DOGS-THE BEST BREEDS.

Docs are quite generally kept in both town and country; and as there is a great difference in breeds, as to the profit and pleasure which they are capable of affording their owners, it is certainly important to know which, in those respects, are the most valuable.

THE SHEPHERD-DOGS AND THE TERRIERS are quite generally considered as the best varieties. Buffon, the eminent naturalist, thus spoke of the shepherd-dog:

"This animal, faithful to man, will always preserve a portion of his empire and a degree of superiority over other beings. He reigns at the head of his flock, and makes himself better understood than the voice of the shepherd. Safety, order, and discipline are the fruits of his vigilance. They are a people submitted to his management, whom he conducts and protects, and against whom he never applies force but for the preservation of good order. If we consider that this animal, notwithstanding his ugliness, and his wild and melancholy look, is superior in instinct to all others; that he has a decided character, in which education has comparatively little share; that he is the only animal born perfectly trained, for the service of others; that, guided by natural powers alone, he applies himself to the care of our flocks, a duty which he executes with singular assiduity, vigilance, and fidelity; that he conducts them with an admirable intelligence, which is a part and portion of himself; that his sagacity astonishes, at the same time that it gives repose to his master, while it requires great time and trouble to instruct other dogs for the purposes to which they are destined; if we reflect on these facts, we shall be confirmed in the opinion that the shepherd's dog is the true dog of nature, the stock and model of the whole species." The American Agriculturist gives the following characteristic illus

tration:

"The master of the bitch purchased at a fair some eighty sheep, and having occasion to stay a day longer, sent them forward, and directed his faithful Colley to drive them home, a distance of about seventeen miles. The poor bitch, when a few miles on the road, dropped two whelps; but, faithful to her charge, she drove the sheep on a mile or two farther -then, allowing them to stop, she returned for her pups, which she carried some two miles in advance of the sheep, and thus she continued to do, alternately carrying her own young ones, and taking charge of the flock, till she reached home. The manner of her acting on this occasion was gathered by the shepherd from various persons who had observed her on the road."

The following genial and happy view of the comparative merits of the shepherd and terrier dogs, from the pen of Lewis F. Allen, we take pleasure in laying before our readers:

"We always loved a dog; and it almost broke our little heart, when but a trudging schoolboy, in our first jacket and trowsers, our kind mother made us take back the young puppy that had hardly got its eyes open, which we one day brought home, to be kept until it was fit to be taken from its natural nurse. We are now among the boys, John, Tom, and Harry; and intend to give them the benefit of our own ex

perience in this line, as well as to say a few words to the elder brothers-and fathers, even-if they do not turn up their noses in contempt of our instruction, on a subject so much beneath their notice.

We say that we love dogs: not all dogs, however. But we love some dogs—of the right breeds. There is probably no other civilized country so dog-ridden as this, both in

'Mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound,
And curs of low degree.'

"Goldsmith, kind man that he was, must have been a capital judge of dogs, like many other poetical gentlemen. Still, other men than poets are sometimes good judges and great lovers of dogs; but the mass of people are quite as well satisfied with one kind of dog as with another, so that it be a dog; and they too often indulge in their companionship, much to the annoyance of good neighborhood, good morals, and, indeed, of propriety, thrift, and common justice. Of all these we have nothing to say here, at least. Ours is a 'free country'-for dogs, if for nothing else. Nor shall we discuss the various qualities, or the different breeds. of dogs for sporting purposes. We never go out shooting; nor do we take a hunt-having no taste that way. Perhaps in this we are to be pitied; but we are content as it is. Therefore we shall let the hounds and pointers, and setters, and springers, and the land and the water spaniels, all alone. The mastiffs, and the bull-dogs, too, we shall leave to those who like them. The poodle, and the little lapdog of other kinds also, we shall turn over to the kindness of those who we are sorry for them, in having nothing better to interest themselves about, -take a pleasure in keeping and tending them.

"We want to mix in a little usefulness, as well as amusement, in the way of a dog; and after a whole life, thus far, of dog companionship, and the trial of pretty much every thing in the line of a dog-from the great Newfoundland, of a hundred pounds' weight, down to the squeaking little whiffet of six-we have for many years past, settled down into the practical belief that the small ratting-terrier is the only one, except the shepherd-dog, we care to keep; and of these, chiefly, we shall speak.

"There are many varieties of the terrier. Some are large, weighing forty or fifty pounds, rough-haired, and savage-looking. There is the bull-terrier, of less size, not a kindly, well-disposed creature to strangers, but irascibly inclined, and unamiable in his deportment; still useful as a watch-dog, and a determined enemy to all vermin whatever. Then, again, are the small rat-terriers, as they are termed, weighing from a dozen to twenty pounds; some with rough, long, wiry hair; a fierce, whiskered muzzle; of prodigious strength for their size; wonderful instinct and sagacity; kind in temper; and possessing valuable qualities, bating a lack of beauty in appearance. They are of all colors, but are generally uniform in their color, whatever it be. Another kind still is, the smooth terrier, of the same size as the last; a very pretty dog indeed, with a kinder disposition to mankind, yet equally destructive to vermin, and watchful to the premises which they inhabit, or of whatever else is put under their charge. The fidelity of the terrier to his master is wonderful; equal, if not superior, to any dog whatever. In courage and

perseverance, in hardihood, and in feats of daring, he has hardly an equal; and in general usefulness, no dog can can compare with him.

THE SCOTCH TERRIER.

Sir Walter Scott, who was a great friend to dogs, as well as a nice and critical judge of their qualities, used to tell this story :-When a young man, first attending, as an advocate, the Jedburgh assizes, a notorious burglar engaged Sir Walter to defend him on his trial for housebreaking in the neighborhood. The case was a hard one; the proof direct and conclusive; and no ingenuity of the defense could avoid the conviction of the culprit. The matter was settled beyond redemption; and before he left for his imprisonment, or transportation, the thief requested Sir Walter to come into his cell. On meeting, the fellow frankly told his counsel that he felt very grateful to him for his efforts to clear him; that he had done the best he could; but the proof was too palpable against him. He would gladly reward Sir Walter for his services; but he had no money, and could only give him a piece of advice, which might, perhaps, be serviceable hereafter. Sir Walter heard him, no doubt, with some regret at losing his fee; but concluding to hear what he had to say: 'You are a housekeeper, Mr. Scott. For security to your doors, use nothing but a common lock-if rusty and old, no matter; they are quite as hard to pick as any others. (Neither Chubbs' nor Hobbs' non-pickable locks were then invented.) Then provide yourself with a small rat-terrier, and keep him in your house at night. There is no safety in a mastiff or bull-dog, or in a large dog of any breed. They can always be appeased and quieted, and burglars understand them; but a terrier can neither be terrified nor silenced; nor do we attempt to break in where one is known to be kept.' Sir Walter heeded the advice, and, in his housekeeping experience, afterward, confirmed the good qualities of the terrier, as related to him by the burglar. He also commemorated the conversation by the following not exceedingly poetical couplet:

'A terrier dog and a rusty key,

Was Walter Scott's first Jedburgh fee.'

"The terrier has a perfect, thorough, unspeakable instinct for, and hatred to all kinds of vermin. He takes to rats and mice as naturally as a cat. He will scent out their haunts and burrows. He will lie for hours by their places of passage, and point them with the sagacity of a pointer at a bird. He is as quick as lightning, in pouncing upon them, when in sight, and rarely misses them when he springs. A single bite settles the matter; and where there are several rats found together, a dog will frequently dispatch half a dozen of them, before they can get twenty feet from him. A dog of our own has killed that number, before they could get across the stable-floor. In the grain-field, with the harvesters, a terrier will catch hundreds of field-mice in a day; or in

the hay-field, he is equally destructive. With a woodchuck, a raccoon, or any thing of their size-even a skunk, which many dogs avoid-he engages, with the same readiness that he will a rat. The night is no bar to his vigils. He has the sight of an owl, in the dark. Minks and weasels are his aversion, as much as other vermin. He will follow the first into the water, till he exhausts him with diving, and overtakes him in swimming. He is a hunter, too. He will tree a squirrel, or a raccoon, as readily as the best of sporting dogs. He will catch, and hold a pig, or any thing not too large or heavy for him. He will lie down on your garment, and watch it for hours; or by any thing else left in his charge. He will play with the children, and share their sports as joyfully as a dumb creature can do; and nothing can be more affectionate, kind, and gentle among them. He is cleanly, honest, and seldom addicted to tricks of any kind.

"We prefer the high-bred, smooth, English terrier, to any other variety. They are rather more gentle in temper, and very much handsomer in appearance, than the rough-haired kind; but perhaps no better in their useful qualities. We have kept them for years; we keep them now; and no reasonable inducement would let us part with them. A year or two ago, having accidentally lost our farm terrier, and nothing remaining on the place but our shepherd-dog, the buildings soon swarmed with rats. They were in and about every thing. During the winter, the men who tended the horses and cattle, at their nightly rounds of inspection before going to bed, would kill, with their clubs, three or four, in the barns and stables, every evening. But still the rats increased, and they became unendurable. They got into the grain mows, where they burrowed, and brought forth with a fecundity second only to the frogs of Egypt. They gnawed into the granaries. They dug into the dairy. They entered the meat barrels. They carried off the eggs from the hen-nests. They stole away and devoured, the young ducks and chickens. They literally came into the "kneadingtroughs" of the kitchen. Oh, the rats were intolerable! Traps were of no use. Arsenic was innocuous- they wouldn't touch it. Opportunity favored us, and we got two high-bred, smooth English terriers—a dog and a slut. Then commenced such a slaughter as we seldom see. The rats had got bold. The dogs caught them daily by dozens, as they came out from their haunts fearless of evil, as before. As they grew more shy, their holes were watched, and every morning dead rats were found about the premises. The dogs, during the day, pointed out their holes. Planks were removed, nests were found, and the rats, young and old, killed, instanter. Hundreds on hundreds were slaughtered, in the first few weeks; and in a short time, the place was mostly rid of them, until enough only are left to keep the dogs "in play," and to show that in spite of all precaution, they will harbor wherever there is a thing to eat, and a possible place of covert for them to burrow."

To have the terrier in full perfection, it is important that the breed be pure. We are so prone to mix up every thing we get, in this country, that it is sometimes difficult to get any thing exactly as it should be; but a little care will provide us in this particular. He should be prop

erly trained, too, when young; that is, to mind what is said to him. His intelligence will be equal to all your wants in the dog line; but he should not be fooled with. His instincts are sure. And, with a good education, the terrier will prove all you need in a farm, and a watchdog. We speak from long experience and observation.

The shepherd-dog is another useful, almost indispensable, creature on the sheep or dairy farm. To the flock-master he saves a world of labor in driving and gathering the flocks together, or from one field, or place,

to another. To the sheep-drover, also, he is worth a man at least; and in many cases can do with a flock what a man cannot do. But for this labor he requires training, and a strict, thorough education by those who know how to do it. He is a peaceable, quiet creature; good for little else than driving, and on a stock farm will save fifty times his cost and keeping every year. He is a reasonably good watch-dog, also; but he has neither the instinct nor sagacity of the terrier in that duty. To keep him in his best estate for his own peculiar work he should not be troubled with other labors, as it distracts his attention from his peculiar duties. We had a remarkably good dog of this kind a few years since. He was worth the services of a stout boy in bringing up the cattle and sheep until an idle boy or two in the neighborhood decoyed him out in cooning" a few nights during one autumn, in which he proved a most capital hunter, and after that he became worthless as a cattle dog. He was always rummaging around among the trees, barking at birds, squirrels, or any live thing that he could find; and no man could coax him back to the dull routine of his duty. A shepherd-dog should never go a hunting.

We would not be understood as condemning every thing else excepting the dogs we have named for farm use. The Newfoundland and the mastiff are enormously large dogs, and possessed of some noble qualities. They have performed feats of sagacity and fidelity which have attracted universal admiration; but, three to one, if you have them