214 STRIPED BASS. 
friend steps on and breaks it, answer as well as any other, 
and one that costs three dollars is in every particular as 
good as one worth forty. The light bamboo jointed rods 
of our ancestors are no more to be had ; the makers say 
it is im^^ossible to get the cane of the proper taper, and 
rods of ash and liickory have come into fashion. The 
latter will answer every purpose, but as they are sure to 
warp, the guides should be double, so that the line can 
be shifted from one side to the other. Patent standing 
guides are all the fashion with ns, though the English 
use the old-fashioned rings made large. Of course we 
prefer our own invention. The funnel-top should be 
large, and for a valuable rod, or a particular gentleman, 
should be made of agate. They are infinitely superior 
to the old-fashioned ring-top still used in England. Avoid 
having many guides ; they create friction, and three or 
four will answer every purpose. 
If you are a gentleman and a man of fortune, of lavish 
hand and open heart, you should use what is called a 
grass or raw silk line, buying a new one every two 
weeks, by which time it will be rotted out. It does not 
kink or over-run, works beautifully, and will enable you 
to cast ten yards further than with any other ; but it is 
not strong at best, will rot immediately if not dried after 
the least exposure, and costs money. K you are a poor 
or a careless man, buy a new flax line every year, and 
throw it away in the Fall, after being disgusted with it 
all the season. If you are neither of these, buy a plaited 
silk line of one hundred yards ; be sure and get a new 
one, and take care of it. 
Lines may be preserved from rotting by being dipped 
