154 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 



you will not find it on general sale, though perchance 

 on occasion at the " art-embroidery " counter of one 

 of the larger department-stores. To be sure, you 

 can split the A silk and make use of only a part of its 

 strands; this, however, hardly without waxing. But 

 if your ideal in rods is represented by a good service- 

 able article, not much under five ounces in weight, 

 the A size is none too heavy. Rods are made much 

 lighter than this and they are very exquisite; and 

 may be very efficient, too for the expert under the 

 usual conditions prevailing in the smaller streams. 

 Yet we have seen a sixteen-inch brown trout, Salmo 

 fario, in a four-foot-wide stretch of water; and even 

 though the size of the fish in the small streams may 

 average seven to nine inches in length, the fisherman 

 never knows when that whopper will grab his fly, nor 

 in what difficult situation he may be obliged to con- 

 trol him promptly if the prize is to be creeled 

 and where is the angler who would not gladly sacri- 

 fice all his smaller catch rather than lose that chance 

 big fellow? 



The brands of silk-thread found usually in the 

 stores are either the Corticelli, Belding, or Heming- 

 way. We have no choice, but can indicate by the 

 numbers stamped on the respective spools the shades 

 in the Hemingway brand that will work out effec- 

 tively. These are: purple, number 794 or very 

 dark, 1044; brown, number 484; green, 891; and 

 red, 633. There is a shade of green in the Corti- 



