The French Breeds 95 



called "Dutch every day layers," and it is a fact that they did lay 

 every day. But the eggs are too small to go in our markets, so out- 

 side the fancy, they don't appear to have much call. They are indeed 

 beautiful in marking and coloring and are sprightly, well proportioned 

 birds. 



The Campines. — There are the Golden and Silver Campines. These 

 birds hail from Belgium. They are really very little larger in appear- 

 ance than some of the Hamburgs, but they have had a big boom the 

 past two years. Personally I do not know much about them but sus- 

 pect the boom will fall in and the legitimate trade be turned back to 

 standard breeds. These birds lay a white egg of good size, but the 

 egg is about all that can be made from them. They never can be 

 called a general purpose fowl at the best. 



Buttercups. — This is another new breed that is trying for honors 

 Its admirers claim for it the 300 egg a year hen. It is a small bird 

 with a comb shaped like a buttercup, from which it takes its name. 

 Several years ago when the name first became known here I sent east 

 for a setting of eggs. The claim for these birds is that they lay a 

 white egg, large in size and more of them than any other breed. Now, 

 that is saying a whole lot in a few words. The eggs I sent for came 

 in due time, and every one of them was of a creamy color that could 

 never be stretched to white, no matter how strong the imagination 

 was. They were of fairly good size and I gave them to two good 

 hens, so that if one had any accident the other had a chance. One 

 chick hatched, and after keeping that six months, an Indian's dog got 

 it, and that was my last Buttercup. But I see some at the shows once 

 in a while and so I am satisfied. 



