principle of “give and take” will be adopted.  It used to be the ambition of every breeder (or, at least, most of them), to produce a winner, rather than the production of a line of dogs of good uniform type, of good average salable quality, but most have lived long enough to see that this has not paid as well in money or expected results as where similar endeavors have been directed towards the production of good all-round dogs, always striving to advance their dogs to a higher grade of excellence.  In this way in nearly every instance prize winning dogs have been produced, and there is this peculiarity noticeable in this breed, that any one, whether he be a breeder of the greatest number, or a very poor man owning only one or two in his kitchen kennel, possesses an equal chance of producing the winner of the blue.  The breeder of today has a far easier time than in the early days of the dog when type was not as pronounced or fixed, and when considerable inbreeding of necessity had to be resorted to.  In almost all parts of the country stud dogs of first class lineage are obtainable and the general public are educated sufficiently to understand the good points of the dog.  I think the breeding of this dog appeals to a wider class of people than any other breed, from the man of wealth who produces the puppies to be given away as wedding presents or Christmas gifts, down to the lone widow, or the man incapacitated for hard work, who must do something to keep the wolf from the door, and who finds in the raising of these charming little pets a certain source of income and a delightful occupation combined.  I do not think that any one may apprehend that the market will ever be overstocked, for as the dog becomes known, the desire for possession among all classes will be correspondingly increased, and as he is strictly an American product, no importation from Europe can possibly supply winners, or specially good dogs, as is the case with almost all other breeds.  And the fact is demonstrated that dogs of A 1 quality can be produced on American soil.

There are two or three subjects that demand the most careful consideration at the hands of the breeder, and to which I am afraid in many cases not particular enough attention is given.  I refer in the first place to the question of inbreeding, an admitted necessity in the early history of the dog, but in the writer’s estimation very harmful and much to be discouraged at the present time.  I will yield to no man in the belief that the fact is absolutely and scientifically true that close consanguineous breeding is the most powerful means of determining character and establishing type, in many instances justifiable as the only correct way to fix desirable qualities, both physical and mental, but extreme care must be exercised that both parties to the union must be of good quality and not share the same defects, and where it is evident that the extra good qualities on the one side more than outbalance the defects of the other, and extreme precaution must always be paid to avoid carrying this system too far.