To buyers I would say: Do not expect to get everything for nothing. A flyer is not to be had for twopence ha'penny, and if you beat down the price too much you must not expect perfection. Some people seem to think that they can get a dog with every conceivable point for nothing. He must be noseless, with champion head, enormous coat and ears, perfect markings, etc., etc., and all for £10! If they go to work in this way it is their own fault if they get swindled. These perfect dogs are as rare as the eggs of the Great Auk, and once a man finds such a dog he does not sell him in a hurry, and certainly not for £10. Remember the story of the French lady who asked another lady to help her to find a man-servant. He was to be tall, handsome, good-tempered, sober, cheerful, obliging, strong, hard-working, with perfect manners, refined, never in the way, yet always on the spot when wanted, clever, economical, and trustworthy.

The friend listened attentively, and when the list of his perfections was exhausted, she said: "Well, my dear, I will do my best, but if I find your man, I marry him!"

It is hard for an honest man to see the swindlers flourishing and know that he could do the same if he adopted the same methods. He often gets just as bad a reputation as the swindlers, owing to their kind offices, as it is always their policy to purge the fancy of all inconveniently truthful and honest persons. With this object they are perfectly unscrupulous in the means they will take to achieve his downfall. Sooner or later, however, they overreach themselves.

It is often a case of the old story of a horse stealer eventually hanged for stealing a halter. The most artful swindlers get careless, and after doing the most dastardly things with impunity get caught out and disqualified for some trumpery bit of cheating which would not have seemed worth their while. The people I am sorry for are the novices who get let in for doing something on the instigation of others which they do not know to be against Kennel Club rules, and who are easy victims, as they take no precautions against discovery.

Before leaving the subject I wish to say a word about America. Over here America is supposed to be full of millionaires. New York suggests glorious visions of golden bags held by easy-going spendthrifts, surrounded by halos of golden ignorance. Whatever may be the truth of this England is certainly full of "flatcatchers " who imagine somewhat erroneously that America is full of flats. Fanciers look on New York as a happy dumping ground into which they can shoot the rubbish which their own countrymen will not buy. America is considered the goal of misfits, and when I object to this I am considered very unpatriotic. The first-class dogs which find their way to America are few and far between, and even these are usually either long past their best or else non-stockgetters. There are certain dogs which are from the first hall-marked American Market. The refuge for almost all decent non-stockgetters is to be rushed through as champions and ship-ped to America out of the way, where they are immediately boomed as marvellous sires and undefeated champions.

I strongly advise all Americans who wish to purchase these undefeated champions to write to our Kennel Club, 7 Grafton Street, Bond Street, London, enclosing 50 cents and asking for an official list of the dog's wins, the names of the judges, and a copy of the pedigree. They will find it well worth their while. Newspaper reports are often not worth a farthing in these cases. One or two dealers, judges, and reporters combine to run the dogs and share the profits and go out dollar fishing with all sails set If ever a really good dog is exported, the dollar fishers are furious and complain their market is being ruined, and steps are immediately taken to stop the dog's American show-career at all costs. Many are the dodges employed to that end

Judges are systematically warned off, specialist clubs are worked up by false information. The purchasers are written to and made dissatisfied, and I have even known the breeder of a dog write to an American purchaser and run it down as worthless because she had been foolish enough to sell it for nothing as a puppy and it had turned out a flyer in other hands.

I was glad to see that a gentleman got £100 damages for this sort of libel the other day.

Owing to the industrious offices of the lower-class dealers, America sometimes passes luck when luck comes her way, and owing to the erroneous idea of type to which she has been educated in some breeds, fails to recognise good from bad.

It is a dealer's business to foster ignorance, and America has been carefully taught to admire the wrong types so that we may keep our best dogs and yet please our customers with indifferent ones.

There are professional "scavengers" who attend auction sales, go round breeders9 kennels, picking up all the cheap rubbish and all the weeds that are to be had. Into their dust carts go the accidental winners, the unsound breeders, and, in fact, all the failures. Their names are changed and they enrich the foreign market.

The dogs which often become champions over in America after leaving here are a revelation of the class of dogs that can win there, and I have been amazed to see brood bitches, which would never reach the shows at all here, taking firsts and winners in the United States. The first three dogs I sold to America were sent as pets and sold only for £10 to £15 each, and the next thing I knew was that they were full-blown champions and had changed hands at something like three figures.

For the good of the breed I want all Americans to read carefully what I have written as to type and to study the pictures of the faults which will be found in my diagrams. I hope they will look well at the best of the dogs and try and keep them in mind as what has got to be aimed at in breeding and judging.