It is not always that the best blue-eyed Whites or orange-eyed Blues are bred from parents who are both possessed of these desirable points, so don't distress yourself if you have an odd-eyed White queen, but send her to a good blue-eyed White stud, and some in your litter may yet have the correct-coloured eyes.

It is very seldom, if ever, that a Blue stud cat retains the deep tones of orange or yellow in his eyes. These get lighter with age and service. This fact does not, however, affect the progeny. Orange eyes are rarer in Blue cats of a pale tint than in those of darker colour, and it is more difficult to obtain absolute soundness of colour in light Blues than in those of a medium shade.

In order to obtain the nice rich tawny colour so desirable in brown Tabbies, one is tempted to try mating with an Orange. I have found, however, that the experiment has resulted in a description of tortoiseshell Tabby which is no good for breeding or showing purposes. If your Tabby queen is rather drab in tone, select a good sire of the golden brown order, and you will be rewarded.

I would never recommend fanciers to try and breed from a queen that has confirmed snuffles. There is no doubt that the kittens are affected by this complaint in the mother, and are weak and ailing. Snuffles can doubtless be cured in young cats, but when this distressing disease has been of long standing, it is really hopeless.

A good tortoiseshell female Persian is a splendid investment, but care should be taken to obtain a really fine specimen. There are several cats called tortoiseshell, which are really tortoiseshell Tabbies, others that have streaks of colour running into each other. A good Tortoiseshell is a combination of red, yellow, and black patches, without any white. A Tortoiseshell queen can be mated with advantage to almost any coloured sire, and her litters may, and probably will, be very varied. I think that even the rising generation in the cat world know how rare a thing is a Tortoiseshell Tom!

It is false economy to purchase cheap and indifferent queens, if you intend to go in for breeding and exhibiting. 1 am inclined to think that more depends on the quality of the dam than the sire. Certain it is that the kittens more frequently take after their mother as regards colour. A Black female mated to a Blue stud seldom has more than one like the father, and I have frequently known the whole litter to be of the mother's dusky hue.

It is always advisable before sending your queen to mate to find out the pedigree of the stud she is to visit, so that in-breeding may be avoided. I am not against one mating of father and daughter, or mother and son, for I have known excellent results from this arrangement, but the experiment must not be repeated. Avoid entirely the mating of brothers with sisters.

If your young queen has shown signs of wanting to mate more than twice, do not keep her back again, although she may be under a year old.

Any one possessing a well marked silver tabby Persian female ought to make a point of mating her with a silver Tabby male, avoiding Chinchillas and shaded Silvers, as such a cross weakens the markings, and kittens of the "wrong class" and "no class" descriptions are the result. There is certainly an opening for breeders of silver Tabbies.

It is a great mistake to breed Smokes with Blues, as in this case you lose the lovely white undercoat which is the chief glory of this handsome breed. Like to like should be the order of the day as regards Smokes.

Regarding the mating of Blues I would advise you to study soundness of colour in the first place, then shape of head. I like a massive frame in a male cat, with plenty of breadth and bone.

It is a great mistake to allow your male cat to mate until he is a year old. If he is used at stud earlier he will probably fail you later on.

In announcing the despatch of a queen on a visit to a stud cat be careful to write very distinctly. A hamper containing a lady visitor recently reached me, and I discovered a letter enclosed, but I could only make a vague guess at the signature, and the rather lengthy address was still more unintelligible.

Some cat fanciers imagine that the number of kittens in a litter depends on the length of time the queen remains with the stud. This is an erroneous idea. Nor do I believe in colour feeding in regard to cats and their offspring.

Some queens are of such a timid nature that the very fact of sending them by rail to a strange place will completely upset them, and the visit will have no satisfactory results. In such cases it may be best to try and come to some arrangement with the owner of the stud, and perhaps for the consideration of a kitten in addition to the fee, the male cat may be lent for a few days.

I think I am right in stating that as regards registering visits and births in the cat papers, it is the owner of the stud cat who sends the notice of the visit and the proprietor of the queen that announces the arrival of the family. It is just as well to have some such rule amongst fanciers, otherwise, as is sometimes the case, a duplicate advertisement appears in the same column.

When your queen returns from visiting a stud cat, it is well to keep her shut up safely for a few days. Cats are often very restless after their return home, and the impression is often given that the visit has been fruitless. It is generally at the end of a month that one is able to judge whether puss is intending to present us with a family or not.

I do not approve of specials being offered in the form of free visits to stud cats. This savours too much of self-advertisement, and does not certainly incur much sacrifice.

Try and avoid sending your queens away to mate on a Saturday, in case of delays, as poor puss may spend her Sabbath at a railway station.

It is well to keep a register of all the queens visiting your stud cats, filling in the date of arrival and departure. Such a record often comes in useful when wishing to purchase a kitten of a particular strain, or in answering inquiries from fanciers.

Senders of queens to stud cats should attach a label inside the hamper or box, stating the name and address of the owner, for should two or three visitors arrive in the same day, there is a fear of complication amongst the cats and their travelling trunks.