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be better than any of his own, he would purchase it. Trimmer, Bellona Vandal, Pincers, Old Jock, Trap, Grove Nettle, all belonged to him, and the three last he obtained when their show days were over in order to allow them to live quietly and well cared for to the end of their time. But with all the money Mr. Murchison expended on his dogs, it was far below the amount that has been paid to found a kennel at the present time.

A short time ago an interesting note appeared in the Fox Terrier Chronicle, relative to the formation of a kennel of terriers, and, being evidently inspired, is worth reproduction. Mr. S. J. Stephens, of Acton, was desirous of becoming an exhibitor and breeder of prize fox terriers, and at the Fox Terrier Club's Show at Oxford, in the autumn of 1892, he decided to purchase, if possible, the five bitches, Kate Cole and Ethel Newcome, belonging to Mr. J. C. Tinne; Vicety and Valteline, from Messrs. Vicary, and Pamphlet from Messrs. Castle and Shannon.

"Mr. Tinne was first asked what he would take for his brace of bitches, and replied, £500. Mr. Stephens offered four. Mr. Tinne then altered his mind, and withdrew Kate Cole, but said he would part with Ethel for £150, and two of her pups by Vis-à-vis. Mr. Stephens made another

proposal, which was accepted; he obtained one pup out of this litter, and another out of a litter by Stipendiary. At Shrewsbury show Mr. Stephens bought Vicety and Valteline from Mr. Vicary, and from Messrs. Castle and Shannon he got Pamphlet. To Mr. Clouting he gave £100 for Science, which won several prizes at the Crystal Palace, and beat Despoiler, under Mr. E. M. Southwell. The idea then occurred to Mr. Stephens that he would like Stipendiary, so he wired to Mr. Taylor, of Bridgnorth, for his price, which was £200, and that was promptly paid. Having now acquired some good bitches, Valteline among them, and a famous stud dog, Mr. Stephens thought he would like a great show dog, so he did not leave Mr. Vicary alone till he bought Vice Regal. The next purchase was Charlton Verdict. At the last sale of Mr. F. Burbidge's fox terriers in the spring of 1893, Hunton Justice was knocked down to Mr. Stephens for £84. He made himself a limit of £2000 to set up a first-rate kennel, and the last time he totted down the cost of his purchases, they came to a few pounds under 1800. He told us himself that the first week he advertised his stud dogs, he received £40 in fees." Since that time Mr. Stephens says he has had no reason to regret, even from the purely pecuniary point of view, the

big investment he made in fox terriers, and the fee of 10 he obtains for Vice Regal is almost an unheard of sum where the use of a terrier is concerned.

How different this is from the manner in which the writer and others have formed their kennels. Mine cost me about £25 all told, and from Riot, a bitch by Old Trap (or said to be), bought for £5, Crack (brother to Trimmer), purchased for £15, and the cost of a stud fee or two, I formed a very fair kennel indeed, and bred dogs which did far more than their share of winning, including at least a couple that were about the best of their day. Crack I sold for £5 more than I gave for him, then purchased Mac II. for £16, good enough to win the first and cup at Birmingham, beating all the cracks of the day, in 1871, got fresh blood from him, and a certain amount of notoriety in addition.

But the prices of terriers have advanced since that time, one worth £10 then would probably fetch £100 or more now, for the very reason that more prizes are to be won with fox terriers, and if at Birmingham and other big shows in the open classes less money is offered now than then, the specialist club shows make up for the deficiency with supernumerary classes and special prizes. For instance, at the show held at Oxford, recently

alluded to, Mr. Tinne's bitch, Kate Cole, won £86 in prizes, Messrs. Vicary's (now Mr. Stephens') Vice Regal took £60, and altogether about £120 were awarded the Vicary's in prizes to their various dogs.

Again, far more fox terriers are bred now than was the case twenty-five years ago, indeed, when one goes carefully and seriously through the registers at the Kennel Club, the figures appear to be quite astounding. The regulation fee is 1s., but it is not as a rule the custom to register a dog of any kind until it is fairly well grown, and appears likely to turn out good enough to keep; so I fancy a fair average to take will be, say, one in four born come to be "named and entered at the Kennel Club." From 1880 to the middle of 1892, no fewer than 18,000 fox terriers were registered at Cleveland-row, and assuming, as I have suggested, only one in four pupped would be sent, we have a grand total of 72,000 fox terriers bred in a little over eleven years. These are however not all, for very many more are bred and reared by people who are not exhibitors— dogs bred for hunting and other purposes-and who know nothing about shows, the Kennel Club, and registration. Taking such into consideration I should say that something approaching 9,000 fox terriers are bred in the United Kingdom each year,

and it is strange so few perfect ones are bred amongst these thousands. Surely there never was such a popular dog, and he, unlike his noble master, does not appear to become spoiled by flattery, and by the adulation of the wealthy. In manners he is the same he always was, his eyes brighten and he springs up to attention when he hears the cry "Rats!" now when he is worth £200 just as he did when he was a comparative street dog, and worth less than a five pound note.

As I have already hinted, in appearance he has changed rather; at present he is a somewhat leggy, flat-ribbed dog, and is as a rule deficient in expression and character compared with what he was in the early days. Still, Major How, of near Gloucester, shows every now and then as terrier-like dogs as the best of the older race, his Stardens Sting and Stardens King to wit. Messrs. Vicary, too, have many dogs abounding with character in their kennels, some of them, however, higher on the legs than I like. The Messrs. Clarke's champion Result and their Rachel were terriers, but this kennel has not produced much of note since I wrote the " History of the Fox Terrier," whilst another kennel, which to my mind has produced the best style of terrier of modern times, that of the late Mr. F. Burbidge, is now reckoned with the "has

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