at a field trial, and that has done without the help of whips by Arthur Little of the Wheatley, at the National Beagle trials in 1920. In the following list of packs which have been hunted as privately owned packs, competing at the National and other beagle club trials where pack stakes are held, it is not my intention to detract from such pack men as James MacAleer, Dan Summers, James P. Van Dyke, Frank S. Rader, George Goodacre, Charles F. Brooke, Fred Horns, Paul Jones and others, who have helped to make beagle history in this country, even if they have and start their two-couple packs only at field trials. Packs 265 g^ iiiii.i.. I I III, , (» »-5 5 s c'^ ^ :s ^ « p s . ^ j^^ ^ -5 ^- ^^ ^-^ C- fl ^ g^ J ^ g ? 2 =d ^ •> o g,* ^;a ^"1 -B ^ d: fi »J >5^ H & ^ i 53 ^. H^^f3q^ffiOd^H^6ff5Wtliapi^<1^ K^ ^as in the best of health. The country- man in question claim.s to have cured over thirty dogs in advanced stages of distemper by this method. The pulse of the dog, easily felt on the internal aspect of the thigh close up to the groin, should be about 90 to 100 in a full-grown, healthy animal. The respiratory movements in health are about 15 or 20. The normal temperature of the dog is from 101 degrees F., to 102 degrees F. This temperature, 292 Forty Years Beagling which is about 3 degrees higher than normal temperature in man, should not be mistaken for fever. The dog has important sweat -ghmds in the feet I'lirough the courtesy of Messrs. Hiram Card, George B. Post, James MacAleer, George F. Reed and Bradford Turpin, I have been able to locate a ver\' fc-v of the oJd norn de plumes as follows: "Rusticus" was Mr. X. Elmore. "Lillibulero" was Mr. F. C. Phoebus. "Comedy" was Mr. .J. M. Pulley. "Reicnaf" was Mr. Howard Y. Ireland. "M. H. W." was Mr. Mifflin H. Wharton. ''Bradley" was Mr. Bradford Turpin. It is to be regretted that more could not be found, but there is a limit to the old timers alive at this date, and their memorv' is not as clear as it was forty \-ears ago, most of them regretfully admit. 293 INDEX Advice to beginner, 213 "Agamak," 13, 84 Appleton, James W., 220, 223, 238, 265 Arnolt, Muss, 92 Assherton, William, 179, 185 Ashburner, W. H., 1, 4, 41, 171, 259 Bag, hanging, 286 Bateman, John, 103 Barnes, Pearce, 290 Belmont, Raymond, 265 Bench-shov/ data, 267-273 Bond, Frank A., 157, 158 Bone, 139 Borden, Spencer, 9 "Briar," 8 Bradley, Mr., 25, 39, 50, 53, 293 "Brockton," 26 Brown, 17 Brooke, C. F., 264 Burden, Arthur, 265 Brooking, 0. W., 2 Brood bitch, 74-82 Bruns, H. B., 265 Brush, 17 Buckstaff, 89, 92, 97, 98, 100, 102 Byron, 19 Card, Hiram, 172, 176-178, 180-183, 190-193, 241 Cameron, Colin, 179 Canker of the ear, 280 Caswell, John, 245, 265 "Chicasaw," 123 Chidester, P. M., 259 Childs, W. H., 54 Challoner, Mrs. David, 265 Chapman, F. W., 50, 53, 99, 167 Clark, W. S., 50, 112, 168, 171 Clucas, E. W., 265 "C, N.," 7 Cole, Reno B., 259 Cohn, A. H., 247 "Comedy," 83, 88, 119, 180, 189-191, 193, 198, 204, 209, 293 Cook, E. C, 153 Cornforth, E. O., 156, 157 "Coricon," 7 Cost of beagles, 278, 279 Cronmiller, L. P., 277 Cough remedies, 285 Coventry, Earl of, 86 "Dalg," 6 Deane, W., 229 Dickinson, J., 262 Distemper, 287-292 Dorsey, Pottinger, 4, 9, 116, 126, 179, 185, 236, 259 Doub, C. Staley, 170, 238, 263 Edwards, William, 47 Egg eating, 284 Ellis, 12 Elmore, N., 42, 52, 179, 279 Fanhall Beagles, 261, 265 Fanning, G. W., 2nd, 265 Featherstone, George, 187 Fiske, 238 Fellows, J. Otis, 92, 154, 155 "Flat," 4 P'orrest Beagle Kennels, 11 Foxcroft School Beagles, 265 Fleas, 282, 283 Flies, 285 295 296 Index Gates, W. S., 11, 278 Gambrill, R. V. N., 265 Gill, E. T., 265 Glands, 292 Goodacre, George, 264 Griffith, David, 158 "Gray, Canada," 95, 169 Haggin, L. L., 266 Haven, C. F., 225, 228, 230, 239, 241 "Hector," 142 Higginson, H. Henry, 248 "Hibernia," 9, 10, 13, 14, 15 "H., H.," 7, 8 "H., C. F.," 215, 219, 220, 221 Horns, Fred, 259, 264 "Huul," 230-234 Howard, James, 60 ISELIN, C. Oliver, Jr., 265 Jamieson, H. v., 133 Jennings, Walter, 266 Jones, M., 116 Jones, Paul, 16, 264 Judges and Judging, 119-139, 274-277 Kernochan, J. L., 12, 175, 203, 213, 252, 259, 263, 264 Kimball, F., 44 Kreuder, H. L., 11, 92, 109, 112, 113, 116, 128, 133, 151, 164, 174, 178, 185, 259, 278 Kreuger, A. C., 1, 42, 259 Laick, George, 165 Ledbury, 86 Lewis, Joseph, 102, 146, 150- 153, 259 Lillibulero, 4, 293 Lice, 281 Little, Arthur, 262, 264 Lord, F. D., 229 Loutre, 16 McAleer, James, 172, 176, 180, 182, 189, 191, 193, 259, 264, 277 McGruder, Bradley, 158 Mange, 286 Markham, 8 Metz, Peter, 277 Milais, Everett, 56, 62, 73 Minot, Harold, 261 Mayhew, 15 Morgan, E. D., 266 Mills, Dr., 58-64, 68-72, 119 M., S. P., 21 Namquoit, 14, 36 National Beagle Club, 2, 17, 21, 27, 41, 42, 90, 96, 116, 128, 182, 193, 203, 204, 213, 263 New England Beagle Club, 10, 182, 213 Nichols, Gardiner, 50 Norfolk, 237 Nom de plumes, 293 Northern Hare Club, 6 Nose, 83-117 N., H. B., 22 Orgill, Edmund, 161, 162 Ossian, 7 Packs, 261-266 Parry, A., 171 Peters, George R., 170 Peters, H. T., 9, 259, 265 Peterson, W. A., 259 Phoebus, F. C, 39-44 Phipps, J. S., 265 Phipps, H. S., 265 Post, George B., 220, 265 Powell, W. A., 259 Powell, Joseph, 262 Poison antidotes, 286 Progeny, 56-73 Pulley, J. M., 172 Pulse, 292 Puppies, 74-82 Purinton, 220 QuESTER, 20-25, 35 Quincy House, 2 Index 297 Rader, Frank, 264 Reed, G. F., 4, 11, 35-38, 98, 113, 139, 146, 149, 165, 168, 170, 190, 238, 259 Reicnaf, S., 10, 293 Remedies, 280-292 Reynal, Eugene, 265 Respiration, 292 Rogers, G. W., 163 Root, 223 Rockefeller, W. G., 265 R., O. W., 4 Rowett, General, 14, 42, 52, 178 Robinson, F. B., 13 Rusticus, 4, 293 SCHELLHAS, H. F., 279 Sedge, 4 Size, 39-55 Shotta, Charles, 116 Shallcross, Thomas, 16, 277 Skin diseases, 280 Sloane, 4 Smith, C. 0., 142, 164, 228, 236 Smith, Chetwood, 16, 265 Somerset Beagles, 44, 204 Sores, 286 Speed, 83-118 Subscriber, 204 Summers, D. F., 172, 190, 259, 264 Steffen, Louis, 259 Stoddard, J. F., 105, 110, 113 Standard, 119-127 Staples, Gordon, 74 Stonehenge, 8, 184 Stud hounds, 253-260 Stud fees, 259 Student, 21, 193 Sturgill, W. F., 283 Styne, E. L., 143 Tallman, H. B., 155, 166, 238 Taylor, Major, 125 Temperature, 292 Thebaud, Louis A., 261 Thomas, Joseph, 262, 265 T., L. H., 7, 8 Toy beagles, 154-160 Truitt, E. E., 164 Training, 20-38, 198-203 Turpin, Bradford, 54, 95, 101, 277 Twadell, L. H., 42, 51 Type, 172-197, 204-212 Uncas, 21, 28 Van Dyke, James P., 264 Vogel, Charles A., 277 Wade, Mr., 57, 63 Watson, Harry, 262 W., A. W., 18 Weight, 161-171 Wharton, G. M., 192, 213, 216, 219, 221-224, 246 Wheatley Kennels, 260, 265, 278 Wiley, Victor, 259 Wixom, C. S., 37, 163, 169, 171 Windholme Kennels, 9, 265 Worms, 284 ZiMMER, F. B., 8, 54, 119, 139, 144, 166, 215 V'/ebster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine Cummings Schoo! of Veierinany ivledicine at North .,