T^E CAMPINES 



83 



barring, becomes enlarged into a study of the history 

 of the • Campine Standard by which each Standard re- 

 quirement is explained by making plain the course that 

 led to it, by making plain that these requirements are 

 not single and isolated, the result of blind chance or 

 dominating impulse, but that each is connected with a 

 preceding fact and all are linked together. Thus will 

 we cover those questions that are of interest and im- 

 portance to Campine breeders today and show why the 

 Standard is as it is and is, we believe, as it should be. 



The Campine Standard Explained 



Let us begin with the name of the breed. It is 

 that of the district in Belgium from which the breed 

 first came. In the southern part of Belgium there is 

 another breed, larger, and in many respects similar. But, 

 the Campine was first to be imported into England be- 

 cause it came more under the range of observation. It 

 is a small fowl that had for a hundred years been kept 

 in the peasants' dooryards and now like a centennial 

 cactus flower shines forth. But, not for long; at the 

 dawn of the new century the flower is closing, its pollen 

 blown as waste. Then from the Braekel district comes 

 promise of perpetual splendor. The English take the 

 hen-feathered Braekel, a few agreeing, many dissenting 

 and propagate the off-shoot of the old flower. And so 

 the Campine, now half Braekel, in nature hen-feathered, 

 is given a new flower pot that it may have more room 

 for its roots and more sunshine for its head. 



But, the Belgian type; those long flowing sickles, 

 well furnished tails. The new hen-feathered birds, too 

 man}' of them have a tail that stands up like a brush. 

 Lower tails with weight to hold them down, more 

 furnishings, longer sickles, more and longer coverts, 

 were quickly in need. 



The new Campine male is a barred Campine. Still 

 the Braekel tail frequently appears on specimens, a long 

 tail but devoid of barring. It is not an accomplishment 

 in breeding, it is furnish of plumage at the expense of 

 character of markings. It is not a good tail. The 

 Standard tail is well furnished and barred. 



A barred bird — what then is more important than 

 the barring or perhaps, to be more exact, penciling. It 

 is most conspicuously seen on the back so this section 

 is given a color valuation of six points. It is important, 

 too, that the plumage over the hips should be as long 

 as possible, since it carries this wonderful color and 

 it is important that the male have as much furnish here 

 as possible. 



The Belgian type has a white wing bay; but the 

 barred type — shall its secondaries not also be barred so 

 that when closed the color scheme will be carried out 

 around the entire body? That will mean to carry the 

 barring into the flights and this has been done. 



How striking is a white neck in contrast to the 

 green lustre of the body. The white hackle, however, 

 IS accompanied by a weakness in throat and breast 

 marking. On the farms of Campine plenty of white 

 necks are to be seen, but no well marked breasts and 

 throats. Barring up to the gills therefore shows con- 

 siderate breeding and a bird with a white neck and 

 washy throat is only a rooster. Leit the color run into 

 the hackle a bit. We must not be too abrupt in the de- 

 mand that the barring stop at the cape and begin with 

 the hackle. We must bear a bit with nature. This sec- 

 tion, therefore, although important in setting off the bird, 

 in giving contrast to its color pattern, shall be valued 

 at five points and the cuts made with leniency. 



On the next page is shown a Silver Penciled Hamburg 

 pullet and pullet-breeding cockerel bred by Harry Tur- 

 ton, England. It has been sai'd that Campinists are 

 breeding the duplicate of this feather pattern except on 

 coarser lines. The time element is vastly stron'ger in 

 the Hamburg and we may look to it for that perfection 

 which is not quick to associate itself with shorter pedi- 

 grees. In the male the pure whiteness of hackle, the 

 sound throat barring and the narrow, distinct white pen- 

 ciling that divides with precision the black ground 

 color, denote long years of thoughtful breeding. The 

 green lustre to the black is not vividly conveyed by the 

 picture, but the English breed it, even in their Cam- 

 pines so liright and deep that it is not unlike a gloss 

 enameling the feather. 



The picture of the Hamburg pullet shows an ele- 

 gance of plumage that plainly indicates many years of 

 selective breeding. The beautifully regular and even 

 spacing of black and white is carried through the back 

 and to the very tips of the tail feathers. In "Our Poul- 



3rd Silver Campine pullet at the Crystal Palace, 

 London, 1910. Bred by Rev. Jones, and in her day was 

 said to possess an ideal type. 



try" Harrison Weir tells of the penciled pullets of sev- 

 enty years ago. "Sometimes," he says, "only the two 

 upper feathers of the tail had these elegant traceries." 

 The approach to perfection has been made by the most 

 skillful, patient breeding. Yet, the coloring invades the 

 lower neck feathers. Let Campinists note this. 



Standing in competition with such a finished breed 

 as this, how shall the new Campine fare? Did it not 

 borrow some of the size of the Braekel, and since it is 

 a larger fowl cannot its larger individual feathers carry 

 a wider, heavier bar? This will distinguish it. And so 

 it does. We find a heavier body in the Campine. To 

 refer again to the picture of the Hamburg male, let 

 Campinists insist on a heavier body that the wing flights 

 may not extend like swords beyond the fluff. In judging 

 Campine males I would always see, if necessary, would 

 turn the bird around to see that the wing flights 

 were not longer than the body. Unlike the Hamburg, 

 the Campine is not wholly a fowl of feather properties. 

 Thus we arrive at last to the standard description of 

 the body, which contains in few words what time and 



