pical bitches for breeding,
especially those that approximate rather to the bull type and are rather
long in body and not too narrow in their hind quarters. I do not care if
the dam has a somewhat longer tail than the dog, my experience has been
that a bitch possessing a tight screw tail did not do quite as well in
whelping as one having one a little longer. Do not consider this as
suggesting that the tail is a matter of secondary importance, by no means,
it is of primal import, and too much attention can never be given to the
production of this distinguishing mark of the dog. A Boston without a good
tail is almost as worthless as a check without a signature.

Be sure at the time of breeding the bitch is free from worms. A great many
are troubled whose owners are totally ignorant of the fact, and this
frequently accounts for non-success. Always remember that worms thrive the
most when the alimentary canal is kept loaded with indigestible or
half-digested food, and that liquid foods are favorable to these pests,
while solids tend to expel them. Freshly powdered areca nut, in
teaspoonful doses, and the same quantity of a mixture of oil of male fern
and olive oil, three parts oil and one part male fern oil, I find are both
excellent vermifuges to give to matured dogs. Give a dose and two days
after repeat, and this, I think, will be found generally effectual.

Do not, on any account, allow the breeding stock to become too fat. Proper
feeding and exercise, of course, will prevent this. It will be found if
this is not attended to that the organs of generation have lost their
functional activity, and if pups are produced, are, as a rule, small and
lack vigor. My experience with Bostons is that it is very desirable to
breed them as often as they come in season; if allowed to go by it will be
found increasingly harder to get them in whelp. I think a stud dog, to
last for a reasonable number of years, should not be used more frequently
than once a week. I have found it pays best to give the bitch in whelp a
generous feed of raw meat daily. It often effectually prevents the
puppy-eating habit.

In closing these general hints on breeding, allow me to say there is no
reason whatever, if one has a genuine love for the dog and is thoroughly
in earnest in his attentions to it, why the breeding problem should
possess any great terrors for him. Perhaps, before closing this chapter,
it might be well to write on one or two matters, pract