1 Fes., 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 101 
Poultry. 
CAMPINES. 
A special correspondent of the Adelaide Observer writes :— 
Campines, which have now become all the rage in England, are a very old- 
established breed in Belgium. Mr. E. Cobb, F.Z.S., says :—‘‘ Whether the 
Campine is bred from the pencilled Hamburgh or the Hamburgh from the 
Campine is a point as yet unsettled, but Iam strongly of opinion that the 
Hamburgh derives its origin from the Campine. I could quote several reasons 
in support of this argument, but will content myself with two or three. 
Firstly, the silver Campine never throws a rose comb, but every breeder of 
silver pencilled Hamburghs knows that he gets many single-combed Ham- 
burghs. Secondly, the silver Campine is a much larger bird than the silver 
pencilled Hamburgh (quite a few hens weighing 6 lb. and over each), and this 
can easily be accounted for by the amount of in-breeding that has been going 
on for many years in order to perfect the grand pencilling of a present-day 
show specimen of the pencilled Hamburgh. Thirdly, the silver Campine has a 
dark, nearly black eye, and the silver pencilled Hamburgh a red eye. At first 
sight there may not appear anything in this to uphold the argument that the © 
silver Campine is the parent of the silver pencilled Hamburgh, but I think I 
ean show that there is, and a strong one too. Among the silver Campines there 
are some that have more or less a light eye, and I am perfectly certain that, 
in a very short while, it would be most easy to produce red-eyed Campines by 
simply selecting those that show a tendency to deviate from the dark eye. Old 
Hamburgh breeders probably thought—as they would now—that the colour of 
the eye was a secondary consideration compared to the pencilling, and, there- 
fore, mating solely for pencilling, they probably bred from many light-eyed 
specimens, and inbred such, and, in consequence, eventually produced the red 
eye ; or it might even be that they endeavoured to produce the red eye. But 
in any case the red eye could easily be produced from the Campine, though, in 
my opinion, it would be almost an impossibility to establish the black eye from 
the silver pencilled Hamburgh.” 
The silver Campine is kept in Holland almost exclusively for its grand 
laying qualities and for the rapidity of its growth, enabling the farmers to sell 
“spring chickens” at a much earlier datethan most other breeds. The majority 
of what few fanciers there are in Belgium appear to scour the farmyards 1m the 
country a short time previous to a show, and to pick up the best: specimens, the 
consequence being that there has been no serious attempt to scientifically breed 
the Campine to standard, and, although it was necessary to go to Belgium for 
the original stock, it is becoming more apparent every day, especially as the 
adopted English standard differs considerably from the Belgium, that it will be 
useless to do so in the future. 
In Belgium the Campine is called by two names—viz., Campine and Braekel 
—hbut to all intents and purposes they are one and the same breed, and English 
fanciers designate them under the same heading, Campines. The fact is there 
are two well-known districts in which the breed has for many years been © 
produced. In one, owing probably to mismanagement, though they putit down 
to the soil, they are bred far smaller than in the other, but the standard is the same, 
and I think the whole matter speaks for itself when I quote the words of a well- 
known Belgium breeder, who informed me that— We don’t know when they are 
chickens “inaaieas they will be Brackels or Campines; it all depends on whether 
they grow big orremainlittle.” To any impartial critic there can be no question 
as to the utility powers of a Campine as a layer. Given a good strain, they la, 
what may be fairly called a large market size egg, and an abundance of them bot 
winter and summer. They are very hardy, small eaters, and if given their 
