20 



THE CAMPINES 



bow and white in the wing bay. When these Silver Cam- 

 pines with white tops were shown at New York in the 

 early nineties, M. R. Jacobus, who was then breeding 

 Hamburgs, saw them and said: "Think I would touch 

 those things — they are nothing but Hamburgs, and poor 

 ones at that." That was in the days when the Hamburgs, 

 with their marvelous barring, symmetrical carriage and 

 perfection of detail, the Cochins with their accentuated 

 feathering, their convex lines of beauty and their soft- 

 ness of plumage color, and other beautiful breeds of the 

 fancier were high in popular favor. It was before the 

 present day of high cost of living and the productive- 

 ness of the Campine failed to secure for it a permanent 

 place in America. In England the fowl was more favor- 

 ably received and enjoyed an initial boom. The Cam- 

 pine Club of England was formed in 1899 and in 1902 

 had a membership of 11. However, the call for stock 



GROWING CHICKENS IN BELGIUM, 



birds and eggs for hatching necessitated the wholesale 

 importation of birds from Belgium and these imported 

 birds failed to satisfy the fastidious English fanciers. 

 Naturally the fowl failed to prove up and drifted out. 



The New Campine 



In England the revival of interest in the Campine 

 dates back about five or six years, when the hen- 

 feathered stock began to command attention. This new 

 type was not received without strenuous objection from 

 those who, having been fortunate enough to have some 

 of the best stock, were faithful to the breed and cham- 

 pioned the white top color of the males. However, the 

 hen-feathered type of male prevailed. 



When the new type came on in England it was re- 

 ceived by a new set of breeders. In America there had 

 been a void period between the departure of the old 

 and the arrival of the new Campine. But in England, 

 while some fanciers gave up, shows suffered and en- 

 thusiasm flagged, it was only temporarily. The Cam- 

 pines were at the height of their popularity in 1902 and 

 then the decline began. The first hen-feathered Silver 

 Campine male appeared in 1904 and with it a plumage 

 more flattering to the eye was created and the depres- 

 sion was replaced by greater enthusiasm, competition 



was stimulated by the keen desire to obtain the ad- 

 vanced type, and a new lease of life was given to the 

 Campine fancy of Britain. 



The new Campine, while in name a Campnie, is m 

 blood half Braekel. The first hen-feathered cock came 

 from the yards of Oscar Thomaes, Renaix, Belgium. 

 Renaix is in southeastern Belgium, near the French 

 border and it is in this district that the Braekel chicken 

 is grown. This cock was exported to England and there 

 bred for the sake of the ' new fashion which it had set. 

 The Braekel contributed some good qualities to the 

 new Campine. The Braekel in Belgium lays a larger 

 egg than its sister, the Campine. It gave to the new 

 Campine more meat qualities, for the Braekel is a de- 

 licious table bird and much larger than the industrious 

 little Campine that one sees on the sandy plains of La 

 Campine. One Sunday noon last July, the writer sat in 



a restaurant in Brussels with 

 Louis Vander Snickt, the 

 great Belgian poultry au- 

 thority, who has since died, 

 and he said: "There are 300 

 Braekels a day furnished 

 to this restaurant. I know 

 it to be so for I know the 

 man who supplies them." 

 He and I and his maid — for 

 he was not well at the time 

 and could not go about alone 

 — were each served half a 

 chicken, and the bill for 

 each was a franc and 25 cen- 

 times, or about 25 cents. 



This price is not less illus- 

 trative of the value of poul- 

 try meat in Belgium than 

 it is of the value of other 

 foods, the cost of produc- 

 tion, the margin of profit, 

 and the necessity for rigid 

 economy. Belgium is a small 

 country. This morning we 

 took a map of Europe that measured two feet wide 

 and 20 inches high — put our thumb on it and blotted out 

 Belgium! It is the most densely populated country in 

 Europe. To the square mile it has one-third more pop- 

 ulation than England yet it not only produces poultry 

 meat and eggs enough for home consumption (and the 

 Belgians are great consumers of poultry products) but 

 it exports to England, France and Germany. F. L. 

 Sewell has said of the Belgians that they are the great- 

 est producers and the best rearers of poultry in the 

 whole world. 



The Braekels and the Malines are their great com- 

 mercial breeds. Varieties of the latter correspond to 

 our Plymouth Rocks and Brahmas in size, and are kept 

 in the soft roaster-producing districts. The flesh of both 

 breeds is white. 



Campines and Braekels of Common Origin 



The Braekel may be said to have been the back- 

 bone of the new Campine. Crossing has been easily 

 possible and quite practical. Presumably the Campine 

 and Braekel came from the same stock and environ- 

 ment has played the role of the breeder for the past six 

 centuries. On the rich ground of that portion of Bel- 

 gium of which the Braekel is a native, the bird; ,Jo not 



