442 AMERICAN /NGLER'S BOOK. 



he made them smooth and to fit neatly by the simple use of 

 flat files, emery powder, and a burnisher. A love of " tinker- 

 ing," however, and the kind approval of friends as to some 

 fancied or real excellence in the rods he made for them, 

 induced an investment in a lathe, work-bench, tools, &c., and 

 many pleasant hours have since been given to making rods, 

 from the withy little switch of a fly-rod, for Trout-fishing, to 

 the " heavy artillery" used in trolling, Bass-fishing, and even 

 in taking the lordly Salmon. 



Woods used in Rod-making. — It should be borne in mind 

 that there is much difference in the strength and elasticity of 

 woods of the same kind. A tree of slow growth is much 

 harder and closer grained than one whose growth has been 

 rapid. The white part, which is called the "sap," in contra- 

 distinction to the heart, as a general thing is preferable if not 

 too near the bark. There are several kinds of Mckory and 

 ash, the white coarse-grained of the latter, possessing a third 

 or a half more strength and spring than the red ash. 



American hickory is used almost exclusively by English 

 rod-makers for second and third joints ; it has the recom- 

 mendation of strength, and if well seasoned is elastic, though 

 inferior in either respect to ironwood,* which appears to be 

 scarcely known, or certainly not appreciated by rod-makers 

 in this country or in England. This wood is found in the 

 mountainous districts of North America, from Canada to 

 Virginia and perhaps even further south. It grows gener- 

 rally in damp places, and is known under other local names, 

 as "hornbeam," "leverwood," and "barwood." It is almost 



* There are two different trees known as ironwood ; that referred to here 

 is Ostrya Virginica (Willd.). It has a smooth cylindrical trunk with a 

 thin grayish bark, and is (jf slow growth ; a tree of five or six inches when 

 sawed in two, showing forty or fifty concentric circles, indicating that it 

 is just so many years old. 



