i 3 8 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 



rather than those a bit undersized for the joint at 

 the place where they are to be fitted when com- 

 pelled to make the choice as but a minimum 

 amount of the wood should be cut away, especially 

 in fitting the female ferrules, which preferably are 

 without a shoulder, as already noted. The ferrule 

 diameter should on no account be materially less than 

 the rod diameter as measured, this time, between flat 

 surfaces, at the meeting ends of the rod-joints where 

 the ferrule is to be used; hence calipering these ends 

 in this way will inform you of the ferrule sizes re- 

 quired. An expedient sometimes of value when 

 fitting to old joints new ferrules that are a trifle 

 large, is to wind the joint-ends with waxed silk or fine 

 linen-thread before applying the cement, and then to 

 force the ferrules on over this. 



Only ferrules whose parts fit snugly together 

 should be accepted and used. If too tight, the male 

 ferrule is easily dressed down by turning it, together 

 with its attached rod-joint, inside of a folded piece 

 of fine emery-cloth held tightly between the fingers, 

 finishing the process by rubbing it with a mixture of 

 powdered chalk and linseed oil. Never use a file 

 for this purpose. 



The proximal ends of ferrules ends toward 

 the rod-joints should be either split or serrated 

 for a short distance, in order to modify rigidity here. 

 If this be not done, there are created abrupt lines 

 of demarkation around the rod at every point where 



