wer is known," can readily be applied here. I
shall endeavor to confine my remarks to the laws observed and the lines
followed for the production of dogs in our kennels, especially in the
attainment of correct color and markings, vigorous constitutions and
desirable dispositions.

In speaking of the breeding stock I am aware that I am going contrary to
the opinion of many breeders when I state that I believe that the dam
should possess equal or more quality than the sire, that her influence and
characteristics are perpetuated in her posterity to a greater degree than
are those of the sire's, especially that feature of paramount importance,
a beautiful disposition, hence I speak of the maternal side of the house
first. There are two inexorable laws that confront the breeder at the
onset, more rigid than were those of the Medes and Persians, the
non-observance of which will inevitably lead to shipwreck. Better by far
turn one's energies in attempting to square the circle, or produce a
strain of frogs covered with feathers, than attempt to raise Boston
terriers without due attention being given to those physiological laws
which experience has proven correct. The first law is that "Like produces
like," although, as previously stated in the case of this breed, more than
in any other known to the writer, many exceptions present themselves, even
when the utmost care has been exercised, still the maxim holds good in the
main. The second law is that of Heredity, too often paid inadequate
attention to, but which demands constant and unremitting apprehension, as
it modifies the first law in many ways. It may be briefly described as the
biological law by which the general characteristics of living creatures
are repeated in their descendants. Practically every one has noticed its
workings in the human family, how many children bear a stronger
resemblance to their grandparents, uncles, cousins, etc., than to their
parents, and in the lower order of animals, and it seems to me in the
Bostons especially, this tendency to atavism, or throwing back to some
ancestor, in many cases quite remote, is very pronounced, hence the
necessity of a good general knowledge of the pedigree and family history
of the dogs the breeder selects for his foundation stock. A kennel cannot
be built in a day; it takes time, money, perseverance, and a strict
attention to detail to insure success.

"Breed to the best," is a golden rule, but this applies not only