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dfficult breeds always to havetheir first litters bearing the barsinister on their shields.The trouble is that some of usbreeders are far too self-opiirionatedand much too slow to.learnfrom experience. I must pleadguilty myself, for I had in myown experience a case whichshould have pointed the way.First LittersSome years ago the late Mrs.Edgar presented me with a verybeautiful Chinchilla queen. Foryears attempts had been made toget this queen in kitten, but theefiort had been in vain. Whenshe was four the lady decided totake a hand in her own affairsand escaped when she was inseason. In due course she producedfive sturdy kittens and shecame to me with the last of herfamily to keep her company.This queen was never a goodbreeder although she had threeIitters while she was here. Oneof her sons became Ch. FoxburrowTilliwilli, who was the firstpost-war Chinchilla champion.The old lady herself-she mtrstbe twelve this year-is Ch.Langherne Winsome and is nowowned by Miss Steer. I oftenwonder what the story wouldhave been if Winnie had escapedlr'hen she was a yodng queen.Another long-held belief I havealso discarded, but I must confessthat I do not feel too h"ppyabout it at the moment. Longheldbeliefs have a habit of dyinghard.Most breeders, I think, areconvinced that a longhaired catshould not have her first litteruntil she is at least a.year, and,if possible, she should not bemated until she has reachedtwelve months. On the whole, Ithink the theory is sound, becausea queen is far from, being fuliygrown even at a year. Yet, onthe other hand, we must be preparedto modify our practice tosuit the individual cat.Early CallersA queen I had a number ofyears ago started to call when shewas very young. I held her backmore times than I care to rememberand finally had her mated atten months. She was a goodbreeder in the sense that she waseasy to get in kitten, but shewas most difficult when the timecame to produce her family, andmore than once the vet. had to becalled in to deliver the kittens.Quite early on, too, this queendeveioped a form of sexhysteria which became worse asshe grew older. I am quite preparedto admit that the fault mayhave been mine in holding herback so long.Just to put me to the test, as itwere, a young Blue queen of minehas started on a similar story.She calied for the third time whenshe was seven-and-a-half months'old. This may be the same storywith a difference, however.Helga is a charming littlecreature, but she had me worried,so I discussed the matter with a22