THE CAMPINES 



17 



erally, which fact is well illustrated in the case of the 

 old Lancashire Mooney, a hen-feathered fowl whose 

 perfection in spangling has never since been equaled." 



A New Type is Introduced 



In 1904 a male similar to the above, an all-barred 

 cockerel, save the neck hackle, made its appearance in 

 the English fancy. He was a Single Comb Silver 

 Braekel, hatched from a sitting of eggs from Qscar 

 Thomaes, of Renaix, Belgium. Renaix is in the south 

 of Belgium and Braekels, not Campines, are everywhere 

 kept in the surrounding country. The bird was first ex- 

 hibited at Kendel, where he failed to attract attention. 

 He was there purchased by a Mr. Wilson, who later 

 showed hirn at the Grand International Show at the 

 Alexandra Palace, and there he was awarded first prize 

 and cup. The following year the same fancier exhibited 

 the bird and some of his sons and won right along 

 the line. 



It was a sensational period for the Campine in Eng- 

 land. Interest in the Belgian type had been at its 

 height in 1902, and had already begun to wane. Fan- 

 ciers were giving up and shows suffered. Then a new 

 impetus was given; the English Campine Club adopted 

 the new type and it thereupon became invincible in the 

 show room. 



In America the' first Belgian Campines were re- 

 ceived by Arthur D. Murphy, of Maine, in the year 

 1893. The breed was admitted to the Standard at the 

 revision in Chicago during the World's Fair, 1893, and 

 appeared in the edition of 1894. At this time J. H. 

 Drevenstedt took an interest in the fowl, importing 

 some from Belgium. An effort was made to push the 

 fowl into popularity; it was heralded as the "every day 

 layer" and the "300- egg-hen," but it failed to attract the 

 fanciers; instead, its light flickered out, and at the next 

 revision of the Standard the Campine was dropped 

 from the lists of breeds. 



The new English type of Silver Campine was im- 

 ported by M. R. Jacobus, of Ridgefield, New Jersey, in 

 1907. At first the females, with their imperfect, mossy 

 barring, and the males, with their unrefined combs, red- 

 dish-white lobes and perpendicular, scantily furnished 

 tails, did not attract favorable attention at the New 

 York and Boston Shows. But, when at the first show- 

 ing of Campine eggs at Boston, January, 1910, the 

 Leghorn eggs were defeated, the Campines began to ad- 

 vance in popular favor. Again in 1911, they won first, 

 also in 1912 and 1913, at the last Boston Show there be- 

 ing no eggs entered against them. 



Recently the color and style of the birds have been 

 much improved. It is marvelous how . superior in qual- 

 ity the winning Silver Campines have been at the New 

 York Show the past two seasons, and at Boston and 

 Philadelphia the past season. Of course, English-bred 

 birds were in the foreground at these shows. Among 

 the most successful producers whom we have known, 

 are the leading Campinists of England. They are 

 geniuses in poultry breeding. In 1911 when in England, we 

 remarked to the president and the secretary of the Eng- 

 lish Campine Club that the combs of their birds must 

 ■be brought down in order that imported stock might 

 appeal more to Americans, and already the choice birds 

 that England is exporting are models in this respect. 

 A judge of prominence in Ohio,, remarked to us; "The 

 tails of the males are too high and there are not suf- 

 ficient coverts to hold them down," but while his crit- 



icism was still heard, there was to be seen in the New 

 York Show, December, 1912, the first prize Silver cock- 

 erel with graceful back line and sweeping tail. (See 

 Mr. Sewell's photo of this bird, owned by Manhattan 

 Farms, Brighton, N. Y., on page 7.) 



Evolution of Type 



From 1910 to 1914 has been a period of change for 

 the Campine. Step by step the quality is advancing. 

 As these steps of progress are set down, and inquiries 

 regarding the effect of each change and the cause for 

 it are made, the winning type of the present is better 

 understood and more appreciated. 



At the start Braekel hens often won in the Campine 

 classes because of their more generous size. Now, size 

 in a Campine is not the feature that recommends it to 

 us. Mr. Vander Snickt pointed out that the preference 

 should "be given to the smallest hens laying eggs of 





Fig. 3 — This cut was made from an unretouched pho- 

 tograph of the first Silver Campine pullet at New York, 

 1911. She was imported from England and shown by 

 M. R. Jacobus, Box 3, Ridgefield, N. J. 



75 grains." Such a bird matures more rapidly than a 

 big, heavier boned one, and as a pullet, reaches the lay- 

 ing period first; she is naturally the more active, and 

 with activity is closely associated productiveness. 



In the Standard that was recently drawn up by the 

 Standard committee of the American Campine Club, the 

 following weights are specified: Cock, 6 pounds; cock- 

 erel, 5 pounds; hen, 4 pounds; pullet, 3^ pounds. The 

 winners at the recent Club Show in New York were 

 about the.se weights, with the exception of the first prize 

 pullet, which was heavier. The Campine is a moderately 

 tight-feathered and solid-bodied bird, and for its size 

 is rather heavy, therefore, as one views them from the 

 aisles the birds are somewhat deceiving about their 

 weights. 



It is the English-type Campine that has been accepted 

 in America. While the English Campine is of Belgian 

 Braekel extraction, it must be plain that the English 

 have developed a race of their own, distinct not only 

 in color, but in type. Americans are endeavoring to 

 interpret the ideals of the English Campinists. The 

 typical English Campines do not display the short legs 



