"In browns the old champion 'Xeno-phon' is, to my mind, the best tabby of any colour ever seen in the show pen; his picture is before me as I pen these lines. I well remember giving him the first and special for best cat in the show; since that time how many times he has won the championship I cannot say. His loss will be great, both to the fancy and also to Lady Decies. 'Flying Fox' (the property of Messrs. Ainsley and Graham), Mrs. Pratt's 'Tommy Jacks,' and Mrs. Oliver's 'Danefield Vera' are all good ones; but in this colour of tabbies the competition is not half so keen as it is in silver and orange.

A Corner Of The Bossington Catteries

A Corner Of The Bossington Catteries {Photo: A. J. Anderson & Co, Luton.)

"One standard governs all the three colours. The ground or body colour must be pure, and clear from any other colour. In a great many well-marked ones I meet in the show pen the rusty brown tinge on nose, ears, and brindled in the body markings puts them out of the prize list. It is a great mistake to cross the silver tabby with the brown tabby or with one that has in its pedigree the brown tabby blood. If the black markings need a darker shade, my advice is use for once the self black. If you do not get the desired effect the first cross, the youngsters mated together have been known to breed some really good ones. By all means, if possible, get into your silvers green eyes. I am aware that the standard says green or orange eyes; but in all cases where the competition is very keen the orange eyes are a distinct disadvantage.

"In the breeding of the orange tabby you need to be very careful. The use of the tortoiseshell has been found to be very advantageous; in fact, some of our best orange tabbies have been bred from the tortoiseshells. The mixing of these two varieties, if done carefully, will bring success on both sides ; but care should be taken not to bring too much of the tortoise-shell into the orange, or, on the other hand, carry too much orange into the tortoiseshell. The pale yellow eye in an orange is a great point against it winning in the keen competition which we have at the present time.

"The eyes must be a very rich orange, to match the body colour, which should be two or three shades lighter than the markings.

"In the browns we have two distinct colours - the sable colour and the old brown colour. The old cat that I have referred to of Lady Decies' was a sable tabby. No doubt this colour is the more taking of the two, but both are useful, and the old brown colour must not by any means be overlooked in our liking for the sable colour. In all the colours of tabbies we find that the chief bad points are the white lips in the sables mostly, the white spots in the chest in our orange, and the rusty mousy colour in our silvers. The colour of eyes, too, in our browns and sables is far from what it ought to be. Some eyes are a pale green, some a pale yellow. All this proves that the breeders at times go too far in the outcrossing, and bring in with it faults that crop up when those crossings are nearly forgotten.

"In the breeding of browns nothing more is needed than what we have - namely, the sable colour ones and the old coloured browns. The blending together of these two colours will put any breeder on the highway to success. I am more than surprised that this variety is not stronger than it is at the present time. I am sure, of all the race and colours of tabbies they are the easiest to breed, and yet we find they are the fewest in number at our big shows. In looking for a real good tabby, do not miss the chest, feet, and tail. We have a great lot of good cats if body markings and colour were all that was needed, but when it comes to the ringed tail, the rings around the chest, and the markings right down to the toe ends, then they 'come a cropper,' as we say in the North.

Tortoiseshell Male Samson.

Tortoiseshell Male " Samson." Owned by Lady Alexander. (Photo: Russell & Sons, Crystal Palace.)

Black Manx And Royal Siamese Cats

Black Manx And Royal Siamese Cats (From a Painting by W. Luker, Jun.)

"One more important point before I finish. What a painful task it is to the judge to find very good all-round exhibits that have plain head markings. The face and cheeks are right in ground colour; and the pencil markings on the fore-face, running into the markings behind the ears, and those on the cheeks are of the faintest colour, and in many cases broken. Such head markings and colour spoil many otherwise really good cats.

"I now come to the tortoiseshells - a mixture of orange and black. I have dealt with mixing of colours in my remarks on the orange tabbies. All I need say here is, mind that in your tortoise-shells you do not get the orange markings. The most successful breeder in the North of this variety - the late Mr. Young, of Harrogate - made tabby markings in a tortoiseshell a disqualification in the show pen. The presence of any white is also a very great drawback, and this is often found in small patches on the chest or on the belly. You can have both too light and too much orange colour, or you can have them too dark or too much black. Equal colours and well mixed is about the right thing, with good orange eyes. At the present time we have Lady Alexander's and Mrs. Herring's males - 'Champion Samson' and 'Champion King Saul.' Females are very strong, and well represented in Mrs. Pratt's 'Tib of Rochdale' and Messrs. Graham and Ainsley's 'Sunine.'

"The tortoise shell-and-white is a most lovely and taking variety, commonly called the 'chintz-and-white' in our homesteads. Very few and far between are good specimens to be found, and yet in the show pens these tri-colour cats have a great advantage over their fellow-felines. Lady Alexander has exhibited some splendid tortoise-shell - and - whites, 'Bal-lochmyle Otter' being one of the best (see illustration, page 289). A very common drawback in this variety is the mixture of tabby with the orange and white, instead of the patches of black. I feel sure if this variety were only taken up more we should see a remarkable advancement both in markings and in colour. The patches - white, orange, and black - in an ideal specimen should be, if possible, about equal in number, and well placed on the body, head, and feet ; they look very charming when you see a really good one. I hope a few more fanciers and breeders of short-haired cats will be coming forward, so that the number exhibited at our shows may steadily increase."

In this hope I do most heartily join, for although my name is mostly connected with the long-haired breeds, I am such a lover of all cats that I feel as anxious for one variety as another to obtain friends and favour. It is specially in the South of England that the interest in our short-haired breeds is on the wane, and it behoves all fanciers to strive to assist in keeping alive the love of the British cat in our midst.

Mrs. A. M. Stead's Brown Tabby

Mrs. A. M. Stead's Brown Tabby (Photo: E. N. Collins, South Norwood.)

Mrs. Collingwood's James II.

Mrs. Collingwood's " James II." (Photo : Russell & Sons, Crystal Palace.)

In 1902 Sir Claud and Lady Alexander most generously guaranteed the whole of these classes, and although they themselves made a very numerous entry, yet there was a deficit to pay of several pounds, a thing which ought not to be.

I find that the Manx, Siamese, and blues are generally able to take care of themselves at shows, or they have clubs and secretaries who look after their interests; but the " common or garden "puss needs a kindllv hand to assist in drawing him to the front, for, as that well-known lover of "the domestic cat," Harrison Weir, writes, "Why should not the cat that sits purring in front of us before the fire be an object of interest, and be selected for its colour, markings, and form?"

Ben My Chree.

"Ben-My-Chree." Owned by Miss G. E. Sillar. (Photo: J. W. Thomas, Colwyn Bay.)