THE CAMPINES 



49 



the A. P. A. standards are revised every five years — it 

 was taken out. There is generally a good reason for 

 such declines as these. In the present instance the 

 English and American fanciers did not like the Belgian 

 type of male, and the want of good markings, etc., 

 which is demanded in any breed by them, was the 

 cause of the decline. Double mating had to be resorted 

 to to breed good cockerels and good pullets, according 

 to the Belgian standard, and tlie result was evidently 

 not worth the trouble. The English Club then decided 

 that it was not desirable that Campines should require 

 double mating, hence members decided to standardize 

 the male bird similar to the female, which change took 

 place at the beginning of the last decade. They did 

 not, however, succeed in producing a standard speciflien 

 until 1904, which male bird was awarded first prize and 

 cup by Dr. J. C. Gardner, at the Grand International 

 Show at the Alexandra Palace. By the way it is in- 

 teresting to note the history of this cockerel. Messrs. 

 Parker Bros., I think, exchanged a sitting of Buff Orp- 

 ington eggs for one of Campines with M. Oscar 

 Thomaes, of Renaix, Belgium. This bird was hatched 

 out of that setting and exhibited at Kendal, where 

 however, he failed to catch the judge's eye, and re- 

 turned cardless. At that Westmoreland Show, Mr. 

 Wilson bought the cockerel and penned him, at the 

 Alexandra Palace as above stated, while at the Inter- 

 national the following year (1905) the same fancier ex- 

 hibited that tird and some of his sons and won right 

 along the line. 



A Question of Crossing 



The showing of this cockerel aroused something of 

 a controversy, and it was asked, "How was he pro- 

 duced?" Was he the result of a cross with the Ham- 

 burg? This could hardly be so, since other fanciers 

 would have had similar birds at the same time. From 

 about 1900 onwards, the Carr.pine was in the hands of 

 some of the best English breeders, and had the Ham- 

 burg cross been of service it is a certainty that a cock- 

 erel would have been exhibited before 1904. One au- 



thority, a Hamburg specialist, said that he knew of 

 Campine breeders, who had been supplied with Ham- 

 burg, cockerels; but if so the produce was not forth- 

 coming in the show pen. On this point the Rev. E. 

 Lewis Jones, who has had more to do with the Cam- 

 pine than has any other fancier in this country, was 

 most emphatic when I sought his opinion. "I know of 

 none'' he says. "T have tried it and failed to get any 

 useful result. I think probably if the cockerel was not 

 the outcome of selection, then it was due to Holland- 

 aishe, or what Mme. Van Schelle calls Friese." Ad- 

 mitted it is easy to say that the Hamburg was crossed 

 in, because of the similarity of markings; but the usual 

 result of such a cross is an equal band of black and 

 white, both about as broad as a normal black bar on a 

 Campine, and giving the bird a hooped appearance. On 

 the Campine, however, the marking is a black bar, as 

 near as possible three times as wide as the white ground 

 color, this latter being open and bold and not like nar- 

 row threads. Of course there can be no doubt that 

 the two breeds have something in common, since the 

 Campine was the origin of the Hamburg, and the breed- 

 ing of Campines on scientific lines could lead to the 

 production of the Hamburg, since the tendency is the 

 same way. Leghorn blood was mentioned by M. 

 Pulinckx-Eeman. Now the only variety suggesting it- 

 self is the Cuckoo, but it has too many complications 

 for anyone to give it serious consideration in connec- 

 tion with the Campine. Mr. Jones tells me that he has 

 no horror of crossing and would not hesitate if he 

 thought he could improve that way. "But," he adds, 

 "all my attempts at crossing have yielded negative re- 

 sults. I firmly believe if the Hamburg cross was use- 

 ful, Belgians would not bother to buy selling class birds 

 at the Palace." The upshot appears to be that now the 

 English breeders have brought the Campine to its pres- 

 ent state of perfection and made it a popular fowl 

 they are attacked. The Belgians would say "This pop- 

 ular breed is no Campine. The Belgian is the pure." 

 They want the whole of the trade. That is the thing 

 in a nutshell. But the English and American fanciers 

 have deliberately discarded the Belgian type. 



Interior view of Madison Square Garden, N. T., the representative show of America. 



