and, in course of time, that worst of all faults, running after and chasing game, will be acquired. It is, indeed, the very nature of the dog to run down and chase game, and it is that propensity which requires to be checked in the very earliest lessons that are given to the dog on its introduction to game; for if properly checked at the outset, the lesson may be the more effectually and permanently taught. Teaching a dog to come to heel whenever required is of equal importance to that of "down charge;" the former should be first taught, and then the latter will be very much the more easily acquired; in fact, the one is in a great measure dependent on the other, and there is no doubt that if the puppy be properly taught in its earliest lessons to come to heel whenever the signal to do so is given, the other lesson to "down charge" on the report of the gun will be a very easy task. It is highly desirable that as early as possible in the course of the puppy's instruction it should be taken out with a steady old dog; and as the lessons advance, the practice should be continued until the puppy begins to hunt and point of its own accord, when the services of the old dog may be dispensed with. It is, however, advisable at first in this lesson to take but one puppy out at a time with the old dog, and then its whole attention may be brought to bear upon the movements of the old dog; whereas, if there be another puppy, the two will watch each other's movements as of more striking interest than those of the old dog, and the lesson will be lost in its intention. A puppy will soon pay strict attention to the actions of the old dog, and will watch its movements with intense interest. Lessons of the kind taught to a well-bred puppy are of immense advantage, and they lighten the toils of the trainer very considerably. In all the instruction and training imparted to a puppy, the trainer should never lose sight of the natural propensities and instinct of the dog. The whole art of training consists in moulding and fashioning these to suit the practical purposes of the sportsman. For instance, the inherent propensity of the dog to chase and run down game must be checked in the earliest career of its instruction with a firmness and strictness of rule that allows of no infringement whatever; for a pointer or setter that gives chase is utterly useless to a sportsman in the field. In a well-bred dog, with strong passions, this ardour is greater than in ill-bred animals. The only way to prevent so bad a habit growing up with the dog is by resolutely forbidding it from the first, for the propensity is sure to show itself. It will now be asked by what means this lesson is to be strictly enforced? We answer, by means of a long cord, termed the "check cord," which is an indispensable requisite in dog-breaking. It is, in fact, almost the only instrument that is required to be used in dogtraining. The check cord to be used out in the fields should be about 40 or 50 yards in length; it should be a light but strong cord, about the size of ratline, as a strong, eager puppy sometimes requires hard pulling. But in no instance should either spikes or spiked collars be employed; such instruments have been very justly termed "brutal things," such as none but a cruel trainer would employ. The check cord may be fastened to a soft leather dog-collar or a headpiece, provided such head-piece can be fitted without interfering with the free opening and shutting of the dog's mouth; but as this is by no E means easy, and besides causes the dog pain in dragging a long cord with its head, and so interfering too much with the free action of the dog, we always preferred fastening the cord simply to the dog's collar. With the check cord so fixed, the trainer may introduce the puppy to some game-a covey of partridges will be best-and the least inclination to run in after them must be instantly checked; so also as the lessons proceed, and the trainer or sportsman kills a few birds (of the game kind, of course), whilst an assistant controls the dog with the check cord. After the firing of the gun, and killing a bird, the propensity to run in and catch and mouth it must be held in abeyance until the gun is reloaded; and, with a puppy under training, it is best to take plenty of time in reloading, so as to train the dog to patient habits, and check that intense eagerness which prevails in all dogs to run in and mouth the bird. And as to this, the utmost strictness will be required to quell the eagerness of the dog; on no account must it be permitted to stir an inch from the spot until the sportsman has deliberately reloaded and motioned to the dog with the hand to go on. And if it ventures to go before the signal is given, or moves from the place where directed to lie, it should be dragged back, and compelled to lie there until the gun is completely reloaded. Oftentimes the dog will lie trembling with eagerness to be off after a bird which it knows has fallen to the gun; but that eagerness must be quelled, or the dog will be good for nothing for the field. : All the before-mentioned lessons should be taught the dogs singly. When two dogs are in training at once, and one of them finds game and points it, the other will be very apt to rush in and put it up; that is done by taking the scent from the other, and nothing annoys the dog that found the game so much it is, in fact, just as painful for the dog to endure as taking a bone or bit of food from it. The dog's nature forbids such a wrong; consequently, nothing so soon ruins a young dog as suffering another to come and precede it when it has found game, and is standing by the scent. The check cord is of great service for the purpose of preventing this, and should be judiciously employed. When two dogs are ranging the field together, they will both be anxious to go one with the other, but this must not be allowed; they will watch each other's movements very narrowly, and when either of them finds game, then is the time for the trainer to use his discretion, and allow the other dog to approach and "back up" the one that has found the game, but on no account to allow it to take precedence of the other by going in front. It is simply the duty of the second dog to back up behind the other, but never to go in front. After practice and good training, this is one of the most interesting duties of the pointer when trained and hunted in couples; but the whole success of the performance depends on the care and skill employed in the early training of the dog to hunt in company with another. The second dog should be allowed to approach cautiously, and to enjoy the scent, but by no means to go before and take it from the other; and this tendency is the more critical when the birds run several yards after the leading pointer has found them. The second dog should, therefore, be taught to be subservient to the other in this respect, for there is great jealousy in dogs; and in teaching this important lesson, the check cord and the threatening attitude of the whip will be the best means to employ. In the training of a dog, it is not sufficient to practise them entirely to birds; some of the strictest lessons will be required on introducing them to four-legged game, such as hares and rabbits. Dogs and puppies, of whatever breed, are certain to give chase to these when first finding them. It is, therefore, of the greatest importance to check a young dog in its chasing propensities on the very first occasion of its being introduced to a hare or rabbit; and with that view, it is advisable, if possible, to take a dog to a place where the trainer is pretty confident of finding such creatures, and, with the check cord fully in hand, pull the puppy up smartly on the very first inclination to give chase to hare or rabbit, and repeat this practice frequently whenever the rule is attempted to be infringed. "But cautious here observe To check their youthful ardour, nor permit Alone to range the woods, or haunt the brakes Encourage the dog to stand and point hares and rabbits, but on no account to run in or chase. Such a desire must be forbidden by a firm hand, pulling the dog back upon its haunches, and holding up the whip in a threatening attitude. It is very important that no relaxation whatever be allowed to this rule; for so great is the desire of dogs to chase hares and rabbits on first finding and starting them, that unless the propensity is nipped in the very bud it will grow up with the dog, so surely as to render it unfit for the field. A dog that has been well and perfectly trained in this respect will be found, immediately on starting a hare from its form, to turn round and face its master, as much as to say "There's a hare for you, if you like to shoot it; but I am forbidden to give chase, and so I turn my back upon the temptation that is offered.' A pointer or setter so trained may be said to be perfect in respect of that particular lesson. It is, however, desirable that but very little encouragement be given to a pointer as to rabbits, lest the dog should become more fond of hunting for them than for game, and so turn out a hedge-potterer. But as rabbits are sure to cross the path of pointers and setters in the field, it is advisable to give a few lessons in relation to rabbits and hares, so as to check in the early career of the dog its natural propensity for hunting such creatures. There is another propensity in young pointers and setters that, with some of them, it is very difficult to correct: we allude to their pointing and standing at larks and other small birds. The trainer should be cautious never to shoot these in the presence of his dog, but always to show his displeasure towards the dog, and correct it for the mistake; for if once encouraged to such practices, the dog will never forget them, and the sportsman will thereby be constantly deceived in the field, and never certain whether his dog is pointing larks or game. Such is a very bad fault, and one which should be carefully checked in the early training of the puppy, remembering that bad propensities of this nature may be easily conquered in a puppy, but are absolutely unconquerable when they have been permitted to grow up with the dog. With regard to winged and wounded birds, we do not agree with the practice of encouraging either pointer or setter to seek for them. In our opinion, it is no part of the duty of pointers and setters to seek out winged or wounded birds, but the legitimate duty of the retriever. To encourage such a practice in pointers and setters is but to teach them to concern themselves too much about a very inferior branch of duty, and to make them unsteady by encouraging them to follow up the game too closely, and eventually to run in, and so to put up every covey they find. Probably one of the most difficult lessons of the whole art of training is that of teaching the dog to quarter his ground, or, in other words, to beat the field regularly; and as to this lesson a good deal might be said on both sides of the question, for it is undoubtedly a great mistake to attempt training the dog on this head by too strict a rule, when its natural sagacity will do more than half the lessons that might be given; and, on the other hand, unless some instruction be given on this head, the training of the dog will be very imperfect. We have seen dogs quarter their ground, cross over, and beat the field with as much regularity as if trained like soldiers on parade; all which may be very pretty in its effect, but is too artificial for the proper display of the dog's best qualities. It may be desirable to teach a dog to hunt up wind, and to give some directions as to range and the mode of taking the field; but beyond that the natural instinct of the dog must be trusted, and it will be found that a well-bred dog requires but little, if any, instructions in this particular. It will be desirable to check any propensity in a young dog for hunting roun:l and about hedgerows on entering the field, though old dogs often acquire the habit of so doing, and find their game with more cunning and less action than young dogs. A fault such as this may be overlooked in an old dog, but not in a young one. In a short time a clever young dog will cross and re-cross the field without any directions from the sportsman; but in the course of instruction, if it appears that any portion of the field has been skipped over without hunting, the simple signal of waving the hand in the direction you require the dog to go should be employed; and as it cannot be expected that a very young dog will quite understand your meaning, should it so appear, the sportsman should go directly to that part of the field himself, and walk round it in the manner he required of the dog, and encouraging it to hunt that part of the field, but doing it good naturedly, and carefully avoiding getting out of temper with the dog; for nothing can be effectually taught a dog by a man in a passion. Before attempting to train two dogs to hunt together, all the rudimentary lessons should first be given singly, and the dogs should each be pretty well perfected in them before allowing any double lessons. It will be found at first that one dog will be very desirous of following the other, and hunting side by side with it, but this must not be allowed; it should be checked from the first, and the dogs thrown off, one to the right of the field and the other to the left, and so making them cross each other, tack for tack, just as two sailing vessels beating up against wind. It is, of course, highly desirable that this mode of ranging a field should be pursued by the dogs, as they leave no part untried when well trained to; but, as before stated, a good deal of the success of this proceeding will depend on the good breeding of the dogs, and for this pur pose they should be pretty equal as to age and quality. It would not do to hunt a mongrel-bred dog with a highly-bred one, nor an old with a young one; and it is not advisable to hunt them singly after they have been long accustomed to double hunting. A young dog, whilst undergoing instruction, should not be taken into turnips nor high ground cover; the lessons can be given to better advantage in short cut fields, fallows, and such like, provided they are frequented by game, for it will be discouraging to the dog to be trained over fields and moors in which game is never to be found. Our ancestors remarked that a succession of rainy weather set in about the middle of the month of July; which is easily accounted for by the fact that there is a considerable increase in the temperature of the vapour, and, consequently, a greater liability of meeting with regions of the atmosphere colder than itself, which, by taking away some of the heat, disposes it to condense, and fall in rains or mist. The birds of song, that warbled their "native wood-notes wild" during the spring, are now for the most part mute, and remain so until September. The "cuckoo's words of fear, unpleasant to the married ear," have been hushed for some weeks; the plaintive melody of the willow-wren, the warble of the chaffinch, the joyous song of the migratory red-start, which visits us in April, and takes its departure before the suicidal month of November; the "various-voiced" tones of Philomela, "Night's pure Sappho," have ceased, and the feathered minstrels no longer gladden the breasts of those who ramble over the meadows or wander through the forest glade. Moths and butterflies abound, the gardens sparkle with flowers, and the indigenous wild plants may now be seen in full bloom. Among the festivals and remarkable days of July may be mentioned the first, on which day that ever-to-be-lamented statesman, Sir Robert Peel died in 1850. On the 7th, six hundred and eighty years previous, Thomas à Becket, the lofty, intrepid, and inflexible prelate, was assassinated. On the 15th of this month, St. Swithin commences what the punsters would call his annual reign. On the 16th, the first French revolution broke out in 1789. On the 19th, the valorous Edward III. defeated the Scots at Halidown Hill. The 21st is famed in our annals as the anniversary of the death of the lowly Scotch poet Burns, in 1796. "Cold now in sleep the fervid lip; The harp that rung is still; Yet, sung in every land and sea, |